Winning IR: Strategies, Innovations, and Tactics for Better Investor Relations.

About Winning IR

Winning IR is a podcast exploring the diverse insights within the investor relations community. Join host Mark Fasken as he discusses the winning strategies, tactics, and shifts in thinking with innovative investor relations professionals who are redefining the profession.

Each episode features a different challenge, innovation, or perspective on the ever-evolving role of IR, giving you real, actionable insight you’ll be able to use to build a better investor relations program.

Winning IR Podcast Episodes

S4E07 - Michaella Gallina from Wave on The Path to CFO: Leveraging IR Skills for Leadership Roles

Michaella Gallina is the Chief Financial Officer at Wave and the Vice President of Investor Relations, ESG, and productivity at H&R Block. Before taking on the CFO role, she built an impressive track record in investor relations, managing through acquisitions, activist investors, and restructuring. She was previously a consumer and technology analyst on the buy side and worked in investment banking.

S4E06 - Tiffany Willis from Starbucks on Owning the Narrative and Compelling Storytelling in IR

Tiffany Willis, CPA, is currently the Senior Vice President, Investor Relations at Starbucks, and leads the company’s financial communication strategy. She is a vibrant storyteller and accomplished speaker, recently delivering the commencement speech for Goizueta’s Master Diploma Ceremony at Emory University. Prior to her role at Starbucks, Tiffany held senior roles at companies such as Ingredion Incorporated, Fiserv, Time Warner, and EY.

August 20, 2024

S4E05 - Jeff Lambert from TiiCKER on Investing in Loyalty: The Business Case for Engaging Retail Investors

Jeff Lambert is the Founder & CEO of TiiCKER, an intelligent software platform that engages, verifies, and rewards individual investors through integrated content, shareholder rewards, and zero-commission training. Jeff is also the CEO of Lambert, a national public relations, investor relations, and marketing services firm based in Michigan.

August 6, 2024

S4E04 - Samantha Sandler from SpringWorks Therapeutics on Building an IR Program For Long-Term Success

Samantha Hilson Sandler is the Head of Investor Relations at SpringWorks Therapeutics, a commercial stage biopharmaceutical company applying a precision medicine approach to developing and delivering life-changing medicines for people with severe rare diseases and cancer. Prior to SpringWorks, Samantha was a Vice President at Blackstone. Samantha started her career in Healthcare Corporate Banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

July 23, 2024

S4E03 - Andrew Storm from Delta Airlines on Shifting Investor Bias: How to Transform Perception and Attract Investment

Andrew Storm is the Managing Director, Investor Relations at Delta. Before joining Delta, Andrew was the Vice President of IR at Secureworks. Before moving to the corporate side of IR, Andrew was the Managing Director at PJT Partners, but also brings over a decade of investment experience across equities and fixed income in his roles at Cortina Asset Management, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, and Lord Abbett.

July 9, 2024

S4E02 - Deborah Belevan from Duolingo on Leading the Duo-logue: A Mission-Led Approach to Investor Communications

Deborah Belevan, IRC, CPA, is the Vice President of Investor Relations at Duolingo, the leading mobile learning platform globally. She is an accomplished IRO with extensive experience in IR and corporate communication, IPOs, accounting and finance, and sales and equity research. She is also an engaged community member, serving on the board of NIRI New York since 2018.

June 25, 2024

S4E01 - Mark Hayes From Breakwater Strategy on How The Elevated IRO is Navigating The Future of IR

Mark Hayes is Partner and Head of Capital Markets Advisory, Investor and Geopolitical Intelligence at Breakwater Strategy, a strategic communications and insights agency that advises their clients on how to navigate change, crises, and complexities.

June 11, 2024

S3E10 - Kiley Rawlins from Ulta Beauty on How to Effectively Prepare For and Manage Shareholder Activism

Kiley Rawlins has over 25 years of investor relations experience and is currently the Vice President - Investor Relations at Ulta Beauty. She has developed and led investor relations for Fortune 500 companies such as The Michael’s Companies, Family Dollar Stores, and Dollar General.

March 4, 2024

S3E09 - David Calusdian from Sharon Merrill on Effective Communication for IROs and Executives

David Calusdian, President at Sharon Merrill Advisors, is an accomplished communicator with over 30 years of experience in advising and coaching clients through critical communications events, ranging from IPOs, executive transitions, M&A, and more.

February 20, 2024

S3E08 - Jonathan Paterson from Harbor Access on Investor Targeting & Outreach Strategies for Small-Mid-Cap Companies

Jonathan Paterson is the founder and managing partner of Harbor Access Investor Relations and has three decades of buy-side, sell-side, and consultative experience. He has worked with both the buy and sell side at firms such as RBS, HSBC, and JP Morgan, as well as running several successful Corporate Access desks during his career. Jonathan is a regular contributor to IR Magazine and the global IR community.

