Crisis Communications in Fintech: How Trust Is Built

In the second episode of Women Leading the Way, host Maria Tunikova sits down with Alina Sysoeva, Head of PR at Drofa Comms, to talk about one of the most demanding challenges in financial PR: crisis communications in fintech and crypto. When markets are unstable and trust is fragile, how fast you respond can shape a company's reputation for years.

Alina breaks down the red flags she watches in real time, from a sudden spike in media mentions and negative tone to the risk no one talks about enough: founders posting without approval. She takes us through her very first crisis with 30 minutes to build a response strategy from nothing and prevent a media fallout.

The conversation gets honest about why companies go silent during crises, and why that silence is, in most cases, the biggest mistake. From syncing PR and legal teams before anything happens to getting ahead of the story when Bloomberg publishes first, Alina shares a playbook built on preparation, speed, and transparency.

And then there's the human side. How does real pressure reveal who leads and who doesn't? Alina reflects on a moment early in her career when she was doubted simply for being a woman, and what happened when she acted anyway.

Drofa Comms is glad to announce the launch of a limited series of special PR consultations for finance, fintech, and digital asset companies. You can request one via the link.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Women leading the way Hey everyone, welcome to Women Leading the Way by DropperConfs, a podcast about women shaping the future of finance, fintech, blockchain and technology. Here we don't talk about titles or success stories, we talk about real moments that shape a career and how leadership changes when women are in the room. I'm Maria, and in this episode we explore one big idea through a personal journey. Today we are talking about crisis in finance in fintech and what it really takes to handle it when markets are unstable and trust is fragile. Because in this industry, crisis is never something rare, and the way you handle it can influence the reputation. So our guest is Alina Sesova, head of PR with Drofa.coms, a global leading communications agency working with finance, fintech, and blockchain. She manages strategic communications across markets and has seen firsthand what it means to handle when things don't go according to plan.

SPEAKER_00 1:00

So Alina, welcome to the show. Thanks for having me on this episode today. I will be happy to share my expertise and experience working with crisis communications and financial companies.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

Personally, I gotta say that this episode feels really special to me because we work together in DrofaComs and I see every day what kind of leader you are. I mean, probably you're the only person who can build a full firefighting plan during the night or driving your car. So uh I'm really happy we are doing this together today. And let's start with something quite real. How do you understand that this is the crisis? Is there the moment when you realize, oh my gosh, this is happening?

SPEAKER_00 1:44

I guess it occurs mostly every day when I open my eyes and then check working chats or emails and see there are around 100 plus uh messages, emails uh before the start of the working day. So that's quite difficult sometimes. Uh but to tell the truth, each crisis has its own options and uh metrics which we can find and then understand that oh my god, that's collapse already. What we should do. So the first uh point is that uh crisis always is related to the negative uh tone of publications and negative effect to your personal brand or brand of your company. The second point is not my favorite one, but it also takes its place. Uh, so when regulators or media outlets or every uh person already knows about the crisis, so it's usually occurs outside the company and it's very difficult already to manage, but it's still the one of the metrics of crisis which we need to cope with in the next 24 hours itself. The next point is usually related to the number of mentions which you already can see in media outlets, social networks. Each hour you can check and find dozens of mentions of tweets of uh publications from different media outlets, and you understand that's it. That's the key point which with which I should work during the next 24 or 48 hours. So it also sometimes can be in a similar way. And the last but not least is also a very interesting point which I um noticed from my personal experience is that uh founders of our client companies they uh can somehow be another channel for crisis. For example, uh I had personal experience with uh one case recently that one of our uh CEO uh of um DeFi Protocol uh posted the X and then he didn't prove this one with us. And then I just opened my eyes at 5 a.m. in Europe, uh European time, and they uh just mentioned we have the crisis collapse. I posted the liquidation word in my X, and all media outlets uh use this quote that our platform has the liquidation, so that's it. I guess um if we speak about what what this uh point really means, it means that um somehow companies uh they are not prepared for the crisis, they think that it will just lead by its own way, and uh they no need uh to have, for example, PR team or legal team who can support you during crisis. So that's the point.

