Press Profiles Russell Sherman

Growing up in Australia, Coin Desk’s Chief Content Officer Michael Casey thought it would be cool to be in a band. While that didn’t pan out in the way he might have thought, he did end up as a rockstar of sorts among the legions of bitcoin and crypto currency followers after spearheading the Wall Street Journal's coverage of the nascent currency. On this episode of Press Profiles, Michael talks about the ups and downs of covering Bitcoin and the crypto markets, CoinDesk's award winning coverage of the FTX scandal, how some boring bus rides with an accountant sent him down the road toward journalism, living on five different continents, working as a “pie topper”, and we even play a few bars of a raucous Australian Rules Football team's theme song. Enjoy.

Justin Baer “lucked” into a job that would end up becoming a lifelong career. The Senior Special Writer at The Wall Street Journal was intrigued by the fast pace of news, and while he might have started out on the PR side of the equation, he eventually fell into the reporter role. Since then, Justin has worked for the leading publications in business news including Bloomberg, the Financial Times, and for the past 12 years, the outlet he always considered the “gold standard” of business journalism – The Wall Street Journal. On this episode, Justin and I discuss some of his more interesting assignments (i.e., “the Fab Fab”), how his role at the journal has grown, hiking the Appalachian Trail with his son, working in an appetizer factor (yes, that is a real thing), and of course, a whole lot more.

Many people have seen the HBO show, “Industry.” Alice Fulwood has lived it. Before landing at The Economist, the now-venerable Wall Street reporter was “working hard and playing” hard on the trading floor at a London investment bank…until she made what she calls, “the only decision she’s ever made.” That decision? A leap into journalism, starting with an internship at The Economist. And as they say, from there, the rest is history. Now a well-known (and as she says, hopefully not too scary) reporter covering all things Wall Street, Alice is tackling everything from quant funds and Artificial Intelligence to crypto, the big banks, and anything and everything that touches finance in the Americas. Alice and I talk about all of that, plus some more about those early days on the trading floor, the “conversation curfew” she had to set with husband, NFTs, podcasting, octopus tacos, and of course, a whole lot more.

Dakin Campbell’s calls aren’t always welcome on Wall Street. The seasoned journalist seeks to “uncover issues that management teams and other subjects would rather keep quiet.” On this episode of Press Profiles, we explore his approach to creating understanding and ensuring accountability. We also discuss his many years covering Goldman Sachs, growing up in Cooperstown NY, the paltry hit rate of responses to the cold emails he sends potential sources, his new book on IPOs called Going Public, and as always, a whole lot more.

Stephanie Mehta was first starstruck by a front-page story in the “Daily Northwestern.”  These days she’s rarely starstruck, leading two cutting-edge business publications which track the next generation of companies and entrepreneurs. During her impressive career she’s logged time everywhere from the Wall Street Journal to Vanity Fair and conducted interviews with Oscar winners and hall of fame athletes. Now she’s on the business side of the equation experiencing a whole new adventure, while continuing to add her creative spin to the content along the way.

Rebecca Jarvis spent the early days of her career in investment banking thinking of all the ways she could get out of a career in investment banking. The journalism bug was tugging at her. After plenty of rejections, she finally broke into the business. Then, a stint on a new reality show called  “The Apprentice” got her noticed by CNBC, and as they say, the rest is history. Now, she is leading business, technology, and economics coverage for ABC news. We talk about her breakthrough reporting on the Theranos scandal for “The Dropout” podcast, reporting for Good Morning America, early interviews that shaped her career, and as always, a whole lot more.