Pitchin' and Sippin' with Lexie Smith

Pitching WorkLife and Sourcing Experts with Senior Reporter Cloey Callahan

January 11, 2024 Lexie Smith Season 6 Episode 113
Pitching WorkLife and Sourcing Experts with Senior Reporter Cloey Callahan
Pitchin' and Sippin' with Lexie Smith
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Pitchin' and Sippin' with Lexie Smith
Pitching WorkLife and Sourcing Experts with Senior Reporter Cloey Callahan
Jan 11, 2024 Season 6 Episode 113
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 and raised. 


In this episode, Cloey and Host Lexie Smith discuss how to pitch WorkLife specifically, and how to source credible experts as a journalist. She also peels back the curtain on what she looks for when selecting sources for coverage, how she selects her coverage topics, and she shares her personal pitching preferences. 



Here’s What You’ll Learn:

  • Tips on how to pitch WorkLife for press coverage
  • Cloey Callahan’s career journey
  • Her thoughts on the new era of Twitter or ‘X’
  • How she has seen success using Twitter / X
  • Tips on sourcing credible experts
  • Learn about Cloey’s podcast, The Return
  • How she sources guests for the podcast
  • Her process for storyboarding
  • Her personal pitching preferences
  • And more!


Listener Links: 


Show Notes Transcript

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 and raised. 


In this episode, Cloey and Host Lexie Smith discuss how to pitch WorkLife specifically, and how to source credible experts as a journalist. She also peels back the curtain on what she looks for when selecting sources for coverage, how she selects her coverage topics, and she shares her personal pitching preferences. 



Here’s What You’ll Learn:

  • Tips on how to pitch WorkLife for press coverage
  • Cloey Callahan’s career journey
  • Her thoughts on the new era of Twitter or ‘X’
  • How she has seen success using Twitter / X
  • Tips on sourcing credible experts
  • Learn about Cloey’s podcast, The Return
  • How she sources guests for the podcast
  • Her process for storyboarding
  • Her personal pitching preferences
  • And more!


Listener Links: 


 

 

Lexie Smith  

Hey guys, I'm Lexie Smith, a mom, multi hyphenate entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of the PR bar Inc, coaching platform and agency. In my career I've had the privilege of guiding countless brands, genius, publicists, eager students and ambitious entrepreneurs on their PR journeys. I've danced with the Giants and nurtured startups, directed in house PR departments lend my expertise to boards and spread knowledge across universities nationwide. Throughout all of this, I've seen our industry change and evolve while simultaneously proving that some timeless fundamentals remain unshaken. This show takes you behind the scenes of the world of media, marketing and PR, aiming to teach you all the new tips, tricks and how the best and brightest are achieving success overseas. Now it's time to grow. Welcome to the show. Chloe Callahan is a senior reporter at Digiday media's work life where she writes about evolving workspaces and workforces in different areas like technology, spaces, culture DNI leadership and talent. She's been covering the future of work for the last two years before that she covered local news across six counties in New York State's Hudson Valley region, where she was born and raised. So Chloe, your work first came on my radar when my agency was pitching you for an article at work life. You were an absolute pleasure to work with. And both my team and my client loved the final piece. So basically, what I'm saying is you're great at what you do. And I'm very, very excited to have you on the show today. Let's kick it off with where his home base and what do you like to do outside of work for fun?

 

Cloey Callahan  

Awesome. Thanks so much for the intro, and I'm super excited to chat today. Lexi's. So my home base is still the Hudson Valley in New York. So for people who are familiar with New York, this is about an hour, hour and a half outside of the city quick train ride away. And beacon New York is home. So this is a place that a lot of people go for weekend trips from the city, but I call it my home every day of the week. It is a little gem, I can go hike the mountains, the outside, they have a cute like little Main Street with shops and it really has everything still as a train station. So I can hop in and go to the city whenever I want. But yeah, for fun, really just spending time outside hanging out with friends. And when I'm not doing that I'm in the gym, and usually that's actually boxing with my girlfriends. Yeah, how

 

Lexie Smith  

cool is that? I took a boxing class once I live in. I live an hour north of La now but I used to live in LA. And in LA there's far more studio options that I have. So I did take like once upon a time a boxing class and I have to say it was one of the like, toughest but best workouts I've ever done.

