Stories That Serve a Bigger Good with Kristi Eaton

SPEAKER_1 (0:04)

The Bliss Business Podcast, the show about empathy, connection, and consciousness in business. Today's episode is brought to you by Zero Company, your paid search, social media, and programmatic ad experts.

Stephen Sakach (0:18)

Well, come back to the show everyone. I'm Stephen Sakach along with my co-host Tullio Siragusa, and our special guest who we'll introduce in a moment. So every organization has a story, but not every story is told with care. And for mission-driven businesses, non-profits, and social good organizations, communication carries a responsibility. It can bring visibility to important work and help communities feel seen and move people toward action. But it can also oversimplify, sensationalize, or turn people's lived experiences into just messaging.

So today, we are talking about public relations, responsible visibility, and how leaders can use storytelling to serve people, not just promote organizations. And Tullio, introduce our guest today.

Tullio Siragusa (1:11)

My pleasure. Our guest today is Kristi Eaton. She's the founder and CEO of KEComs. KEComs is a mission-driven public relations and storytelling agency working with purposeful brands, organizations, and causes to amplify impactful stories through media relations, social media, writing, and creative communications. The agency values include doing good ethically, being purposeful, and appreciating flexibility and life-work balance. Before founding KEComs, Kristi spent 20 years in journalism and reported for major outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Associated Press, Reuters, The Guardian, and Ms. Magazine. Today, she focuses on social good causes, raising awareness about under-resourced communities and movements.

Kristi, welcome to The Bliss Business Podcast. We're excited to have you with us today.

Kristi Eaton (2:10)

Thank you so much. I appreciate being here.

Stephen Sakach (2:15)

Kristi, you had 20 years in journalism. I think that got to feel like 40, right?

That's the way it goes in that space. The topic we're talking about today is stories that serve a bigger good. What does responsible storytelling mean to you?

Kristi Eaton (2:33)

Responsible storytelling to me means many different things. Most of all, it means taking into account the person telling the story, and doing it in a responsible manner through ethical guidelines that have been thought out well before the story is determined. This could be, for example, considering interviewing them in their native language versus the language that you use. That might mean using an interpreter or translator.

It might mean that you explain to them what the story will be published, where it will be published, and how visible it will be so they fully understand the visibility behind it. And I also think it takes into account trauma-informed practices in terms of letting them lead and guide what they feel comfortable sharing.

Stephen Sakach (3:39)

Yeah, tell me a little bit more about that. Why is that last part particularly important?

Kristi Eaton (3:44)

Yeah, I think it's not up to us to determine the story. The story needs to come naturally through their storytelling and what comes to light when they're sharing their story. I think about my days as a journalist, and there were some really tough situations, tough stories, and while you do, as a journalist, you do need to probe, you also need to be considerate of the fact that some of these individuals just went through a very traumatic experience and be cognizant of that. And I think that's, you know, be empathetic, be caring, and still get the details and the nuanced information that you need for that story.

Tullio Siragusa (4:32)

Now, you've been a journalist for 20 years before you moved into public relation. Can you maybe tell us a little bit more about how that shaped the way you think about truth, trust, and also responsibility and communications?

Kristi Eaton (4:47)

Sure. Thank you.

Yeah, I mean, journalism at the heart of it is ethics. And I studied it at university. I was in it for two decades working for major news organizations. And it's very important that we follow certain standards, certain guidelines that were presented to us and shared with us, and that we regularly recapped as a team.

And I think that has helped me as I transitioned to public relations, in that I'm able to follow ethical guidelines, follow ethical storytelling in public relations. I use some of the same practices in that, you know, if I have a client, I will make sure they fully understand where the story will appear, how it could appear. I try to, I sometimes work with global organizations, and we will do interviews in their language, which does mean more work and resources are needed, but I think that's important. And I learned that through my journals and practice.

Stephen Sakach (6:02)

So, Kay Combs, you work with purposeful brands, and causes, what makes communication different when the goal is not just promotion, but positive impact?