In this episode, Pam Fultz, senior community relations manager at Vi Living, joins host Jason Mudd to share how communicators can build and keep trust with community partners, journalists, and other stakeholders.
Tune in to learn more!
Watch the episode here:
Meet our guest:
Our guest is Pam Fultz, APR, senior community relations manager at Vi Living, a national senior living company. Pam teaches at the University of Florida and Northeastern University and is a past president of PRSA’s Gulf Coast chapter. A former broadcast journalist, she returns to On Top of PR to share how communicators earn and keep stakeholder trust.
5 things you’ll learn during the full episode:
- Why trust is built through hundreds of interactions, not one big announcement
- How clear, consistent communication keeps stakeholders from filling in the blanks
- Why listening before responding is one of the most strategic moves a communicator can make
- What builds trust with journalists and how to protect it when a story falls through
- How to use the ATTRACT trust framework to become a trusted communication leader
Pam's ATTRACT trust framework:
A: Be accessible. Make it easy for people to reach you and know you’ll hear them.
T: Be transparent. Share what you know, acknowledge what you don’t, and explain what’s next.
T: Be timely. Respond promptly so people know their questions and concerns matter.
R: Be responsive. Address needs with care, clarity, and respect.
A: Be attentive. Listen first so you understand what people truly need and value.
C: Be committed. Follow through on what you promise, even the small details.
T: Be trustworthy. Let every interaction reinforce your credibility and reputation.
Listen to the episode here:
Quotables
- “Trust is not built all at once. It’s built conversation by conversation, commitment by commitment, and relationship by relationship.” — Pam Fultz
- “People rarely complain about having too much clarity.” — Pam Fultz
- “Most times stakeholders are not looking for perfection, but they’re looking and hoping for honesty.” — Pam Fultz
- “Trust building cannot begin during a crisis. By then it’s often too late.” — Pam Fultz
- “They have what we want, and we’ve got to make it so they want what we have too.” — @jasonmudd9
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Resources
Guest’s contact info and resources:
Additional Resources:
- Earned media: The future of PR in the age of AI search
- Why does AI skip your website and cite the news instead?
- How earned media gets AI to remember your brand
- Listen to more episodes of the On Top of PR with Jason Mudd podcast.
- Find out more about Axia Public Relations.
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- Behavioral science secrets behind top brands
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Recorded: Oct. 22, 2026
About your host Jason Mudd
Jason Mudd is a nationally recognized public relations expert featured by CNN, Entrepreneur, Forbes, NPR, The New York Times, PRWeek, and The Wall Street Journal.
Named North America’s top PR leader by the World Communication Forum, he serves as Partner of Axia Public Relations — recognized by Forbes as one of America’s Best PR Agencies.
Jason has advised some of the country’s most admired and fastest-growing companies, leading campaigns for iconic brands including American Airlines, Budweiser, Dave & Buster’s, GE, H&R Block, Hilton, HP, Miller Lite, New York Life, Pizza Hut, Southern Comfort, and Verizon.
He’s also a professional public speaker, accredited PR practitioner, published author, entrepreneur, and host of On Top of PR with Jason Mudd — a podcast ranked among the top 2.5% globally by Listen Notes and a top 100 marketing podcast on Apple Podcasts. His guests have included leaders from Disney, Microsoft, Southwest Airlines, and Wells Fargo. Learn more about Jason at https://www.axiapr.com/team/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
[00:00 - 00:18]
Pam Fultz
Trust is not built all at once. It’s built conversation by conversation, commitment by commitment and relationship by relationship.
[00:18 - 00:51]
Jason Mudd
Hello and welcome to On Top of PR. I’m your host, Jason Mudd. I’m with Axia Public Relations. Today we’re here joined by Pam Fultz. Pam is the senior community relations manager at Vi Living, a national senior living company. She teaches at the University of Florida and Northeastern University. Pam is accredited in public relations and a past president of PRSA’s Gulf Coast chapter. And we’re talking about how to build trust with stakeholders. Pam, welcome back to On Top of PR.
[00:51 - 00:55]
Pam Fultz
Thank you so much for having me back, Jason. I really appreciate it.
[00:55 - 01:08]
Jason Mudd
Yes, you’re entering an exclusive club of people who are doing more than one episode on On Top of PR. Pam, we hold those for some of our best guests, so thank you for coming back.
[01:08 - 01:16]
Pam Fultz
Well, I feel very honored and very appreciative and so thrilled to be back and offer what I hope will be some really good information.
