That Solo Life: The Solo PR Pro Podcast

That Solo Life: Co-hosted by Karen Swim, APR, founder of Words for Hire, LLC and owner of Solo PR Pro and Michelle Kane, founder of VoiceMatters, LLC, we keep it real and talk about the topics that affect solo business owners.

That Solo Life: The Solo PR Pro Podcast is a business podcast hosted by thatsololife, with 353 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

thatsololife hosts That Solo Life: The Solo PR Pro Podcast, a business show with 353 episodes published.

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  Episode #355

  Why Solo PR Pros Should Plan for Micro Retirement Now

  Sep 7, 202631 min

  Episode Summary In a recent episode ( Episode 350 ), we addressed burnout and called it out as a business risk. Today’s episode addresses a different reason to step away from your business with a micro retirement. Unlike burnout, micro retirement is a planned business response and not a crisis break. It is a deliberate, designed pause that you build into your practice before you need it, the same way you build a financial runway or a contract clause. Michelle opens with a hypothetical question: what if she wanted to disappear for four months next year, and Karen's first reaction is not alarm but logistics: let's talk about how. What follows is a clear-eyed conversation about what micro retirement actually is (a planned break of weeks to months, taken periodically across a career, not a one-time event at the end) and what the research shows across two very different surveys. The episode also discusses how solo practitioners are uniquely positioned to give themselves permission that employees have to negotiate along with the real risks in a tumultuous 2026 economy. Karen and Michelle walk through four objections with straight answers and provide a three-question framework for figuring out if and when micro retirement is realistic. The episode closes on something that goes deeper than logistics: the uncomfortable question of who you are when the work goes away, and why that discomfort is data worth paying attention to, not something to push past. Episode Highlights [02:26] What Micro Retirement Actually Is — and What Makes It Different: Karen defines the term clearly: a planned, intentional break from full-time work, usually between a few weeks and several months, taken periodically across a career rather than saved for one event at the end. The key word is planned — this is not a crisis break forced by illness or collapse. It's a designed pause, built in advance, the same way any good business decision is built. Karen contrasts it with how most people actually stop: running ragged until the body or the psyche creates an unplanned break, which is never tidy or pleasant. [05:19] What the Research Shows — and Why the Sample Matters: Two surveys, two very different pictures. An HSBC quality-of-life study of 10,000 respondents found 37% plan to take a mini retirement at some point before actual retirement, but the sample skewed heavily toward high earners with assets between $100,000 and $2 million. Karen flags this upfront: it matters when we get to the objections. The SideHustles.com survey of 1,000 average American employees tells a different story: 75% believe employers should offer structured micro retirement or sabbatical policies, 10% are actively planning one this year, 59% would consider one at some point, and one in five have already taken one. When you get to Gen Z, 85% believe these policies should exist. The appetite is there across income levels, the HSBC study just shows who currently has the financial cushion to act on it. [09:12] The Solo Advantage Nobody Talks About: You Can Give Yourself Permission: Employees have to negotiate. They have to ask HR, work around policy, or quit and hope to get rehired. Solo practitioners have no employer to grant or deny anything. That is genuinely freeing, but it also means there is no external structure forcing the planning conversation to happen. If you don't build the runway yourself, nobody builds it for you. Karen and Michelle are direct: the freedom is real, and the responsibility that comes with it is equally real. [11:09] The Honest Risk: Naming the 2026 Economy Without Dismissing It: Karen does not pretend the timing concern away. In a tumultuous 2026 economy where many solos have already lost business to budget cuts, stepping back is not without risk. Your pipeline doesn't pause because you do. Client relationships need maintenance. This isn't a reason not to plan, but it's a reason to be honest about timing and to build the infrastructure before the break, not during it. The episode makes room for the real tension rather than talking around it. [13:20] Objection 1: I Don't Have $100,000 to $2 Million Sitting Around: The HSBC study describes what wealthy people are already doing. The SideHustles.com study shows the appetite exists at every income level. The version of micro retirement accessible to most solo practitioners looks less like three months in Portugal and more like the hairstylist Michelle describes, building