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by Cuore Collective
We're Pia and Kelly, co-founders of Cuore. We met at Amazon new-hire orientation 13 years ago, sitting at different tables, and ended up desk neighbors on the communications team. We've spent our careers obsessed with how words change what happens next, in boardrooms, in hallways, in the text you reread three times before sending. Well Said is our podcast about connection as a human skill. We talk to coaches, chefs, journalists, and founders about what actually helps people reach each other when it matters. If you care about trust, communication, and saying things that land, this is for you.
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- 3 days ago51 min
How To Choose Your Words Perfectly, With a Top Hulu Writer
Maytha Alhassen is a scholar, journalist, poet, and TV writer who has spent her career studying how words carry meaning, and how they get bent. She grew up between Arabic and English in West Covina, wrote Haqq and Hollywood, a 100-year audit of how Hollywood has portrayed Muslims, and went on to work in the writers' room of Hulu's Ramy.Maytha joins Well Said to dissect the words we use without thinking. She explains why she stopped saying Islamophobia, why empathy can end up centering yourself in someone else's pain, and how therapy speak like "boundaries" and "accountability" got borrowed by reality TV. If you choose words for a living, this one will make you check your own vocabulary.In this episode:• How being placed in ESL as a bilingual kid shaped the way she hears language• What a breakup taught her about the word "crazy" and how it gets used against women• Why words like communist, Marxist, and socialist get collapsed into one• Why she calls it anti-Muslim racism instead of Islamophobia• Her case against empathy, and what she'd rather we practice• Therapy speak, reality TV, and the rise of being "a girl's girl"• What a comedy writers' room teaches you about finding the right words• "Witness," the word she created from an Arabic root, and why Malcolm X is the best communicator she knowsMake sure you subscribe to Well Said everywhere you get your podcasts, so you never miss another episode. Thanks for listening!CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS00:00 Intro01:23 Growing up bilingual and placed in ESL06:10 How Maytha studies words08:45 What "crazy" really means10:51 Communist, Marxist, socialist13:13 Speaking a different language than your kids16:26 Why she rejects the word Islamophobia20:47 The problem with empathy23:48 Therapy speak and being a girl's girl28:34 Why she loves interviewing34:26 Haqq and Hollywood and the road to Ramy39:29 Inside a comedy writers' room42:11 Rapid fire45:12 Witness, the word she created46:49 Why Malcolm X is the best communicator
- 1 weeks ago48 min
How to Communicate Like a National Champion: 6 Rules From UCLA’s Coach Cori Close
Cori Close is the head coach of UCLA women's basketball. In her 15th season, she led the Bruins to their first NCAA national championship with a 37-1 record, and six of her players are now in the WNBA. She learned how to lead from legendary UCLA coach John Wooden, and she still runs her program on his reminder that a coach is shaping people's hearts before their jump shots.What makes Cori such a natural fit for Well Said: she leads almost entirely through language. From the words her team picks to define a season to knowing when to stay quiet and let her players talk, nearly everything she does in a locker room carries over to a boardroom, a press briefing, or a crisis call.In this episode:• Why her players pick seven key indicators they can control at the start of every season• How Amazon's working backwards press release lines up with the way she builds a team's identity• Why winning is a byproduct, and the John Vallely story that shaped her mission• Why she skipped the big Ted Lasso speech and let her players talk first• Truth tellers, balcony people, and building psychological safety on a staff• "Talent is the floor and character is the ceiling": recruiting, the transfer portal, and a reload year• Her go-to team-building exercise: hero, highlight, hardship, hopeMake sure you subscribe to Well Said everywhere you get your podcasts, so you never miss another episode. Thanks for listening!CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS00:00 Intro01:19 Welcome Coach Cori Close02:13 Mindset work and seven "I am" statements04:19 Amazon's working backwards press release07:01 Why winning is a byproduct10:49 The John Vallely story and Coach Wooden14:57 Knowing when to be quiet19:51 Truth tellers and balcony people22:48 Clarity is kind: recruiting for character25:24 Failing forward in the transfer portal era28:18 Why women need to celebrate each other39:05 Her dad on the greatest honor in life40:47 Rapid fire46:23 Hero, highlight, hardship, hope
- 2 weeks ago7 min
How to Get an A on Your Next Crisis Statement
