311: FROM THE TRENCHES / Beyond the algorithm: Communicating with credibility across owned, earned & social media - with Bec Sands & Andrés López-Varela
- S11E311
- 1:14:37
- December 22nd 2025
This episode's featured track is FROM THE TRENCHES - deep-dive interviews with PR practitioners, content strategists, and digital communications experts that explore how reputation and influence are built today.
Hosted by Trevor Young, this track shares grounded insights, hard-won lessons, and practical wisdom from those shaping credible marketing communications in the modern reputation economy.
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How do you build an authentic, credible business or personal brand in today’s hyper-competitive, AI-driven, digital-first world—without getting lost in the algorithm trap or shouting into the void?
Host Trevor Young sits down with brand and PR pros Andrés López-Varela (ALV) and Bec Sands, a dynamic husband-wife team, for a lively, honest conversation packed with real-world reputation and authority-building insights.
In this episode:
- The real definition of “PR” today - and why authentic perception and strong communities matter more than ever
- Why performative rage-bait and dancing reels aren’t a shortcut to credibility (and why you shouldn’t let the algorithm erode your identity)
- Personal branding for good: advice for experts, thought leaders, and entrepreneurs who want to share genuine value, not just noise
- The power of owned media (newsletters, podcasts, websites, private communities) and how to strategically select your home base beyond social media
- Sharp debate: Is paid media the new starting point for small businesses? Or can you still grow organically by tapping your existing network?
- Earned media secrets: How to get invited into other people’s rooms, from niche podcasts to industry panels—with practical examples you can start today
- Why building deep connections (not just going viral) should be your top focus
- The compounding value of credibility markers and how social proof works in B2B and B2C
- What’s working for Bec and Andres right now - and their take on the evolving role of AI in marketing strategy
If you’re a consultant, creative, marketer, entrepreneur, or aspiring authority ready to make your reputation matter (without selling your soul to the algorithm gods), this episode is your goldmine.
Find our guests online:
Tune in, earn the right, and start turning credibility into recognition and opportunity—on your terms!
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P.S. Don’t forget to subscribe and share if you found this valuable ~ thanks!
EARN THE RIGHT with Trevor Young
EARN THE RIGHT is your audio platform for reputation-based authority building — turning credibility into recognition, and recognition into opportunity.
Hosted by Trevor Young, it’s for credible founders, experts, and solo practitioners who’ve earned their stripes and are ready to amplify their voice with integrity.
Across four distinct (but inter-related) tracks —
- Crank The 3rd
- Pocket PR Essentials
- In The Arena
- From The Trenches
— you’ll get the ideas, stories, and strategies that help you cut through the noise and build lasting authority.
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1️⃣ CRANK THE 3RD
CRANK THE 3RD celebrates the Wisdom Economy — a world where depth, perspective, and lived experience fuel what’s next. It features conversations with inspiring midlife founders and professionals who are turning decades of know-how into opportunity: building meaningful ventures, shaping ideas, and designing work that matters.
2️⃣ POCKET PR ESSENTIALS
POCKET PR ESSENTIALS delivers short, sharp coaching sessions on building visibility and recognition — without the hype. Presented by Trevor Young, this audio playbook helps credible founders and solo professionals master PR, content, and digital communication to raise their profile and grow authority in a way that’s strategic, sustainable, and respectful.
3️⃣ IN THE ARENA
IN THE ARENA is Trevor Young’s unfiltered take on earning authority in real time — sharp, strategic riffs on content, credibility, connection, and the courage to keep showing up. Essential listening for entrepreneurs and professionals navigating the intersection of creativity, communication, and personal brand authority.
4️⃣ FROM THE TRENCHES
FROM THE TRENCHES presents deep-dive interviews with PR practitioners, content strategists, and digital communications experts that explore how reputation and influence are built today. Hosted by Trevor Young, this track shares grounded insights, hard-won lessons, and practical wisdom from those shaping credible marketing communications in the modern reputation economy.
You've put in the hard yards, now it's time to capitalise!
Earn attention. Build authority. Stay human.
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