Episode 28: How Can You Even Plan Right Now?
Communications Business Advisor
Release Date: 05/05/2025
Episode 39: Path to CCO with Anthony Farina
Communications Business Advisor
Welcome to the Communications Business Advisor™ podcast with host Tara McDonagh. In this episode, Tara sits down with , a seasoned global communications leader whose career spans journalism, government, and corporate communications at the highest levels. Anthony currently leads Corporate Communications for Fujifilm in the Americas and previously served as Chief Communications Officer at CSL, where he built a global communications function from the ground up. Together, Tara and Anthony explore what it really takes to grow into senior leadership in communications — not just in title, but in...
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Episode 38: Communicators’ Word for 2026
Communications Business Advisor
Welcome to the Communications Business Advisor™ podcast with host Tara McDonagh. In this episode, Tara opens the new season with a declaration — not a trend forecast or resolution — naming the official word for communications professionals in 2026: authority. Building on last year’s word, no, Tara explains why the moment has shifted. While boundaries and discernment remain critical, communicators are facing a deeper challenge: being held accountable for outcomes without being empowered early enough to influence them. This episode unpacks why burnout, frustration, and stagnation persist...
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Episode 37: Bonus Episode: Life Admin – with Amy Lockmiller and Jessica Onick
Communications Business Advisor
Welcome to the Communications Business Advisor™ podcast with host Tara McDonagh. In this bonus episode, Tara sits down with Raise the Tide™ members (and life admin evangelists) and to talk about something most senior communicators quietly struggle with: the invisible workload of running a life, a home, and a career all at once. Instead of another conversation about “doing it all,” they get honest about why it’s not sustainable, how they’ve built support systems like house managers, family assistants, and concierge services, and why getting help isn’t laziness or entitlement —...
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Episode 36: You Don’t Suck at Networking (Plus Some News)
Communications Business Advisor
Welcome to the Communications Business Advisor™ podcast with host, Tara McDonagh. In this episode, Tara gets real about one of the biggest myths she hears from women regularly: that they “suck at networking.” Spoiler alert, they don’t. They just don’t network like men. Tara explains how traditional, low-touch “networking” settings … PRSA or IABC events, chamber breakfasts,, award dinners, conference receptions … were built for how men connect and network, not women.. Instead of trying to “fix” women or force them to network like men, which doesn’t...
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Episode 35: What We’ve Learned from the Path to CCO+ Series
Communications Business Advisor
Welcome to the Communications Business Advisor™ podcast with host Tara McDonagh. In this episode, Tara steps back to reflect on the biggest insights emerging from her ongoing Path to the CCO+ conversations — and speaks directly to communications professionals who may feel that the CCO seat, or even strategic influence, still feels out of reach. Drawing from her interviews with Judy Rader, Stephanie Roberts, Libby May, and Bianca Olson, Tara distills the common threads that define today’s most successful communications leaders. She explores how communicators can elevate their roles from...
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Episode 34: The Path to CCO+ with Bianca Olson
Communications Business Advisor
Welcome to the Communications Business Advisor™ podcast with host Tara McDonagh. In this episode, Tara sits down with Bianca Olson, Chief Communications Officer at HMH (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)—a learning company focused on the K–12 market—where she reports directly to the CEO. Bianca traces her path from agency PR during the dot-com era to leading a modern communications function inside a complex, mission-driven organization. She shares how she broadened from external PR to a full corporate scope (internal, external, CSR, and more), why relationship-building is the cornerstone of...
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Episode 33: The Path to CCO+ with Libby May
Communications Business Advisor
Welcome to the Communications Business Advisor™ podcast with host Tara McDonagh. In this episode, Tara sits down with , Chief External Affairs and Communications Officer at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU)—the nation’s largest provider of nonprofit higher education, serving over 200,000 learners. Libby shares how she built and now leads a 65-person External Affairs and Communications team encompassing communications, events, alumni engagement, donor and community relations, and government affairs—reporting to the university president. She explains why SNHU intentionally...
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Episode 32: The Path to CCO+ with Stephanie Roberts
Communications Business Advisor
Welcome to the Communications Business Advisor™ podcast with host Tara McDonagh. In this episode, Tara sits down with , Chief Communications Officer at Hitachi Industrial Equipment Systems, a global company within the Hitachi Ltd. family. Joining from Japan, Stephanie shares how she leads a 25+ person global function spanning Japan, the U.S., Europe, China, and Southeast Asia—and why Communications now reports directly to the CEO. Stephanie walks through how she evolved Communications from a department nested under “sustainability” into a centralized, C-suite–level function that...
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Episode 31: The Path to CCO+ with Judy Rader
Communications Business Advisor
Welcome to the Communications Business Advisor™ podcast with host Tara McDonagh. In this episode, Tara sits down with Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Chief Communications Officer at Constellation, the nation’s largest producer of clean energy. Judy shares what it takes to lead a 60-person corporate affairs function at a Fortune 200 company, why she holds both the CCO and SVP of Corporate Affairs titles, and how her team secured and maintains its critical seat at the executive table. For anyone aspiring to a leadership role in communications, this conversation is...
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Episode 30: The Path to CCO
Communications Business Advisor
Welcome to the Communications Business Advisor™ podcast with host Tara McDonagh. In this episode, Tara kicks off a new season by tackling one of the most pressing questions for senior communications professionals: what does a clear career path look like in a field that often feels misunderstood, oversimplified, and muddy? The Reality of Q4 for Comms Teams Tara opens with a candid look at the fall and winter season—when benefit enrollments, IT security pushes, engagement surveys, and town halls collide with corporate restructuring, financial reporting, and external events. It’s a...
info_outlineWelcome to Episode 28 of the Communications Business Advisor™ podcast with Tara McDonagh. Today, Tara tackles a big question for communications leaders: how do you create a long-term plan in uncertain, volatile times like right now? She shares practical strategies to help Communications Leaders make it happen, even during chaos.
Start from the (Ever-Changing) Business Strategy
- Tara explains how to align communications plans with business plans even as they evolve to adjust to the current environment. She shares how to identify key business goals and develop or adapt long-term communications plans, using examples like shifting from international to domestic growth or a new focus on acquisitions vs organic growth.
- Start with what’s certain—your organization’s core product and/or service remains. The “what” remains consistent, it's “how” that may change. Tara discusses how to pivot in these wild times with specific examples.
From Overwhelm to Action
- Leading through uncertainty, balancing short-term demands (and commands), crisis issues and/or incident management, team management, and uphill advocacy are all massively taxing right now. Tara encourages leaders to seek help, whether through strategic planning partners, execution-focused support, or both.
- Instead of only considering the option of hiring extra hands, she highlights the value of working with experienced advisors who bring clarity and help implement impactful strategies as an option.
- Tara reframes seeking help as a smart investment in success. She urges Comms. leaders to rethink resourcing in alignment with today’s new commands.
This episode is sponsored by Raise the Tide™, a program for women in communications focused on mentorship and leadership growth.
For more insights, visit taramcdonagh.com/levelup to sign up for the Level Up: Be Extra newsletter. Don’t forget to share this episode and leave a review—it helps spread the message and elevate the communications field. Until next time, keep advising, my friends!