Exploring Leadership, Justice, and Journalism with Jennifer Merritt

Jennifer Merritt Joins Inside Octus for a Deeply Personal Career Spotlight

This week’s episode of Inside Octus: People in Focus features Jennifer Merritt, Head of Global Editorial Strategy at Octus. Jennifer shares a powerful story of resilience, from growing up in a small Florida town and leaving home at 17, to becoming a nationally recognized journalist and newsroom leader. She talks candidly about navigating mental health challenges in her family, legal emancipation, and finding purpose through writing.

Investigative Reporting and a Life Saved on Death Row

Jennifer walks through her time at Northwestern, where she joined a groundbreaking investigative journalism class that helped exonerate a man on death row. She explains how the class unearthed evidence of police misconduct and forced confessions, and how it felt to get a call from the freed man, thanking her for saving his life. The segment highlights the skills of investigative journalism: connecting dots, asking the right questions, and uncovering the truth.

From BBC to PwC to Octus: A Career Built on Reinvention

The episode then shifts to Jennifer’s pivot from traditional media to corporate editorial strategy. She describes how her newsroom experience translated into building content and thought leadership at PwC, and how that led her to Octus. She breaks down what it means to be a “chief problem solver,” from rethinking how editorial teams scale globally to introducing AI-powered earnings coverage that increased efficiency and accuracy across the platform.

Balancing Leadership, Parenthood and Purpose

Jennifer also opens up about life outside the office. She shares how she has managed a demanding career as a single parent, the tools she has relied on for support, and how she prioritizes what matters most at work and at home. The segment closes with a tribute to her best friend, whose legacy inspired Jennifer’s philosophy of relentlessly focusing on what truly matters.

Listen to the episode

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Produced and edited by Emmy Award–winning producer Tanya Hubbard
A production of the Octus Podcast Network