SPEAKER_01 4:15

Yeah, and I also think that sometimes we understand that the crisis is already happening just when we see it in the media. I mean, the period when we realize that this is gonna happen is quite short, so yeah, it's kind of complicated. Women leading the way. If it goes back a little bit to your personal experience, I mean your journey at Drofa Combs is just incredible. You've grown up from being junior, now being ahead of Pierre, it's like insane. So, probably you've seen many things happening during your career. And do you remember your first crisis? What was your reaction to that?

SPEAKER_00 4:53

I will always remember my crisis. I guess it was at the beginning of my work at Drofa.coms uh when I was uh aligned uh to the new DeFi protocol, it was one of my new clients. I wasn't the head of PR or the leader for this crisis communications direction now agency. Uh, I was just a project manager for this client. And uh at that period of time, DeFi was something new for me. Uh, the key meaning of this word, which I uh was aware of during this period of time, was decentralized finance, and that's it. I see. I I know nothing uh related to DeFi, liquidation mechanisms, how to protect users, how to uh what is Viper, how to work with this, so nothing despite decentralized finance. And uh I worked with this uh project around two, three days, and then uh I have the plan to prepare the anti-crisis checklist for this company uh the same week. Just in case. Just in case, maybe why why not? Uh and then one morning I just um decided to check uh my email and my working chat uh before the working day. It was around 6 a.m. European time, so uh in America is still night. That's why, for example, a lot of different media outlets they're still sleeping. Uh, and I checked the emails and check working groups and noticed that there are around uh 500 plus messages in the chat just uh around during two hours of the discussion. Uh, and uh I see I saw a lot of different tags of my name in these chats, and uh at that period of time I thought, hmm, that's interesting. Maybe there's something positive for me. My colleague just um reached out to me uh an hour later and mentioned that oops, we have a small uh problem and we need your help. But at that period of time, I have no experience working with crisis communications, and I think that the key issue when you can self-develop is just uh practice, practice with your clients, and thank you. Uh DeFi and financial sphere quite often can provide you with these opportunities. Uh so yeah, uh, if we speak about this uh case uh more in details, uh so what was the point and the key issue? First point was uh that it was too early in the morning, that's why uh it was very difficult to reach out to the legal teams or to the founder of the company or any other team members of our clients. It liked the first point. Uh, the second issue was uh one of the most difficult to work with in the future because I uh checked the media outlets and all the mentions on the internet about this case, and I noticed that there were around 30 publications in tier one and tier two media uh outlets, global ones and crypto ones, related to this case. The case, uh the reason for the case was uh the risk of liquidation uh of users' money from the DeFi protocol on the sum around$200 million. Uh, and that's why uh journalists and media outlets they um used this information in their titles and their articles, and uh we can see a lot of reprints afterwards, and uh the awful thing is that they used the incorrect information, so they didn't um realize that they misunderstood the key point of this uh crisis, and it was another circumstances which we have to cope with during this period of time. The problem was that I had only one team member who can help me with this case, uh, and I have had only 30 minutes to uh craft the strategy and craft the plan, what's going on. Uh, still, you should you should still remember that I know about the file only decentralized finance. Uh, it's still the same point and the same day. Uh, so I have to cope with all my uh fears and um craft the strategy of what we can do during this period of time and during this crisis, not to uh influence the reputation of our client, not to influence the reputation of our agency as we represent officially this company. So I tried to reach out to our clients and uh no one answered me because they were busy uh solving the key issue related to 200 million dollars, not mine my questions about what's going on, what we should do. That's that, but but still. Uh yes, and what we did during this period of time, we uh chose the great strategy how we can overcome this crisis. So we um directly contacted all the media outlets which were uh which published these materials. It was for that moment around 67 already, not just 40. Yeah, uh, and uh we uh shared them information that we represent this client, we uh can provide you with all official feedback and official announcements from the company. So we should be the final source who can check and who can provide the commentaries from our client. Uh, and it was very crucial and important step because afterwards it it helps us uh to overcome and to uh orient around 70 publications related to negative tone to natural ones and positive ones, because around uh 50 uh media outlets they got back to me and my team member one uh and asked for official commentaries, and then they updated the article, included the necessary information in it, and we have no uh other issues and no other circumstances, circumstances which uh develop the negative uh tone of voice of the company afterwards. So uh it's it was uh related to my first crisis, and I guess that the key lesson from that period of time that uh we need to uh definitely be well prepared beforehand and uh know more about DeFi uh before I started working with the client.

