PRSay Houston

Storytelling As Your Superpower

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Welcome Carla Sapsford Newman, to PRSay – the podcast of the Houston PRSA Chapter.

In this episode, Carla shares about Storytelling As Your Superpower.

Carla is a recovering journalist with a double masters in journalism and international affairs from Columbia. She specializes in multi-channel storytelling, crafting pitches around stories she would have run as an editor and producer earlier in her career. Stories with emotion, struggle and grit that reveal aspects of our community we don't often hear about. She started out as a field producer for CNN and ABC in New York before becoming a freelance writer, producer, newsroom manager and reporter overseas in Europe and Southeast Asia. Carla has led a multi-million dollar multimedia sports marketing campaign, and later joined a public radio startup leadership team. In between, she moved to public affairs and strategic communications.

Connect with Carla at:
LinkedIn- linkedIn.com/in/carlasapsford

Learn more about the PRSA Houston Chapter, our events and opportunities at www.prsahouston.org.

PRSay is brought to you by Veronica V. Sopher, Public Relations.

Veronica Sopher:

Welcome to PRSay, the podcast of the Houston chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. On PRSay, we spotlight our talented members and get to know each other a little better. If you are a PRSA Houston chapter member and don't get a chance to network as much as you'd like, or are unable to attend our in person events, here's your chance to connect with your fellow members. Hello and welcome to another episode of PRSay. This is the Houston Chapter The Public Relations Society of America. We have our very own podcast where we have an opportunity to connect with members in our chapter, learn about what they're up to and make sure that you have an opportunity to connect and network, because we are all here to support each other. So we will go ahead and start this episode. We've got a great guest, but before we do, I want to remind you to hit subscribe. We don't want you to miss any episodes of PR, say, and if you're watching on YouTube or Facebook, drop us some comments. So with that, I'm going to invite Carlin Newman to the podcast. Welcome.

Carla Newman:

Thank you so much. I'm so honored to be here. Oh

Veronica Sopher:

So excited to have you tell us a little bit about yourself, Carla, where, where you're at, and a little bit about your background in public relations.

Carla Newman:

Yeah. So I'd say public relations is about my fifth career pivot, so which I think has enriched my experience and hopefully some insights into the other side of public relations. So I'm a recovering journalist. I began my career nonprofit in Washington, and then went to journalism school when I realized that storytelling was really my calling, and so it just, it just fit me like a glove, everything about it. So I studied multimedia, broadcast, print, online and the very early days of digital media. So, and then I went to work in Europe for a while, and I discovered that I couldn't make a living as a freelancer, so I went into corporate communications, corporate marketing. Worked for some major brands like Unilever, a major bank and shell and then went to Southeast Asia and was part of a startup public radio station, the first of its kind in the region. So, and then I came to Houston, so, so this is about my fifth pivot, and I am so delighted to be a part of an organization called Legacy community health. So we have over 60 clinics in the Greater Houston, Gulf area. We're a nonprofit. We serve almost 350,000 community members every year, and so I'm essentially their chief storyteller, Senior Director of Public Affairs. So that's awesome.

Veronica Sopher:

Yes, I love that, and I love how you took your natural gift of storytelling and was able to use it in different parts of your life. Tell us about what that looks like. So you were, you know, you trained as a journalist. You were in the early days of digital media. Now you're in corporate communication. Tell us a little bit about how that thread of storytelling has has really evolved for you as a professional.

Carla Newman:

Well, I mean, in the way that I approach public relations or public affairs is is through people and is through stories. And so I don't think like an institutionalist. I think like an audience and so and and then I put myself in the shoes of the producer or the editor, because I've been all of those, and I only pitch stories that I myself would have found intriguing or unusual or coming from a different perspective, something fresh, something emotional and something relatable. And so that's really been the core of my work, whether it's been corporate or journalism or public affairs, is really putting myself in the shoes of the audience as well as the journalist. Yeah,

Veronica Sopher:

that's so true. Now, have you noticed any distinctions in between digital communication? I know you said you started in the early days of it. How have you seen that evolved in the last 10 years or so? Because I think as storytellers, sometimes we get caught up in the structure and don't take into account the medium and and I'd love to hear your perspective of how that has changed.

Carla Newman:

Yeah. So I mean, in a way, it was unfortunate, because I graduated journalism school in 2003 in New York, and the business model that in the way that we were taught to do journalism was essentially broken already, and so we were trained for a world that didn't exist anymore. And I think sometimes that's the same, probably for the fields of marketing and public relations, you have to pivot. I. To where the audience is going, but But keep in mind that, you know, I always think of it's broccoli and chocolate. You can't only give an audience chocolate and things that are light and fluffy. You also have to educate and inform and teach them something new, but in an entertaining or informative way. And so I try to keep my stories a nice mix of light as well as hard hitting or impactful so that it's, it's not all Debbie Downer or not all, you know, fun and and rah, rah so. And I think that mix makes our reporting that we do, and our public relations, that stories that we produce, and a nice, fresh mix, so that it's whether it's digital or whether we're on TV or streaming service or in a hyper local newspaper, that it's still about people. And so it's just we have less time to do it. And so in a way, you know, we have, we have to cramp our formats to fit the appetite of the audience for how they want to absorb stories. And so, you know, coming from radio, I love the radio medium because it allows us an intimacy and a length and a depth that you don't get in say, you know, TV or on a YouTube clip or on social media. So really social, it's a bit like a teaser. It gets people the sense of a story, but then you can lead them to somewhere where, if they want to learn more or discover more, that there's somewhere for them to go. So I do believe in that virtuous cycle of driving traffic from, you know, social to the website to a blog to some call to action so that it's it's not just something interesting that they can scroll through quickly, but I want to make them stop and think and feel absolutely