February 5, 2024

S3E07 - Elizabeth Librizzi from AllianceBernstein on Demystifying Buy-Side Corporate Access

Elizabeth Librizzi is currently the Chief Administrative Officer for Equities at AllianceBernstein, where she leads the global team that runs corporate, external research, and expert and vendor relationships. Previously, Elizabeth was the Head of Corporate Access, US at Credit Suisse, and spent over 16 years at Morgan Stanley in various roles, including institutional equity sales, commission management sales, and as their Head of Corporate Access - North America.

January 22, 2024

S3E06 - Catherine Buan from Asana on What IROs Need to Know About Going Public

Catherine Buan is an award-winning IR executive with over 20 years in the tech industry and currently leads IR at Asana. Catherine’s experience spans several blue-chip Silicon Valley firms, including Oracle, Ariba, SAP Business Objects, DocuSign, AppDynamics, Okta, and Lyft. Catherine has been a part of several IPOs during her career, including Lyft, DocuSign, and Ariba.

January 8, 2024

S3E05 - Patricia Cruz from Etsy on Building a Next-Generation IR Career

Patricia serves as Senior Manager, Investor Relations at Etsy, Inc. where she helps build and execute the company's IR program. She is also part of the National Investor Relations Institute Board of Directors and recently served as VP of Programs in NIRI’s NextGen Committee.

December 18, 2023

S3E04 - Andrea Daley from Dentsply Sirona on Navigating IR Amidst Executive Transitions

Andrea Daley is the Vice President of Investor Relations at Dentsply Sirona, the world's largest manufacturer of professional dental products and technologies. Before joining Dentsply Sirona in 2021, Andrea spent nearly 20 years in finance roles at healthcare companies, including 15 years at Cardinal Health.

December 10, 2023

S3E03 - Adam Borgatti from Aecon on How to Expand Your Scope of Responsibility as an IRO

Adam Borgatti, CFA, CPIR, is Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Investor Relations at Aecon Group. Prior to joining Aecon in 2009, Adam held leadership roles in the financial industry, including Vice President, RBC Capital Markets, Vice President, Investor Relations, at Scotiabank, and Vice President, National Bank Financial.

November 27, 2023

S3E02 - Moira Conlon from Financial Profiles on Balancing Long-Term Value with Short-Term Success When Communicating With Investors

Moira Conlon founded Financial Profiles 15 years ago during a recession, which helped to form their belief that every company has a story to tell in good times and bad. She’s an influential and award-winning corporate governance and PR leader, and a frequent contributor to Forbes, CFO Magazine, and IR Magazine. Financial Profiles has a demonstrated track record of leveraging best-in-class communications practices to help its clients attract capital, talent, customers, and media attention.

November 13, 2023

S3E01 - Kendra Brown from FactSet on How IR Can Become a Strategic Partner to the C-Suite

Kendra Brown is currently the SVP, Senior Director, Banking & Sell-Side Research at FactSet, a leading global financial digital platform and enterprise solutions provider. Kendra’s tenure at FactSet has spanned over two decades, including extensive experience in product management for the company, Chief of Staff, and prior to her current role, as the SVP and Head of Investor Relations. Kendra is an accomplished operational and strategic partner in the company, who’s work has helped to contribute to FactSet’s growth and innovation.

October 30, 2023

S2E10 - Jordyn Eskijian from H&R Block on Aligning Purpose and Performance Through ESG

Jordyn Eskijian is currently the Program Manager, Investor Relations & ESG at H&R Block. Prior to her current role, Jordyn held various financial, accounting, and data science roles within the company. Jordyn was recently named to NIRI’s Rising Leaders Under 40 list, and is the Programs Chair of the Kansas City Chapter Board.

October 16, 2023

S2E09 - Luke Wyse from Triumph Financial on The First 90 Days in a New IR Role

Luke Wyse, CFM, is currently the Senior Vice President, Finance & Investor Relations at Triumph Financial, serving as a strategic financial partner in the executive group working to drive shareholder value and facilitate the realization of corporate strategy. Before joining Triumph in 2014, he was Senior Vice President, Director of Finance for The F&M Bank & Trust Company, leading corporate finance activities and strategic, operational, and capital planning for the firm. Before joining F&M, Mr. Wyse served ConAgra Foods, Inc. (NYSE: CAG) in their I.T. Finance group. Earlier in his career, he worked in corporate finance departments at both Sterling Bancshares, Inc. (now Comerica) and Compass Bancshares, Inc. (now BBVA Compass).

