Southwest-Linda Rutherford (Long Post)

[jaahmuhl]

Transcript: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Rkya0K9yxvz148ZgA5XxbYd4Q-nIVNd3?usp=sharing

[jaahmuhl]

Raw Footage: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Rkya0K9yxvz148ZgA5XxbYd4Q-nIVNd3?usp=sharing

Transcript: https://www.rev.com/transcript-editor/shared/6sY_a8v-jbRKiLCMgUHg8dcIzDlD1ouQ_TB2U4rY53HFj19a9utA_FIBMTqhk2lVY3-FkBGmtgxazr-a3p9Zcqf18Uk?loadFrom=SharedLink

[howie-emond]

(Intro Clip) A: 26:26-27:20

(Intro) This is (Podcast Name) from Promazo, where we focus on getting students the professional advice they need to get started on their career journeys. This episode is from our hosts, Brett and Howie, and their deeply insightful conversation with Linda Rutherford, Executive Vice President & Chief Communications Officer at Southwest Airlines.

(How she got there) Linda’s early career with the Dallas Times Herald was set up to last, as her passion was in Journalism. That all got turned around when she met the people at Southwest, who hired her into the Public Relations department, where she began her long journey climbing the ranks to the C-Suite.

(Transition to bio) (Background music change) Linda started her career with a BA in Journalism from Texas Tech University, following her passion to the Dallas Times Herald in ’88. The paper put her on the task of airline reporting, which gave her exposure to her future company. Through her years of covering the industry, Southwest Airlines saw something in her that they couldn’t let go, and asked her to join them, which she did in ’92. This is a really interesting story that she’ll tell us about in the interview, especially why she loved then organization so much. She’d spend the rest of her career to this day climbing the ranks, working from the role of Public Relations Specialist. Landmark changes in her career like the transition to Director of PR gave her incredible opportunities to develop her leadership skills, and it continued to earn her further promotions towards the top. By 2005, she’d attain Vice President status, and by 2016 she was Chief Communications Officer. Today, her position as a core leader at Southwest tells the story well of her true care for the brand and its people. Southwest Airlines itself was founded in Texas in 1971, serving connections between Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio, growing over the years to over 60,000 employees, 121 airports in 11 countries, 4,000 daily flights and over 130 million customers annually. Their nets income is reported at over 2.3B annually, and are one of the most successful airlines ever. It appears that nothing can get between this organization and their service of 90 million bags of pretzels a year.

(Analysis) Through Linda’s storied career mastering the arts of Public Relations and Communications, her knowledge of the field has grown immensely, and she was more than happy to pass some of that information on to us in this interview. We start out by hearing her Southwest origin story, which gets tied into the topic of being comfortable in career transitions. We discuss showcasing your views and displaying your potential, along with extensive conversation on how to develop as an effective leader. We highlight strengths, how to identify and develop them, and how to create your personal brand in a way which reflects them. For all those interested in the field, we go over growth and future opportunities in PR/communications, non-profits, and the general industry. That’s not all, though, we cover plenty of interesting topics and she shares lots of advice on how you can start developing yourself in preparation for your career right now. Lets dive in…

[jaahmuhl]

(Intro Clip) A: 26:26-27:20

(Intro) NEED TO SWAP OUT TO OUR INTRO This is (Podcast Name) from Promazo, where we focus on getting students the professional advice they need to get started on their career journeys. This episode is from our hosts, Brett and Howie, and their deeply insightful conversation with Linda Rutherford, Executive Vice President & Chief Communications Officer at Southwest Airlines.

NEED THE MACRO LEVEL IDEA THAT YOU WANT TO DISCUSS AND BRING IN OUTSIDE INFO AND THEN TRANSITION TO LINDA. LISTEN TO PODCAST HOW I BUILT THIS INTRO TO SEE HOW THEY ARE DOING IT.

