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Michael Lee Simpson has conducted 2,000+ interviews across People, Variety, Entertainment Weekly, New York Post, USA Today, TMZ, Us Weekly, and other outlets — building a firsthand understanding of how journalists think, what editors want, and how narratives get built or buried.
Now, he applies that same expertise as a communications strategist, working with executives, founders, public figures, and the organizations they lead — developing messaging, sharpening narrative, and building the communications infrastructure that drives authority, reputation, and growth.
MEDIA TRAINING & EXECUTIVE COACHING
The leaders who communicate with authority don't leave those moments to chance. A high-stakes interview. A room full of skeptical investors. A public conversation where every word carries weight. These moments don't reward intelligence or title alone — they reward clarity, preparation, and the ability to stay grounded under pressure.
The difference between a response that builds trust and one that creates a news cycle isn't preparation alone — it's knowing how the other side of the table operates. What a journalist is actually listening for. How an answer gets used. Where the risk lives in a question that sounds simple.
Sessions are built around your actual moment — interview prep before a major press appearance, briefing prep ahead of a high-stakes announcement, or on-camera coaching for the roadshow or hearing. You control the narrative, land your message, and leave the room stronger than you walked in.
MESSAGING, NARRATIVE & BRAND STRATEGY
Most executives have a story. What they lack is the version that holds up under pressure — in a press interview, a boardroom introduction, or a keynote where the audience decides in the first ninety seconds whether they're listening. The difference between a narrative that lands and one that gets lost isn't substance. It's the gap between how you see yourself and how a skeptical outsider — a journalist, an investor, a room full of strangers — actually receives you.
The work covers the full architecture: core narrative, brand voice, executive positioning, corporate messaging — built to hold the same way in a boardroom, a press interview, or a keynote. When needed, it extends to web presence and visual identity. A candidate running for a competitive gubernatorial race used this process to unify their messaging around a single throughline across every platform. A multimillion-dollar e-commerce CEO used it to move from operator to industry voice — messaging that now works in trade press, investor conversations, and on stage.
This is for founders defining a company's voice, executives stepping onto a larger platform, and organizations navigating a moment that requires clarity.
FRACTIONAL PR
Not every organization needs a full-service PR agency. But every executive or company navigating growth, change, or public scrutiny needs a seasoned communications strategist in their corner — someone who understands how journalists think, what editors want, and how narratives are built or broken.
The engagement is embedded, retained, and built around the perspective of someone who has worked on both sides of the story. Press strategy and media relations, executive visibility and reputation management, internal PR and media outreach — the full range of what a senior communications hire would own, without the overhead of an agency or the limitations of a full-time hire.
For organizations that need senior communications counsel without a senior communications hire, this is the engagement.
CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS
When a story breaks, a statement is leaked, or a narrative starts forming without you — the next few hours determine whether you get ahead of the fire or watch it spread. A reputation built over decades can accelerate toward ruin faster than most organizations are prepared to respond.
Crisis communication is a specific discipline. It requires understanding how journalists operate, how editors make decisions, and how a narrative accelerates once it's in motion. Most leaders are unprepared for that moment — not because they lack intelligence or integrity, but because this is a skill set built on the other side of the story, not inside the organization experiencing the destruction.
The result is a controlled narrative, a shortened media cycle, and a reputation that holds — available as a rapid-response engagement when the pressure is on, or as ongoing crisis preparedness for organizations that understand the value of having a plan before they need one.
GHOSTWRITING
Some of the most important ideas never reach the audience they deserve. The substance is there. The story is there. What's missing is the craft to put it on the page in a way that actually lands.
This is a collaboration built on discretion, deep listening, and years of sustained conversation with some of the most articulate people alive. The work takes whatever form the idea demands — op-eds and thought leadership that shape how an industry sees you, speeches and keynotes written for the room you're walking into, LinkedIn and editorial content that builds a presence worth following, memoirs and autobiographies that do justice to a life genuinely worth documenting, book development and editorial strategy for leaders whose thinking deserves a longer runway.
The writing captures your voice, your cadence, and the texture of your thinking.
PODCAST & MULTIMEDIA SHOW DEVELOPMENT
In a media landscape defined by noise, the brands that endure have something genuine to say — and the discipline to say it consistently. A well-conceived branded podcast is one of the few content investments that appreciates over time. It builds institutional authority, deepens relationships with the audiences that matter most, and creates a body of work that reflects the intelligence and values of the organization behind it.
Each engagement begins with podcast strategy and show concept, a defined voice, and a repeatable format designed to keep audiences coming back. The work covers everything from episode structure and editorial planning to interview frameworks and multimedia development — built for consistency, quality, and long-term audience growth.
The payoff is a show that attracts better guests, grows a loyal audience, and builds the kind of authority that strengthens your brand over time. For organizations ready to launch, a full launch strategy is part of the package.
