The strongest communications help people see where they fit.

Hi! I’m Anna Bassham, an executive communications manager at Cisco. I’ve always been curious about why some ideas connect while others get lost, and how the right words can help people understand not only what is happening, but why it matters to them.

Today, I manage executive communications for Cisco’s Chief People Officer. I help bring big ideas about work to life through employee communications, executive thought leadership, social media, articles, interviews, speaking opportunities and high-visibility leadership moments.

How I got here

After earning my B.S. in Journalism – Strategic Communications, I began my career in digital marketing and social media, back when brands were still figuring out what social media was for. I loved the mix of creativity and strategy: listening to people, finding the story and figuring out how to make it matter to them.

In 2008, I founded ShoeSmitten.com, which grew into a nationally recognized fashion blog and collaborated with brands including Payless, Kohl’s, Naturalizer and Clarks. It gave me an early education in building a brand, growing a community and creating content people genuinely wanted to engage with.

From there, I built digital communications programs across e-commerce, education, media and technology. At Guru.com, I helped establish the company’s social media presence and led a team of writers. At Victory Media, I developed digital and email programs connecting members of the military community with education and employment opportunities.

At Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, I helped turn dozens of individual social channels into a more cohesive global brand presence. I trained 150 general managers and sales leaders, developed governance and training resources, and helped increase referral traffic from social media by 3,100%.

Each experience taught me something different, but the underlying work was always the same: understand the audience, find the human story and make the message useful.

A front-row seat to a changing world of work

I joined Cisco in 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, as a contractor supporting social media for the SVP of Cisco Collaboration (Webex). Companies everywhere were suddenly navigating remote and hybrid work, making collaboration technology more essential than ever. I had a front-row seat to a dramatic shift in how and where people worked, connected and led.

In many ways, collaboration technology had already been a thread throughout my career. At Guru.com, I acted in large part as a community manager, helping employers, freelancers and contract agencies find one another and work successfully together. Cisco gave me the opportunity to explore that same interest on a much larger scale and during a defining moment for the world of work.

Other executive communications responsibilities quickly became part of my role, and six months after joining Cisco, I transitioned from contractor to full-time employee. Around that same time, I raised my hand for a passion project: improving the onboarding experience for Cisco Collaboration.

I built a complete onboarding program from the ground up, including new-hire sessions where employees could hear directly from the organization’s senior leaders about strategy and why their work matters. That effort grew into the beginnings of a broader employee experience program designed to make work better for everyone, whether they had just joined the organization or had been part of it for years. I’m especially proud that the foundation we created has since grown into a thriving program.

Along the way, I realized that I was deeply interested in the people side of the business. I began learning more about HR, employee experience and what it would look like to build a career in that space. I found a mentor who helped me better understand the field and encouraged me to pursue the next step.

That exploration eventually led me from Cisco Collaboration into People & Communities, Cisco’s HR organization, where I now manage executive communications for Chief People Officer Kelly Jones. It was a deliberate career move and has led to some of the most meaningful and rewarding work I’ve ever done.

How I approach the work

Start with the human

Before deciding what to write or where to publish it, I ask what the audience needs to understand, why they should care and what they should feel or do next.

Make it sound like the person

The message has to sound like the leader delivering it. I look for the language, experiences and perspective that make someone’s voice distinctive, then protect that authenticity across channels.

Build a larger story

A social post, employee message, article, interview or speaking opportunity shouldn’t exist in isolation. I connect individual moments to a larger narrative so ideas build meaning and momentum over time.

A few things I’m proud of

• Managing executive communications for Cisco’s Chief People Officer across internal and external channels
• Being named a 2025 Ragan Zenith Award winner alongside two Cisco colleagues, with our team recognized as Executive Communications Team of the Year
• Building Cisco Collaboration’s onboarding program from the ground up and helping establish the foundation for its broader employee experience program
• Training 150 Kimpton general managers and sales leaders and helping build a more cohesive global social media program
• Founding ShoeSmitten.com and building a community around one of my earliest creative passions

Beyond the bio

I’m based in Charlotte, North Carolina. I’m endlessly curious about why certain stories connect, how work is changing and what helps people feel informed, trusted and included.

Outside of work, I’m usually spending time with my family, reading, fitting in a workout, experimenting with AI or following some new curiosity down a rabbit hole.

Let’s connect

I share more of my current work and thinking about executive communications, employee experience, AI and the future of work on LinkedIn.