May 28, 2025 • 36 mins
iHeartMedia Chicago presents the Women Inspire Chicago Podcast, hosted by iHeart Chicago’s SVP of Public Engagement, Angela Ingram and produced by iHeart Chicago’s Paulina Roe. Angela hosts inspiring conversations with some of Chicago’s top women executives. V103’s Jeanne Sparrow, an Emmy-winning television and radio personality and author, joined Angela for her 2nd Anniversary Special Edition episode.
Jeanne Sparrow is a 7-time Emmy-winning television and radio personality and podcast host with over 30 years’ experience in broadcasting and media. She now uses hat expertise as an author, award-winning speaker, trusted leadership communications consultant and graduate faculty instructor at Northwestern University. Jeanne helps people and organizations amplify their impact and find more success by delivering their unique, authentic value through visionary leadership, effective sales, and inspiring speaking. Jeanne Sparrow is everywhere! Listen to her podcast "Fearless Authenticity with Jeanne Sparrow" on iHeartRadio, hear her on the "Saturday Morning Wake Up Club" on iHeart Chicago's V103, and find her new book, Fearless Authenticity: Lead Better, Sell More and Speak Sensationally at your favorite bookseller.
Check out the Women Inspire Chicago Podcast and be inspired! The Women Inspire Chicago podcast is sponsored by @Potbelly.
Connect with Jeanne:
Facebook: msjeannesparrow
Instagram: @jmsparrow
X: @JMSparrow
LinkedIn: JeanneSparrow
TikTok: @msjeannesparrow
Email: js@jeannesparrow.com
Website: FearlessAuthenticity.com/book
Jeanne Sparrow is a 7-time Emmy-winning television and radio personality and podcast host with over 30 years’ experience in broadcasting and media. She now uses hat expertise as an author, award-winning speaker, trusted leadership communications consultant and graduate faculty instructor at Northwestern University. Jeanne helps people and organizations amplify their impact and find more success by delivering their unique, authentic value through visionary leadership, effective sales, and inspiring speaking. Jeanne Sparrow is everywhere! Listen to her podcast "Fearless Authenticity with Jeanne Sparrow" on iHeartRadio, hear her on the "Saturday Morning Wake Up Club" on iHeart Chicago's V103, and find her new book, Fearless Authenticity: Lead Better, Sell More and Speak Sensationally at your favorite bookseller.
Check out the Women Inspire Chicago Podcast and be inspired! The Women Inspire Chicago podcast is sponsored by @Potbelly.
Connect with Jeanne:
Facebook: msjeannesparrow
Instagram: @jmsparrow
X: @JMSparrow
LinkedIn: JeanneSparrow
TikTok: @msjeannesparrow
Email: js@jeannesparrow.com
Website: FearlessAuthenticity.com/book
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
iHeartMedia Chicago presents the Women Inspire Chicago podcast, hosted by
iHeart Chicago's SVP of Public Engagement, Angela Ingram, and produced
by iHeart Chicago's Paulina Rowe. Angela hosts inspiring conversations with
some of Chicago's top women executives. V one oh three
is Gene Sparrow and Emmy winning television and radio personality
and author joins Angela for her second anniversary special edition episode.
(00:23):
Gene Sparrow is a seven time Emmy winning television and
radio personality and podcast host with over thirty years experience
in broadcasting and media. She now uses that expertise as
an author, award winning speaker, trusted leadership communications consultant, and
graduate faculty instructor at Northwestern University. Gene helps people and
organizations amplify their impact and find more success by delivering
(00:46):
their unique, authentic value through visionary leaderships, effective sales, and
inspiring speaking.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Gene Sparrow is everywhere.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Listen to her podcast Fearless Authenticity with Gene Sparrow on iHeartRadio,
hear her on the Saturday Morning Wake and iHeart Chicago's
V one O three, and find her new book Fearless Authenticity,
lead better, sell more, and speak sensationally at your favorite bookseller.
Check out the Women Inspire Chicago podcast and be inspired.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
I am just I don't know what to say.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I am honored to be here because you have been
with me on a lot of the journey that's in
this book.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Jane, it's been thirty years. Yes, where did the time go?
