Pitchin' and Sippin' with Lexie Smith

Cloey Callahan is a Senior Reporter at Digiday Media's WorkLife, where she writes about evolving workplaces and workforces across different areas like technology, spaces, culture, DE&I, leadership, and talent. Before WorkLife, she was a General Assignment Reporter and Editor primarily covering local news across six counties in New York State's Hudson Valley region, where she was born...

Rachel Chang, a seasoned journalist with more than two decades of editorial experience, has built a successful career in travel and pop culture reporting. Formerly a Senior Editor at Us Weekly , Editor-in-Chief at J-14 , and Entertainment Editor at CosmoGIRL!, today Rachel is a freelance writer and editor. She regularly contributes to Condé Nast Travele r and Travel + Leisure, and has taken on edi...

In this first minisode of season 6, Lexie Smith drops tips, strategies and hacks to try when pitching follow-ups. From free tools, to what to include in the body of the email pitch, Lexie shares how she and her team conduct thoughtful and relevant follow-ups at THEPRBAR Agency.  Here’s What You’ll Learn: How a recent Pitching SOS Training she conducted with a PR client inspired this episode The im...

Elaine Ayensu Mensah is a fashion and luxury founder and strategic brand advisor. She has worked with brands across industries such as Netflix, HBO, Starz, British Fashion Council, London College of Fashion, Deloitte, and US Small Business Administration, to name a few). Her company, Showroom Etc. Provides a bridge between African designers, brands, and artists and the North American mass market t...

Michelle Songy is a serial tech entrepreneur and founder and CEO of Press Hook, a media relations platform that connects brands, media, publicists, and journalists. Recognized as a changemaker in the PR industry, Michelle recently earned her spot on PRWeek’s Dashboard 25, a list of the most influential people in communications technology, representing the enterprises that are shaping your tech sta...

This episode is extra special, featuring a guest trifecta from the Qwoted team, the network and platform that fosters relationships between the media, experts, and PR talent. In this episode, Lexie Smith speaks with Vannyda Thach (Media Support Manager), Maddy Kislovsky (Head of Sales), and Shelby Bridges (Success Manager). Each guest breaks down their respective role with Qwoted, sharing insights...

Kells McPhillips is a health and wellness writer whose journalism has appeared in The New York Times, Well+Good, Fortune, Runner’s World, Outside, Yoga Journa l, and others. Kells also holds an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School in New York City. In 2022, her short fiction was shortlisted for The Masters Review Summer Short Story Award for New Writers, and she is the 2023 recipient of the...

In the season 5 finale minisode of the Pitchin’ and Sippin’ Podcast, Lexie Smith shares how she ‘made it’ in PR and key tips on landing press. She discusses the six things that led to her success in public relations and shares valuable lessons learned along the way.  Here’s What You’ll Learn: Lexie’s background in PR and her path to success The different types of PR roles she’s had throughout her...

Nicole Pearl is a former national magazine editor turned On Air Beauty, Fashion, and Lifestyle Expert known as The Beauty Girl. She’s written for countless magazines, such as Marie Claire, Allure, Health, In Style, Byrdie.com, and Parents, to name a few. She regularly appears on local and national TV shows sharing the latest trends, tips, and products to try.  Her mantra is "Beauty Shouldn&ap...

Kelsey Ogletree is an independent journalist covering travel, food, design, and golf. Her work has been featured in various print and digital outlets, including Midwest Living, Conde Nast Traveler, The Wall Street Journal, and Food & Wine. Alongside her husband, Derrick, she's also the co-founder of Pitchcraft, a journalist-led membership platform helping PR professionals build relationsh...

This week’s minisode recaps Muck Rack’s State of PR 2023 report. Your host, Lexie Smith, offers her most notable findings from the report, including the challenges PR professionals encounter and breaks down numerous challenges the PR industry faces. She also highlights key findings related to diversity in the workplace and the workload of PR pros based on the survey conducted by Muck Rack to gauge...

Christine O’Donnell is an Emmy-Nominated TV Journalist, Podcast Producer, professor, and the founder of Bright Sighted, a purpose-driven podcast consulting and production house. As seen in media outlets such as NBC, ABC, FOX, and CNN, Christine was also the very first guest on the Pitchin' and Sippin' Podcast. In this episode, Christine and Lexie explore the process of finding and vettin...