[01:16 - 01:35]
Jason Mudd
Thank you. We’re glad to have you back here too, Pam. So we’re talking, Pam, about how to build trust with stakeholders. And I want to talk about why trust is essential to effective leadership and communication, and why it matters across internal and external stakeholder relationships.
[01:35 - 03:14]
Pam Fultz
Well, I think that trust is really an important organizational and leadership topic that we cannot talk about enough. And I think it’s really always mattered, but today it’s more visible and present than ever. People are just being exposed to an overwhelming amount of information. They have countless sources competing for their attention. As you know, I mean, when we pick up our phones in the morning and our computer, we’re constantly evaluating which sources deserve our confidence.
But what I’ve learned throughout my career is that trust is not built through just one big announcement or one successful event or one really great media story. It’s built through dozens, even hundreds sometimes, of interactions over time. So whether I’m working with community partners, journalists, professional organizations, or students when I’m teaching, people are ultimately evaluating whether they can count on me or you. They’re looking for consistency, authenticity, and follow-through. So trust is built over time when your consistent actions align with your spoken words, demonstrating integrity and reliability. And again, it’s not something that happens overnight, as you and I both know. You can’t expect to have one great interaction and then have forever trust with anyone, especially your really important stakeholders. So harmonizing between words and actions makes trust a valuable asset for leaders and organizations. And keep in mind that, as you and I again both know, just one misstep can really set you back. Once trust is lost, it’s harder to rebuild.
[03:14 - 03:50]
Jason Mudd
Well, Pam, you really teed this up in two different ways. You said earlier that you can’t build trust from one interaction. And then you also said that once you lose that trust, it’s hard to rebuild. But behavioral psychologists also tell us that in a relationship, when you go through a difficult time or struggle or tension or even an argument together, sometimes you can come back with those bonds built stronger than they were before. Do you have any thoughts on that for our communication audience or our marketing and PR audience who’s listening to this episode?
[03:50 - 04:02]
Pam Fultz
Well, I would say that hopefully, I mean, any organization would not lose that trust, but to your point, sometimes you can have those tensions and you could end up in that type of a situation.
[04:02 - 04:08]
Jason Mudd
Pam, why do you think trust has become such an important organizational and leadership topic?
[04:08 - 05:41]
Pam Fultz
Well, I think trust has always mattered, Jason, but I think today it’s really more present and visible than ever. People are just being exposed to an overwhelming amount of information. As you know, when we get up in the morning, you have your phone, you have your computer, you’re looking at countless sources of information and news. And it’s really competing for their attention, and they’re constantly evaluating which sources deserve their confidence.
So, what I’ve learned throughout my career is that trust is not built through one big announcement or one successful event or even one great media story. It’s really built through dozens and often hundreds of interactions over time. So when I’m working with community partners or journalists, professional organizations or students when I’m teaching, people are ultimately evaluating whether they can count on me or they can count on you. They’re looking for consistency, authenticity, and follow-through.
Trust is built over time when your consistent actions align with your spoken words, demonstrating integrity and reliability. And again, it’s not something that happens overnight, as you and I both know. You cannot expect to have one great interaction and then have trust forever. You really have to harmonize between the words and the actions and make trust a highly valuable asset for leaders and organizations.
And the other thing you have to keep in mind is just one misstep can really set you or your organization back. Once trust is lost, it is so much harder to rebuild.
[05:41 - 05:47]
Jason Mudd
Pam, you talk about communicating clearly and consistently. What does that look like in real life?
[05:47 - 07:33]
Pam Fultz
Well, Jason, one lesson that I’ve learned is people rarely complain about having too much clarity. You can give too much information and confuse the situation, but you really cannot have too much clarity. So when organizations communicate clearly on a regular basis, people feel informed and they feel respected. When communication becomes inconsistent, people begin filling in the blanks themselves. And that’s often where those misunderstandings really begin.
And this could be devastating if it happens with media, right? Imagine that you and your organization don’t respond to an inquiry, or in a crisis situation. Typically, media outlets will not just turn away from the story, as you know. Instead, they’ll just find other people who will give them information. And that can be really risky, especially if the information is incomplete or it’s incorrect. What might not have been a crisis could become one with bad information that they get from someone other than you or your organization.
And I’ve seen the value of consistency both in community relations and in higher education. For example, when I’m teaching, I establish expectations from the very beginning of every semester. So students know how to reach me, what success looks like, and when major assignments are due. That consistency creates confidence, and again, it reduces uncertainty. And the same principle really applies to organizations and their stakeholders. When their stakeholders are assured of consistent, accurate information and regular updates on developments or changes with an organization, they’re far more likely to trust that organization over not just the short term, but also the long term.