Speaker 2 (01:28):
I don't know. I don't know, but I was once
twenty five and I remember meeting you and how the
way you carried yourself helped me on this journey.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Well, thank you. Well, you know, let me just say
this to you. So I've been in this business over
forty years and I'm wist say they are a handful
because I don't want to get into numbers because then
I'll get in trouble. Been a handful of on their
talent that I have met along my journey that if
I were closed in for twenty four hours, that I
(02:02):
could listen to twenty four sevens ah, And you were
one of those.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
I mean, I just I just listening to you on
the air is just absolutely phenomenal. And yes, you've grown
and changed over the years, but to be sitting here
with you today. I am grateful with a whole list
of accolades, so I can't let today go by without
doing my standard.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
The thing about it is this is audio, so they
can't see that, you know, Jean Sparrow has so many
Emmy awards, paulin us.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Yes, yeah, you.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Can't count them all on one hand, you know, thank you.
It's not one, it's not two, it's not three, it's
not four, it's not five, it's not six, it is seven. Yes,
you are a seven time Emmy Award winning radio and
television personality.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
And it sounds weird when I hear it, but yeah,
I mean now, three of those I won on my own.
The other four were part of groups. But they they
are still part for the work, the work that we've
done together and and everything. And you know, it's interesting
because like people ask me what they mean sometimes and
(03:15):
I other than the fact that my colleagues are the
ones that said my work was excellent, it's just it's
something that happened already. Right, It's I'm always like, what's next,
what's the next thing? And I and after I got
to a certain point, like I even stopped submitting for
Emmy's because I was just like, you know, I've been there,
(03:39):
I've done it, and that right, I've done that. And
and granted these are I think if I was ever
on a national program, then yes I would I would
submit for that because these are the region that we
belong to in Chicago, So I think I would do
it then. But I think I think that awards are
important as benchmarks for us to like realize where we've been,
(04:01):
the work that we've done, and to celebrate the work
that we've done, because I think, especially as women, we
do not celebrate our accomplishments. We just get the work
done and then we move on to the next thing.
I mean, I don't and I'm all for that moving
on to the next thing. But let's take the moment
to say, this is what I did today, and I'm
(04:23):
proud of this and have no shame about it.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
No, no shame. I wouldn't have Paulina, would you. I
wouldn't have a shame about seven mimics about anything.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Though. Listen, sometimes getting out of bed in the morning
and getting your makeup on your face is an accomplishment.
It is, and it is and pat yourself on the
back for that.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Well, you have a string of accomplishment, so why don't
you share a little bit about your background.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
So let's see. I have been in radio and or
television since I was seventeen years old. I started in
a very small market, New Iberi at Louisiana, my hometown,
and I started when I was in high school. I
was on the speech and debate team, and my speech
and debate coach knew the program director of the local
(05:08):
country western station, Wow. And it was also an easy
listening that was part of it. So this is that
nineteen hundred, y'all. It was very different formats back in
the day, but that's where I started my career, and
then I came up here to Chicago to go to school.
I always thought radio would be like a hobby because
I didn't really make any money doing it when I was,
you know, in high school. So I was like, this
(05:29):
is fun, and this is too fun to make a
living with. And then I realized that you could actually
get paid to have fun, and so I took a
break what I intended to be a gap year, but
they didn't call it that back then. I intended to
take off time because my undergrad major was psychology, and
my graduate I wanted to go to grad school and
be a therapist of all things. But can I tell
(05:50):
y'all my psych degree helped me so much work in
overnights and radio especially, But that's how I ended up,
you know, having a I don't know, twenty some year
tour before I went back to school, and then I
went back to school for something completely different. But I
think I would say, you know, I've gone from radio
to television and back and now I speak, you know,
(06:14):
to corporations and do trainings and any number of different things.
And I realized along the way when I went back
to grad school that I wanted to know what I
knew because a lot of times you just keep, like
I get stuck in the doing of things, and I
(06:35):
wanted to know what I knew, and doing that made
me realize, and being around people who weren't in our
industry made me realize that what we do is special.
