Sandra Sobieraj Westfall, fmr PEOPLE Mag DC Bureau Chief: The Price Of Saying "No"

In 2016, a former PEOPLE reporter named Natasha Stoynoff said Donald Trump attacked her during an interview at Mar-a-Lago. Sandra Sobieraj Westfall, the Washington Bureau Chief for PEOPLE Magazine, made a business and editorial decision: She would stand by her friend and colleague. The magazine would cover the President's policies, but it would not cover his family the way it had covered every other First Family.This is the story of that decision... and what happened next. Sandra Sobieraj Westfall spent six years as a White House correspondent for the Associated Press and 20 years at PEOPLE. She went to 24 White House Correspondents' Dinners, flew on Air Force One, and interviewed First Families from both parties. In the first of several conversations, we talk about the night a gunman tried to get into the Washington Hilton, and what Elizabeth Edwards taught her about grief.Content note: This episode quotes President Trump's Access Hollywood remarks about women and discusses sexual assault and may not be suitable for children. President Trump has denied Natasha Stoynoff's account.In this episode:Where Sandra drew the line.Ivanka Trump and "no hard feelings"The morning the "bottom dropped out"Starting over after 20 years: helping people in crisis tell their own storiesThis episode is for leaders facing a values decision with risks associated, and for anyone who has been laid off and wondered what comes next.Top 3 things I learned:Being right doesn't protect your job.You can lose a job without losing your dignity.You get to decide what happens next.Best experienced on YouTube, because Sandra shares hundreds of behind-the-scenes photos: http://www.youtube.com/@StumblingBlocksPodcastResources mentioned:PEOPLE, "Physically Attacked by Donald Trump: A PEOPLE Writer's Own Harrowing Story" (Oct. 12, 2016)Hillary Rodham Clinton, Something Lost, Something Gained: https://amzn.to/3TP0OgdSandra's company, Storied CommunicationChapters: 0:00:00 Cold open: "We're Team Natasha"0:00:31 Introduction0:03:27 24 White House Correspondents' Dinners0:06:11 Frank, the Secret Service and the freezer0:08:02 The PEOPLE table and Rosario Dawson0:10:04 The worst flacks0:12:36 Her stumble: leaving the AP0:16:32 The decision about Trump0:17:04 Natasha Stoynoff's story0:18:58 Donald Trump's own words0:20:41 Would she do it differently?0:22:51 PEOPLE stops covering politics0:24:23 "No hard feelings"0:26:41 Laid off0:29:59 Starting over0:30:44 Helping people in crisis tell their stories0:33:30 What matters now #Leadership #Decisions #Tradeoffs