Judy Smith, crisis management expert and founder of Smith & Company: “I [was] sitting in the Oval, just kickin’ it with the president…‪”‬

July 28, 2020
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Judy Smith is the real-life Olivia Pope. Her life and career in crisis management inspired the making of ABC’s hit TV show “Scandal.” And Judy’s real-life clients include some of the most famous celebs, politicians, and Fortune 500 companies in the world. This week, she sat down with us to talk about how she tells it like it is. Even to some of the world’s most powerful people.

In this episode, Judy shares how she started organizing press conferences at age 11 (4:00), why she’s always taken risks (24:58), and whether she actually calls her employees gladiators (29:58).

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When Karine Jean-Pierre stepped behind the lectern to take reporters’ questions in the briefing room Wednesday, she was the first Black woman to speak for the White House in that capacity in three decades.

Judy Smith — inspiration for ‘Scandal’ TV series — on her path to the White House
January 3, 2021

From riding past in her father’s taxicab to working inside the Oval Office, crisis management expert Judy Smith tells the little-known story of her path to becoming the first Black woman to brief the White House press corps. Smith, CEO of Smith & Company and the inspiration for Shonda Rhimes’s hit series “Scandal,” tells Yahoo

EPISODE 37 — Judy Smith — Managing Crisis Like a Professional Fixer
December 8, 2020

Judy Smith‘s work as a world-renowned crisis management expert and entrepreneur has earned her the reputation of being the ultimate “fixer.” She was George H. W. Bush’s Deputy Press Secretary, she graduated law school, and her ground-breaking work even inspired a hit TV show: Scandal. In this episode, Judy unlocks her vault of expertise to teach