Oct. 27, 2025

The Trust Bridge: Finding Patient Advocates in Healthcare

The Trust Bridge: Finding Patient Advocates in Healthcare
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The Trust Bridge: Finding Patient Advocates in Healthcare

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What happens when the most powerful marketing tool—customer testimonials—is restricted by privacy laws and personal boundaries? Robin Malone, CEO of RJ Communications, pulls back the curtain and shares with host Peter Woolfolk the unique challenges healthcare brands face when trying to showcase real patient stories.

With nearly three decades of experience in healthcare communications, Malone reveals how she's mastered the delicate art of building "trust bridges" between healthcare providers and potential patient advocates. "This can't be transactional," Malone emphasizes. "You have to build the kind of trust that takes time." Her approach focuses on finding what she calls the "loud voices in the room"—those patients already enthusiastic about sharing their experiences—rather than trying to convince reluctant individuals.

The conversation explores the regulatory maze created by HIPAA laws that protect patient privacy while creating significant hurdles for marketers. Malone walks us through the multi-layered permission process required before a PR professional can even contact a potential patient advocate. She shares a fascinating case study where her team successfully reframed a pharmaceutical campaign to focus on patients' lives rather than their medical conditions, creating powerful advocacy without compromising privacy.

For healthcare communicators, marketers, and PR professionals working in regulated industries, this episode offers invaluable insights into building authentic advocacy programs that respect both legal boundaries and personal comfort levels. Malone's hard-earned wisdom demonstrates that the most compelling healthcare stories come from advocates who genuinely want to share—never from those who've been persuaded against their better judgment.

Have you encountered similar challenges in your industry? We'd love to hear your experiences with navigating regulatory hurdles while trying to showcase authentic customer stories.

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Chapters

01:08 - Welcome to PR Review Podcast

02:14 - Challenges in Healthcare Advocacy

06:29 - Building Trust with Patient Advocates

11:13 - Life-focused vs. Health-focused Campaigns

15:58 - Navigating HIPAA and Patient Permission

21:34 - Thirty Years of Healthcare PR Experience

Transcript
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00:00:06.187 --> 00:00:06.668
Welcome.

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This is the Public Relations Review Podcast, a worldwide award-winning podcast.

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Our experienced guests cover a wealth of current useful topics, including adapting to technological advancements, digital and AI matters, misinformation, media relations, fake news, crisis communications and much, much more.

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And, of course, your feedback is always welcome.

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Now here is your host and producer, peter Woolfolk.

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Welcome to our listeners all across America and around the world.

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Now, apple has ranked this podcast among the top 1% of podcasts worldwide and ListenScore ranks the podcast as one of the top 10% most popularly monitored shows out of the 3.5 plus million podcasts globally.

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So thank you to all of our guests and listeners for your continued support and if you enjoy the show, please leave a review.

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Now a question.

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I believe we all agree that most companies and organizations want actual customers to advocate for them and validate their products and services.

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Well, many have adopted this process.

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Well, what about the health sector, with numerous regulations and other legal barriers?

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How can these organizations overcome frustrating potential barriers to attract advocates?

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Well, my guest today has faced these hurdles.

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She operates the Boutique Health Technology and Wellness Public Relations and Communications Agency.

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They sit at the intersection of health culture and the community and they use their deep roots in all things health to grow healthy brands.

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So joining me today from Chicago, illinois, is Robin Malone.

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She is the CEO of RJ Communications.

00:01:54.228 --> 00:01:56.427
Robin, welcome to the podcast.

00:01:57.799 --> 00:01:58.965
Thank you for having me.

00:02:00.100 --> 00:02:03.570
Well, you know, one of the reasons that I wanted to have you is because I've never seen.

00:02:03.570 --> 00:02:11.069
This issue had never come up before, so you never know who's listening, and I thought that you know, since you've been in the trenches.

00:02:11.069 --> 00:02:16.496
Let's start with first you providing an overview of the health and wellness climate that you work in.

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For sure.