(Transition to bio) (Background music change) Linda started her career with a BA in Journalism from Texas Tech University, following her passion to the Dallas Times Herald in ’88. The paper put her on the task of airline reporting, which gave her exposure to her future company. Through her years of covering the industry, Southwest Airlines saw something in her that they couldn’t let go, and asked her to join them, which she did in ’92. She’d spend the rest of her career rising from the role of Public Relations Specialist to her role today. Significant changes in her career like the transition to Director of PR gave her incredible opportunities to develop her leadership skills and expand the opportunities at the company. By 2005, she’d attain Vice President status, and by 2016 she was Chief Communications Officer. Today, her position as a core leader at Southwest tells the story well of her true care for the brand and its people. YOU NEED TO GO INTO HER POSITION TODAY

Southwest Airlines itself was founded in Texas in 1971, serving connections between Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio, growing over the years to over 60,000 employees, 121 airports in 11 countries, 4,000 daily flights and over 130 million customers annually. Their nets income is reported at over 2.3B annually, and are one of the most successful airlines ever. It appears that nothing can get between this organization and their service of 90 million bags of pretzels a year. I WOULD WANT TO SEE A LITTLE MORE ON THE COMPANY

(Analysis)-I THINK THIS SHOULD BE OUT. INSTEAD CREATE A TRANSITION TO THE PODCAST ITSELF. YOU CAN GIVE A FEW SNEAK PEAKS/HINTS BUT THIS IS WAY TO LITERAL/BIOGRAPHIC Through Linda’s storied career mastering the arts of Public Relations and Communications, her knowledge of the field has grown immensely, and she was more than happy to pass some of that information on to us in this interview. We start out by hearing her Southwest origin story, which gets tied into the topic of being comfortable in career transitions. We discuss showcasing your views and displaying your potential, along with extensive conversation on how to develop as an effective leader. We highlight strengths, how to identify and develop them, and how to create your personal brand in a way which reflects them. For all those interested in the field, we go over growth and future opportunities in PR/communications, non-profits, and the general industry. That’s not all, though, we cover plenty of interesting topics and she shares lots of advice on how you can start developing yourself in preparation for your career right now. Lets dive in…

[jaahmuhl]

You're also missing a caption for this. The caption is the text we post online that previews the podcast. It can be like the analysis part you have here, but has to have a bit more energy than just walking them through the podcast. It is like why do they want to listen?

[howie-emond]

(Intro Clip) A: 26:26-27:20

(Intro) Hello hello everyone  (EXCITED AND WITH ENERGY) welcome back to Office Hours. A show about how to make a successful jump from college to young professional life. We know that landing your first job can often be an intimidating, complicated and stressful process, but its not impossible! (UP ENERGRY) And we’re here to help by giving you acccess to some of the brightest minds in business to get their advice for how to build a successful career. Take what you can (short pause), pick what you like and listen for that stroke of brilliance that you can use to help you get hired. I'm Howie Emond and on the show today, Linda Rutherford, the CHRO at Southwest Airlines. Her advice here gives us a great idea of how to grow and what to expect going into our careers.

(Transition to bio) (Background music change) Linda started her career with a BA in Journalism from Texas Tech University, following her passion to the Dallas Times Herald in ’88. The paper put her on the task of airline reporting, which gave her exposure to her future company. Through her years of covering the industry, Southwest Airlines saw something in her that they couldn’t let go, and asked her to join them, which she did in ’92. She’d spend the rest of her career rising from the role of Public Relations Specialist to her role today. Significant changes in her career like the transition to Director of PR gave her incredible opportunities to develop her leadership skills and expand the opportunities at the company. By 2005, she’d attain Vice President status, and by 2016 she was Chief Communications Officer. The role of CCO is designed to support a company's mission and vision, innovating and delivering results accordingly. Linda focuses heavily on culture and employee experiences, shaping the future of the company through personal relationships and "ahead-of-the-curve" ideation. The most well known aspects of the role include media relations and internal communications, though she mentions that today's CCO is much more central to an organization that it used to be. As a core leader at Southwest, her true care for the brand and its people displays why she's perfect for the job.

Southwest Airlines itself was founded in Texas in 1971, serving connections between Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio. The size of the company then pales in comparison to the brand we know to dominate the skies today. Though, their success isn't random. Their path to the top included a culture of people which set them apart from the others, attracting the best minds and genuine people. Their decisions early on to set themselves apart paid off, and they found themselves growing over the years to over 60,000 employees, 121 airports in 11 countries, 4,000 daily flights and over 130 million customers annually. Naturally, a growth rate like this rakes in some serious profit, and accordingly net income is reported at over 2.3B annually, making them one of the most successful airlines ever. It appears that nothing can get between this organization and their service of 90 million bags of pretzels a year.