Every brand crisis ends with a statement, and the internet grades it within hours. Pia and Kelly pulled real statements companies put out over the last few months and ranked them on a tier list, from S for supreme all the way down to F.Pia and Kelly are the co-founders of Cuore and spent years running communications at Amazon. Dollywood earned the only S with five words that sounded exactly like Dolly Parton. Target, Neutrogena, and FIFA landed a lot lower, and for each one they get into what the brand should have written instead, or whether it should have said anything at all.In this episode:• Why Dollywood’s “the show must go on” earned the only S on the list• Target’s costume apology, and why sorry stops working when the same mistake comes back every year• Neutrogena’s statement after Hayden Panettiere’s death, and why it may have been a no-win from the start• When saying nothing is the more respectful choice• What Neutrogena could have said about young people growing up in the spotlight• FIFA’s answer to the World Cup ticket backlash, and why Pia called it a big middle finger• The fan stories FIFA could have used to get real people into stadiums• Why a boring statement beats a bad oneNew episodes of Well Said every other Wednesday. Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.Seen a statement you want us to grade? Drop it in the comments.Timestamps:00:00 Intro01:01 Dollywood: “The show must go on”01:42 Target’s costume apology02:10 Neutrogena and Hayden Panettiere03:23 What Neutrogena could have said04:03 When saying nothing is the respectful choice04:43 FIFA and World Cup ticket prices05:10 “It’s like a big middle finger”06:07 The fan stories FIFA missed06:37 Why a boring statement would have worked07:04 Send us a statement to grade
- 3 weeks ago43 min
Award-Winning Journalist Reveals How To Get Anyone To Open Up | Erick Galindo
At seven years old, Erick Galindo was translating for his parents at the bank, at the hospital, and in front of police and immigration officials. His Spanish wasn't great, so he had to take official language written for highly educated people and break it down into the simplest words he knew.He's been doing some version of that ever since.Erick has written for The New York Times, the LA Times and NPR, led L.A. Taco to a James Beard Award as its founding managing editor, and made Ídolo, a podcast that went to No. 1 in Mexico. Today he's the Community, Culture and Arts Editor at The LA Local, where reporters hold coffee hours in neighborhood shops and the newsroom's first question in a crisis is how to help the people living through it.Pia and Kelly ask him how he earns trust so fast. His answer starts with going first. He once got a guarded celebrity to open up about the time she lived in her car by telling her he'd lived in his car too.This episode is about trust, plain language, and showing up for people before you need something from them. It applies whether you're running a newsroom, a corporate comms team, or a thousand-person warehouse floor.In this episode:• What translating hospital bills and immigration paperwork as a kid taught him about plain language• The vulnerability move that gets guarded people talking• How his newsroom covered a toxic warehouse fire: moving beyond sensationalism by helping people first• Why local news is still the most trusted source, and what's lost as it disappears• Why "community" is the most overused word in comms right now• Getting laid off in a room full of people, and the one-on-one call every layoff deserves• What his dad told him at the kitchen table that became his superpower• His advice for young communicators in the age of AI: take a beatIf you're an exec or communicator who wants people to actually trust what you say, this episode is for you.You can support Erick's work at The LA Local and find him on Instagram under his name, Erick Galindo.And make sure you subscribe to Well Said on all platforms to get new episodes every Wednesday.TIMESTAMPS01:30 Welcome Erick Galindo01:48 Translating for his parents as a kid04:51 Living in two worlds at once08:49 Dolly Parton and the coat of many colors11:23 How a local newsroom covers a crisis14:48 Know your people before the emergency16:16 Why local news is the most trusted19:23 What's lost when local news fades22:27 Laid off in a room full of people26:06 The one-on-one call every layoff deserves29:34 Choosing convenience over being human31:03 The beauty of a typo32:15 What his dad told him at the kitchen table39:03 Owning who you are44:21 The most overused word in comms45:14 Go first: the vulnerability move46:08 The best communicator he knows48:32 Advice for young communicators: take a beat52:36 Where to find Erick
- Oct 6, 202629 min
PR Pros Call Out the Brand Mistakes Everyone Fell For | Pia Arthur & Kelly Cheeseman