00:02:17.680 --> 00:03:00.460
So I've been doing this work so specifically public relations and communications in the healthcare space for almost 30 years and I started my agency about five years ago, and I don't have to tell you how difficult it is for healthcare companies and brands to find and to activate the advocates on their behalf, and that is, and has been and continues to be an uphill battle in terms of the people who are using XYZ treatment or ABC facility.

00:03:00.460 --> 00:03:04.371
Wanting to say this has really helped me.

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This has really impacted my life.

00:03:06.175 --> 00:03:10.929
It is a constant battle specific to health care in the US.

00:03:11.911 --> 00:03:21.961
Now, when you say that specific battle, are there actual legal hurdles that prevent somebody saying, hey, look, uh, you know, I really like the job, the doctor so and so did.

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For me they're wonderful.

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Yes and no.

00:03:24.728 --> 00:03:31.330
So if a patient wants to say wants to share about their experience, right.

00:03:31.330 --> 00:03:46.110
So if I went to Dr Jones and I had a wonderful experience and I think Dr Jones is amazing I have full control over what I want to say about my own health and my own healthcare.

00:03:46.110 --> 00:03:57.699
It gets trickier when Dr Jones says it on your behalf that he can't do he certainly can't do without your permission.

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And how much detail he can share is very limited because we have HIPAA laws.

00:04:02.026 --> 00:04:19.401
Share is very limited because we have HIPAA laws and HIPAA is designed to protect patients' personal health information.

00:04:19.401 --> 00:04:24.831
So there are really important legal restrictions and regulatory guidelines that are specifically designed to protect my personal and your personal health information.

00:04:24.831 --> 00:04:28.564
But if I'm on board, then I can say what I want.

00:04:28.564 --> 00:04:33.903
And if the doctor reaches out to me and says, can you speak on my behalf, at that point I can say what I want.

00:04:33.903 --> 00:04:43.903
That's on me, um, but the doctor or the company or, you know, the marketer can't I see, see.

00:04:43.923 --> 00:05:07.651
That's a different thing, and the reason that you hear them talking about patients but they'll be anonymous or they'll be very vague or they'll talk about patients in the advocate is because there are very clear restrictions in terms of what you can and can't say about a patient's health.

00:05:10.062 --> 00:05:16.245
Well, let's talk about some of the maybe a little bit more specific, some of the more difficult projects that you worked on.

00:05:16.245 --> 00:05:27.444
That something like that was facing you and how you were satisfied getting that done satisfied getting that done.

00:05:27.463 --> 00:05:32.879
Yeah, you know it's interesting because, as a marketer and a PR person, I am the hired, I am, you know, collaborating with.

00:05:32.879 --> 00:05:58.062
I am working on behalf of a company or a brand or a service, right, but in a lot of ways I sit between them as the bridge between the patient who uses the product or, you know, uses the service or gets treatment at this facility or this hospital, and that facility, service, product or company.

00:05:58.062 --> 00:06:07.802
I kind of sit at the center, and so building this bridge is a tricky one to build and it's not.

00:06:07.802 --> 00:06:11.732
It can't be transactional and it can't be a one and done.

00:06:11.732 --> 00:06:37.321
You have to build the kind of trust that takes time to build In order for someone, irrespective, quite frankly, if I had a wonderful experience with you or this product or not, I may not want to talk about this, I may not want to share my story because it's mine, right, and it's completely my story.

00:06:37.362 --> 00:06:45.536
And so some of the things that we've done in the past and currently again, is to one.

00:06:45.555 --> 00:07:01.552
There's just basic expectation management with, in terms of, you know, xyz hospital, to say they may not want to talk about that and they may not want to be, nevermind sharing their own personal experience.

00:07:01.651 --> 00:07:11.612
They may not want to be on record being associated with this treatment because this disease or this illness may have a stigma that they don't want on them.

00:07:11.612 --> 00:07:29.785
And so there's an art and a science to one, finding the ones who are open or who want to be more open and I call those the loud voices in the room open or who want to be more open, and I call those the loud voices in the room.