 

Cloey Callahan  

Yeah, that's the perfect way to describe it. It is really hard but I've been doing it for about maybe nine months now and have met like such a community and we love going we love just like getting our anger and stress out from the weak and but like we're also getting good at it.

 

Lexie Smith  

Yeah, I feel like it would be a very healthy healthy outlet. I'm sure there's probably a boxing studio somewhere where I live I just I kind of forgot about boxing until literally this exact conversation on some form of workout. What's the weather where you're at? I'm very west coast so I'm not as familiar with your area.

 

Cloey Callahan  

Yeah, um, today I mean we're definitely getting chilly it is full and that's one thing I also love about being a little bit more upstate in the city we have like the beautiful leaves changing I feel like they're finally now have like all fallen which is sad. It's just like a little bit dreary now, but it's been chilly. But at the same time I love Sweater Weather super excited to just like have Thanksgiving calm right around the corner. I love all of that. So overall, like right now we're we're in the middle of fall for sure. But yeah, I just love all the seasons here.

 

Lexie Smith  

I'm very jealous. And if you're watching on YouTube plug, you'll see that she's in a flannel. I am in a sweat sweater, which is very misleading because it's probably 80 degrees outside right now. I'm in denial of Southern California. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest. And so I had seasons and now here I don't but I'm headed to Denver tonight. So I'm dressed for that situation,

 

Cloey Callahan  

mentally preparing, mentally preparing.

 

Lexie Smith  

Okay, so born and raised in New York. I want to talk a little bit more about your background and we're going to transition into something that I call career cliff notes. So think of it like what 123 a couple of minutes like giving us the Cliff Notes or the highlights of what came before today.

 

Cloey Callahan  

Yeah, so basically I went to school also in the Hudson Valley shout out SUNY New Paltz state school here, which I just loved. And when I was there, I was just doing my general courses. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. But one of my friends who sat next to me in a class was on the school newspaper, and I was like, How do I get involved? That sounds fun. So I joined with her, and we were doing that for a bit. And it was it was a great time, but I wanted to do more. So I was kind of over the newspaper stuff. I was like, I want to do longer reporting. So I was like, We need a magazine. I created a magazine at SUNY New Paltz, which was like, super exciting, it had me just like, I don't know, practice all the skills earlier on in my career of like, building a team, delegating work, all these things that I still use today. And it was really what like, sparked my career in journalism. And I only minored in it in school. But I did a ton of internships in the area at local publications that are super small, but also some reporting at the Capitol Building in Albany and even covering some of the first press conferences during the pandemic with former Governor Andrew Cuomo of just being like COVID. Here, the first ever press conferences that he did, I was able to sit in on those that was like, super exciting having that opportunity. And that was also probably the pivot of, okay, I'm kind of over like lifestyle riding. And now I kind of want to do news again. So I flipped flopped a little bit. And yeah, then I was like, This is what my career is going to be. I kind of decided at that moment. I graduated college into the pandemic. So I'm Agenzia graduated peak pandemic, it was all this all the things very stressful, but was an exciting challenge to still try to get out there and start my career, even though nothing was normal. Right. And then yeah, I started with, again, small publications in the area covering local news. And I absolutely love local news. It's like taught me everything I know how to like, be on a hard deadline, how to find my own sources, we didn't have PR people like pitching these super hyperlocal publication. So it was all on the ground reporting, which was really all the foundation of what I needed to continue to grow as a journalist. And so from there, I made a step up into the Albany Times Union are covering for them. And that is a Hearst own paper. So you know, a little bit more like corporate ask like bigger, more money behind it than a super local place. And I was there for a little bit over a year, absolutely loved my team. But we kind of all just like separated when our own ways. And they have a killer team who's still covering the Hudson Valley in those six counties that you mentioned at the top of the podcast here. And yeah, I kind of was like, What's my next step, and I had no idea what that would be. But my overall thing was that I never had like one beat. I was always a general reporter. So when I came across, when I came across digital days, posting for a work life reporter, I was like, that is an opportunity for me to like, become an expert in one sort of thing rather than just all general stuff. So I applied and I got the job. And yeah, I've been here for a little bit like, I guess a little bit under two years now. So it's been super exciting.