Most mornings, Pia and Kelly catch up over coffee and trade hot takes on whatever brand moment is blowing up online. This episode puts that conversation on camera. Each brought scenarios the other hadn't seen, and they react cold: Disney opening its IP to TikTok creators, the wave of nostalgia menus, a golf collab ad that went sideways, the "sold out in 15 seconds" drop, and Liquid Death asking fans to donate their pee to cool AI data centers.Pia and Kelly are the co-founders of Cuore and spent years as communications executives at Amazon. Their verdicts keep landing on the same line: the moves that work trust the audience, and the ones that backfire try to manage it. Along the way they get into what they'd actually say to a CEO in the room, and what a better apology would have sounded like.In this episode:• Why Disney handing its IP to creators is a lesson in knowing who already loves you• Nostalgia marketing, and when a throwback turns into a cheap trick• What Kelly would do if she ran comms for a fast food comeback item• Target, Delia's, and why a collaboration doubles your exposure and your risk• The Callaway x Good Good ad, and why "this doesn't reflect our values" fell flat• Manufactured scarcity, bots, and resellers, and why it erodes trust• What to say when a CEO wants to make only 500 so they sell out fast• Liquid Death's "We Want Your Pee" campaign: gross, or genius?New episodes of Well Said every other Wednesday. Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.Timestamps:00:00 Intro00:50 Disney opens its IP to TikTok creators04:41 "Hell hath no fury like a Disney adult"06:53 The lesson: know who already cares about you09:43 Nostalgia marketing: genius or cheap trick?13:28 Why Kelly would rather see something new17:19 How to run comms on a throwback launch19:17 Target, Delia's, and the power of a collab20:49 When a brand collaboration goes sideways24:29 Why "this doesn't reflect our values" fell flat28:11 The "sold out" drop brands keep pulling31:30 What to tell a CEO who wants to make only 50035:32 Liquid Death's "We Want Your Pee"40:08 Turning a stunt into real action41:54 Send us the next one to dissect
- Sep 29, 202645 min
How to Talk to People Who Disagree With You | Professor Dr. Melina Abdullah
Dr. Melina Abdullah grew up in Oakland, where her mother's front porch doubled as a classroom for the neighborhood. She's been organizing ever since, and she teaches, writes a weekly column, hosts a radio show and has spent two decades studying how people actually lead.She sits down with Kelly Cheeseman and Pia Arthur on the difference between leaderless and leader-full, why she quotes Ella Baker's line that strong people don't need strong leaders, and what she calls womanist leadership, which she wrote her dissertation on.Then the conversation goes somewhere else. What AI can't do, why she thinks spirit, love and art are the things that make us human, why she stopped being quiet about the voice that guides her work, and what she learned from her mother about talking to your kids for three hours at a time.In this episode:• Group-centered leadership instead of leader-centered groups, and where the idea comes from• Alice Walker's purple and lavender line, and why one image does more than a paragraph• Why she asks what her intention is before she agrees to speak to a hostile room• The oppositional student who emailed her four years after graduating• What she does when the work gets heavy, including the dominoes in her bag• How a story travels now, and why independent media and social changed who gets covered• Bullhorn, microphone or keyboard, and which one she'd pickNew episodes of Well Said. Watch on YouTube, listen wherever you get your podcasts.Chapter Timestamps00:00 Intro00:54 The front porch classroom in East Oakland02:34 Gary, Indiana and who gets news coverage05:09 Ella Baker and group-centered leadership06:17 Womanist leadership08:27 Running for vice president with Dr. Cornel West10:05 What the campaign showed her about the two-party system12:48 What Dolly Parton meant to her16:18 What AI can't do18:16 Why she stopped hiding the voice that guides her23:34 Staying grounded on planes and in airports27:04 Parenting by talking to your kids31:29 Love at the center of the work37:23 The three things everyone can give40:08 Rapid fire and speaking to a hostile room44:12 Bullhorn, microphone or keyboard
- Sep 22, 202644 min
The Emmy-Winning Composer Who Says All Sound Is Music | Amanda Jones
A speech and a film score are built the same way. You hook early, you earn the emotional moment before you spend it, you let the silent parts stay silent, and you get one crescendo. Composer Amanda Jones spends her career making those decisions in sound, and this conversation is about what writers, speakers and communicators can take from the way she does it.There's also the problem she solves before writing a single note: figuring out what a director hears in their head. She gets one creative call, sometimes with months of silence after it, so she's built a method for getting inside someone's imagination fast.Jones is an Emmy-winning composer and the first African American woman nominated in the Primetime Emmy score category. Her recent work includes Apple TV+'s Murderbot, National