00:07:29.785 --> 00:07:40.064
And two, working with them to ensure that they feel safe and protected in the sharing of that story and that they don't feel used and that they don't feel like a transaction.

00:07:40.064 --> 00:08:02.983
And so oftentimes we let them write the story and in air quotes, right, we let them write it and then they'll share it with us and we will work with them to maybe refine it, just so that maybe it's a little bit crisper, it's a little bit more compelling, we get to the point faster, but it's not our job to write anyone else's story.

00:08:04.444 --> 00:08:21.204
So what I'm really hearing you say here, then it really depends upon the particular service or activity that took place with the patient and the hospital that they might feel that it's too private to talk about, so they're not going to touch that one.

00:08:21.204 --> 00:08:37.620
But if it's something that you know happens to somebody every day you know I slipped and you know broken foot or broken a leg or something, but they did a great job that one might not be that difficult to uh encourage them to to speak up in behalf of the hospital or the doctor so.

00:08:37.902 --> 00:08:40.423
So what I'll say is I think there's some.

00:08:40.423 --> 00:08:53.596
I think there's some clear, there's some obvious differences between a person who's getting treated for diabetes or obesity versus someone who broke an ankle right.

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Like there's something that's deeply personal about having a chronic disease like obesity or diabetes, and someone who is just like the rest of us slipped on somebody and broke their ankle.

00:09:03.179 --> 00:09:06.221
So there's some clear differences there, but I wasn't really saying that it was condition.

00:09:06.221 --> 00:09:08.624
Specific is just like the rest of us slipped on somebody's sub-roofed ankle.

00:09:08.624 --> 00:09:11.225
So there's some clear differences there, but I wasn't really saying that it was condition-specific.

00:09:11.225 --> 00:09:14.628
What I was saying was that it's very personal to that person, irrespective of what the condition is.

00:09:14.628 --> 00:09:22.192
Now, if the condition is, you know, considered very personal or chronic or whatever, then yes, that's a harder hurdle to clear.

00:09:22.192 --> 00:09:27.475
But even those who just sprained an ankle they may not want to talk about that.

00:09:28.057 --> 00:09:30.018
So it isn't about what happened to them.

00:09:30.018 --> 00:09:32.501
It's about that person.

00:09:32.501 --> 00:09:40.195
It's about what is important to them, what's personal to them, how much they want to talk about, what it is that they experienced or didn't experience.

00:09:57.500 --> 00:10:03.192
And so again, much less about much, much less about what is happening or what has happened and much, much more about the person, which is where the trust and the relationship and the conversation comes in.

00:10:03.192 --> 00:10:12.312
This idea before the activity takes place, or do you wait until it happens, after it takes place, to decide whether you want to ask them to be an advocate for, for the services they just got?

00:10:12.880 --> 00:10:14.302
yeah, just the most.

00:10:14.302 --> 00:10:27.953
Excuse me, mainly before, because in our work and it's not just services, right it's often like they had a great experience being treated with this drug or that device.

00:10:27.953 --> 00:10:54.985
In an ideal world, when you are responsible for telling the story of a brand, product, company or service, you want personal experiences to help lead the way, personal experiences to help lead the way, and that means I want people who have lived experiences in this facility or with the shrug or whatever, and so that's always what the aim is.

00:10:54.985 --> 00:11:08.902
It is always what we hope to get, because the person my neighbor who had a great experience with this drug is far more impactful than the head of the company talking about this drug.

00:11:11.171 --> 00:11:28.985
Now, do you have any examples of some successful opportunities that you've had without identifying either the person or the organization, what it was that they had done, and, uh, because they're willing to do it, it really, you know, shined a light on the organization?

00:11:28.985 --> 00:11:35.019
Do you have any stories that you can tell about that and how you got uh patients to uh to come on board?

00:11:35.701 --> 00:11:37.003
sure I did it.

00:11:37.124 --> 00:11:47.144
Um, I mean, I've done this for so long, but a recent example is a large global pharmaceutical company that we work with.

