The Alignment Call That Was Never in Alignment

Kim Newlove from The Pharmacist's Voice joins Dave to read a pitch so wildly off-target it almost has to be seen to be believed: a law firm consulting agency pitching two attorneys as guests... on a podcast about pharmacy.

Before the bad pitch: Dave gives a shoutout to a good pitch — Dan Lefebvre of the Based on a True Story podcast sent one in. Not every pitch is a disaster.

What Happens in This Episode

Kim reads a real email pitch (in full) sent to her on behalf of Robert Armstrong and Sandy Fish, self-described "law firm strategists" and co-authors of an upcoming Forbes book on building law firms. The pitch invites Kim to interview them about leadership, business design, and helping attorneys become "law firm CEOs" — despite the fact that Kim's show, The Pharmacist's Voice, is about pharmacy careers and has zero attorney audience overlap.

The kicker: the pitch also asks for a "brief alignment call" before booking — which Kim points out is deeply ironic, since the pitch itself was never in alignment with her show in the first place.

Why This Pitch Missed the Mark

• Wrong audience entirely. Kim's audience is pharmacists, pharmacy students, technicians, owners, and professors — not attorneys. The guests would bring zero value to her listeners.
• No homework done. A quick look at Kim's show would have made the mismatch obvious.
• The "alignment call" irony. Asking for a call to "ensure everything is aligned" after sending a pitch with no audience alignment at all.

What a Good Pitch Looks Like (Using Kim's Own Show as the Example)

Kim shares how she plans her show a full year in advance, and what an aligned pitch would actually need to match:

• Her 2026 production schedule, including her six-year podcast anniversary episode (January) and her recurring "Pharmacist Podcasters" series (guests who are both pharmacists and podcasters).
• The specific guest slots she's actually looking to fill for 2026: a pharmacist-podcaster, a pharmacist authority, a guest who can speak to drug naming, and either a pharmacist focused on men's health or a veteran pharmacist.
• Her guest application process, including a question that trips up more pitches than you'd expect: "Which microphone do you plan to use for the interview?" — a simple way to gauge whether a prospective guest is actually prepared to record.

Dave notes that Kim's full breakdown of her production schedule and application process is more detail than usually fits in the main episode, so the extended clip is posted separately (not in the main feed) at the link below.

Bonus Content

About the Guest

Kim Newlove hosts The Pharmacist's Voice podcast, covering pharmacy topics and careers to help her audience feel connected to — and inspired to contribute to — the profession. She's worked with Dave as her podcast coach since 2019, has launched two podcasts, and has published more than 500 episodes.

• Kim's show: thepharmacistsvoice.com

Coming Up Next Episode

Jason Cercone of BombTrack Media (host of Podcasting Strategy Simplified) brings his pitch — good or bad? Tune in to find out.

Links & Resources

• Submit your pitch (good or bad) or learn more: pitchapodcast.com/story
• Extended clip — Kim's full 2026 production schedule and guest application breakdown: pitchapodcast.com/6
• Dave Jackson's podcast coaching: schoolofpodcasting.com
• Part of the Power of Podcasting Network: powerofpodcasting.com

Mentioned in this episode:

Share Your Story and Get FREE Promotion For Your Show

We all get bad (and occasionally GOOD) pitches. The next time you get one, share it us by going to www.pitchapodcast.com/story and upload your story, and provide some links to your show.

Pitch Your Story

From the Pharmacist Voice, we have Kim Newlove how to Pitch a Podcast how to Pitch a podcast is where bad pitches get called out and better ones get made. Real examples, real feedback and smarter ways to get booked. Pitch a podcast.com how to pitch a Podcast.

You know, we always talk about getting bad pitches. I should also mention we do accept good pitches. Dan Lefebvre from Based on a True Story Podcast sent one of those in.

But we do get a lot of bad ones and today, well, let's just toss it over to Kim.

Oh Dave, do I have a bad pitch for you. Hi, this is Kim Newlove.

I host the Pharmacist's Voice podcast, which you can find@the pharmacistsvoice.com we talk about pharmacy topics and careers so my audience feels connected to the profession of pharmacy and inspired to contribute to it. Here's my pitch story. This pitch came to me via email and I'm going to read it to you.

It's really, really long and it's a bad pitch because lawyers pitched me, supposedly thinking that I have an audience full of lawyers. What? What?

What?

So here we go.

Robert and Sandy have spent over 30 years helping attorneys rethink how they run their firms, moving away from reactive time for money practices and toward intentional, well structured businesses that support both profitability and personal freedom.

Their work centers on leadership, business design, and helping attorneys step into the role of law firm CEO rather than staying stuck as the primary operator.