October 2, 2023

S2E08 - Megan McGrath from Cushman & Wakefield on How To Build Better Relationships With the Sell-Side

Megan McGrath is currently the Senior Vice President, Investor Relations at Cushman & Wakefield, where she leads the IR function, providing strategic insight to the firm’s leadership team, Engages with existing and potential investors, and fosters working relationships with the equity research analyst community. Megan has over 20 years of experience working in IR and on the sell-side, with previous roles at companies such as Financial Profiles, Buckingham research, Lehman Brothers, Barclays Capital, and MKM Partners.

September 18, 2023

S2E07 - Alex Jorgensen from Prosek Partners on Ensuring You Have The Right Team to Go Public

Alex Jorgensen leads Prosek’s investor relations advisory practice, bringing diversified investor relations and corporate communications experience spanning the financial services, media and entertainment, technology, healthcare and life sciences industries. Alex has advised on over 35 go-to-market transactions across IPOs, Spins, SPACs and traditional M&A. In 2020, Alex was named to the National Investor Relations Institute’s 40-Under-40 list recognizing impactful IR professionals, and he currently sits on the committee of its New York NextGen chapter.

September 5, 2023

S2E06 - Chris Mayo from the London Stock Exchange on How to Expand Your Access to Capital

Chris Mayo, CFA, is the Head of Primary Markets, Americas, at the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG). Chris helps companies and investment managers from the Americas access capital through corporate equity, debt, and fund listings on London’s public markets. He has more than 25 years of corporate finance experience in New York and London for Barclays, Salomon Smith Barney, Citi, and Schroders and has executed IPOs, financings, and M&A transactions in the US and Europe worth tens of billions of dollars. Previously, Chris was the Primary Markets specialist for LSEG in the technology and life science sectors and was also an investor and Head of Strategy for an early-stage cloud-managed services company, which exited to a UK technology company.

August 21, 2023

S2E05 - Mary Turnbull from Raymond James on Successful Corporate Access as an IRO

Mary Turnbull is the Managing Director and Head of Corporate Access at Raymond James, where she emphasizes collaborating with Investor Relations professionals to develop strategies for investor outreach and targeting. Mary is also partners with Capital Markets, Investment Banking, and Research professionals to build and source content for Raymond James-hosted general and sector-specific conferences, summits, symposiums, non-deal roadshows, and bespoke and industry experts. Before joining Raymond James, Mary served in various research, sales, and management roles at several sell-side investment banks, including Lehman Brothers, Deutsche Bank, and Salomon Smith Barney.

August 8, 2023

S2E04 - Rodney Nelson from Twilio on the Importance of Deeply Understanding Your Shareholder Base

Rodney Nelson—VP of Investor Relations at Twilio—is a senior finance leader in the technology sector with experience spanning enterprise software and internet businesses. Since June of 2020, Rodney has been a Board Member and Sponsorship Committee Chair of the Boston Chapter of the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI Boston). Rodney brings a data-driven approach to building out core functions and processes that span finance and cross-functional initiatives, including partnering with both executive leadership and boards on strategic priorities. His tenure has helped him obtain a deep expertise in corporate strategy, equity and debt fundraising, public offerings, investor relations, financial and strategic planning, financial accounting and SEC reporting.

July 24, 2023

S2E03 - Gene Rubin from Rivel on Everything You Need To Know About Perception Studies

Gene Rubin is the President of Rivel, and has been with the company since 2000. He manages the overall growth of revenue and profitability of the firm while overseeing custom investor perception study projects for several dozen clients. Since joining the Rivel team, he has led 600+ investor perception study projects, advising senior management teams and boards in areas of strategic investor communications across all industries, with a heavier concentration in energy, materials, financials and industrials. Gene helped to create Rivel’s Executive Intelligence Council (now GuideLign) program and is also heavily involved in its research and programming processes. In addition, he has served as a mentor supporting the growth of Rivel’s consulting team since 2006.

July 10, 2023

S2E02 - Investor Targeting In The Real World With Scott Einberger From JLL

Scott Einberger is an accomplished investor relations and finance professional with over 20 years of experience. He is currently the IRO at JLL and has extensive experience in the food and beverage, consumer staples, and hospitality industries, with strong knowledge of market dynamics and industry drivers.

June 19, 2023

S2E01 - Rebecca Gardy From Campbell Soup Company on The IRO Blueprint For Leading Through Influence

Rebecca Gardy is the Senior Vice President and Chief Investor Relations Officer at Campbell Soup Company. She has extensive IR experience working at companies like Nike, Popeyes, Green Sky, and KPMG.