00:11:48.811 --> 00:12:10.658
This wasn't drug or therapy or therapeutic area specific, but it was about the company, which, in a lot of ways, is even harder to get someone to advocate for right, because they're, like you know, especially in the industries like pharma that are so maligned right when the trust levels are very, very low.

00:12:10.658 --> 00:12:39.884
So we did a campaign where we wanted people to use their social media and the company's social media to talk about healthcare on behalf of the company, and I think ultimately we were successful because it wasn't generic.

00:12:39.884 --> 00:13:08.503
It was like this is about your life and not your health, if that makes sense, and so we were able to craft a campaign where they were talking about their lives, but they were doing it on behalf of the company, and that was where the success landed for us, if that makes sense, it was because this was not personal to them or not about their health.

00:13:08.503 --> 00:13:14.961
This was about their life, and so that really was a very successful campaign.

00:13:16.032 --> 00:13:20.596
So it really becomes, then, how you go about structuring what the campaign will be about.

00:13:20.596 --> 00:13:32.520
As you said, about their life, not so much about theuring what the campaign will be about, you know, as you said, about their life, not so much about, uh, the hospital or the services they provided, but how it added to the quality of their life as a result of having the service that's right, that's right.

00:13:32.541 --> 00:13:45.899
so you, you kind of shift it and reframe it so that it's not about the drug and it's not about whatever illness they may be living with, it's about them as people.

00:13:45.899 --> 00:13:49.957
So that really takes some careful planning and that was a success.

00:13:49.957 --> 00:13:51.162
I'm sorry.

00:13:51.570 --> 00:13:52.134
I was about to say.

00:13:52.134 --> 00:14:00.537
I mean that takes some careful planning to make sure that you can maybe convince the person or talk to the person or let them know.

00:14:00.537 --> 00:14:02.851
Here's what we'd like you to do Once this is done.

00:14:02.851 --> 00:14:03.513
How is this?

00:14:03.513 --> 00:14:06.576
Once this is done, how will this impact the quality of your life?

00:14:06.576 --> 00:14:10.520
And if they buy into that, they really don't have to talk about specifically.

00:14:10.520 --> 00:14:15.105
You know that I like the surgery or I like the docs that perform the services.

00:14:18.190 --> 00:14:18.490
Yeah, it is, it's.

00:14:18.490 --> 00:14:21.178
It's a very it can be a tricky needle to thread.

00:14:21.178 --> 00:14:43.326
It can be, but there is a tone and posture of care and understanding and relationship that over the years I've learned and you know now my team knows to approach it with.

00:14:43.326 --> 00:14:46.801
This is not about a business transaction.

00:14:46.801 --> 00:14:48.837
This is not a clinical transaction.

00:14:48.837 --> 00:14:51.519
This is not a healthcare transaction.

00:14:51.519 --> 00:14:59.282
We just want you to talk about your life and we'd love to partner with you to do that if you're comfortable.

00:15:00.671 --> 00:15:03.859
When you say that you'd like to get them to talk about it.

00:15:03.859 --> 00:15:13.034
How long does it take, perhaps, to convince someone from hearing this the first time to when they actually say, yeah, that's not a bad idea.

00:15:14.572 --> 00:15:25.498
To be honest, I don't convince, because when someone sets a boundary and they say that they're not comfortable, two things go through my mind, the first of which is they've already said no.

00:15:25.498 --> 00:15:38.644
And the second part is, if you know, if I managed to kind of get them over the line and convince them, there's nothing that they're they're, they're probably not going to be comfortable.

00:15:38.644 --> 00:15:45.351
And and those people aren't good advocates because they don't really want to do it.

00:15:45.351 --> 00:15:54.716
They're doing it because I've made a good case to do it, but I, you know this goes back to this idea of the loudest voice in the room.

00:15:54.716 --> 00:15:59.855
I want those who are already saying, oh my God, this was so great.

00:15:59.875 --> 00:16:01.264
I you know, my life is better because, great right I.