[07:33 - 07:48]
Jason Mudd
Yeah, that’s really good advice. And you know, at the end of the day, good communication clarifies expectations, sets expectations, and reinforces them. And I think life is all about relationships, communication, and expectations.
[07:48 - 07:57]
Pam Fultz
Absolutely. I can’t stress enough, when we talk about public relations and anything that we’re doing, it feels like it always goes back to storytelling and relationship building.
[07:57 - 08:03]
Jason Mudd
Yeah, for sure. And Pam, I’d like you to share an example of when transparency made a difference.
[08:03 - 09:20]
Pam Fultz
Absolutely. I think organizations sometimes worry that acknowledging challenges will damage trust with their stakeholders. But in reality, they often appreciate honesty more than perfection. None of us are perfect. I found that people are generally understanding when leaders communicate openly about obstacles, they explain what’s being done to address them, and then they provide realistic expectations. Transparency doesn’t require having all the answers. It requires being truthful about what you know, also what you don’t know, and what steps are being taken to address any situation.
This could occur during a crisis. A specific example that I could share from my recent experiences would be hurricanes, since I spend a lot of time in Florida, as you know. These storms can create anxiety and confusion for people. And within the senior living industry, it’s essential to communicate as much information as possible, as often as possible and through multiple channels to reach all stakeholders and help reduce anxiety and confusion. That approach really demonstrates accountability, and accountability is what is helping to strengthen that trust. Again, most times stakeholders are not looking for perfection, but they’re looking and hoping for honesty.
[09:20 - 09:47]
Jason Mudd
Really like that. I think at the end of the day it’s about honesty and transparency. Like you said, nobody’s perfect. While some people might expect perfection, they’re always gonna be disappointed. But as long as you’re honest with them and transparent with them and genuinely seeking to be helpful, right, that makes you very trusted.
I know one of your key recommendations, Pam, is listening before responding. Why is it so often that people overlook the skill of listening?
[09:47 - 10:45]
Pam Fultz
Well, I think it’s because communicators are naturally focused on giving information, delivering messages. We talk an awful lot, but do we listen? I really think we get some of the most valuable information from listening. It’s not passive. It’s one of the most strategic actions that we or an organization can take on because it helps leaders make informed decisions and build stronger relationships. For example, in organizations, when leaders listen actively, they identify issues early. They understand stakeholder concerns, and they’re able to gather insight they might otherwise miss.
Also, in the classroom, students often communicate what they need if they’re given the opportunity, whether it’s questions about assignments or feedback on their learning. So you need to create a space for listening by cultivating an environment that’s safe for your stakeholders, it’s respectful, and it’s also welcoming.
[10:45 - 10:50]
Jason Mudd
Wow, it sounds like teaching has really influenced your views about trust.
[10:50 - 11:46]
Pam Fultz
Well, Jason, teaching graduate students has really reinforced almost everything I believe about trust. Students don’t automatically trust you because of your title or your credentials, even though you might like them to do that, but they trust you because of how you show up. Even in the virtual learning environment, which is where I teach, they notice whether you’re prepared, whether you keep your commitments, and whether you’re available to answer questions, or whether you genuinely care about their success.
One thing I’ve learned is that students respect authenticity. They don’t expect professors to have all the answers, or, we say it again, be perfect, but they do expect honesty, fairness, and consistency. And I really think that’s a valuable lesson for all of us, especially as leaders. People trust leaders who are genuine and approachable. And those qualities matter just as much, if not more, than the expertise that we might bring to the table.
[11:46 - 11:54]
Jason Mudd
So how do you recommend building trust with community partners and external stakeholders?
[11:54 - 13:26]
Pam Fultz
Well, one of the most important lessons that I’ve learned is that trust is built long before you need something from someone or an organization. My role is to focus on building awareness, creating partnerships, generating interest, and helping maintain a positive presence in the community. That means developing relationships with media, nonprofit leaders, business organizations, community groups, and other stakeholders.
When dealing with any of these people and building relationships, people want to work with organizations they know and they trust. So I found that credibility comes from showing up consistently, following through on commitments, and demonstrating a genuine interest in helping the community succeed. And then going back to talking about those students, right? It’s very similar whether you’re dealing with your students in your classroom or a community at large. The relationships just cannot be one way, or about what’s in it for just me or just my organization.
Another important part of relationship building is really understanding what matters to different stakeholders. Every group has different priorities, and trust grows when people feel understood. Again, we go back to listening and making people feel listened to, understood. The strongest partnerships I’ve seen are built on shared goals, mutual respect, and ongoing engagement rather than just a one-time transaction.