deliberate off-weeks into the business cycle so that absence is planned and clients adjust around it. The goal is a protected break, not a luxury vacation. Those are different things. [16:35] Objection 2: My Clients Will Replace Me and My Pipeline Will Die: Karen connects this to the specialization episode: if your business depends entirely on your personal presence at every touchpoint with no systems, referral partners, or documented processes, stepping away is genuinely risky. But that's not an argument against micro retirement. It's a diagnostic. It tells you that the business needs infrastructure before you can step back, and building that infrastructure is phase one of the plan. Michelle reframes it through the account executive experience: you went on vacation and someone covered. That concept is not foreign; it just has to be built into a solo practice deliberately. [18:19] Objection 3: The Economy Is Too Uncertain Right Now: Karen's honest answer: she's not going to tell you your worries are unfounded. They're not. But maybe this episode gives you the runway to plan for 2027 instead of 2026. Use the time to test referral partners in small ways, bring in subcontractors on pieces of work, build the rhythm. A planned micro retirement is a stress test, and unlike an unplanned forced absence, you can still step in if you need to. The planning itself is the value, regardless of when the break actually happens. [20:00] The Quiet Objection: Would I Even Know Who I Am Without Being Constantly Available: Michelle names the objection nobody says out loud: what if I stopped for real and my business survived? Would I even know who I am without it? Karen's response is direct and careful. For many practitioners, identity and career are so tightly wound that the question of who you are without the work is genuinely scary. That discomfort, Karen says, is data. It's not something to push past. It's something to sit with, to do the work on, and to begin untangling in smaller stages, because your job is what you do, no matter how much you love it. It is not who you are. [23:48] The Three-Question Framework: Karen's three questions for working out whether and how micro retirement is realistic for you right now. 1) What percentage of your revenue could survive your absence without you personally present? Be dead honest, not aspirational. 2) What's the smallest version of a break that would still count as a real reset for you? It doesn't have to be six months. It might be three uninterrupted weeks with no email. Calibrate it to your nervous system, not to a survey headline. 3) Who is your reality-check person or community for this decision? This is not a decision to make alone, and especially not at 2 am when you're burned out. [26:41] The Live Hypothetical: A Solo Seven Years In with No Infrastructure: Michelle runs the scenario: seven years in, exhausted, three solid retainer clients, everything routes through their personal inbox, no backup. Karen walks it through all three questions. Revenue survival without their presence: close to zero percent — because everything is personal. That's not a failing; it's a finding. It tells you that phase one isn't planning the break; it's building the thin layer of infrastructure that makes a break possible. Even one trusted referral partner, a shared inbox process, or a part-time contractor who can triage is enough to start. Two weeks offline becomes a systems test, not just a vacation. That data then becomes the foundation for planning something longer. [29:00] Community as the Missing Infrastructure: Karen closes on the thing that ties this episode to every other episode: the decision to step back from your business should not be made alone, in a spreadsheet, during a 2 am spiral. It should be made with people who work exactly the way you do — who have built these systems, navigated these decisions, and can tell you what worked and what didn't from the specific vantage point of an independent practitioner. Community is not the soft option here. It's the missing infrastructure. Resources & Additional Information That Solo Life Episode 350: The 4 Structural Fixes That Protect Solo PR Pros from Burnout HSBC: Quality of Life Study (mini retirement data — high earner sample) SideHustles: Micro Retirement Survey (1,000 US employees, average age 40) Solo PR Pro: Membership and Resources Host & Show Info That Solo Life is a podcast created for public relations, communication, and marketing professionals who work as independent and small practitioners. Hosted by Karen Swim, APR, President of Solo PR Pro, and Michelle Kane, Principal of Voice Matters, the show delivers expert insights, encouragement, and practical advice for solo PR pros navigating today's dynamic professional landscape. Listen to all episodes and catch up on previous conversations at thatsololife.com. Did this episode inspire you? If you found value in this conversation, please take a moment to leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback helps us reach more solo pros just like you! Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode.