 

Lexie Smith  

Okay, and so you're the Senior Reporter today. Is that what your title is?

 

Cloey Callahan  

Yeah, that's correct. So started as just a reporter. And then over the summer, I was promoted to senior reporter, a

 

Lexie Smith  

congratulations. I now as a business owner, I like don't get experienced promotion. So I have to like sometimes just be like, you're doing great Lex, like, pat yourself on the back. Let's talk a little bit about what it means for you to be a senior reporter at work life. So what does your day to day entail? Is there a day to day like what what are your roles within the organization?

 

Cloey Callahan  

Yeah, so there are definitely some things that are similar every single day. And the crux of that is writing a story a day. So it is a lot of work. There is no rest over here at all. But I like that I really thrive off like that fast paced sort of environment. So every single day, I file a story to my editor and then some additional duties as senior reporter for me include I curate our weekly LinkedIn newsletter. I also am the host of today's podcast, the return season two so that is a podcast, all about Gen Z entering the workforce and what that looks like for them and how they've been changing. and things like that. I also have kickstarted our tic tock, which is super exciting. So yeah, that's kind of my day to day and then on top of that I tried to find time to do coffee chats do things like this. Go on moderating panels, talking to people, and just making connections and networking where I can on top of those daily responsibilities. This

 

Lexie Smith  

is a quick little squirrel but I am like a solid millennial, meaning I'm not an older millennial or younger millennial. There's like a gap and like, I am a millennial and I tried to my co founder and I have a different business venture, tried to go on Tik Tok recently, and we're like, we're gonna commit to 90 days and we're gonna post a video a day. And let's just let's just say, no one likes me on Tik Tok. I don't know, it never took off. We were like, well, that was a lot of effort. We tried. But I know it's a phenomenal platform. So guys follow so is the plot. Is it work life's tick tock? Yes.

 

Cloey Callahan  

Yeah, it's sick sack. But I will say like even I'm, I guess on the older end of Gen Z. And it's even hard for me. Like, when I started editing this stuff. I'm like, How do I do the green screen? How do I add sound? I'm like, there's a learning curve for sure. But, you know, it's okay. At least I follow along like I where I am very much Agenzia is like I scroll on Tik Tok a lot. So I see all the trends.

 

Lexie Smith  

It's like, I thought I was so funny and sort of my co founder, we thought we were hilarious. And then we get like, I think it was it's either 200 or 300 view jail. We just like couldn't break the cap. Anyways, before I go about ranting on Tik Tok. Okay, so I'm ranting, I'm reining it back in. I want to talk a little bit more about the traditional reporting or writing part of your job and the fact that you're producing a story a day. How do you go about curating story ideas? Or let's start there? How do you go about curating story ideas?

 

Cloey Callahan  

Awesome. Yeah. So the number one thing I would say is, I'm covering work, which is something that everyone really is having to do, right? So people are always talking about it. Like think about when you're at dinner with friends or catching up, like, what's the first thing people talk about? It's usually like what's going on with work, what they're stressed about, like, it's really hard to escape. So I just have my journalism hat on all the time. I'm like, okay, my friends are venting in our group chat about how they are so annoyed that their boss keeps asking them to, like, help them with technology stuff, just because they're younger. I'm like that story idea. You know what I mean? So that is like a number one thing that I do is I'm just always like, what are people talking about? That's like, really bothering them. And people, I don't know why I feel like people events to me a lot. So it's like, I always have that going on as potential ideas. But then, of course, there are the lovely social media and PRs that helped me so much, I really don't think that I would be able to write an article a day if it wasn't for people pitching me. So this helps a lot. When I'm stuck in a rut, I don't have any ideas. I go through my inbox every day. Of course, I often like Star Story, emails that I think would be good to revisit as a potential story to cover or I'll categorize them when I can. And that just helps keep things sorted and always have something in my you know, realm of like, where I can pick up an idea if I don't have one that week. So that helps a lot. And then other than that, just like scrolling on social, what are people talking about online, tick tock, again, like I'm very much on work talk and like career talk. So that helps. And then just like whatever's trending, whatever people are talking about, I'm like, Alright, let me dive in there. And then yeah, go from there. But like I said, it's a lot doing a story a day. And sometimes it's hard finding all of those sources. So I would be lying if I said I didn't rely on working with PR folks. And also websites like quoted and press plugs, things like that. They really do help get my story ideas out there, find sources and so on.

