Right About Now with Ryan Alford - The Million-Dollar Skill Most Professionals Are Losing: Fearless Authenticity, Communication, and Persuasion

Episode Date: May 19, 2026

Ryan Alford sits down with Jeanne Sparrow for a conversation about leadership, communication, and why authenticity is more than just “being yourself.” Jeanne shares how her media career, family storytelling roots, and work as an author and speaker shaped her view that real influence comes from spoken communication, memorable stories, and service to others. She also explains why so many teams struggle internally before they struggle externally, and why spoken confidence is becoming a bigger advantage as more people rely on text, email, and AI to do their talking for them. Ryan connects with Jeanne especially around marketing, persuasion, and what it really means to sell an idea in a way people remember. This episode is especially useful for leaders, entrepreneurs, speakers, and anyone navigating a career or identity transition. Topics Covered - Jeanne Sparrow’s path from radio and TV to speaking and authorship - Why stories stick more than lists or information - How authenticity and service work together - Why strong communication is still a competitive advantage - The gap between school performance and real-world performance - How leaders can communicate with more clarity and impact - Why AI will not replace human motivation and spoken influence Links - Jeanne Sparrow official site: jeannesparrow.com - Fearless Authenticity book page: jeannesparrow.com/book - Ryan Alford official site: ryanisright.com

The way we connect is through oral communication. As human beings, we are hardwired for stories. We are most hardwired for stories that we tell to each other. I bet if I asked you what was on your to-do list for today, just off the top of your head without looking at your phone, you could probably remember three out of the ten things that are on there because they're the most important things to you. If I asked you to tell me a story from a family gathering when you were five years old, I bet you could remember it. Why? Because you remember stories. Most business advice is wrong, built on opinions, echoed by people who've never done it. But the truth, it's simpler and harder.

You don't win by following the playbook. You win by rewriting it. 700 episodes deep with the people who actually built something real. No theory, no fluff, no shortcuts. This is right about now. Ryan Alford. What's up guys? Welcome to Write About Now. We're always giving you what is here. What is now?

We brought them on the show. We know they're right. So we want them to be right to you. I'm Ryan Offord, your host. Thank you for making us number one. It's never lost on us. That we are number one on Apple, marketing. We got the fastest growing YouTube channel. We know what's happening because we are bringing people like author and professional award-winning speaker. Gene Sparrow. What's up, Gene? Hey, Ryan. Thanks for having me on. My pleasure. I like to think of a. myself as fearless. You seem like it to me. You seem like it just from the conversations we've had and what I've

seen online of you and what you have done. Yes, sir. I would say fearless would be a very good adjective for you. And authentic too. You seem really real to me. If it's not, you're doing a damn good job of acting. I'm not a good enough actor. Just me, baby. Fearless authenticity is her latest book. Gene, what's happening today? What's new? I never thought I'd write a book. My work led me to this point where a book was the best way for me to explain how I think about things. When you commit to a book and you actually have it physically in your hand, it's a whole thing. That's where I'm living right now. You've been a media personality. You've been in the media. You're now coaching and speaking and doing all these things. What did it all start? Have you always had the media personality?

I started when I was 17. I come from a family of storytellers. My dad, he could tell the same story. And listen, it didn't even have to be true. And to this day, I don't know which one of his stories are fully true or not, but they all made sense and they all made us laugh. We would always want up each other during the holidays. And this is both sides of my family. We would gather around for the holidays and talk and whatever. So I feel like I was trained as a kid to tell stories, to amplify other people's things. Because the thing is, the best stories are not the ones that are just about you.

They're the ones about other people too. When I was in high school, I was in speech and debate. And the local radio station always liked to hire local kids because the, The nearby university had a great mass comm department. And so they were trying to keep talent in the area. They were looking for people. My speech and debate coach sent me over to the local country Western station, I might add, to go and audition for a gig.

I got it. That was my after school job. I would like get off school and then I go over to the radio station and work until it turned off. I don't know if you're old enough to remember when AM radio stations used to go off. At night, I had a whole FCC license and I turned that bad boy off. That is crazy. I've forgotten about that. That's jogging their memory brains, but I grew up with the dad and family that all listened to talk radio on A.m. and everything else.

Maybe that's where my passion came from deep down. So I remember that. The seeds are always sewn and you don't see them until you, like, hit middle age and you start to realize that you have become your parents. You do things that they do for better or worse. That's where it all started for me. And I didn't even think it was a career, to be honest, because it felt like a hobby. I can't make money doing this. It's too much fun.

From there, when I went away to college, that's how I got up to Chicago, went to Northwestern, and I was working on the radio station for fun, for free, and got an internship. And next thing you know, I have a whole career. Seven-time Emmy winner at that, right? Yeah, yeah, regional Emmys here in Chicago, because I moved from radio to TV. It was an opportunity that came up. And then you just do work, you submit it, and people like it. And you're like, what?

I got Emmys. Mine are packed away. I usually post about it, but I just moved. So I haven't put my shelves up and things like. that to have my brag wall up. But the thing about awards is that there for what you used to do, what you have already done? For me, it's always what are you going to do next? I like that. I might take that. Yeah, absolutely. You can have it, my baby. You can have it. I'll put a little JS on the end. I'll give you attribution. I'm not going to steal anybody. I love that.