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  Episode #354

  Beat the Economy By Breaking into a New Industry

  Aug 31, 202622 min

  Episode Summary Some industries are on fire right now, hiring, growing, and spending. And some are bone dry. If yours has gone quiet, you've probably already heard the advice to pivot. Karen and Michelle are not here to tell you that pivoting is possible. They're here to tell you how. Episode 354 is a practical guide to breaking into a new industry when your current one has stalled. This episode is for the practitioner who is sitting in a dry sector right now and needs real steps to take. Karen and Michelle start by busting the myth that skills plus reputation walk seamlessly across industries, clarify exactly what does and doesn't travel with you. The episode is tactical and includes: how to reframe your existing portfolio through a new industry's lens, how to land a flagship project without working for free, four pathways to first opportunities in a new vertical, the mistakes to avoid when you're tempted to cut your rates, a realistic 3-to-6-month timeline with honest caveats, and the one concrete step you can take today. Karen is clear from the start that she is not speaking theoretically; she has had to take some of these steps herself, and the advice reflects it. Episode Highlights [01:22] The Myth That Skills Plus Reputation Walk Across Industries Unchanged: Karen names the belief that gets a lot of solo practitioners into trouble: that PR is PR everywhere, and their skills and reputation can carry them into a new sector without friction. Michelle validates the partial truth that media relations instincts, crisis communications, executive positioning, and messaging discipline, those are your core muscles, and they do travel. What doesn't travel: industry vocabulary, regulatory landscape, buyer psychology, and the media relationships themselves. A healthcare reporter relationship means nothing in fintech. Plan for that rather than hoping otherwise. [02:22] Relationships Don't Transfer — But Skills Do, and That's Enough to Start: Michelle's framing is direct: don't count on your contacts to save you. What saves you is your own capability. You know how to build a message, craft it with precision, and hold the room under pressure. Karen's practical response to practitioners worried about starting over is that you are not starting from zero. Your portfolio still exists. Your experience and judgment still matter. The task is to reframe what you've already done through the lens of the new audience you want to reach, and to do the same with your LinkedIn, your bio, and your case studies, swapping out PR jargon for the new industry's language. [04:41] The Fastest Credential is One Flagship Project in the New Space: A single flagship project in your target industry outweighs years of history in your previous one. The question is how to get it without working for free. Karen's preferred path is a short-term embedded stint as a contractor with a PR practitioner or agency that already serves the industry you want to enter. You're not responsible for the whole strategy; you're not necessarily client-facing, but you're learning the landscape and building your portfolio at the same time, while getting paid. Karen's second preference is pitching a byline to a trade publication in the new industry. You don't need sector experience to have a point of view on communications and PR. That byline becomes proof of presence in the space. [06:29] Four Pathways to First Opportunities in a New Industry: Michelle and Karen walk through the four most practical routes. First: adjacent industry referrals. Look inside your existing network for one-degree-removed introductions. You are probably closer to your target industry than you think. Second: volunteer with a trade association in the industry. This builds knowledge, visible credibility, and relationships, and for APRs, volunteer hours count toward renewal. Third: offer to ghostwrite for someone already working inside the industry. You gain the knowledge as you write the piece and prove your capability in the process. Fourth: subcontract for an agency already serving that vertical, building your portfolio before going direct to clients. [11:14] Where the Money Is Flowing Right Now: Michelle names the sectors actively hiring communicators in 2026: AI, healthcare, energy, and climate. Traditional retail and some legacy media are not. Karen adds the nuance that even in sectors that are struggling overall — she cites tech specifically — there are portions of the sector where money still exists and is still being spent. The prescription: read financial publications, track where investment is flowing, follow the problems that are predicted and who is positioned to solve them. Broaden your view within sectors before assuming the whole sector is closed. [13:11] The Mistake Everyone Is Tempted to Make: Pivoting on Price Instead of Positioning: When you're new to a space and feel you need to prove yourself, the temptation is to undercut your rates. Karen is direct: do not do this. Clients who find you through price are not clients who value your judgment. What you can do instead is start with a smaller scope of work such as a three-month project, a productized offer, or a focused consultation. In this way, the engagement feels lower risk to the buyer without compromising your rate. Michelle's alternative: develop a sharp point of view on the industry's actual challenges, which signals that you belong there regardless of your history in the sector. Pivot on positioning, not on price. [15:51] Setting a Realistic Timeline and Not Getting Discouraged: Karen's honest assessment is that a realistic runway for breaking into a new industry is 3 to 6 months. In the current market, it could take a year or longer. The economy is moving in windows. There are periods where things open up, then something shifts, and clients pull back. Karen names this from personal experience, not theory. The practical implication is don't try to turn away from your current sector overnight. Work the new industry alongside what you're already doing, chip away consistently, and measure forward progress by inbound interest and repeat conversations rather than by contracts signed. [17:43] Speed It Up With In-Person Networking: Karen's tactical advice for shortening the timeline: if the target industry exists in your local area, find the in-person touchpoints. Local chamber of commerce, trade association meetings, industry mixers, and direct coffee requests to people inside companies you'd like to work with. Karen is careful to say don't use the phrase 'pick your brain' — instead, tell them honestly that you're interested in serving this industry and want to learn more about what they're facing. Follow up with a small, thoughtful thank-you. Face-to-face accelerates trust in a way that digital outreach does not. [19:58] The One Concrete Step to Take Today: Karen closes with a single, low-lift action: pick one adjacent connection in your existing network and ask for an introduction this week. Don't overthink it, don't plan the whole campaign first, don't wait until you've rewritten your website. Take one step. Michelle adds the Solo PR Pro community as a place to practice the pivot; the private forum is full of practitioners who know people across industries and are ready to make introductions. Resources & Additional Information Sectors actively hiring communicators in 2026 (per the episode): AI, healthcare, energy, and climate communications. Solo PR Pro membership community — Solo PR Pro's private forum is specifically mentioned as a place to practice the pivot, make connections, and get introductions into new industries. soloprpro.com That Solo Life podcast website: thatsololife.com Host & Show Info That Solo Life is a podcast created for public relations, communication, and marketing professionals who work as independent practitioners or microagenices. Hosted by Karen Swim, APR, President of Solo PR Pro, and Michelle Kane, Principal of Voice Matters, the show delivers expert insights, encouragement, and practical advice for solo PR pros navigating today's dynamic professional landscape. That Solo Life was recently recognized as one of the Top 33 Solopreneur Podcasts on the Web by Feedspot. Listen to all episodes and catch up on previous conversations at thatsololife.com. Did this episode inspire you? If you found value in this conversation, please take a moment to leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback helps us reach more solo pros just like you! Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode.

