Expertly Said

How can leaders maintain trust when everything feels uncertain? Lisandro Castaño is Director of Corporate Development Communications at Johnson & Johnson. Born and raised in Argentina, he has spent 13 years at the company in roles spanning talent acquisition, change management, and strategic communications. Four years ago, he relocated to the United States to join the global corporate affairs team, supporting executive and employee communications at a global level. In this episode, Lisandro joins Kristen to talk about how to communicate through periods of transformation.

Knowing what you want to communicate is easy enough. Understanding exactly what your audience needs to hear is the harder part. Carleigh Kmetz is Associate Director, Business Unit Communications & Public Affairs, Dermatology at AbbVie. She has built a storytelling career in healthcare, with a passion for elevating patient voices and more than 10 years of experience across internal communications, crisis management, executive comms, corporate social responsibility, and influencer strategy. In this episode, Carleigh joins Kristen to discuss the role of emotional intelligence in communication and how she practices empathy with the patients that comprise her audience.

Why does so much corporate communication come across as vague, predictable, and impersonal?Micki Pflug Mounce is the Communications Lead for the US Plasma Services Business at Takeda, where she develops and executes external and internal communications for the Plasma-Derived Therapies division. She started her career as a travel writer, ghostwrote more than 100 textbooks spanning kindergarten through college, and founded a memoir-writing company called Biographies Inc. before spending the last 15 years in health, tech, and pharma. She's also Vice President of the Board of Trustees for the Fremont County District Library.In this episode, Micki joins Kristen to make the case that corporate communications do not need to feel impersonal. Relatability, transparency, and authenticity are essential, even in highly regulated industries.

Working in marketing or communications means accepting that your name might never appear on the work you’re responsible for creating.Laura Lampa, Associate Director of R&D Site Communications at AbbVie and founder of LML StoryLab Consulting, began her career as a microbiologist before realizing her real passion was communicating complex science. Across roles at Monsanto, Kaiser Permanente, AgraQuest, Bayer Crop Science, Ginkgo Bioworks, and now AbbVie, she has spent more than a decade helping mission-driven organizations clarify their value and convey dense science through stories that are accessible to audiences. In this episode, Laura joins Kristen to talk about why she loves the work of helping brands and experts step into the spotlight.

What separates good communication from communication that actually connects?Jay Sullivan is a consultant at Exec|Comm, where he leads the firm’s law firm group and previously served as managing partner. He is also the award-winning author of Simply Said: Communicating Better at Work and Beyond, with a second edition arriving in October 2026.In this episode, Jay joins Kristen to talk about communicating more effectively, from focusing less on what you want to say and more on what your audience needs, to listening well, building stronger relationships, and slowing down enough to think critically.