 

Lexie Smith  

What in your writing writing something down actually, because I've never heard a press plug. So I'm gonna have to look at that. I've never heard of that one. Yeah, same ideas quoted. Okay, cool. I learned something new today. So thank you. I've learned a lot of new things today. Okay, so sources. Let's save in there a little bit what to you makes one source standout or what gives a source merit versus another? Because I would imagine you're probably getting a lot of people reaching out saying like, I'm an expert, or like, I can talk about this and yada yada yada. Yes.

 

Cloey Callahan  

So that's it can be a challenge and I'm I'd like to be honest, sometimes I do get on calls with people who their PR person like frame them perfectly. And then they get on and they're like, What are we talking about, they're not the person. And clearly it wasn't a fit like, that happens. And it sucks, because it's wasting both of our times, like, unfortunately, that fit just isn't going to work you're not going to make in the story like, we're trying to make puzzle pieces fit where they just don't. And so that happens. And it is a bummer. Hopefully, I learned something else within that call, maybe a different story idea. That's why it's easy to rely on sources that I've talked to before and know that they are going to be a solid person for this story. But again, it's like a game, I don't want to go to the same source too often. So when I do find those new sources, it's you know, really making sure that they're the right person. And if I get it through someone emailing me a PR person, it's just like, let me do my own due diligence of researching this person checking out their LinkedIn, what they've talked about before, things like that. And I'm not a fan, of course of like sending questions ahead before hand, but sometimes if they're like, what, like, can you tell us more details about the story, if that is required to make sure that the person actually has something to say about it, then I'm okay with doing that. So we both are saving everyone's time, I'm not going to ever send like, here's the questions I'm going to ask because that doesn't make any sense as a journalist. But yeah, I do. Just try to be mindful, I researched them as much as I can. And then I just like kind of hope for the best. And if it doesn't work out, then at least I know, for next time, or, you know, it also helps when I have like a PR person that I have a connection with and know I can trust like if one PR person has time and time again gave like given me sources that have been amazing, you know, have really been exactly what I was looking for. And then I know I can trust that person if they send me someone new. So it's all those things combined. Did

 

Lexie Smith  

you know that I send out a community newsletter roundup every Tuesday, chocked full of resources, media kit, downloads, journalist contact information, event invites visibility opportunities. Basically, if you're not on the list, hit pause and sign up, it is super simple. All you got to do is go to the PR bar inc.com/newsworthy. That link is in the show notes too. Okay, back to the show. Actually, you're you're highlighting something that I want to pull out to from the public publicist perspective, because I think not I think I know this to be really powerful. prepping your client accordingly, for these interviews is not only to their benefit, but as Chloe just highlighted, it's to yours as a publicist, or as a firm's better benefit, because they're connected to you now, and the validity of how they show up is going to be attached to you. Right. So if you need a little extra motivation of your publicist who's listening to this about media training, or preparing or giving a proper brief for your client, make sure they are going into these meetings prepared. So they look good. And you look good, right? It's a two to three way street, really. And the journalists it's like, a multifaceted relationship here. So in the I'm actually let's dig into the actual pitch for a second because you do your own research, but are there certain things that are helpful for a source whether the pitching themselves or a publicist? Or a PR company, an in house brand, whomever it may be presenting the source to include, like, Do you Do you like when there's media kits? Do you just want the bio and a link to LinkedIn? Like, what, what do you care about in terms of sources?