Like I had taken it for granted after having been
in it for so long that I didn't realize that
what we did, like I knew what we did was
(06:56):
still fun, but I didn't realize how special it was
because people started asking me more questions when they realized
what I did, Oh I need help with this or
I need help with that. And I was like, oh,
this has values. And other people don't know what we know,
like I think we take for granted that their special
knowledge that we have about how we communicate to people
(07:19):
that other people just don't learn, right. And so even
and these were other I was in a communications master
program with other people who were in marketing and community
and they were still coming to me and asking me
questions and I was just like, oh, oh, okay, So
I would say I would say that that was a
(07:39):
turning point for me, is realizing that what I had
done actually meant something.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Wow, And you were a two time Northwestern University grant.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Yes, went to Northwestern undergrad. I came up here sight unseen,
had no idea. My mother went to music to the
music school, and that was and I wanted to get
out of Louisiana, even though as much as I love home,
it was it was, you know, I was in a
small town and I wanted to see what was out
there in the world. I'd been to New Orleans and
I was like, okay. I was like, let's see what's up.
(08:13):
And came up here and was very shocked when my
aunt Here's the thing. A lot of my mom's family
is up My mom's side of the family was up
here at that time. My Auntie saw my coat. We
had gone over for Thanksgiving to her house instead of
going all the way to Louisiana, and she literally got
on the phone with throw and she was like, Ethel,
you need to get this child a better coat. I
(08:33):
was like, this is my winter coat. She was like, no, baby,
that will not last you. She said, I'm surprising, last
did you this long? Let's get you something. And my
mother literally bought me like one of those big comforter
Parkers for my first winter here. And I was I
was like, why am I here? But Chicago is, as
Diyla would say, one of it is the everything dope
(08:56):
about America comes from Chicago, and Chicago is the opa
city in this country. I can say that. I can
say that now. I can say that now even with
the weather.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
Yeah, the weather is most interesting. And I have a
code story when I first moved here. I moved here
from North Carolina and originally from Kentucky, so we had,
you know, cold weather, but Michigan Avenue the corner of
Michigan Avenue. My first winter, I went straight to Marshall
Fields and the coach Jene I bought. I mean I
put it on in the morning before I got the door.
(09:28):
I mean I was sweating because it was so heavy.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
I mean, the weather's real.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
I remember my sister coming to visit me the first year.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
I was here.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
She said, I won't be back in December. Just know
that I love you.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
But my family was like, it doesn't warm up in
the summertime. Because it all it took was one family
member to come here from the side of my family
that doesn't live here, to come up here during the
winter and be like, we never miss visiting Gene again.
She got to come home. I was like, okay, no,
I need the excuses. But but this city has been
(09:58):
central to my development men and how I've moved forward
in life because I think, and I think it's interesting
writing a book about authenticity in a town that is
so real, like Chicago is. It doesn't have the edge
(10:19):
that New York does. New York is real but hard.
I think in a way that Chicago is not. And
that's no shame to them at all. It's just I
feel like Chicago is a perfect place to discover who
you are and figure that out and how that applies
to your life and your work.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Well, now we can add Arthur to your string of accomplishments.
Tell us about this brand new book that launched in January.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
So it's called Fearless Authenticity, Lead Better, Sell more, and
speak sensationally. And it is based on the premise that
I came up with the belief that I have that
who we are is where we find our biggest gift.
And it all starts, you know, right here at a
radio station. You know, it was a different radio station
(11:12):
at that time. WGCI was was what I was with,
the station I was on where I really started here.
And my boss, Elroy Elroy R. C. Smith, our program director,
said to me a string of words that I actually
quote in the book that I think encapsulate what fearless
Authenticity means. He was like, I don't pay you to
(11:33):
play the hits. I pay you for what you say
in between the hits, because that's the thing that's going
to keep people on the station, because they can get
this music anywhere, but they choose to get it here
because of what happens in between. And so I want,
and so he was very clear, I want you to
know that what you have to say to them, whether
(11:55):
it's about what's happening in the world, your perspective, or
about you your your life and the way that you
see things or the way that you see them, that's
the thing that is special. And I it was kind
of the first time anybody professionally told me that my
voice mattered, even though he didn't say it in those words.
(12:17):
And I don't know that I ever thought about it
that way, but I realize, oh, I do have opinions,
and they are welcome, and people want to hear them,
maybe argue with them, maybe agree with them. But what
I had to say was what was important. And mind you,
this was a time before music was as easily available
(12:38):
as it is now, right. This was a time when
you really just listen to the radio for music and
you bought it at a record store, you know, or
eventually CDs and then you know, on your iPod and
things like that, but you actually bought music at that time.