SPEAKER_01 10:38

Yeah, crazy. And anything you would do differently uh right now, for example?

SPEAKER_00 10:43

Uh at that period of time I thought that first of all I should always uh remember that it's just my work and I should stay professional and I should help my client to overcome this situation. And uh the second point, as I already mentioned, just to uh deep dive into DeFi beforehand, uh, not just uh the simple meaning of these uh words.

SPEAKER_01 11:05

Yeah, this is the true professionalism, I guess. And a really crazy first experience check in Women Leading the Way podcast. Speaking of crisis, what do you think is more crucial, the first 30 minutes when it's happening or the crisis itself?

SPEAKER_00 11:22

Definitely 30 minutes after it uh already happened, because as I mentioned, you have dozens of different tasks which you should uh collect in one plan, in one strategy. So the first point is usually to analyze what's what's going on, what you should do with this, then you should synchronize with your team, with the client team, and discuss and choose the necessary template, how will you react during this period of time? And uh I before some crises which I already coped with, I even uh couldn't think that during 30 minutes of time we can cope with so many different tasks related to crisis communications and so many different channels which can be used during this period of time. So definitely 30 minutes after it. And uh, from my personal experience, uh sometimes we had uh crises which um which duration were around 24 uh until 72 hours. It was like the non-stop work when we contacted Media Outlets, social media networks, so everyone just update them about the situation.

SPEAKER_01 12:23

Yeah, super power activated.

SPEAKER_00 12:25

Yeah, that's true.

SPEAKER_01 12:27

So far, we've been talking about what happens when crisis hits, but uh what actually gets to that point? I mean, we all know that companies tend not to think about these kinds of situations. I guess we like imagine everyone thinking that this is not gonna happen to me. And I guess with the companies the same thing. So why do they don't prepare for these situations?

SPEAKER_00 12:54

I think that the first point is that our minds just function in such a way. So we always try to avoid thinking about negative about the situation which might might occur or which might not occur according to our brand and our company. Uh, and also it differs from company to company. For example, some of them they have the budget to work with anti-crisis big teams in PR and craft before the crisis and anti-crisis checklists or team or working groups uh related to anti-crisis also communications. Uh other companies they don't have budget and they try not to think about all this situation and they uh just usually use, for example, freelance services to help them to overcome this crisis. But the situations which uh is like the tendency and which I uh noticed in every company we worked with during, I guess, last five years, uh so all of them they are afraid talking about crisis. They think that if they um pub if they publish the official statement related to crisis or uh they will share any details about the crisis, uh it will occur much more negative effect than before it. So they they decided, yes, they decided just to keep silent uh before the legal team will get back to them and uh apply and approve the key messages which they uh should publish in their social networks or on their official website, uh and that's the key mistake which they usually do, uh, because during this period of time you uh cannot control what's going on. So if you already know about crisis or you already checked the media outlets and find out that uh Bloomberg already published the crisis uh post about your company, how can you stay silent during this period of time? Because every uh user, every person, they just check the official profiles of company social networks, uh, their founders, C-levels, I don't know, the official website, and they try to find any answers on this question. Uh and that's why they don't have these answers, they um just uh point the facts which are marked in the articles which journalists prepare during this period of time. And they, uh, as we discussed earlier, sometimes can misunderstood the information and then uh spread the information with it's incorrect. Uh and this information uh should have been updated by PR teams such as ours. So uh that's the key point because uh we also have a series of cases when we uh react proactively uh when we knew and we saw the first publication, for example, on Bloomberg or elsewhere. Uh and we um on we published the official statement from the founder in time. Really, it was a very uh valuable step from our side, and we also um overcome this crisis without any negative mentions in the media outlets. So, for example, Bloomberg published the article, uh it was um negative one, but it included the quotation from the founder, and then it became not negative but natural. And then uh we also suggest them, for example, the call the interview call with the founder, and then the article became positive. So that's it. Stay you should stay calm, but not stay silent. Yeah, that's the key point. Women leading the way.

