Whit Clay – Crafting Communications

Whit Clay stops by The Business Brew to discuss his role in the financial ecosystem.  Whit sits at the intersection of investor relations and public relations.  He works with a wide variety of companies.  We hope you enjoy the conversation!

Whit Clay is a Co-Chief Executive Officer with Sloane & Company and has been with the firm for more than 21 years. Beyond day-to-day leadership and management of the firm, he leads its financial and crisis communications practice with a focus across multiple sectors and clients.

Whit has worked on complex transactions, mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, litigation and numerous other special situations. He provides strategic counsel to the C-suite and taps his deep relationships with the media, business and financial community to achieve successful outcomes.

Clients of note across a range of industries include: Archer Aviation, Bloom Energy, Centrus Energy, Fortis, Francisco Partners, IMAX, Liberty Media, NOVA Infrastructure, Paladin Capital and Stagwell, Inc. among others.

Whit joined Sloane & Company in 1999 after more than three years working with Edelman Financial Worldwide, the financial communications and investor relations division of Edelman Public Relations Worldwide. Prior to that, he worked in Washington, DC for Capitoline, the U.S. Senate Sergeant-at-Arms and the American Trucking Associations.

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Detailed Show Notes (Time Stamps)

2:45  - What is Sloane & Company?

4:04 – How much does narrative matter over the intermediate term?

6:30 – How management teams can create value through messaging

13:15 – How 5 year projections can cause value destruction

20:00 – What is Whit’s role in the financial ecosystem

22:20 – Whit’s background

29:08 – Whit takes some career risk in the late 90s

37:30 – What happened to Sloan’s client mix in 07-08

40:18 – Do CEOs know when bubbles are occurring or do they get just as caught up as the rest of us?  And, what traits make CEOs good at navigating bubbles?

50:30 – Which clients are good matches for Slone & Company

56:00 – How has social media influenced corporate communications?

1:06:00 – How has being exposed to CEOs rubbed off on Whit as a leader?

1:10:00 – Sloane & Company’s values