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“Everyonehas a podcast.”
He glanced at the paperwork again. “She also seems to be working on an anthology of long-format profiles. Sometimes talks about the book in her social media posts.”
“Who was her latest newsletter subject?” I was humoring him now, part of me enjoying this pitch, and Robert’s determination. His stubbornness could be a useful quality when deployed correctly.
“Tanner Vance.”
I chuckled. I should have expected someone like that. “That fucker?”
“Biggest star in Hollywood these days.”
“Exactly. A fucker.”
“Can’t argue with you there. You’ve told me in the past how you feel about Hollywood.” He took out the papers and handed them to me. “You don’t have to do the interview, but I think you should.”
“Maybe.”
I only said it to appease him. Robert’s reasoning hadn’t come close to convincing me. If nothing else, talking to a new media outlet seemed down-market and beneath a man of my stature in the business world.
“Look, I’ll give you a chance to truly consider this, and let me know by the end of the week. It doesn’t have to be a long thing, but we do have the new headquarters opening next week. It might be good to tie in a sit-down with her and the opening weekend festivities.”
“Ugh, I forgot about those.” I bit back a smile. I hadn’t forgotten, and he knew it.
Robert stood and ignored my attempt at a stupid joke. “Just tell me by Friday. I want to get back to her with a definitive answer.”
“I can already tell you what I’m going to say about the interview.”
“Promise me you’ll think it over. At least give me that satisfaction.”
I lifted my hand. “I promise.”
“Thanks, man.” Robert gave a small nod and crossed toward the exit. When he arrived at the doorway, he stopped. “Get some sleep this week, okay? You look like you need it.”
As Robert left, he closed the door, leaving me alone again. I took a few deep breaths before deciding to get back to work. As I stood, I sifted through the papers he’d left. They were printouts of an exchange between Rebecca and the media coordinators working under Robert. I gave it a quick read before returning to my computer.
I wasn’t there long before I found myself reflecting once again on Robert’s comments.We need to switch it up...time to show the world something different...
He was right, our public relations strategy did feel stagnant, and many of the changes he presented to the board wouldn’t have much effect until next year. The current focus centered so much on my headline-making social media posts, organic followers, news releases, and an emphasis on allowing interested parties to “find us.” That worked in the beginning, when we were fresh off a monster infusion of capital and general interest in what the players at U-Trade were going to do with their newfound wealth.
But some of that easy media coverage had waned. Even my Chatter account wasn’t getting the engagement it had a few months ago, which annoyed me. I’d spent a fourth of my fortune acquiring it to round out the Sparks Innovation portfolio of companies. Chatter was supposed to be an asset, not a liability.
I studied the emails one more time and I turned over Robert’s proposal in my head.Let me know by the end of the week.Rebecca Owens, publisher ofAmerican Profile.Hoping for a chance to speak with me for a seven-thousand-word piece, one she might also syndicate to theLA Timesand a few national magazines. Pitching a fair, balanced, unencumbered look at what it took to run a business like mine.
Ha. There is no one like me nor any business like mine. You might find me interesting, Rebecca Owens, but I’ve no doubt you’d bore me to tears.
Still, what could it hurt to talk to her? It might be out of the box enough to keep people guessing. And that was something I always wanted to do.