SPEAKER_01 16:19

So let's imagine that the worst case scenario is here. Everything is happening. In your experience, what can make things more complicated? Or even who? Perhaps the legal team, leadership, or maybe media outlets?

SPEAKER_00 16:33

I guess that we have two weak points here. The first one is fear, uh, which uh team members of the client uh usually have during this period of time because they are they were not ready for this crisis, they were not prepared for this in advance, uh, which we discussed at the start of the podcast. And the second point is usually related to the fact that teams are usually not on the same page. For example, legal team can know some insights and details about the case, and they uh decided not to move forward with this information, for example, related to the PR team, which usually contacts all the media outlets, or legal team can share this information with the founder of the company. Founder is very busy solving this issue, so of course he wouldn't uh contact his PR manager and then uh write him the details of what's going on, how we can solve this issue, what the status, uh, etc. Uh, so I guess that's that's the most important part.

SPEAKER_01 17:26

Yeah, I actually do remember that we had a case about a few years ago. It was like with the payment processor, I guess, and there was a crisis. Like, but uh they had their internal PR team, and we had to communicate like uh together to handle all the stuff together. But their team they broke all the embargoes and the things we could manage just in some hours uh were not handled so successfully, unfortunately. Yeah, so alignment behind between teams is very important.

SPEAKER_00 18:02

Yeah, that's true. Uh I have the recent uh successful case uh in terms of uh the synchronization of both teams. Uh so our clients' legal team they contacted us uh before two hours of the crisis, and they mentioned that in the next two hours uh we uh can have the small crisis situation that they usually mention. Small small issue, around 60 unique media publications in Bloomberg Forbes, etc. Small issue. Uh so yeah, and they contacted us beforehand, and we had the brilliant and valuable time to prepare for this crisis because it was related to uh VC court and it was really, really important. Uh so we published, we prepared and published the official statement from the founder of the company and um also from the CEO of the company. Uh, and um it also helped us not to have uh it also helped us uh to have zero negative mentions in my doubtlets because legal team thank them so much, they decided to come to us at first and only afterwards share this information with the founder of the company. And I would like to add a small small point here that I think that PR teams and legal teams, we should have the mission to educate our founders, to educate our clients how they should react during the crisis, because we really know which narratives we should use, which key messages uh journalists would like to hear. So no one can help them despite us. So that's the key point.

SPEAKER_01 19:32

Yeah, definitely we should work together as one team because we work in financial landscape and trust here is like a currency. Yeah, that's true. So coming back to more human side of things, it's interesting that crisis always tests your ability to think clearly in situations under the pressure. In your experience, is there any difference uh in how women and men operate during crisis?