00:16:01.283 --> 00:16:03.693
You know my life is better because I took.

00:16:03.693 --> 00:16:06.884
You know I, my doctor prescribed this drug.

00:16:06.884 --> 00:16:08.710
Those are the.

00:16:08.710 --> 00:16:11.134
That's, you know the first.

00:16:11.134 --> 00:16:15.163
Stop on this advocate train, if you will.

00:16:15.163 --> 00:16:15.482
It's the.

00:16:15.482 --> 00:16:16.230
It's the first.

00:16:16.230 --> 00:16:18.135
These are the first people I want to go to.

00:16:18.135 --> 00:16:24.552
If I have to convince you, then you are not going to be a good advocate, because you're not one.

00:16:26.056 --> 00:16:37.355
Well, the bottom line here is that they had a good experience, and because they liked the experience so well, they're completely willing on their own, to actually say that it's been a good experience.

00:16:37.355 --> 00:16:38.820
So the difficulty is not there.

00:16:38.820 --> 00:16:42.820
It's just a matter of you asking them if they're willing to share it with others.

00:16:43.529 --> 00:16:47.841
Yeah, and I think the issue is not whether they've had a good experience right.

00:16:47.841 --> 00:16:55.359
Obviously, if they didn't have a good experience and they're not the right people for us to approach as advocates, so they're not people we approach anyway.

00:16:55.359 --> 00:17:18.760
But within the hundreds or thousands of people that have had good experiences, there's going to be a tiny fraction of them that actually want to talk, or that you know, that want to be, that want to talk about their lives, that want to be associated with this hospital or this pharma company, irrespective of how great of an experience they may have had.

00:17:18.760 --> 00:17:22.566
And so it's not about the experience.

00:17:22.566 --> 00:17:28.496
The experience is it is assumed that if we are approaching someone to be an advocate, they've had a good experience.

00:17:28.496 --> 00:17:30.497
So that's the matter.

00:17:30.911 --> 00:17:34.755
It's whether they want to talk, and that's, and that's highly personal.

00:17:36.051 --> 00:17:39.417
So it's a matter of your, your being in now.

00:17:39.417 --> 00:17:42.098
How do you get in touch with these particular people?

00:17:42.098 --> 00:17:59.246
I mean, does the organization contact you and say, well, we'd like to find somebody some patient we've had that's willing to talk about it because they've had a good experience how do you get in touch with these particular I'm going to call them patients to ask if they're willing to move forward.

00:17:59.246 --> 00:18:01.153
Calling patients to help ask if they're willing to move forward.

00:18:01.996 --> 00:18:29.997
Yeah, so it can be pretty complicated because of HIPAA laws, but Oftentimes we at my agency we're the ones that are saying it would be great if we had some patients or some people with experience to talk about them or to talk about their experience or to talk about whatever, and so we are the ones who are advocating for this, advocating for this.

00:18:30.597 --> 00:18:47.279
And then there is, depending on what we're talking about, whether it's a drug, whether it's a doctor it's rarely a doctor, but it's whether it's a drug or you know a hospital or a system, or maybe a you know a device or technology.

00:18:47.279 --> 00:19:02.259
There is a pretty, a pretty, pretty intense process to get.

00:19:02.259 --> 00:19:04.309
We have to work with compliance and legal to get permission to even reach out to them.

00:19:05.290 --> 00:19:12.698
So they have to opt in to be reached out to, and then we reach out to them and then they have to.

00:19:12.698 --> 00:19:18.680
Then there's a second step where they say okay, I can, you can talk to me about this.

00:19:18.680 --> 00:19:40.807
So it's pretty intense and oftentimes what we've gone in and done is to say you should ask them before they embark on the service of the treatment or whatever, so that we have the list of people who we know might be willing to talk.

00:19:40.807 --> 00:19:55.663
Because if not, then there are two or three extra steps because the patient has to allow you, the patient has to allow the pharma company, the hospital, the doctor to share their information.

00:19:56.612 --> 00:20:01.819
So they have to say yes, and that yes is without me.