And so but I think, I think that thing is
still true for everybody, whether it's television, because like on TV,
(12:59):
the way I realize it, all of us are talking
about the same stories every morning, every afternoon, every evening newscast.
If you flip around to all the stations, everybody's talking
about the same thing. It's about the person. All of
us have people that we turn to in our personal
lives and professionally that we want to get news from that,
we want to get information from that, we want to
(13:20):
tell each other things. And I think that's the thing
that makes us different in the workplace as well. No
matter what we do for a living, is when we
decide to let whatever our experience and knowledge is shine
through in the way we do our work. That's how
we set up our reputation. That's how we get known
(13:41):
for doing certain things like I know what to turn
to Angela for, right, I know what to turn to
Echo for, and Karen for and Polina for I know
who you guys are because you let that shine through
in your work. And the people who are successful and
who stay that's the other thing. Staying power and our
business is not guaranteed. Even the most talented of us
(14:05):
don't always last, right, But in any industry, I think
that can be true. And I think the people that
end up having a more durable career are the ones
who infuse themselves into their work, because that's what makes
it special. It puts that extra little pixie dust on
top of it that makes people go, oh yeah, okay,
(14:26):
and people notice that. And that's what fearless authenticity is about.
The problem is with it is that the world often
tells us, especially as women, that who we are is
not enough that and we are we believe that to
be true because sometimes it's not what the world is
telling us, but we think that's what it is, and
so we try to change ourselves to fit something. And
you know, if you're trying to be somebody else, you
(14:47):
will always be a poor imitation of something else instead
of being the excellent version of who you are.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
And it's about presentation. It's how you present yourself. That's
how someone's going to receive you. M If you present
your people, know what, Angela, what you see is what
you get, right. I mean, I'm as authentic as they come,
probably too much.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
I think you get more permission to do that as
you progress as well.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
Yeah, but the key is it's all in the presentation.
And I think that's what do you think, Paulina, I.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Definitely agree with that. I have always been a believer.
I'm not gonna lie of the fake it till you
make it thing.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Now.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
I love it, but I also hate it because I'm,
like you said, if I'm not being authentically myself, right,
I feel like a people can see right through it.
But b I feel like that I'm really not living
kind of what I'm setting up myself to live for, right, Like, Oh,
I want to do this in my life where I
want to, you know, be on the radio and exactly
what I want it to be. But I always knew
(15:44):
when I come here and I get on this mic,
like I'm going to say what Pauline's gonna say. I
don't care what if you hate it, you love it, whatever,
take it, take it or leave it essentially right or
take what do they say, take it with a grain
of salt.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Yep. One thing I will say about fake it until
you make it, even though I'm not a fan of
that concept. In practice though, I think the way that
people apply it actually can be authentic, okay, right, because
if you start to think about what you want to be.
(16:16):
Because this is one of the things I do with
my students at Northwestern, I say to them because many
of them I'm getting like in their first jobs, maybe
right out of college, you know, looking in their first internship,
trying to figure out how they're going to make a mark.
I tell them, what do you want to be? What
do you want to do? How do you want to
(16:37):
use these talents you have? Because you could apply them
in any number of ways. I was like, then you
have to start acting like that now, Like when people start,
you know, and I start talking about manifestation and things
like that, right, a lot of people think it's all
woo woo or whatever and don't realize that you do
that every day of your life. Like the words you
speak create your reality. So if they it till you're
(17:00):
making it is in your definition saying this is who
I want to be. Yeah, and this is what I'm
shooting for and this is how I'm going to use
my talents to be this person. But I'm not there yet.
That's one of the most authentic things you can do,
because you are guiding your path toward a particular thing.
And I don't think that's fake. I actually think that
is aspirational. That is taking your talents and pouring them
(17:24):
into something. And I don't know that enough people realize
how much power that sort of visioning has because we
all do it. And when you see people who fall short,
who talk down to themselves and that sort of thing,
and I don't want to say it's their fault because
they don't know any better. But once you know better,
(17:46):
you do better. So be very careful about the words
you speak over your own life and on each other.
That's all. That's all I have to say.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
And Paulina, I mean we've watched her girl, Yeah, I mean,
Paulina is now heard on the one oh three five
Kiss morning show and she is also the producer of
the Women in spar Chicago podcast. But I have watched
her girl. She spent some time in my chair. Oh
time in my chair. So yeah, Jeane's right, So you'll
come up with another phrase other than fake it till
(18:17):
you make.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
It, maybe, right? I mean?