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  Episode #353

  How Two Indie PR Pros Delivered 170,000 Attendees and Daily Media Coverage for the World Cup

  Aug 24, 202635 min

  Episode Summary Most PR wins are hard to see in real time. The brand building, the reputation work, the slow accumulation of coverage that eventually shifts how a client is perceived. Those results are often invisible until long after the campaign ends. Mitch Leff's World Cup campaign for the city of Decatur, Georgia was the opposite. The goal was clear: get people to the square. The measure of success was visible from day one. And by the time the Indigo Girls closed out the 34-day Watch Fest on the last night of the tournament, Mitch and his partner Kim Speece had delivered 170,000 attendees, daily media coverage for every single day of the World Cup, international press from Japan's Asahi Shimbun, features in Southern Living and Garden & Gun, and the best sales month in 29 years for one of Decatur's most beloved bars. Even more amazing, they did as two independent practitioners. There was no junior staff, no agency overhead, just decades of experience, meticulous timing, and a daily 8:30 pm video blast to TV stations so that the morning shows always had something to run. In this episode, Mitch joins Karen and Michelle to walk through how the campaign came together, how they set expectations without a baseline, how they managed story angles that didn't pan out, and what it means for the case that independent practitioners can do what large agencies do and do it with excellence. Episode Highlights [01:48] Saying Yes Without a Budget, Scope, or Timeline: Mitch's colleague Jen Johns called in the fall of 2024 with an idea for 34 days of World Cup programming in Decatur's newly renovated town square. No budget confirmed, no scope locked, no clear timeline beyond 'the World Cup is happening.' Mitch said yes anyway, drawn by the scale of what it could be and the relationship with Jen, who he'd worked with through years of sports-adjacent clients. His first proposal didn't even have a budget number in it. The plan and the funding came together in the months that followed. [04:00] Working Backwards from the Event: How to Build a 14-Month PR Timeline: Mitch and his colleague, Kim Speece sat down in spring 2025 and mapped the entire campaign backwards from the final night of the World Cup. Every announcement got its own milestone: the overall program launch, three separate band announcements for the headline acts, a cluster announcement for the smaller supporting performances, and a commissioned economic impact study from a professor at Emory's Goizueta Business School scoped specifically for Decatur. Each milestone had a deadline, and every deadline was worked backwards from the one that followed it. [06:10] When a Story Angle Doesn't Pan Out — and When Something Better Shows Up: Mitch had planned for the volunteer story as a strong visual element: hundreds of community volunteers being trained and deployed, a natural human-interest thread. It didn't work as well as expected as the training sessions were smaller and less visually compelling than he'd imagined. At the same time, an unplanned opportunity arrived on a Sunday morning: a founder of REM posted that he'd be sitting in with Drivin N Cryin at the Watch Fest the following evening. Mitch had an updated media advisory out that Sunday afternoon. The lesson he draws: you plan the story angles you know, you stay close enough to what's actually happening to catch the ones you didn't. [08:39] Turning a Crisis Risk Into a Proactive Story: Heat was on every event organizer's mind during the 2026 summer. When Atlanta media began running stories about fans passing out at Centennial Olympic Park, Mitch had a different story ready: everything Decatur had done to prepare. Misting stations. Shade coverage. Water stations. Paramedics and fire department staff on site, including the fire chief. He pitched the preparedness angle, booked the interviews, and turned a potential crisis narrative into a positive feature about a city that had planned ahead. [13:56] Setting Expectations and Baselines When You're Starting from Zero: The newly renovated Decatur Square had never hosted an event of this size. The fire department estimated a capacity of around 5,500 people. That became the planning number. For media expectations, Mitch told the client they should expect three of Atlanta's four TV stations at the launch press conference, plus the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and local radio. They got all four stations, an advance story in the AJC, significant radio coverage, and international press. Once it became clear that Decatur had a more organized and sustained program than any other city in the region, Mitch revised his projections upward, telling the client they'd get more coverage than originally planned, because the program itself had earned it. [16:00] Building Media Relationships Six Months Before You Need Them: One of Mitch's core principles for event PR: never let a reporter first hear about the event when the event is happening. Every journalist who might want to cover the Watch Fest knew about it six months in advance. The outreach spanned local, statewide, regional, national, sports, and travel media. The Chamber of Commerce, the Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Mayor's office, and elected officials were