SPEAKER_00 20:00

I think that yes, because throughout my career I faced a few cases related to the point which you mentioned. So it was related uh to my previous um work. Uh it was not in Drofa, it was in the event uh management agency. I was uh working as an event manager and I was the project lead for the event, which uh should take place uh in around two days. And we uh spent around a month to organize the huge panel with five uh key top speakers from the market. And um one day they decided, all of them, five of them, uh decided not to move forward with our panel and just to skip it because uh someone couldn't attend before because of his timeline. The second one just decided to ignore our messages, so uh that's the point. And uh as a result, I have the case that we have two days before the event, it's the leading panel. Um I I can say that this panel was related to the whole event while people decided to go to attend this event. Uh, and um I had my boss, my previous boss, uh, he was a man, and he um went he went to the office uh where we sit with our um uh team, and he mentioned that he wouldn't deliver this task to update the situation to me because I am a woman and I couldn't um clearly understand what's going on, and I cannot be too emotional uh while uh solving this situation. And then he uh when every team member sits in the in the room, uh he uh delivered this task to my male colleague, and he mentioned that he will be the best person who can uh overcome this crisis. Uh but at that period of time uh I thought, no, I will try to help. So I I I noticed that uh when uh my boss so delivered this task to my male colleague, uh, he didn't react uh proactively. To this uh task. So he started to prioritize another task which he uh has. And uh it's awful because the event just in today's and is the key panel for this uh event, so we need to solve this issue quicker as much as possible. Uh, and I decided to uh solve the situation by myself, despite the uh direct tasks from uh my boss not to do so. Uh so I helped my colleague and I uh overcome the situation. I invited new uh speakers to our panel. Uh a few of them was even from more top companies than previous one. And I also talked to two speakers who decided not to move forward, so to come back, and I asked them and prayed to take part in our event, so they uh decided to take part and all was good. So as a result, the event was success. Uh so nobody noticed that something went wrong during this period of time. Uh, and then we afterwards we have the um uh meet with the meeting with our boss and our team members, and he entered the room and then mentioned that uh this situation's uh situation shows him that uh he was true, that uh women uh couldn't um cope with uh their emotional side and they uh cannot uh do what uh male colleagues them uh usually provide to do. So that was a really interesting point. But in that period of time, I answered him, yes, I am not a man, but I used man approach and to prove it with female touch. That's why we have the successful event. Uh you should have seen uh his face. It was really interesting to notice. Uh you just nailed it. Yeah, that's that's it with perfect nails. Yes, but the key point here that I still believe that women can do every uh thing, everything they want if they will be confident in each other in themselves, so they can overcome every difficulty and every crisis. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 24:02

Personally, I haven't faced any similar situation, but I've been speaking with so many women for our project. I guess already more than 500 women took part in our women leading the way, and I guess almost everyone had a similar situation at the beginning of their career, especially. And uh, you know that finance is still perceived as a male-dominated sphere, so a lot of them had some trouble centering the space. But look at them now, they're top leaders from big companies, very successful, and this their stories they remind me that women can do everything. So, women leading the way, absolutely. Women leading the way podcast. Uh, speaking about just confidence, um, I guess that it's very hard to maintain it during the crisis situations. So, what are the top things you have to do to keep calm during these times?