Speaker 1 (18:19):
But the thing is, like you said, like, I think
you can maybe spend that too positive, right, spend it
in a positive way. I'm that say, I'm gonna walk
in here and you know, dress like a cowboy tomorrow
because it's not who I am?
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Right, Why is she wearing that? Right? Hold on?
Speaker 1 (18:31):
What are we doing well? Beyonce's concerts this weekend. So
maybe she's going to the Beyonce concert is what people
might think. But I just feel like that's a great
way to look at it because I'm a big manifesting
Like I love the idea of manifesting the concept of it.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Right.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
I'm very spiritual in that way, and I've always said
like everything that I've spoken into existence has happened. So
I'm very guilty though, of being very self deprecating.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
And you mentioned it.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Watch how you talk about others or about yourself, right,
And I'm so good at just you know, calling myself
a name because I forgot to do something or whatever.
And I have a daughter now who's one, and I'm like,
I need to stop because she will see that. And
I don't want this, you know, these habits that I've
created for myself of speaking down on myself, I don't
want them to be you know, instilled in her at all.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Yeah, So I'm.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Really trying my best, so I'm doing it for me
and for her.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Melissa and I had that cut. Melissa Foreman and I
had that conversation because you know, we worked together on
a TV show for a long time and she talked
about you know, how how important it is to pour
these things into your girls. And I remember one morning
and we all beat ourselves up from one time to another,
and when you sit next to somebody on a couch
at six o'clock in the morning, you get to know
(19:38):
each other pretty well. I remember what and the thing
that was beautiful about working with another woman in that situation,
especially in an industry that can beat us up. You know,
it's like, if I'm having a bad day, then she's
not having you know, she's the chances are she's having
a good day and can lift me up, and vice versa.
And I remember one day she was having a hard
day and she was saying something that was like, Okay,
(20:00):
I'm gonna stop you right there. I said, Missy, if
I said that to you, would you think I was
a good friend. And she looked at me. She had
tears in her eyes. She was like, Okay, Jeene's barareh Okay,
I'm gonna pull it together. She was like, you're right,
And that's what I think we need to do for
ourselves and for each other, because we are going to
have those times. We are going to have those times
(20:20):
where we you know, just pour the all the negativity
that we judge ourselves with, because I have a theory
that we judge ourselves far harsher than anybody else ever would.
So when I tell people, give your self feedback, give
yourself the best feedback you can, the most helpful feedback.
(20:41):
Be honest, but don't don't focus on putting yourself down,
or judging yourself or assuming taking it too far and
assuming the worst of yourself. Because you made this mistake,
think more about how you can correct it and what
you can learn from it. But because every bad thing
(21:01):
is an opportunity, every single one, and nothing, nothing that
happens to you happens to hurt you, It happens to
help you, even the bad. Like even the worst things
that have happened to me in my life, the firings,
the this, the that, all you know, losing my parents,
(21:22):
going through those things, all of those things have have
made me the person I am now. So I can't.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
They all work together for good. Exactly, all work together for.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Good, and it's all a building block.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
As I listen to you, I can't imagine the students
because you also have time to be a faculty in
stuctor Northwestern ere.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Yeah, I just teach one quarter out of the year
and the program that I went to, and I love
it because and I especially love it now because I'm
teaching even though I love teaching adult learners old, you know,
mid career adult learners, teaching young people and trying to
help them set a foundation. Now it makes me feel
(22:01):
so good about my work because they have a chance
to do it better than I did. They have a
chance to go farther than I did, you know what
I mean, because they're learning things that that I learned
later in life. And we all have stuff we're gonna
learn later in life that we go. I wish I
would have known that sooner, but exactly we were.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
Not supposed to. So why was it so important for
you to share and you share deeply in that I
about your life? Why at this stage was it.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
So important girl? Midlife? And I was a trying to
figure those things out for myself anyway, you know, when
you lose parents, especially when you've been a caregiver. You know,
my father had dementia and I cared for him for
many years, and going through that changes you and you
get to know yourself very differently. As I'm sure you have,
(22:56):
you know, being a new mom. Yeah, you get to
know yourself in a very different way. And caring for
your parents is it's a great responsibility in addition to
a gift, but it also makes you examine yourself. And
so I, you know, went to therapy during that time
and because I needed that support. And I actually never
(23:20):
intended to write a book. I just wanted to figure
things out for myself. And I had a business coach
at the time who when I started explaining to her,
you know, the challenges I was having building my business,
she said, oh, she was like, you need to write
a book because and I was like, I'm not that interesting.