all on every distribution list, because they were fielding calls from other media and amplifying the reach. By the time the World Cup started, the reporters already knew. Mitch's job in the final weeks was to give them content, not context. [18:00] The Daily Blast That Made Morning Shows Easy to Say Yes To: Two weeks before the World Cup, Mitch and Kim began sending a weekly 10-day look-ahead to media. Once the tournament started, they added a daily blast: a brief note about what happened that day and what was happening the next day, with video of that evening's concert shot and delivered to TV stations by 8:3 0pm. Not a press release. Not even a full media advisory. Just here is what happened, here is what is coming, here is usable video for your 11 pm show and your morning block. Morning producers came in at 2 am and found the clip at the top of their inbox. Channel 69, the CBS affiliate, ran a drone shot of the Decatur Square on most mornings of the World Cup. That daily cadence is what made Decatur reliable, and reliable is what keeps reporters coming back. [20:16] Owning the Last Weekend When No One Else Was Doing Anything: As the World Cup wound down, Mitch checked the schedule and noticed that the downtown Fan Fest ended July 15th and nothing else was happening in Atlanta on the 18th and 19th. He told the client: we can own that weekend. The city of Atlanta ultimately announced a Ludacris concert in Piedmont Park for one of those nights, but the concert ended at 6 pm. The Indigo Girls at Decatur didn't start until 8 pm. Mitch made sure reporters knew that Decatur would be the closing act. Decatur is how the World Cup ends. By the time the Indigo Girls took the stage, the narrative was exactly what he'd pitched it to be. [22:07] Two Independents, No Agency Overhead, One Full Campaign: Michelle raises what the episode is really about: two independent practitioners, no junior staff, no agency infrastructure, and they delivered a campaign that the client said far exceeded their expectations. Mitch explained that knowing when to send a release at 11:30 pm instead of 3 am because you understand how morning producers work, knowing which story angles have visual legs and which don't, and having relationships with reporters built before you need them was the key to success. The budget didn't require a third person, and the experience of two senior people meant the judgment was there from day one. They split the days, set up a workspace on the square for managing other clients, and absorbed the overrun in June and July because that's what the work required. [29:34] What Mitch Is Most Proud of, and What the Numbers Don't Capture: Karen asks the question that goes beyond the data. Mitch's answer circles back to the relationship: a city manager and mayor who were responsive every single day, a client who consistently said the results were beyond what they'd imagined, and a square that was packed night after night with people who'd never been to Decatur before and will come back. The Brickstore Pub's best day in 29 years. A reporter flying in from Tokyo's Asahi Shimbun specifically to cover how smaller cities benefit from World Cup hosting. A morning when Mitch could watch the CBS affiliate run a drone shot of a full Decatur square at 5 am and know that the video he'd sent the night before was the reason it was on the air. And the last 20 minutes of the Indigo Girls set, when Mitch and Kim let themselves feel what they'd built and then started wondering what was next. About Mitch Leff Mitch Leff is the founder and principal of Leff Associates, an Atlanta-based independent PR firm with more than four decades of experience in public relations, media strategy, crisis communications, and event PR. His work spans sports, government, nonprofit, and corporate communications — including the 1996 Atlanta Olympics — and he is widely recognized as one of Georgia's most connected and experienced independent practitioners. Mitch also leads the Georgia Independent Professionals Group, a community of solo and independent PR and communications professionals across the state. He is an active presence on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook, and is a frequent resource and connector for the Georgia independent PR community. Website: leffassociates.com/our-team LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/leffassociates Email: mitch@leffassociates.com Resources & Additional Information Decatur Watch Fest 26: decaturwatchfest26.com Leff Associates: leffassociates.com Georgia Independent Professionals Group: Connect via Mitch Leff on LinkedIn Solo PR Pro membership community: soloprpro.com That Solo Life podcast website: thatsololife.com Host & Show Info That Solo Life is a podcast created for public relations, communication, and marketing professionals who work as independent and small practitioners. Hosted by Karen Swim, APR, President of Solo PR Pro, and Michelle Kane, Principal of Voice Matters, the show delivers expert insights, encouragement, and practical advice for solo PR pros navigating today's dynamic professional landscape. Listen to all episodes and catch up on previous conversations at thatsololife.com. Did this episode inspire you? If you found value in this conversation, please take a moment to leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback helps us reach more solo pros just like you! Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode.