[13:26 - 13:38]
Jason Mudd
Pam, I wanna shift gears a little bit and talk about media relations. That’s an important topic for our audience. It’s an important practice at my agency. In your experience, what builds trust with journalists?
[13:38 - 15:07]
Pam Fultz
Trust with journalists is built much the same way as trust with any stakeholder, really. Accuracy matters with them, responsiveness matters, credibility really matters. One of the most important things I’ve learned is media relationships should not begin when you need media coverage. That relationship should not start when you have a press release that you want to distribute or you have an event or something coming up. The strongest relationships often develop through ongoing interactions and a reputation for being reliable.
As a former broadcast journalist myself, I understand that if a reporter reaches out with a question, you have to respond promptly and demonstrate respect for their deadlines and their needs. It’s not all about you and your organization. You have to think about them. So if you’re providing information, it needs to be accurate, complete, and easy to verify. In this day and age, it’s a little bit different than when I was in broadcasting and you would get something off the fax machine and you could just verify that information was accurate. So we have to be really, really concerned about making sure that we have good information and it’s easy to verify for them.
Over time, the professional habits establish trust and make future interactions more productive. And then the reporters start coming to you for stories. You don’t have to reach out to them. It’s not necessarily always the other way around. Again, this becomes a win-win for both because you’re helping them and they’re helping you and your organization.
[15:07 - 15:55]
Jason Mudd
I have to say I absolutely agree with you. That’s how we’ve built our best media relationships, by being consistent and accurate and cooperative, right? And so that really stands out, I think, to a busy reporter in the newsroom who’s bouncing from deadline to deadline and story to story. It’s funny that you mentioned, you know, that with lesser technology, I could be wrong, but my instinct and my recollection feels like there was more accuracy in journalism at that time compared to today, where we have all this access at our fingertips. There’s just so much noise and confusion and disillusion that’s occurring that I think it’s even harder to verify your sources and your facts despite all the technology and how fast we have access to it.
[15:55 - 16:46]
Pam Fultz
Well, Jason, that’s another point to bring up too. When you are dealing with journalists, we have to be respectful of their time too. When they reach out to us, if we’ve sent them a press release and we don’t have all of our ducks in a row, we do not have our spokespeople ready to go at a moment’s notice, we’re not being helpful to them because they have a deadline. So make sure that we have everything lined up.
Don’t pitch a story, even if it’s just a pitch and it’s not a press release, and you say, I have someone who could talk about X, Y, and Z. If they’re not ready to go in 10 minutes and they’re not ready to go that day, and you’ve promised a story, then again you’ve lost their trust, and it’s going to be harder to build that relationship back after you lose their trust. If they lose one story, they were counting on it and they don’t get it, it will be harder to build that relationship back.
[16:46 - 17:14]
Jason Mudd
Well, I’m really glad you said that because I advise our clients on that often. And I think you are exactly right. So unless you’re able to tell them, I don’t have this ready today, but I want you to be aware of it, or something like that. And you know, I think journalists get it. I mean, their timelines and priorities and assignments change at a moment’s notice. They’re not as patient or considerate when ours change, but you know, they have what we want, and we’ve got to make it so they want what we have too.
[17:14 - 17:43]
Pam Fultz
Well, and it’s interesting too when we come back to that. Working in senior living, things can change at a moment’s notice. And sometimes you think maybe you have a resident who is elderly and they’re willing to come out and do a story. And at the last minute, something happens and they’re just not up for it that day. But you know what I always try to do is have another story that’s ready to go or something that I can help them with. And I’ll say, my goodness, I’m so sorry this didn’t work out today. But you know what? If you can come back next week, we’ll have an even better story for you.
[17:43 - 18:08]
Jason Mudd
Yeah, or just one ready to go, on call or on standby as well, would be what I found to be really helpful. And I think if we’ve been doing this line of work long enough, we’ve learned that improvising is one of the core values you have to have as a good public relations practitioner. And I would also suggest that you just gotta be ready to have another card up your sleeve or another, you know, resource on the bench ready to pull in at a moment’s notice.
[18:08 - 18:10]
Pam Fultz
Absolutely.
[18:10 - 18:22]
Jason Mudd
All right, so I want to talk to you about how some organizations struggle because their actions don’t match their messaging. Why is this important, and how do you prioritize alignment?
[18:22 - 19:11]
Pam Fultz
Well, it’s absolutely essential in my mind. Stakeholders pay far more attention to what organizations are doing than what they’re saying. Organizations spend a lot of time developing mission statements, values, key messages, but trust really depends on whether people see those values reflected in real actions. For example, if an organization says it values community engagement, stakeholders should be able to see that engagement in practice. What are they actually doing in the community? If leaders talk about transparency, stakeholders should experience that transparency. Trust grows when words and actions consistently reinforce one another. An organization or a leader cannot say one thing and do something completely different and expect stakeholders to trust them.