But she told me the same words I had already
said to her, like everybody's story. Everybody has a story,
(23:43):
and everybody's story is interesting. And she was like, you've
built this whole system of helping people to get you know,
able to do similar things to what you do. She
was like, that's a book, Jeane, And I was like, oh, okay,
And then the book became I am part of like
all of the things I have been through in therapy,
(24:04):
do you know what I mean? And I think it
was important for me because so much of my work
is fhemeral, like when you get on the air. Even
though you can pull recordings because we record these things.
Even though you have podcasts and you have stuff that
you've taped, it's not a document. And I was like, Okay,
(24:26):
I think I'm ready to commit to writing what I
know onto paper and seeing what it is and the
fact that I got two hundred pages on it is amazing.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
Well, you have three mantras that you talk about, be brave,
being free, and be you. What's the thought behind?
Speaker 2 (24:46):
So it to me is what it takes to be
fearlessly authentic Because being authentic and being yourself is not
as easy as it sounds. It takes courage. You have
to be brave. You have to be able to say
in the face of a world that tells you or
seems to be telling you, that you're not enough. You
have to be able to say, you know what, no
(25:07):
I am, and I'm gonna stand right here as the
kids say, I'm a stand on business and I'm a
stand right here and stand in it. Right. You have
to be brave enough to look at yourself to see
where you need to grow, what your kind of core
gifts are, how your experiences have made them better and
(25:28):
or take detracted from them. How can you take away
some of the negative effects of your life to bring
it into a positive and be able to let that blossom.
That's the brave part. Be free is opening your mind
enough up to the possibilities of what can be and
freeing yourself from other people's judgment, from other people's opinions,
(25:52):
because even though those things do impact us, they shouldn't
be ruling us. Like it's you and whatever you believe
divinely is or not Like I feel like every type
of belief system could work with this right, but you
have to. You have to kind of free your mind
(26:12):
from societal constraints and then be you, the most simple
but most difficult thing to do. You know, simple isn't
always easy, but being you is the gift that you
have to offer to the world. Are you know? Are
you brave enough and free enough to be you? Is
the is the question. So if you can remember those
three things, being brave, freeing yourself, and then being you,
(26:37):
then you will be fearless and authentic.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
Wow, and you also talk about the foundation of success.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
I have a theory I love things in threes because
that's how I read. That's how I remember things. Angela
looked and you know and truth be told. That's how
most people remember things. If you can give people three
or five things, nobody remembers two or four things. They
remember three or five. And I also think seven like that,
Uh Stephen Covey the seven habits of highly successful people
(27:05):
Like I. There's something about prime numbers. But three is
my favorite thing because I'm like a two and three.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
But live it, tell it, and sell it. It's how
I look at communication because I think there are three
parts to any kind of communication, And to me, that
applies to everything you want to do, whether that is
planning an event, whether that is making something you know
happen at work, planning out a project, what have you?
You have you and the way that you affect other people.
That's the livid lived is about you, how you see
(27:35):
yourself and how you realistically affect people when you are
delivering information, instructions or whatever, and being aware of that
and using that in your everyday uh. Communications. Then tell
it is about the stories of life because stories a
wire connect us. The way we tell stories about our
(27:56):
work about our lives are the are the connective tissue
between us is here and beings and then sell it
is because we're always selling something or we should be right.
Whether it's an idea, what we're going to have for
dinner or some big project you want to do. At work,
you are always selling something. So sell it is about
the people that you talk to. Who are they, why
(28:17):
do they care or why should they care about what
you're talking about? And how can you serve that service?