(Analysis)- Through Linda’s storied career mastering the arts of Public Relations and Communications, her knowledge of the field has grown immensely, and she was more than happy to pass some of that information on to us in this interview. I don't want to give too much away, but we hit some really important topics here. From personal development and leadership skills to the future of PR and communications, we cover plenty of interesting topics which will help you start making progress and preparing for your career right now. One of the best people from one of the best companies for workplace culture, what more could we ask for? Let's dive in...

[howie-emond]

CAPTION

Unsure how to showcase yourself to an organization? Maybe you're curious on what makes you stand out? Southwest Chief Administration Officer Linda Rutherford is a master of these topics, and offers some great advice when it comes to figuring yourself out. In addition, we'll discuss the greater PR and Communications field, and hear about her storied career journey climbing to the top. This interview has the tools you need to start developing and getting to know your professional self right now.

[jaahmuhl]

(Intro Clip) A: 26:26-27:20

(Intro) Hello hello everyone (EXCITED AND WITH ENERGY) welcome back to Office Hours. A show about how to make a successful jump from college to young professional life. We know that landing your first job can often be an intimidating, complicated and stressful process, but its not impossible! (UP ENERGRY) And we’re here to help by giving you acccess to some of the brightest minds in business to get their advice for how to build a successful career. Take what you can (short pause), pick what you like and listen for that stroke of brilliance that you can use to help you get hired.

(Intro of Interviewee) I’m Howie Emond and with my co-host Brett today we have a deeply insightful conversation with Linda Rutherford the Executive Vice President & Chief Communications Officer at Southwest Airlines. While she ended up in Communications, her original plan had her being a journalist when she was leaving school. In fact she thought after scoring a job with the Dallas Times Herald that she would be there for life since her passion was journalism. That all got turned around when through a chance encounter she met the people at Southwest, who hired her into the Public Relations department, where she began a multi-decade career at the company.

(Transition to bio) (Background music change) Linda started her career with a BA in Journalism from Texas Tech University, and as we mentioned followed her passion to the Dallas Times Herald in ’88. The paper put her on the task of airline reporting, which gave her exposure to her future company. Through her years of covering the industry, Southwest Airlines saw something in her that they couldn’t let go, and asked her to join them, which she did in ’92.

Southwest Airlines itself was founded in Texas in 1971, serving connections between Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio, growing over the years to over 60,000 employees, 121 airports in 11 countries, 4,000 daily flights and over 130 million customers annually. Their net income is reported at over 2.3B annually, and they are one of the most successful airlines ever. It appears that nothing can get between this organization and their service of 90 million bags of pretzels a year.

(Analysis) Through Linda’s storied career mastering the arts of Public Relations and Communications, her knowledge of the field has grown immensely, and she was more than happy to pass some of that information on to us in this interview. We start out by hearing her Southwest origin story, which gets tied into the topic of being comfortable in career transitions. We discuss showcasing your views and displaying your potential, along with extensive conversation on how to develop as an effective leader. We highlight strengths, how to identify and develop them, and how to create your personal brand in a way which reflects them. For all those interested in the field, we go over growth and future opportunities in PR/communications, non-profits, and the general industry. That’s not all, though, we cover plenty of interesting topics and she shares lots of advice on how you can start developing yourself in preparation for your career right now. Lets dive in…

[jaahmuhl]

@howie-emond Where do you want to start the interview and is there anything that we need to cut out like at the end?

I did a redo of the intro too. Let me know what you think

[howie-emond]

Start 1:46 - "Well, Linda, thank you for joining us."

End 48:02 - "Absolutely. It was delightful to be with you guys."

[howie-emond]

Intro Recordings

I've included .m4a and .mp3 files for all parts

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1_jtFKZJ_KPj8IyiEIOK1P8_Cpi39s2tq

[jaahmuhl]

@howie-emond I really like the recordings. However in part 4 your voice tone changes significantly. It's like you almost put in a different cut. Is it possible to redo that one?

[howie-emond]

Added the re-recorded pt 4