[19:11 - 19:18]
Jason Mudd
All right, Pam, what role does trust play during a crisis, especially in a heated moment or a sense of urgency?
[19:18 - 20:45]
Pam Fultz
Sure. Well, I think trust is one of the most valuable resources an organization can have during a crisis situation. You could really compare it to a bank account. Over time, organizations make deposits through transparency, responsiveness, consistency, and strong relationships. Then when a difficult situation arises, those years of relationship building really matter even more than ever at that point. Stakeholders are much more likely to believe information coming from a source that they’ve trusted in the past, especially if it’s been a really long time. They just naturally assume the information is reliable because in their experience, for all those months or years, all the information has been true and reliable.
That’s why trust building cannot begin during a crisis. By then it’s often too late. You really need to start before. Organizations that have invested in relationships beforehand are much better positioned to maintain credibility when those challenges occur.
It’s especially important with media. Again, as we mentioned, it’s crucial to have those well-established relationships, so contacts reach out to you for comments if there is a crisis. Otherwise, they might just go with a story which could be inaccurate or one-sided, or potentially they reach out to people who they think might know about your crisis situation, and they get bad information, and that’s the information that they pass along.
[20:45 - 20:56]
Jason Mudd
That’s great. Good advice, Pam. What advice would you give to communication professionals who want to become trusted leaders in their organization or their community?
[20:56 - 22:12]
Pam Fultz
I would say focus on relationships rather than the messages. We all like to talk, especially as PR professionals, but it’s those relationships that really matter. Communication professionals spend a lot of time discussing tactics, platforms, technology, trends, but trust remains fundamentally human. In short, I like the acronym ATTRACT, or attract trust.
Be accessible. Make it easy for people to reach you and know that they will be heard.
Be transparent. Share what you know, acknowledge what you don’t know, and explain what comes next.
Be timely. Respond promptly so people know their questions and concerns matter.
Be responsive. Address needs with care, clarity, and respect for the relationship.
Be attentive. Listen first so you understand what people truly need and value.
Be committed. Follow through on what you promise, even when the details are small.
And be trustworthy. Let every interaction reinforce your credibility and your reputation.
Trust is not built all at once. It’s built conversation by conversation, commitment by commitment and relationship by relationship.
[22:12 - 22:18]
Jason Mudd
Okay, for our listeners who want to start building trust today, what’s one practical first step they might take?
[22:18 - 23:25]
Pam Fultz
Well, I would say start small and start consistently. People sometimes think that trust requires a major initiative or a large communication campaign. In reality, it begins with simple actions. Return the phone call, answer the email, attend that community event, follow up when you say you’ll follow up. Keep a promise, even if it’s a small one. It really matters.
One exercise I encourage people to do is to identify their five most important stakeholder groups and ask themselves a simple question: What am I doing today to strengthen trust with each of them? And the answer doesn’t need to be complicated. Maybe it’s just reaching out, offering support, sharing useful information, or simply expressing appreciation. Trust again grows through consistency more than grand gestures. And if you commit to showing up, being honest and following through every day, you really will be amazed at how quickly strong relationships begin to develop and you have that trust.
[23:25 - 23:33]
Jason Mudd
Well, Pam, we’ve run out of time for today, but I’ve really enjoyed this conversation. I’m appreciative of you coming back on the show and sharing your insights with our audience.
[23:33 - 23:43]
Pam Fultz
Well, thank you again, Jason, so much for having me back on the program. I’ve really enjoyed our conversation and this opportunity. And don’t forget to attract trust.
[23:43 - ##:##]
Jason Mudd
Yes, I love to attract trust. So thank you for that reminder, for sure, with the acronym. We appreciate that. To our audience, I want to say thank you for your loyalty and your following. I was at PRSA’s international conference earlier this week. And thank you to everybody who’s a fan of our show who came by the booth and said hello and told us how our show and our content has been helpful to them in their careers and in their organizations. My heart was warmed by all those kind words and all those great interactions that I had.
And if you’re listening to this episode, beyond sharing it with a friend or colleague who you think might benefit from it, would you take a moment and leave us an online review so more people can find out about On Top of PR? The best way to do that is ratethispodcast.com/ontopofpr. I would be grateful for that. And those of you who leave a review will get entered into a drawing, and you might pick up some On Top of PR swag. So with that, this is Jason Mudd from Axia Public Relations signing off, wishing you well.
Topics: corporate communications, On Top of PR
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