 

Cloey Callahan  

So I guess is like the pitches a whole, like I love when someone sends me a pitch of like, okay, why are you sending this now, and then after that, getting into the source, and I like it, pretty much just straightforward. This is who the person is, this is their bio, their LinkedIn, that sort of thing. And this is why they're the right person to talk about it. I feel like when I have that, that is like chef's cast, what I really like actually is when they can say I have this person, and a couple more and that is like I really, really appreciate it. And I also appreciate it when they're from different companies. So like when that PR person maybe is representing a few different folks and all of them have something similar that they can pitch to me about something going on right now. So it really makes my job a little bit easier. So I don't need to go find a second source all of our stories need minimum to store two sources to get over the line. So we we never hear at work life publish a story with just one source. So I usually I get pitched just one source and then I find the other on my own But when a PR person can send me like, Hey, I have this idea. And here's three people can talk about it from three different places. I'm like, That's amazing, like you just made my life so much easier. So I really, really appreciate that. But I know it's not always probably possible to like find a connection between like everyone you're, you know, working with. But it definitely does help. So yeah, the more unique that the pitches, the better, because there are things in the future of workspace that are time and time again, to pitch like things around leadership and development. You know, AI right now is huge DNI. It's like, these things are great. But I need more than just like, oh, we need better leadership and development. Like, we know that. So like, let's get super niche, super interesting. And like, that's going to make me more interested in writing about it.

 

Lexie Smith  

Well, I, what I think is interesting, too, and something maybe I haven't thought about in a while is the presentation of multiple sources. And something I want to call out for anyone who doesn't have the option on their own client roster. I think this is a use case. That is pro like pro being a collaborative human and being willing to throw other publicists, clients or genuine other people sources, a bone, even if you don't have any financial benefit, you'd be helping Chloe, you'd be helping your client, you'd be helping the relationship, right? So I'm like, very like Pro. Like, we don't need to be enemies. Like, let's all work together. But anyways, so buckston, that was gold. You guys, if you want to pitch cool your work life, like tap back, tap back, tap back, she just gives you a lot of insider tips into what she finds helpful. So I appreciate your transparency there. One tool that I've personally noticed that you utilize a lot is, I don't know if I call it Twitter anymore, if we've adapted x. So I keep going like Twitter X, whatever it is, and so people have so many opinions on the platform since its rebrand. I'm just curious to know if you have any opinions on if you think it's going to be a platform that journalists continue to use? Or if you I know you are at the moment, but I don't know, just any thoughts on on Twitter as a place for sources specifically?

 

Cloey Callahan  

Yeah, so I know a lot of journalists have decided to leave Twitter or X, whatever we're calling it like, which is, you know, I understand that decision I do. For me, I've still seen success on it. I've had people reach out to me, I have people reach out to me all the time through it. So I appreciate that I tried threads, I don't really know if it's for me, I don't even know if they have like the hashtag usage yet. Like, I know, that was a big thing in the beginning where you couldn't even there was no hashtag. So you couldn't do hashtag journal request, which is my favorite thing ever. So um, yeah, for now I'm on it. I don't know if it will change here and there. I'll do call outs on LinkedIn, which I do find that people reach out to me, they're there. It's more like the source directly rather than like a PR person finding my stuff. And I have some success, but I still do find a lot of success over Twitter. So I'm gonna ride the wave. I don't know, maybe that will shatter eventually. It definitely could. But we'll see.

 

Lexie Smith  

I hope it doesn't. And maybe that's like me being old set my ways. But I too have found so much value from the platform in this lane of in our industry and threads to my I like was on it when it was like trending for a minute, and then I wasn't and so I don't know what that what has evolved. I have an account floating out there somewhere. But I'm on the wave with you for sure. So I kind of want to shift gears for a second because you mentioned briefly that you're a host of a podcast yourself. So quick. First, can you tell us what what is that podcast again? And what it's about? Let's start there.

