Need To Win In PR? Think Like An Owner.

In this episode of The Piar Podcast, host Tan Sukhera sits down with Jon Amar—strategic communications consultant, former startup founder, and celebrated for his no-nonsense industry hot takes—to explore what separates vendors from indispensable partners: the ability to think like an owner. Jon brings hard-won perspective from taking a startup from zero to acquisition and leading communications across 20+ industries, and he's direct about what's broken: big agencies chasing quarterly profits, the bait-and-switch where senior people close deals then disappear, and a 7:1 ratio of PR professionals to journalists that's made earned media harder than ever. The conversation unpacks why SEO experts entering earned media are confusing clients into thinking PR is link building when it's actually trust building, why 2026 will force traditional PR and SEO to unify, and why companies investing in corporate newsrooms and brand journalism—hiring journalists at $200,000-$400,000 salaries—will own the AI-driven information landscape. Jon's core message: stop being a line item in a marketing budget, start understanding how clients make money and where they need to show up to close deals, and become so indispensable that you're basically the head communicator the organization can't live without.