What 16 Years in Media Consulting Taught Me About Alignment, Leadership, and Integrity

I’ve spent the better part of my professional life working in and around media—sixteen years, to be exact. During that time, I’ve partnered with small businesses and executives who all wanted some version of the same thing: visibility, relevance, and growth.

What I’ve learned is that most organizations don’t struggle with media because they aren’t producing enough content. They struggle because their media is misaligned—and often redundant.

Early in my career, I encountered an organization that positioned media and marketing as tools to resolve internal interpersonal challenges. Messaging was deployed to “fix” culture issues, smooth over leadership gaps, and project cohesion before it had been established internally. The result wasn’t clarity or trust—it was confusion, disengagement, and unnecessary risk.

That experience fundamentally changed how I understand media.

Media is not a substitute for leadership. Media is not a bandage for internal dysfunction. Media is a mirror.

At its best, media reflects the current culture of an organization while responsibly imagining a more aligned, forward-looking future—both internally and externally. When those realities are out of sync, audiences feel it. Employees feel it. Stakeholders feel it. And the cost of that misalignment is far greater than most leaders anticipate.

That realization led me back to formal study in psychology, with a focus on media psychology. It was a deeply expansive experience—one that paired my intuitive strengths in media with research, data, and insight into human behavior, perception, and engagement. I began to see media not simply as content, but as a system of influence, risk management, and ethical leadership.

Since then, my work as a media consultant has been grounded in several core principles:

Alignment matters more than activity. Content for content’s sake creates noise. Strategic media creates clarity. Every message should have purpose, context, and a clear understanding of who it serves—internally and externally.

Engagement is intentional. People engage when they feel seen, respected, and invited into something coherent. That level of engagement requires strategy, not trends.

Media carries risk. What organizations say—and what they avoid saying—communicates values. Poorly aligned media can introduce reputational, cultural, and operational risk that leaders often underestimate.

Integrity must lead the strategy. Ethical leadership shows up in media decisions: whose voices are centered, what narratives are elevated, and how responsibility is handled in public-facing work.

In a recent season of personal change and recovery, these principles became even more central to how I work. Founding Savvy Cha, LLC was not about creating another consulting firm—it was about formalizing a philosophy I’ve practiced for years: media should support leadership, not replace it.

As a Black American woman and business owner, I’m acutely aware of how narratives are shaped, reinforced, and consumed. That awareness informs my commitment to ethical strategy, cultural awareness, and long-term impact over performative visibility or short-term wins.

Today, alongside my continued professional practice and PhD candidacy, my work through Savvy Cha sits at the intersection of media strategy, executive coaching, and organizational culture. I support leaders in slowing down, assessing alignment, and building media ecosystems that reflect who they are now—while responsibly supporting where they are going.

Because when media is aligned, it doesn’t just attract attention. It builds trust. It strengthens culture. It supports sustainable growth.

If you’re ready to take your media strategy beyond content overload and toward intentional, values-driven alignment, I invite you to join my upcoming webinar. We’ll explore how to create media that builds trust, strengthens culture, and drives sustainable growth for your organization.

Register here: https://www.savvycha.com/webinar-registration

Photo capture 2016