June 5, 2023

S1E10 - Building a Strong Support System: The Power of Community in Investor Relations with Matt Brusch, NIRI

Matt Brusch is President and CEO of NIRI: The Association for Investor Relations. He was previously COO, led professional development programs, credentialing, publications and communications for NIRI. He has over 25 years of experience leading the investor relations and corporate communications functions for several public companies, and he served in regulatory and marketing roles with the Nasdaq Stock Market.

May 1, 2023

S1E09: Bridging the Gap Between IR & PR to Build Attractive Investor Brands with Fabiane Goldstein, Grayling

Fabiane Goldstein established herself as a reference in Strategic IR in Latin America, serving clients of all sectors and sizes in strategic projects, writing dozens of articles, hosting and participating in several webinars. She brings 20 years of experience in the financial markets and is an expert on Investor Relations, Corporate Communications, Sustainability/ESG & Integrated Reports and the power of Social Media in the capital markets.

April 17, 2023

S1E08 - The Whole Picture: Involving Multiple Stakeholders in Investor Relations with Jeremy Cohen at Alight Solutions

Jeremy is Vice President of Investor Relations at Alight Solutions (SVP of Investor Relations at Edelman at the time of recording), and has worked closely with clients across numerous sectors, including financial services, industrials, consumer, healthcare and technology. Jeremy’s background includes special situations, M&A, ESG communications, crisis, public relations and investor relations, building the IR program at Gogo, and working as an equity analyst with Morningstar.

April 3, 2023

S1E07 - IR Innovators: Creative Tactics for Standing Out and Engaging Investors with Alyssa Barry & Caroline Sawamoto, irlabs

Alyssa Barry and Caroline Sawamoto are both Principals and Co-Founders at irlabs. Each boasts over 15-years of investor relations and capital markets experience. An activist by nature, Alyssa has raised over $1 billion of capital, led some of Canada’s most successful activism campaigns, managed M&A transactions and enhanced board governance frameworks. Caroline has supported numerous financing activities, both public and private, and helped raise over $650 million of capital.

March 20, 2023

S1E06 - IR on the Cutting Edge: Navigating Investor Relations in Emerging Industries With Leah Gibson, Cybin

Leah Gibson is a life sciences investor relations leader with nearly two decades of experience in corporate and shareholder communications, and business strategy development. She has worked with small-, mid- and large-cap publicly traded biotechnology companies in North America, including a $60B large-cap U.S. biotech focused on creating transformative medicines for serious genetic diseases.

March 6, 2023

S1E05 - Catapult Your Career: The Habits of High-Performing IROs with Smooch Repovich Rosenberg

Smooch Repovich Rosenberg is a pioneering executive search consultant, specializing in Investor Relations and Executive Communications. With a storied career spanning several decades, She is an expert at building high-performing teams and has helped businesses ranging from pre-IPO Startups to Fortune 100 Companies hire over 400 investor relations officers. She is also the only executive recruiter awarded with the prestigious title of NIRI Fellow.

February 20, 2023

S1E04 - Building a Strong Foundation: Creating an In-House Investor Relations Department from the Ground Up with Brooks Rennie, Byline Bank

Brooks O. Rennie is Head of Investor Relations at Byline Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE: BY). Mr. Rennie established and leads the company’s Investor Relations function in addition to responsibilities related to ESG. Mr. Rennie’s background includes experience in Capital Markets, Mergers & Acquisitions and Corporate Development with a strong local and national network across multiple markets.

February 6, 2023

S1E03 - Best Practices for Earnings Calls with Jason Fooks, iStar

Jason Fooks is Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Marketing for both iStar Inc. (NYSE: STAR) and Safehold Inc. (NYSE: SAFE). In his tenure since joining iStar in 2006 and Safehold since its IPO in 2017, he was the recipient of IR Magazine’s award for Best Investor Relations by a Small-Cap Company. Jason also serves on the Company’s ESG advisory committee.

January 18, 2023

S1E02 - Winning the Battle for the Boardroom - Navigating the Do's and Don'ts of Proxy Fights with Michael Verrechia, Morrow Sodali

Michael Verrechia is Managing Director of the M&A and Activism Advisory Group at Morrow Sodali. With 20 years of experience, Mike provides strategic counsel in matters of shareholder activism in contested director elections, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, and proxy solicitation.

January 17, 2023

S1E01 - The Most Frequently Asked Questions About ESG with Victoria Sivrais, Clermont Partners

Victoria Sivrais is a Partner of Clermont Partners, LLC, one of the only 100% women-owned investor relations and strategic communications firms in the United States. Victoria provides guidance to clients around critical communication issues, including best-practice financial communications and investor relations programs, ESG communications, M&A, and more.

January 16, 2023