Amanda Joy Foley is a PR strategist and consultant with 20+ years of experience. The Founder of Curate Your Soul, she sees what makes people magnetic and guides clients to unlock their personal messaging and PR strategy using Human Design & The Gene Keys.  In this episode, Amanda explains human design and how publicists and entrepreneurs can utilize it to craft a successful and intuitive PR st...

 This week’s minisode is an extra special episode, marking the 100th episode of the Pitchin’ and Sippin’ Podcast! Lexie Smith takes a moment to reflect on the podcast's impact on her life, clients, and business and then shares with listeners exactly how to effectively pitch and secure a guest spot on Pitchin’ and Sippin’.  Here’s What You’ll Learn: How the podcast has impacted Lexie’s busines...

Danielle Directo-Meston is The Hollywood Reporter's first E-commerce Editor and the founder and publisher of UncoverLA.com. Over the past 18 years, she has covered local communities, fashion, and lifestyle for the LAist, Patch, Racked, Curbed, C, and other LA-based print and online publications. Her bylines also appear in Rolling Stone, MyDomaine, Where LA, and Pacific San Diego.  In this epi...

In this week’s minisode, host Lexie Smith breaks down how to nail the perfect subject line for your pitch. She emphasizes that even the most amazing pitches may go unread if the subject line fails to capture the journalist’s attention. Lexie shares expert tips on creating attention-grabbing pitch subject lines and provides effective examples. Here’s What You’ll Learn: Tips on how to monitor open r...

Vanessa Gordon is the CEO and Publisher of East End Taste and the Founder of the Hamptons Interactive Brunch event series. As a freelance journalist, she has contributed to publications such as Pregnancy & Newborn, Parents Magazine, Thrillist, Psychology Today, and many more. She has been featured as a travel and parenting expert in Reader's Digest, MSN, Condé Nast Traveler, CNN Underscor...

Candice D'Angelo is the founder of The Agency East, a PR Agency dedicated to amplifying the voices of female business owners on a mission to evolve the status quo, and The Selling Lab, a sales training agency where online and offline businesses alike come to level up their sales skills and build custom training. A corporate dropout with 12+ years of sales experience, Candice first discovered...

In this week’s minisode, your host Lexie Smith, takes listeners behind the scenes and shares how her team at THEPRBAR Agency approaches customizing and creating pitch angles for journalists. This episode offers valuable insights for PR professionals, founders, and entrepreneurs looking to uplevel their businesses and career by landing earned placements in the media.  Here’s What You’ll Learn: Lexi...

Caitlin Copple (she/they) is the Founding Partner & Head of PR at Full Swing Public Relations and a strategic communications expert who helps women leaders be seen and sought after so they can reclaim their power and rewrite the human story. With more than a decade of experience, her media placements have included Fast Company, Forbes, TIME, and The New York Times, among others. In 2011, Caitl...

In this minisode, host Lexie Smith walks listeners (and viewers) through the 2023 Global Comms Report: A Seminal Moment produced by PRWeek and Cision. She breaks down various segments of the report and helps listeners digest some of the results and statistics so they can best apply the information to their PR strategies going forward.  Here’s what you’ll learn: Highlights from the 2023 Global Comm...

Amber Sabri is a Creative Consultant, and Founder & CEO of Azhar PR, a New York-based PR & Digital Marketing agency that amplifies female founders + minority-owned brands in the online space. Throughout all of her career endeavors, in industries that have been dominated by the majority, Amber’s mission is to help empower the minority + even the playing field.  In this episode, Amber talks...

Catharine Montgomery founded Better Together - a VC-backed full-service, Black woman-founded, and purpose-driven public relations agency - in 2022 following a successful global agency and in-house PR career. Holding a Bachelor of Science in PR and Marketing from Auburn University and an MBA from the University of Maryland's Smith School of Business, Catharine is passionate about using her exp...

Host Lexie Smith shares four things you can do with your pitches that don't land in this minisode. From new systems to repurposing strategies and beyond, Smith believes you shouldn’t have to let your hard work go to waste when pitching. Here’s What You’ll Learn: Lexie Smith shares what to do with pitches that don't land.  She offers four suggestions to ensure that the hard work put into...

In this week’s episode, we’re Pitchin’ and Sippin’ with writer and editor Melanie Rud on all things beauty, bylines, and mastheads. Prior to becoming a full-time freelance writer, Melanie held beauty editorial positions at magazines such as ​​Shape, Good Housekeeping, and Health. Today she contributes to outlets such as Byrdie, People.com, RealSelf, RealSimple.com, Brides.com, Women's Health,...