00:20:01.819 --> 00:20:06.080
So the pharma company has information.

00:20:06.080 --> 00:20:10.181
They have to reach out to them and say, hey, this is what we'd like to do.

00:20:10.181 --> 00:20:13.698
Would you be open to talking to whomever?

00:20:13.698 --> 00:20:25.162
And they have to say yes, and with that they have to give permission to share their healthcare information, because I don't know anything?

00:20:25.182 --> 00:20:25.603
I don't know who.

00:20:25.624 --> 00:20:30.036
It is Right Because legally they can't share anything with me until the patient gives permission.

00:20:30.236 --> 00:20:33.663
Right, okay, so it really doesn't start with you.

00:20:33.663 --> 00:20:34.424
It has to start.

00:20:34.424 --> 00:20:35.326
Really doesn't start with you.

00:20:35.326 --> 00:20:44.141
It has to start with somebody asking this particular person and then once they see, that it's a goal, then they can bring you in to work out the details of how to go about it, so to speak.

00:20:44.801 --> 00:20:48.634
Right, the process doesn't start with me, the strategy starts with me?

00:20:48.875 --> 00:20:49.939
Okay, so good.

00:20:49.939 --> 00:20:51.554
Now, how long have you been doing this?

00:20:52.195 --> 00:20:53.038
Almost 30 years.

00:20:53.400 --> 00:20:53.862
Okay, so good.

00:20:53.862 --> 00:20:55.847
Now, how long have you been doing this?

00:20:55.847 --> 00:21:03.411
Almost 30 years, oh my goodness.

00:21:03.431 --> 00:21:13.565
Now I'm sure you've got stories that are both wonderful to hear about and some of those I said, oh my goodness, I'm sorry I got involved, but all of them are really interesting learnings.

00:21:13.565 --> 00:21:25.479
And even the bad things, where you feel like you have scars, are the learning is what to avoid, and it's especially important with my.

00:21:25.479 --> 00:21:26.299
You know my agency.

00:21:26.299 --> 00:21:35.510
We're a small agency.

00:21:35.510 --> 00:21:47.071
I can tell by the process and the interaction with a potential client not someone who's already a client how they will be as a client.

00:21:47.071 --> 00:22:04.464
I've just been, I've just been doing this too long, so it's and it's, and that information is so wonderfully telling and then I can make the decision about whether I'm going to continue to pursue or not.

00:22:04.684 --> 00:22:06.066
Right, Okay.

00:22:06.066 --> 00:22:12.529
Well, let me say this Robin, you know we're coming to a close on this thing and I really enjoyed hearing about this process.

00:22:12.529 --> 00:22:18.636
I didn't know it was so difficult to get people to talk about things that went well for them, but I think you've explained it.

00:22:18.636 --> 00:22:21.796
I certainly enjoyed it and I hope that my listeners have enjoyed it.

00:22:21.796 --> 00:22:23.936
Any closing remarks from you?

00:22:25.253 --> 00:22:26.183
No, this is great.

00:22:26.183 --> 00:22:43.942
I really enjoyed this and it's taken me down like a memory lane that I feel like I need to remind myself of in terms of building a trust and getting out of the transactional mode that sometimes the work forces you into.

00:22:43.942 --> 00:22:46.035
So this is a good reminder for me.

00:22:46.035 --> 00:22:47.579
So I really appreciate this conversation.

00:22:47.970 --> 00:22:53.289
Okay, well, I'm certainly glad you had a chance to come on and share this information with our listeners.

00:22:53.289 --> 00:22:56.574
My guest today has been Robin Malone.

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She's the CEO of RJ Communications and I certainly want to thank her, and I want to thank my listeners again for joining us and if you've enjoyed the show, we'd like to get a review from you and don't forget to share this information with your friends about the Public Relations Review Podcast.

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This podcast is produced by Communication Strategies, an award-winning public relations and public affairs firm headquartered in Nashville, tennessee.

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Thank you for joining us, you.