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  Episode #352

  The Hairball that Gave Us Hope

  Aug 17, 202624 min

  Episode Summary In this episode of That Solo Life, Karen and Michelle discuss five headlines from newsletters, online news, and blog posts that caught their attention recently. From the hotly debated AI content watermarking to how negative SEO is being used as a competitive weapon to the giant hairball that rolled through the streets of New York City, they provide their point of view and offer actionable takeaways for Solo PR Pros. Episode Highlights [00:53] Topic 1: AI Content Watermarking — Transparency Without Context: Karen kicks off with the AI content watermarking debate — Anthropic and others beginning to watermark AI-generated content. Karen's take: she's not against transparency, but a watermark with no context misses the point. Using AI as an editing layer — the way she uses Grammarly or Claude to catch blind spots and pressure-test a draft — does not mean she didn't write the piece. The judgment, the voice, and the revision are still hers. The problem with a blanket token is that it can't distinguish between a thoughtful human-led workflow with an AI assist and a prompt-dump. AI slop isn't a new problem, bad writing predates computers by centuries. The real protection against it is not reading it, not publishing it, and not sharing it. Karen's practical point for the profession: even practitioners who believe they don't use AI almost certainly are as t's embedded in media databases, press release distribution tools, social platforms, and smartphones. The more productive stance is engaging with the question of how to use it responsibly. [09:05] Topic 1 Continued: AI Deception Is the Real Problem: Karen sharpens the point: what actually bothers her isn't AI-assisted writing, it's deceptive use, particularly AI-generated photos used to represent products or experiences. Restaurant menus with AI food photography. Shoe listings where the product looks nothing like what arrives. That's not a writing quality issue. That's a consumer trust issue. And it's where the conversation about AI authenticity needs to focus. [11:51] Topic 2: Negative SEO as Competitive Weaponry: Karen flags a story that surprised her: litigation underway around US businesses deliberately using toxic backlinks to damage competitors' online visibility. SEO sabotage as a competitive tactic. Karen's immediate reaction: she's dealt with malware attacks that required a full site cleanse and Google resubmission, but she'd never thought of backlinks being weaponized intentionally. The takeaway for solo practitioners: check your own backlinks. Your clients with in-house SEO teams may already be doing this, but smaller clients probably aren't. And your own name and brand reputation can be attached to toxic links you're not aware of. [14:28] Topic 3: The K-18 Hairball — Experiential Marketing Having Its Moment: Michelle brings the story of hair care brand K-18 rolling a giant hairball — called The Tumble Hair — through the streets of New York City to launch their Future IQ hair longevity serum. The stunt stopped New Yorkers. New Yorkers. Karen's read: in an era where AI generates infinite digital content, real physical experiences create the kind of surprise and shareability that no algorithm can manufacture. The hairball was genuinely alarming to look at, and it worked — lots of social media, lots of engagement, lots of earned coverage. The bigger signal: people are still craving real things, even if the real thing is a giant rolling hairball. [17:48] Topic 4: Summer Reading Recommendations: Karen and Michelle swap what they've been reading. Michelle is midway through We Solve Murders by Richard Osman and praises the tight chapters, quick pace, and social media influencer murders as the entry point for a bigger caper involving a private security firm. Karen finished Olivia Strauss Is Running Out of Time by Angela Brown, a novel that deals with mortality and the dreams people shelve, in a way that's more funny and page-turning than heavy, and that left her with a genuine nudge to dust off things she'd pushed aside. Both recommend reading outside of business books to sharpen writing and restore creativity. They challenge listeners to get through a book or two before summer ends. [22:16] Topic 5: The Library Card Is a Surprisingly Useful Business Tool: Michelle, who serves on a public library board, makes the case: a library card gives you access to global publications through services like PressReader, which means major newspapers and trade outlets without individual subscription costs. For solo practitioners trimming budgets without wanting to lose access to media that matters, this is a real option. Libraries also now offer tools, appliances, and in some cases co-working space. Michelle and Karen both note that modern libraries are significantly more useful than their reputation suggests — and that getting a card is a genuinely practical move for anyone in the information business. Resources Mentioned PR News: PR Roundup: Claude’s Watermark Debate, the Say-Do Gap Is Killing Culture, and a Giant Hairball Rolls Through NYC Search Engine Land: Judge lets SEO sabotage lawsuit over toxic backlinks move forward Richard Osman: We Solve Murders Angela Brown: Olivia Strauss Is Running Out of Time , Author Website Additional Resources for Solo PR Pros PressReader: Global newspaper and magazine access (often available through your library card): pressreader.com National Library Card Sign-Up Month (September): ala.org Solo PR Pro: soloprpro.com That Solo Life podcast website: thatsololife.com Host & Show Info That Solo Life is a podcast created for public relations, communication, and marketing professionals who work as independent and small practitioners. Hosted by Karen Swim, APR, President of Solo PR Pro, and Michelle Kane, Principal of Voice Matters, the show delivers expert insights, encouragement, and practical advice for solo PR pros navigating today's dynamic professional landscape. Listen to all episodes and catch up on previous conversations at thatsololife.com. Did this episode inspire you? If you found value in this conversation, please take a moment to leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback helps us reach more solo pros just like you! Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode.