SPEAKER_00 25:02

Yeah, I always educate uh myself and our clients uh that uh no crisis uh is impossible to overcome. So we can uh help and overcome each crisis if we are well prepared, as discussed. So the first point which can help you uh personally is your team members. That's why it's crucial to uh create an anti-crisis uh working group, for example, where uh can be included four or five people, so it can be, for example, two pair managers, one legal team member, uh C level, one representative from the company, it can be marketing director or C level of the company, so uh someone who can um do a public um statement if uh we need so. Uh so the second um point which which can also help you to overcome this crisis and overcome stress uh is to prepare in advance so you can have the anti-crisis checklist where you can mark all the types of possible crises which can occur. Uh, you can include there some templates how we should react during this situation and that situation, uh, which words or which narratives and key messages uh should founder say or should not say during this period of time. Uh, and also uh we can um split and use um each narrative to each channel. For example, for social media it will be the one, for media outlet it will be another one. Uh so and the third point is one of the most important, uh, which I already briefly mentioned. So it's crucial to react in time on the crisis and not to stay silent. So you should proactively monitor, check what materials were already published, how we should react, uh, what else we should do to overcome the situation. So your reaction and it usually uh lasts uh almost the minimum uh period of time is 24 hours, uh, because no matter which crisis is it, so it's crucial to uh monitor the situation in the first 24 hours. And after the crisis, um the peak of the crisis usually step back. So you should focus on uh working with positive news uh after the crisis uh occur. For example, if your uh website got hacked, you can publish a series of materials about the security and trust. You can publish uh the you can craft the um trust fund where you will develop the new code for your website, or you will um have the consultation with your users, how you can help them to uh support and to get their money back, for example, if uh the platform was hacked. So uh a lot of different variants of how we can uh help companies and how you can be prepared also for them, uh, but not to stay silent and always be clear and trust, uh be clear and transparent with your audience because uh we work with financial companies, financial companies work with uh users' money, and it's very um important for them to know that they are that their money are safe and that their money is safe, uh, and uh is uh that everything is okay uh in even in different uh difficult situations. And also despite the fact that I am PR representative and I usually uh try not to work with social networks, it still uh should take place. So uh don't forget to use uh your social networks and social networks of your client because, as I mentioned at the start of the podcast, we even uh cope with different crises related to the incorrect post in a social media network, and also these channels can be used to see what audience really think about the situation because they uh should can comment, repost the news, find the new links where they find the new information. So it's crucial channel to monitor a wild crisis. Uh, I would say that it will it should be the first priority, so to monitor social media and then uh to monitor media outlets because they quite often, specifically in financial and DeFi spheres, they took information from X, so related to any crisis, not the official website of the company, not the official profile of the founder on LinkedIn, just from X.

SPEAKER_01 29:09

Yeah, crypto community is crazy about X. Yeah, so before we wrap up, let's do a quick fun segment called Traffic Light. We try to do with every guest in every episode. So, um, it's the idea is quite simple, it's like driving. Uh, yeah, we associate driving with the life. Uh, something you won't stop doing this year, like red light. Yellow light is keep going, and green light means start doing something. I'll ask you just three quick questions and you answer them without overthinking. Let's do it.

SPEAKER_00 29:46

Overthinking is uh a bad tool working with crisis communications. Green light. What's one thing you won't start doing this year? I think that I should focus on my personal growth, uh, release new pair cases, specifically not only in crisis fields, and maybe take new courses in DeFi still, why not?

SPEAKER_01 30:07

Yeah, education uh and wow cases is something we really love. Yeah. Uh so moving to yellow light, is there anything you want to just keep going this year?

SPEAKER_00 30:21

I think that uh I will definitely say that I would like to continue attending leading events um from our industry because last year showed me the great experience um networking with new people, finding the new insights about the market, about their cases. I think that public commun public relations and public communications uh are the key for your self-development, so it's quite close to the green light. Uh, and I really um I'm really keen on attending these leading events from the industry.

SPEAKER_01 30:51

Yeah, we had so many fun times specifically in autumn. Yeah, especially for women leading the way. Uh, and moving to the red light, is there anything you want to stop doing this year?

SPEAKER_00 31:04

Think that something is impossible specifically for women.

SPEAKER_01 31:08

Yeah, we tend to overthink a lot of things and just forget that nothing is impossible, especially crisis. Yeah, for the companies and overcoming this crisis. So, just to finish all these things, um, your number one piece of advice for the companies when it comes to handling the crisis. Talk and be open with your audience. That's it.

unknown 31:34

Women leading the way.

SPEAKER_01 31:37

So, Alina, thank you so much. My pleasure. This conversation was such a powerful reminder then in FinTech and Finance, where everything is built on trust, a crisis is never just an external event because it's always related to the reputation, and reputation in our industry is the most valuable asset. So, to everyone listening, if this episode resonates with you, please share it with the person who needs to hear it. For more stories and updates, visit womenlead.co.uk and follow us on our LinkedIn page. This was Women Leading the Way by Dropha Combs. Thanks for listening, and see you in the next episode. And don't forget, women don't just follow the way, they lead it. Women leading the way. Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.