Last week, I missed a meeting for the first time in my entire life. For most people, this would probably be no big deal. But for me? I was distressed. I am used to being the annoyingly early, Type A friend. It’s part of my charming personality.
Things got worse from there. I skipped sending out this newsletter, which, for anyone keeping track (ahem, me), goes out every two weeks like clockwork. Then, when prompted at the pet store, I forgot the number associated with my rewards card. It’s a landline that I canceled a decade ago.
What was going on? What was different about last week versus any other in the calendar year? At the surface, not much. I was just as busy as I normally am. My workload was the same. Commitments, extracurriculars, etc.
Trigger warning: hyper-personal thoughts on gender issues ahead. Skip to the next section if you need and/or want to jump ahead.
For weeks, I have been wrestling with how absolutely insane it feels to exist as a woman in America in 2026. Don’t get me wrong, I expect nothing less than what’s happening. I have seen the system in action my entire life. That doesn’t mean the constant disrespect and devaluation aren’t tiring, even from a privileged position.
Right now, in every room, someone, the majority of whom are women, has experienced something they would rather not relive. Still, from the moment they wake up until the moment they go to sleep, they hear about depravity in its highest forms and see firsthand how those around them react to it. At work, at school, and at home.
For many, that came to a head yesterday when the United States men’s hockey team laughed at their gold medal-winning counterparts in a locker room moment caught on tape. And while a few voices protested the cruel comment made at the expense of the women’s team, this came just after the country united behind the men in their victory. We supported and celebrated them, and that’s all we asked for in return. Because really, at the end of the day, that’s the ask. You treat us the same way we treat you. We lift you up, you lift us up. United, not divided.
From coverage I’ve seen since, Flavor Flav of all people might be honoring the women Olympians in Las Vegas with help from several companies stepping up in this moment, whether for publicity or corporate ethos. Probably not how Team USA expected to be recognized by their country, but well deserved either way.
Which leads me to the how in this week’s missive, which comes from another Olympian, Alexi Pappas. In her training, Alexi applied the “Rule of Thirds” to her training and performance. Here’s how it works:
A third of the time, you will feel good.
A third of the time, you will feel OK.
A third of the time, you will feel crappy.
As long as you are within this ratio, things are in balance. If everything feels easy, you probably need to work a little harder. If you are having too many bad days in a row, you need to prioritize additional recovery.
Last week, I hit my crappy point, and while I can’t say I took any meaningful time off, I did give myself long enough to regroup and figure out how to share what’s going on inside my head in hopes it might help someone else understand what’s inside theirs. Will that solve the larger systemic issues at hand? No. Will it give me the peace of mind to get to my next meeting on time and ready to go? Let’s hope.
Note: I gave Laura the week off to answer a question I recently received.
Dear Katie,
My executive team doesn’t think they need media training. I disagree. How do I convince them otherwise?
TYIA,
Burned before
Dear Burned before,
Your signature tells me that you’re familiar with the consequences of a bad media interaction. Even so, when it comes to getting leadership on board with training, they often come up with every excuse in the book. They are too busy. They already know what they’re doing. They speak all the time. They prefer to be “authentic.” The list goes on and on. From my perspective, each of these reasons is merely a deflection, though PR folks would never dare say that aloud.
So, what to do instead? Lucky (or unlucky) for you, being “anti-media training” is having a moment, which means there are tons of examples. One of my favorites, however, is a bit older and comes from CollegeHumor. In an “Honest Post-Game Interview,” we see the sort of bombastic, off-the-cuff comments that have become the hallmark of today’s media landscape. But unless this style reflects your organization’s culture and values, it won't support your overall PR goals, and that’s what your leadership team needs to understand. Being a well-trained spokesperson is about contributing to the greater good.
Beyond that, media training benefits everyone, no matter their level of polish or poise. In some instances, my work as a media trainer is to peel back a few layers and remove the plastered-on, robotic smiles that build up over time and experience. In the same way that executives need coaches and trainers to help during organizational changes and corporate actions, media training serves as a short course in a specific skill. Reframe the opportunity in their language and see if that works.
Good luck,
Katie
Have you ever wondered why AI-generated writing is so bad? Well, here’s your answer: semantic ablation. It’s when the model strips out everything unique and interesting about the text and spits out something flat in return, something the author refers to as a “systemic lobotomy across three distinct stages.” Oh, how I love the human brain.
The team behind the still-nascent site, The Purse, is publishing some of my favorite work-related features on home economics, career paths, and household division of labor, along with a whole lot of useful personal finance advice. The editors, Lindsey Stanberry and Alicia Adamczyk, come out of CNBC, Fortune, Refinery29, and a long list of other traditional media outlets. Worth the read.
Accenture recently told its more senior staff that “regular adoption” of AI tools is a requirement to be considered for leadership positions. In an email to impacted employees, they said, “Use of our key tools will be a visible input to talent discussions.” For such a short sentence there sure are an number of interesting words in there …
You might have seen that IBM is stepping up to shift the entry-level job narrative, on the back of last year’s “bottom run has broken!” catastrophe. In fact, IBM’s CHRO straight up said, “You have to rewrite the job,” which speaks to a larger shift taking place in a down market.
The “reverse recruiting” storyline sparked quite the debate on LinkedIn. On the one hand, some of these services have existed for decades (hello, resume writers?). On the other hand, I feel very uncomfortable about what some of these agencies are charging. The words “money back guarantee” don’t belong in the job search.
In cheerful messaging news, “The Great Depression left 25% of Americans jobless. The Great Displacement could be worse. Type your job title and find out when AI is coming for yours.” I suppose it was only a matter of time, and yet, given where I started this week’s newsletter, can’t we have some cheer?
Visier is hiring a Senior Field Marketing Manager.
The New York Times is hiring a Director, People Analytics.
Workday is hiring a Manager, Product Management, US Payroll.
Reading: The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue. Sometimes you need a novel to break up the day-to-day, and that’s what this offered.
Watching: Does anyone else play these ASMR cartoons to get through the day, or is that just me? Just me? OK, cool.
Listening: Dinosaur Pile-Up. New to me (though certainly not new) after a friend from high school asked me to see them with her last week.
Exploring: HCM Intelligence. Another industry-related site that I’ve been playing around with lately.
With two fresh feet of snow outside, I’m ready to run away to somewhere warm and sunny. Alas, I will stay here typing away and hope that spring decides to show up sooner rather than later. Even mud season is looking pretty good right about now. Until next time - keep unlocking your how.
- Katie
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