They would welcome the opportunity to join you for a conversation around what it truly takes to build a sustainable law firm, including mindset shifts, scalable systems, and long term business strategy.

Just a quick refresher. Kim's show is called the Pharmacist Voice.

These insights tend to resonate with attorneys who want growth without burnout and a practice that works beyond themselves. If you're open to having them as guests, we'd be happy to coordinate timing ahead of the recording.

Jennifer Price, our chief operating officer, would also appreciate a brief alignment call with you, if that's okay. This is typically a short conversation to ensure everything is aligned in advance.

Yes, you see, alignment is what you do before you send the email.

I can also share a media Kit or suggested discussion points if helpful. Thank you for your time and I appreciate the work you do in creating conversations around professional growth and leadership. Warm regards, Claire.

That concludes the pitch. There's also the full name of the person who sent this email, their title. So their.

Their name is Claire lavares and they are a sales assistant from the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, comma, Inc.

Because, you know, when I think podcast.

Booking, I think the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, comma, Inc.

So we're not here to just bash, we're also here to learn.

This is a bad pitch for a number of reasons. Number one, it's not right for my audience. I have an audience of pharmacy people.

Let's just say pharmacists, pharmacy students, pharmacy technicians, pharmacy owners, professors of pharmacy, pharmaceutical industry professionals, etc.

So what you're saying is about the pharmacy industry.

This pitch is obviously meant to reach attorneys. I don't have any. So they're wasting their time. They're wasting my time.

There will be be no value in a conversation with this attorney for my audience.

You suck.

I think it's really ironic that they mention in their pitch that they'd appreciate a brief alignment call with me to set up this podcast interview. What?

What? What?

Come on, do your homework, people. Obviously, their content is not in alignment with my show.

It is so ironic that that they mention an alignment call when they haven't even made sure that their pitch is. Is in alignment with my podcast. And I feel like I have this mounting sense of being irate as I talk about this. Wow.

It's true what they say about the podcast industry. Such a dirty business. But you asked for it, Dave. This is honestly how podcasters feel when a bad pitch comes through. It wastes my time.

And I'm wondering, what did I do to deserve this pitch? What the heck? It's so, so out of alignment with what my audience needs to hear.

That's the part that I was like, wait, what? And in a minute we're gonna hear what a good pitch sounds like. How to pitch a podcast.

So my audience feels connected to the profession of pharmacy and inspired to contribute to it.

And what's amazing about this is Kim has this on her website. She has this whole thing laid out. Here's just a quick sample of. You can hear how she plans out her whole year.

In February, I publish an episode in the Pharmacist Podcasters series, which means the guest must be a pharmacist and a podcaster both at the same time.

And so she's got most of the year laid out. Really. This is a person that plans ahead, but she is looking for some guests.

And on her application form so she doesn't just take anybody you apply to be on the show. But I thought this was a really interesting question.

Tell me which microphone you plan to use for podcast interviews.

And this helps me to understand if I have a choice between pharmacist A or pharmacist B. Pharmacist A has no microphone, but Pharmacist B does have one that might get them to be on my show rather than someone who does not have a microphone.

Now, Kim provided a ton of information about her production schedule. She talked about her onboarding kind of application form, and that's information I typically don't cover here. But it was good information.

So I'm going to put it in the show notes. If you want to hear her full answer, I will have it in the show notes. Just go out to pitchapodcast.com 6.

Dave, thank you so much for letting me share this bad pitch with your audience on your new podcast. Congratulations on your new podcast.

Again, this has been Kim Newlove from the Pharmacist's Voice podcast, which you can find@the pharmacistsvoice.com Happy podcasting, everyone.

Now behind the show. And I realize people are gonna be like, wait, how do you put audio on a website without it going into the feed?

You can do this in Libsyn, it's called a file for download only. And in Captivate, you just check an option that says don't put this in the feed. And so that's what I'll do with Kim's clip.

So again, just go out to pitchapodcast.com the number six. And in the next episode, we'll be hearing from. Hey, it's Jason Serkon from BombTrack Media. My podcast is Podcasting Strategy Simplified.

Will it be a good pitch? Will it be a bad pitch? Well, go out to pitchapodcast.com follow and follow in your favorite app and get it the minute it's available. Thanks so much.

I'm Dave Jackson. I have been helping podcasters for over 20 years, and boy, I would love to see what you and I can do together.

Come Visit me at schoolofpodcasting.com. How to Pitch a Podcast this podcast is part of the Power of Podcasting Network.

Find it at powerofpodcasting.com changing the world one download at a time.