Communications is a profession defined by adaptability. Few careers illustrate this better than Camilla Osborne, whose journey spans agency consulting, corporate leadership at Coca-Cola, and now independent advisory work in the public health sector. Along the way, she has learned to translate insights across industries, lead with empathy, and measure success by outcomes rather than outputs. In this conversation, she reflects on the skills that have remained constant, the underrated strengths communicators bring to the table, and how the profession is evolving toward 2035.
You’ve worked at an agency, in-house, and now as a consultant. How have you taken what you’ve learned and applied it to each new chapter of your career?
My communications career started at a consulting firm called Africa Practice. My focus was on corporate sustainability and community engagement, but I worked across a range of sectors, from agriculture to mining and fast-moving consumer goods. I quickly learned how to shift gears and mindsets in a single day, juggling multiple clients at once, a challenge anyone in the agency world will recognize.
Not only did I learn to work against tight deadlines, but also how to quickly put myself in the clients’ shoes and be adaptable, a skill I’ve used throughout my career. Additionally, by working across sectors, I learned the value of cross-pollination, taking what worked in one industry and adapting it for another to bring innovation and new ways of working.
After seven years at Africa Practice, I joined The Coca-Cola Company, rising the corporate ladder from internal and digital communications officer for South Africa to head of communications for Southern and East Africa. Unlike in agency work, corporate roles often measure you less by the final deliverable and more by how you achieved it. Were the right people consulted? Did you follow proper processes and adhere to the code of conduct? The “how” is different in each company, and knowing the right way to complete tasks is important.
My time at Coca-Cola also taught me the importance of context and big picture strategy. It’s a bit of a catch-22, however, because if you’re not invited into leadership meetings, you’re not aware of the potential headwinds and pressure points. Context is king and, without it, you can’t make the right decisions for the business.
I’ve used the experience of needing to know the process and the context in my current work as a freelance consultant and advisor. It has allowed me to ask my clients the right questions so I can deliver work that is strategic and client-centric, meaning it fits in with my client’s process and ways of working.
As a business owner, you need to quickly develop strong financial acumen. Learning to manage your profit and loss, how to raise invoices, and how to charge your time is a steep learning curve. I also learned the importance of one’s network and building your personal brand. As a sole proprietor, clients buy “you” and the quality of your work. How you engage and show up at every opportunity reflects your reputation and how much trust people put in you.
Lastly, from my work in the public health space advising governments and health enterprises, I’ve learned that you are measured on the outcomes of your work. Did patients come to the clinic for their health checks and adhere to prescribed treatments, such as HIV medication? The process and deliverables matter — for example, consulting your target audience when creating a campaign — but the true measure is the outcome.
This is why I have placed a lot of energy into understanding how I can measure, evaluate, and quantify the outcome of my work, not just the output or process. I’m still refining this with the teams I work with but, ultimately, if we as communicators can tangibly demonstrate how we have moved the needle, our credibility and trust in what we do is strengthened.
What’s remained constant in your career, and how does this speak to the adaptability of the profession?
Nearly all professions adapt, though some more quickly than others. As communicators, we should have an innate ability to be adaptable as we need to shift our language and approach depending on who we speak to.
However, I’ve always been curious and have a love of learning. I believe it’s the drive to question and learn that allows professionals to adapt. Without curiosity, the profession itself won’t evolve.
I’ve also been lucky in my career to work across a range of sectors and industries. So while I’m not an expert in one particular industry, I can bring new communication approaches and mindsets that have worked in one sector to the next.
What do you think are the most underrated skills communicators bring to the table, especially when transitioning between sectors or roles?
To me, the most underrated skills are those that are natural and innate abilities of excellent communicators. These include:
- Empathy and Emotional Intelligence: The ability to understand and anticipate how others feel and react comes naturally to us, as it allows us to tailor messages for diverse audiences. Without empathy and emotional intelligence, you cannot build trust with internal or external stakeholders.
- Active Listening: Similarly, we have a deep, intuitive listening ability that picks up not only what is said, but how and why it’s said. This also helps to build better relationships and fosters trust.
- Clarity of Thought: Good communicators have the ability to distill complexity into simple, compelling narratives. Often a person who naturally thinks clearly is more likely to speak and write with clarity. This is particularly helpful in times of crisis.
- Judgment: Communicators should have an intuitive sense of timing, diplomacy, and risk. This enables quick, sound decisions, especially in fast-moving or sensitive situations.
- Confidence, Composure, and Integrity: A professional communicator is comfortable being the calm voice in the room, but also the voice that can ask the tough questions that critical stakeholders may ask. Combined with an innate commitment to honesty and ethics, it creates a powerful voice in the room, especially during times of uncertainty or change.
- Curiosity: As mentioned above, having a natural desire to ask questions, understand complex systems, and continuously learn are traits that put good communicators above the rest.
Some of these elements you can learn, but they are mostly developed through experience. If you are aware of these innate skills, you’ll be more likely to seek mentors who exhibit these skills or find experiences where you can hone them. What’s nice is that these skills can be transferred to any industry or sector.
Thinking about the comms professional of 2035, how do you envision the role evolving? What new skills or mindsets will be essential for success?
By 2035, the communications professional will need to be an orchestrator of trust in an increasingly fragmented and AI-driven world. Three shifts stand out:
- Data Fluency and Insight Generation: It won’t be enough to rely on instinct; the ability to interpret behavioral, digital, and reputational data will be core to strategy.
- Ethical Agility: As AI and immersive media reshape communications, professionals will be guardians of authenticity and ethical engagement.
- Portfolio Careers and Interdisciplinary Thinking: Future communicators will likely move fluidly between sectors and roles, blending skills from marketing, public affairs, behavioral science, and even product development.
The future communicator will need to be highly strategic and deeply adaptable, moving beyond message delivery to shaping outcomes in complex systems.
What advice would you give to early-career communicators who want to build a career that’s flexible and future-proof?
Beyond technical expertise, what has made my career resilient and rewarding is the strength of my relationships. Communication is, at its core, a people-first profession. If you invest in relationships with colleagues, clients, mentors, and even competitors, you’ll always have a network to lean on, collaborate with, and learn from.
Sustaining a good network is about showing up consistently, delivering value, and being known as someone who listens, cares, and follows through. The communications world is smaller than it seems, and reputation travels. Nearly all my roles and projects have been through personal connections, from my first job at Africa Practice, to Coca-Cola, and the big projects I now consult for.
Equally important is emotional intelligence: the ability to read a room, adapt your tone, manage tension, and lead with empathy. As we enter a world where AI seems omnipresent, the one thing that AI cannot replace is emotion. (At least, not yet!)
Make emotional intelligence your superpower. In my opinion, that’s done by simply being a good person. Be someone others want to work with again and again. Skills will evolve, channels will change, but people will always remember how you made them feel. That is your legacy, not how insightful or creative your latest social media post was!