 

Cloey Callahan  

So the podcast is called the return we had season one which was hosted by my colleague Kimiko McCoy, and season one was all about the return to the office and it was following an advertising agency as they went back to the office after the pandemic. So season two, we decided to pivot and we thought about the return a little bit differently as Kimiko handed it off to me to host this season. And instead of like what's the return like for any worker, what is the return like for a Gen Z or who's entering the workforce and has never been in the workforce before right like it's not really a new normal for them because they've never had a regular like experience at all. So it's super interesting and very relatable for me because like I mentioned earlier I graduated and In 2020, so that was peak pandemic, right? So it's super exciting throughout the season. It's eight episodes we're rolling out now the fifth episode. Well, I don't know when this comes out, but we will be done recording or publishing it in middle of December, all eight episodes will be live then if you want to listen back. And each episode is a little bit of my own experience mixed in with Gen Zers. And then like a seasoned expert of like, why it's important for older generations in the workforce to understand this upcoming generation.

 

Lexie Smith  

Okay, so it's done filming, recording, recording, not filming woof. Um, I kind of want to ask a similar question, because we're now in a different format of media, right? Audio is a different format. There's a lot of crossover. But in terms of how you went about selecting those sources, or curating the story ideas for the podcast, was that process the same or different than how you're going about the story creation for the digital platform?

 

Cloey Callahan  

Yeah, I love that question. So very different. And first of all, this project was started back in January. So it's been like a super labor of love. It has been a full 12 months by the time we're done with it completely. So it's a whole year long. And it was really different. Like I said, for my daily articles, I rely a lot on people who are in my inbox, things like that. But for the podcast, I feel like I went a little bit back to my like, local journalism routes, where I was like, I'm going to really do all this myself, I'm going to find like, exactly who I want to talk to, and like, reach out to them on my own, like cold, email them, get them on this podcast, that sort of thing. So very different, I didn't really put out any PR, like journal requests for this one, I think there were like one or two episodes where we were struggling to find a source. But for the most part, this was all just like, Okay, I'm gonna do full blown my own research and really dive into it. Which took a lot of time. Like, I can't do that basically, with like other pieces and writing and that sort of thing. I will say, now that the episodes have been coming out for about a month now people have been reaching out left and right, like, I have this great source, like, can I get them on the podcast, and I'm like, off like it's done. The podcast is there's a ribbon on it. Like we're not accepting anyone else. But with that said, we got so much of that, that we were like, You know what, for our final episode, we'll let people know ahead of time, they can call in if they want to, like leave their two cents sort of thing to give people an opportunity to reach out and have their opinion included that way. Because a lot of people do want to talk about like Gen Z entering the workforce, but this sort of thing. I'm going to reach out to PR folks to let them know, for the people that reached out to me, this is happening if your person that you're representing wants to get on the podcasts, or is this opportunity, which I think will be I don't know, it's kind of like meeting in the middle, like, we can't have you all the way but like, I know, I've had some really great people reach out to me saying like, this person would be an awesome source. So yeah, that's what I'm trying to do now.

 

Lexie Smith  

Well, bless you, you're wonderful for doing that. I'm always thrilled to hear when because the unfortunate reality is there are journalists existing that are very anti. No one in the world of PR. I mean, there's whole ex Twitter threads, like bashing publicist. So anytime there's like a meeting of the middles, it warms my heart, because I love both sides of the industry. That's my

 

Cloey Callahan  

thing. And I, you know, I work with a lot of people who are like, who cares what PR is like, don't work with them, skip them, like get to know the source and just go directly to the source. And I understand that. But at the same time, it's like, I don't know, our jobs are crazy. I'm like, let's work together.

 

Lexie Smith  

100% 100% Um, I have like, 5000 more questions on that, but per, per me and everyone who's listening, because I feel like I'm swamped lately. I'm trying to keep this on time. So you guys can listen to the full episode on your nice car ride and you are expecting this to be around 30 minutes. So what we're going to do is we're going to kind of abruptly shift into what I call like a rapid fire preferential questioning. So no right or wrong. It's just like, when you're receiving pitches or outreach. Do you prefer X, Y or Z? So are you ready? Yes, let's do so is there a day of the week you prefer to be pitched?

 

Cloey Callahan  

Definitely not Friday. That is all I will say. Like, do not email me on a Friday. If you pitch me on a Friday, like the chances of me following up on it or like super slim.

 

Lexie Smith  

Okay, time of day.

 

Cloey Callahan  

Um, the no preference again, like I know we're all on different coasts now. and everything like with a remote work, everyone's everywhere. But I will say, as much towards like the middle of the day, the better because I do try to wind down towards the end of the day.