Veronica Sopher:

yeah, and I love your emphasis on understanding your audience and what they want and where they're at. You mentioned that a couple of different times, and I think that's important, because when we decide we want to give them a story, as opposed to inviting them into the the storytelling part, we lose some of that power. And you know, really, when you think about what you've had to do from from guiding them from point A to point B, it does require a lot of strategy. So there's still a lot of strategy behind what it sounds like you're doing,

Carla Newman:

yes and and we can't tell the same story the same way. And so, you know, I have, I have a digital strategy. I've also got a Hispanic media strategy, and for audiences whose first language is not English, I've got a strategy for that. I've got a strategy for web and blogs. And so everything needs a different touch and a different approach and a different cultural lens. And so I need team members and those from those communities to help educate me and my team as to what what resonates with those audiences, so that we're not giving them something they're not interested in, but we're really relevant and impactful. And so that just takes more thought, I think, and more time, rather than just rolling out the same strategy across all channels, regardless of the preferences, the backgrounds, you know, the interest of that particular audience.

Veronica Sopher:

Yeah, no, that makes complete sense. And I love that. What as you're thinking shifting gears just a little bit, as you're thinking about the new professionals coming in, what do you think they should be considering about the market. You know, you mentioned earlier about how when you graduated, you were are the what you were taught was already outdated, right? The model was outdated. What do you think young professionals coming in need to be considering or thinking about based on your experience? Well, I'd

Carla Newman:

say, you know, I noticed a similar thing with MBA students, is that many of them went from college to, you know, to get their MBA, and they had no real life experience or tread on their tires. Journalism was different. They wanted us to have at least five years of experience out in the world before we came to journalism school. And so I always think that for any profession, like get out of your profession for a while and try something different, like take a sabbatical before you get that full time job and the mortgage and get married and have those kids like, maybe intern at a paper or intern at a TV Station or write for a hyper local or an ethnic media, and just really get behind the scenes and understand from the ground up just what it's like from their side and and then that makes you much better at pitching, and you're going to be much more impactful in terms of the stories you're able to land. Um. Um, if you've had that experience, rather than if you've gone straight from college to to an office, and then only interact with journalists as sort of something to be targeted and wrestled into submission, which which they love, of course. So it and seeing them as as as people, and they have their own passion projects and their own interests and and really getting to know them as people will help you be much more nuanced and how you pitch and what you pitch. And so I do not believe in the blankets pray and pray type of pitch where you just send the same thing to God and everybody, I think it really needs to be targeted and measured and really just hit the right notes for that particular journalist or that particular organization if it's going to be successful, no, and then yes. And then the other thing is, I think, get a diverse team to work with, whether or not you're an intern or or just starting out, is try to get as many perspectives as you can. So, you know, having lived overseas for 15 years and and having to have, you know, had many different experiences, like in New York City, where you're diving into other cultures and other languages, other religions, other traditions. It really, it really gives you an empathy for how different people see the world so differently, the same city, but from a completely different perspective. And so I've always been a big believer, and just making yourself uncomfortable, particularly when you're young, and go to places that you would normally never go, like go for a police ride along. That's something they had us do. And at first, I thought it was the dumbest thing ever, but it really made me understand, you know, covering the police as a beat and covering crime and then going to City Hall and understanding, okay, here's how you go through a police blotter, and here's how you go through court records, and here's how you do court reporting. It's just it gives you, it gives you a lot more depth, I think, in as a public relations professional. Now many of us you know who may be in our 20, late 20s, 30s, 40s, maybe that's not an option. But Go volunteer places, go just get those experiences that will make you a better professional.

Veronica Sopher:

Now I agree. And what I love about that is it also gives you not only those perspectives, but it gives you reference, so that when you are writing, whether for digital content or long form or short form, you've got some some creativity to pull from, right, some inspiration. And so I love that, because I think that that's something life can give you that you can't read in books or you can't get from a video, you know, right?

Carla Newman:

But also, you know, I've seen, particularly in Houston, there's a lot of solo practitioners, and I think that gives them a lot of freedom to do the types of stories and take the types of clients they want. And so, you know, I do think there's, there's that independent streak amongst many of us, you know, where the corporate type of PR, it's maybe not as fulfilling as it once was, or there are life goals of change. So I just say, you know, maybe train up in in an institution, so you understand, but then don't be afraid to go out and take some risks. You know, while you can, because it makes you much more well rounded as a person as well as a PR professional. Yeah,

Veronica Sopher:

no, that's great advice. Carla, that's absolutely great. Well, as we wrap up this episode, um, Carla, how can people connect with you? You know, we do this podcast so members can network and reach out to folks that they have mutual interest in, or could support each other. How do you want people to reach out to you?

Carla Newman:

Sure! Well, I'm at linkedin.com/in/carlasapsford and I'm at Legacy Community Health here in Houston. So look me up, and I'm always open to inquiries or chats or mentorships, and PRSA Houston, quick plug, is a fantastic place to further your career development. I mean, even those of us who've been doing this, you know, 10, 20, 30 years like I learned so much from my colleagues in that organization, and and it's a great place to volunteer as well.

Veronica Sopher:

Yeah, excellent. I agree. Carla, thank you so much for joining us on the episode. It was great to connect.

Carla Newman:

Thank you, and thanks to your audience. Nice to meet you. Bye, bye.

Veronica Sopher:

All right. That wraps up this episode. Make sure you connect with Carla. Her contact information is there in the show notes, prsa is Houston. We are committed to making sure that our members have access to each other so we can learn and grow as a community and make our chapter stronger. So with that, I'm wrapping up this episode. Make sure you hit subscribe. We don't want you to miss any episodes of prsa, and if you are watching on Facebook or YouTube, drop us a comment. As we love to connect, we will see on the next episode bye.