07/29/2026
“I just wanted to tell you again: none of this would have happened without you.”
That was the text I received from a mother on her way to her child’s college graduation. A few years earlier, her family's life had been turned upside down.
A single social media incident involving a teenager became international news almost overnight. Within days, the story had been carried by dozens of media outlets across the United States and in five other countries.
Angry strangers piled on, harassment was relentless, and threats of physical violence followed. The family suddenly found themselves living through one of the darkest periods of their lives under an unforgiving public spotlight.
When they called me the only thing they were worried about was their child. Their child who had watched everything they had worked for, everything they thought their future would be, crumble around them in a matter of days. They were at the lowest point in their life, and their parents were deeply concerned for their safety.
Over the months that followed, we took every decision one step at a time. We focused on what could be controlled, tuned out the noise, and never lost sight of the young person at the center of the story.
Today, they are a college graduate with their life ahead of them. Looking back, they consider themselves wiser for the experience and grateful for the perspective I gave them during and after the crisis.
I've never advertised for clients. Every engagement I've had has come through referrals from people who trusted me with some of the hardest moments of their lives. That trust is something I never take for granted.
People often ask me what kind of crisis communications I do.
The answer is simple. I help individuals and businesses through their most difficult times. I help them make amends.
Sometimes that means working with the media. Sometimes that means truly listening to employees for the first time. Sometimes it means helping families make thoughtful decisions when fear and uncertainty threaten to overwhelm them, so they still have the opportunity to write the chapters that come next. Then we rebuild.
Every once in a while, long after the fact, a message arrives, “None of this would have happened without you.” Those moments remind me why I do this work.