Geographic's Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time, and Tyler Perry's The Gospel of Christmas. She sits down with Pia and Kelly to break down how she reads a story, builds a sound from scratch, and knows when to get out of the way.In this episode:• The question she asks every director to find their "cultural focal point"• Why she chose a temperamental 1970s synthesizer to play a sentient robot• How she scored Hurricane Katrina survivor interviews without crowding them• The easiest emotion to write music for, and the one that's actually hardest What temp music does to a composer's work, and why it's a trap• The organizational system she learned working under Hans Zimmer and John Powell• Her advice for composers coming up, including why perceived proximity decides who gets hiredSubscribe to Well Said for conversations with the people shaping how stories get told.Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or watch on YouTube. Find Amanda at amandajonescomposer.com and on Instagram @amandajonescomposer.Episode Timestamps1:09 Scoring a script before anything has been filmed2:40 The questions she asks a director to find their taste4:14 "All sound is music," and why she doesn't get writer's block5:09 How much of a movie is actually score6:30 Temp music and the placeholder trap8:28 Murderbot: building a sound for a sentient robot10:11 Why a temperamental 1970s synth plays the machine15:14 The movie that made her fall in love with score18:40 The easiest emotion to write, and the hardest20:03 Hurricane Katrina and the discipline of restraint33:22 The organization system she learned in Hans Zimmer's world35:05 Rapid fire41:29 Advice for composers coming up44:10 Where to find Amanda
- Sep 15, 202619 min
Why "The Best PR Is Invisible" Just Stopped Being True, with Pia and Kelly
The first PR firm Kelly ever worked for had a mantra: the best PR is invisible. Then, Pia and Kelly built a decade at Amazon on it. In this episode, they say it out loud one more time and come to the conclusion: it isn't true anymore.Pia and Kelly are the co-founders of Cuore and spent years as communications executives at Amazon, the people writing the words nobody sees. Now chief comms officers are reporting directly to CEOs, executives are expected to be digitally native, and the frontline employee has become the face of the brand. They walk through what that shift actually costs the people living it, and what it means if you're deciding when to bring a communications partner into your own business.They also answer the questions listeners keep sending them, including the one nobody warned them about: what changes in you when you start putting yourself on camera.In this episode:• When to bring in a comms partner for a crisis, and why "early, early, early" isn't a cliché• Why pulling comms into a product launch too soon can waste everyone's time• The "good judgment police" role Kelly's Amazon teams played, and the cost of playing it too well• What the WSJ's reporting on comms leaders in the C-suite gets right about the last twenty years• Why the Kardashians are a masterclass in being everywhere all at once, and what brands should take from it• The line almost every guest on this show has repeated, in different words• What Pia learned about her own limiting beliefs from a year of filmingNew episodes of Well Said every other Wednesday. Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.Timestamps:00:00 Intro01:28 Two months into filming, and what they've learned01:57 The executives who say they want a podcast03:30 "A human having a human experience"04:04 What Pia learned about her own limiting beliefs04:56 When are you actually ready for a comms partner05:37 Storytelling matters as much as the business plan06:14 Crisis comms: early, early, early06:59 When comms gets pulled in too early07:15 "Go write a release," three weeks out08:10 The WSJ piece on comms leaders reporting to CEOs09:41 Digitally native CEOs and selling through social10:54 The relationship economy and the trust economy11:58 The good judgment police13:57 Out of the shadows14:10 "The best PR is invisible," and where it still holds15:38 The Kardashians, everywhere all at once18:22 The frontline employee as the face of the brand19:02 The Amazon driver who danced to the door
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About Well Said
We're Pia and Kelly, co-founders of Cuore. We met at Amazon new-hire orientation 13 years ago, sitting at different tables, and ended up desk neighbors on the communications team. We've spent our careers obsessed with how words change what happens next, in boardrooms, in hallways, in the text you reread three times before sending. Well Said is our podcast about connection as a human skill. We talk to coaches, chefs, journalists, and founders about what actually helps people reach each other when it matters. If you care about trust, communication, and saying things that land, this is for you.
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