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  Episode #351

  The Client Problem Solo PR Pros Are Perfectly Positioned to Solve

  Aug 10, 202622 min

  Episode Summary Quiet cracking, distinct from quiet quitting, describes employees who are still showing up, still performing, sometimes performing really well, but are internally under pressure, uncertain about their job security, or unclear on what's expected of them. They're not checked out. They're just cracking quietly while holding it together on the surface. In this episode, co-hosts Karen Swim, APR, and Michelle Kane address this trend and how it impacts Solo PR Pros. The Talent Trends 2026 report found 54% of respondents have experienced some level of quiet cracking, with one in five saying they experience it frequently or constantly. Gallup's 2025 engagement data shows only 31% of US employees were actively engaged at work. Karen and Michelle make the case that this is not an HR headline — it's a communications problem that solo PR pros are already standing in the middle of, and one they're uniquely positioned to surface and address. They walk through what quiet cracking looks like in client organizations, the say-do gap it creates between internal reality and external messaging, four objections practitioners will raise (with honest answers to each), a three-question filter for identifying quiet cracking clients, a live scenario drill on handling a client who just went through quiet layoffs, and what to do when the same isolation and uncertainty you help clients name applies to your own practice. Episode Highlights [01:22] Quiet Cracking vs. Quiet Quitting: Why the Distinction Matters: Karen draws the line clearly. Quiet quitting was behavioral — people doing the bare minimum on purpose. Quiet cracking is about people who are still showing up and often performing well, but are internally under pressure, uncertain about job security, or unclear about expectations. They're not checked out. They're holding it together while cracking on the inside. The distinction matters because quiet cracking is harder to see, harder to name, and — for PR practitioners — far more consequential to the external messaging they're being paid to manage. [02:43] The Data: 54% Have Experienced It, Only 31% Are Actively Engaged: The Talent Trends 2026 report found 54% of respondents had experienced some level of quiet cracking, with one in five reporting it frequently or constantly. Separately, Gallup's 2025 data shows only 31% of US employees were actively engaged at work. Michelle notes the real number is probably higher — people were likely reluctant to admit it. Karen and Michelle flag upfront that some regional figures they found alongside these reports are still working through their verification process and will be linked in the show notes as confirmed. [04:07] Why This Is a Communications Problem, Not an HR Problem: Karen's framing lands clearly: when a workforce is quietly cracking, the people experiencing it are also the people who talk — to friends, to Glassdoor, to LinkedIn, to reporters who cover their industry. Meanwhile, the company's external messaging is often saying the exact opposite of what's happening inside. In the past, a scandal or mass layoff was needed to make that gap visible externally. Now it leaks constantly in small ways, because everyone has a publishing platform in their pocket. The say-do gap between internal reality and external narrative is squarely a communications problem. [06:03] Why Solo PR Pros Are Already Standing in This Spot: The most common objection Karen anticipates: 'I'm an external comms person, this is an HR or culture consultant's job.' Her response: if you already do executive communications, thought leadership, or employer brand messaging, you're already standing at the exact intersection where internal reality and external narrative either line up, or they don't. The question to start asking: is what you're telling the outside world about this company's culture and people something that would hold up if anyone looked inside right now? That's a comms function, not an HR function. [09:01] Four Objections — With Honest, Bounded Answers: Karen and Michelle work through four objections the Solo PR Pro community will raise. One: I'll get pulled into HR issues I'm not equipped to fix. Answer: you're