 

Lexie Smith  

Okay. pleasantries are not so like, do you want someone to take a minute or two to like, prove or address that they know you and your work? Or do you want them to just like skip that get straight to the pitch?

 

Cloey Callahan  

I would say I would rather it's like, I don't know, a balancing act. Because I do like when someone's like, how are you what's going on? And I do think relationships are crucial for like, Okay, I'm going to follow up. Because when I have a relationship with a PR person, that means like, I want to answer them a little bit more, it's like, harder to go some if we have a relationship. But at the same time, if you're sending me a list of like, how is your vacation? What's new? What's going on? That's too much. I'm like, I just can't respond to all of that. So it's like a little bit in the middle.

 

Lexie Smith  

Okay. Um, publicists verse in house verse founder, do you care who is pitching? You?

 

Cloey Callahan  

Know, as long as it's a good pitch? I don't really care.

 

Lexie Smith  

Okay. Are you pro or anti follow ups?

 

Cloey Callahan  

I am pro follow ups. To like one time, I would say if it's too much, like, after one or two follow ups, it's a no, I don't have time to answer everyone, which I feel like most journalists say, but it is true. But one follow up I do appreciate sometimes I'm so slammed and I truly did miss it. And the follow up can go far away. So I do appreciate that.

 

Lexie Smith  

Okay, so social media DM pitches yay or nay?

 

Cloey Callahan  

Huh? More Nay. I, I tweet a lot. But my email is right in my bio. So please just you know, take the tweet, then email me. I'm not like, oh my god, I hate it. I'm gonna ignore you. I still answer. But let's just move it's email. So

 

Lexie Smith  

you're on Twitter. Are there any other platforms and you mentioned LinkedIn? Do you use Instagram at all for your work? Or is that private? Or are you not on it?

 

Cloey Callahan  

Um, I have a professional Instagram account, but I really don't use it. Definitely for pitches and sharing my work. It's mostly just LinkedIn and Twitter.

 

Lexie Smith  

Okay. Beautiful. Last question of the show. We talked about Pichon what can we find you sipping so what is your favorite beverage? It can be alcoholic or non alcoholic Of course. Okay,

 

Cloey Callahan  

right now it's just a cranberry seltzer was a lemon in it. No alcohol.

 

Lexie Smith  

Cranberry seltzer with a lemon in it. So like not cranberry juice like sparkling cranberry juice is very difference

 

Cloey Callahan  

we like just made Yeah, I don't even know. I'll just take like a usually a lime seltzer pull in seltzer. And then like a splash of cranberry juice. Put a lemon in it ice and yeah, that's my favorite.

 

Lexie Smith  

Refreshing although cranberry too is like very headed into holidays. So no, I'm already like articulating through. I'm like I could easily add a little bit of alcohol if I want to to bring it into the evening for me.

 

Cloey Callahan  

On Fridays, there's for sure a sponsor of that.

 

Lexie Smith  

Okay, so where's the best place when everyone's listening to this and they want to reach out to you where should they go to connect with you further? Yeah,

 

Cloey Callahan  

so I'm on Twitter at Chloe Callahan. For those listening, it's c l o EY Callahan ca ll a h a n and my email is Chloe at Work Life dot news. So I would say there and also LinkedIn same thing you can just search my name and follow and all the all the good stuff reach out anytime.

 

Lexie Smith  

Thank you so much for your generosity for transparency for taking the time to be on the show you guys we will put all the links in the show notes make sure to do listen and leave a review for her podcast as a fellow podcaster. Also, if you've never viewed the show, give me a review please but go follow Chloe reach out. Let her know you heard her on the show. Thank her. And Chloe, thank you so much for your time today.

 

Cloey Callahan  

Thank you Lexi was a joy to be on and I appreciate all your questions.

 

Lexie Smith  

Hey guys, if you are enjoying the pitching and sipping podcast, please do me a huge favor and leave a review wherever you are listening. If you want to connect with me to learn more about the PR Inc. You can do so on Instagram Act, the PR bar underscore inc or you can check out my website at the PR bar inc.com Cheers