doing a narrative alignment check, not a culture overhaul Two: this feels like scope creep. Answer: keep the initial offer narrow and bounded, a message and narrative audit, maybe a leadership communications coaching session, scoped clearly upfront. Three: is quiet cracking just another buzzword? Answer: the underlying data isn't new, Gallup has been tracking disengagement for years, and it keeps getting worse; the label may fade but the problem won't. Four (the quiet one): will raising this insult the client and jeopardize the relationship? Answer: frame it as market context, not a diagnosis — here's a trend I'm seeing across industries; I wanted to flag it and ask a couple of questions. [13:05] How to Raise It Without Blowing Up the Relationship: Karen's approach: never lead with it and never frame it as an accusation. Bring it as market context — a trend showing up across industries that you wanted to flag and ask a couple of questions about. That framing lands completely differently than suggesting the client's organization is falling apart. Karen also names these as her favorite kind of client engagement: rich, layered, strategy-heavy work that uses PR skills in ways that don't always get deployed in day-to-day media relations. [14:33] The Three-Question Filter for Identifying Quiet Cracking Clients: Karen's three questions to run on any current or prospective client. One: is there a visible gap between the external messaging and what you would actually find if you talked to employees? That's the say-do gap check. Two: is leadership communicating clearly right now about anything that will create uncertainty — restructuring, return to office, layoffs, a merger, a rocky quarter? If not, that silence is the opening. Three: would a light-touch audit — not a full culture overhaul, just a message and narrative review — surface something useful? If all three are yes, you have a real offer to bring. [16:53] The Live Drill: A B2B Tech Client with Quiet Layoffs: Michelle runs a scenario: a long-retained B2B tech client just went through quiet layoffs — no public announcement, people disappearing from company Slack — while the careers page still says 'we invest in our people.' Karen runs it through all three questions: the say-do gap is glaring, leadership communication was absent, which created an uncertainty vacuum for remaining employees, and a light-touch audit of the careers page messaging is a completely natural scope conversation. The entry point: 'I noticed the careers page messaging hasn't been updated since before the reorganization. Do you want me to take a look at whether it still reflects where you are?' Not scary. Not confrontational. Exactly in scope. [20:54] Why This Connects Back to Why Solos Went Solo: Karen closes on the thread beneath the whole episode: a lot of solo practitioners went independent partly because they didn't want to be inside a workplace that was quietly cracking. Now they're watching that same dynamic play out for the clients they serve. The isolation and uncertainty they help clients name in their organizations is worth naming for themselves too — and it's a good reminder that none of them should be figuring out how to spot or address this stuff completely alone. Resources & Additional Information Talent Trends 2026 Report — Quiet cracking research Gallup — State of the Global Workplace 2025 That Solo Life, Episode 349: The 4 Structural Fixes That Protect Solo PR Pros from Burnout Solo PR Pro membership community: soloprpro.com That Solo Life podcast website: thatsololife.com Host & Show Info That Solo Life is a podcast created for public relations, communication, and marketing professionals who work as independent and small practitioners. Hosted by Karen Swim, APR, President of Solo PR Pro, and Michelle Kane, Principal of Voice Matters, the show delivers expert insights, encouragement, and practical advice for solo PR pros navigating today's dynamic professional landscape. Listen to all episodes and catch up on previous conversations at thatsololife.com. Did this episode inspire you? If you found value in this conversation, please take a moment to leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback helps us reach more solo pros just like you! Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode.

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