Is a big part of how I see our work
as communicators, but also in whatever work we do, because
to get that work done, we do have to talk
about it, we have to plan it out, we have
to make it happen. Most of the breakdowns I see
when people bring me into companies are around communication. They
(28:41):
may call it something different, but at the end of
the day and most of the time when people bring
me in is because of an external communication issue. When
I get in there, there's always an intern internal problem
that they haven't addressed, whether that's passing on information that's
living in the heads of their most long term employees,
that institutional knowledge that somehow hasn't gotten communicated to the
(29:04):
younger people or the new people who are newer to
the company, or maybe it's a team isn't working well together,
or the teams have been reorganized. Is always internal. It
is always internal. It's always about communication. So when you
start thinking about the people you're talking to and tailoring
your story the tell it piece through you as the
conduit of the message, then you are hitting all the
(29:26):
parts of what makes communication whole. And when you approach
to and the reason why I call it foundations for success,
is when you approach everything you do with the aspect
of service, of connecting, and of understanding how you impact it,
then you've hit all of the things that the biggest
things that can go wrong.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
This book the core foundation from page one yes to
page two hundred. It's faith based.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
It is it is because I was raised. I didn't
realize it until it was already written. And one of
my more biblically sound friends was like she was literally
quoting scripture to me of different pieces. But it was
how I was raised my parents. That's who my parents were,
(30:15):
you know, I went. I don't go to church as
much as I should now, but I am a faithful person.
I've I do what I know to be right for me,
and that's how I was raised. So yet. But but
it's also not just about faith in a spiritual or
(30:35):
religious sense. It's also about faith in yourself and faith
that you were you know, fearfully made and wonderfully made,
and trusting that you are here to do something. I
think a lot of us, especially at middle age, you're
not quite there yet. No, not yet, but but you
will be if you look God, God willing, and you
(30:59):
wonder what was all this about? And I think because
I have several friends who are like who get to
like fifty and go, why am I here?
Speaker 3 (31:08):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (31:08):
What was all this for? And I think we have
to trust that we're here for something and trust that
we were made to do it. And if we do that,
then our purpose will find us. And we have to
trust that. That's what faith is all about.
Speaker 3 (31:24):
You know. It's interesting because I had planned for you
to read the first paragraph of chapter ten in the book,
on page one eighty seven, if you have a hard book,
but you just explained it, you just said it, so
I don't have to go.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
We don't have to read it.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
I mean, as she's talking, I'm like this girl.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
Listen, I couldn't even remember what was on that page.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
But this, no, that's what's on this page? Who or
what inspires you?
Speaker 2 (31:47):
Oh girl? So many things. First and foremost my parents,
because my parents chose me. Like one of the central
features of the book, I talk about me being adopted
as sort of how I look at my path to authenticity.
And you know, looking back on what my parents did,
(32:09):
especially at the time that they did it, they were
extraordinary human beings in a way that I didn't understand
for the choices that they made. They also taught me
most of the stuff that's in that book, at least
the foundational things. But I would say that outside of
(32:30):
my parents, the people that I look up to, the
people who inspire me are the people who shine their light.
It's always the people Melissa Foreman, like, you know, like
that girl brings her weather everywhere she goes, like it
doesn't matter, like she was, like, you can decide to
be sunshine to rain, she will do it. All of
(32:51):
my soars that I went to school with too many
to name who are supportive and choose to serve, people
like you, Angela, who have been mentors to me, whether
or not it was intentional, whether or not it was
(33:11):
you know, because I don't ever remember asking anybody to
be my mentor, but it happened. You know, people like
Lanna Thompson. Uh. And then there are people that you know,
I admire on a on a larger scale, Maya Angelou,
my goodness, the wisdom of that woman and and the
beauty of the way she expresses it. They're authors that
(33:36):
I love. But you know what, when it comes down
to is when people have a light, they know that
they have that light and they let it shine no
matter what. They are brave, they are free, they are themselves,
they are fearless, they're authentic. Those are the people that
I have always gravitated to, that have always and they
also when you surround yourself with people like that, they
(33:58):
also keep you honest with yourself to be able to
do that for yourself too. Oh Gene, oh Angela.
Speaker 3 (34:07):
Thank you so much. So how can people connect with you?
Where can they find this book?
Speaker 2 (34:11):
They can find this book at on all of the
places where you buy your books. I also was able
to do the audiobook, which I'm so excited about, so
you can find it on all the audiobook platforms, and
you know, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, all of those. I
do have it all collected for you at Fearless Authenticity
dot com slash book. You can also find me on
social media at JM Sparrow or at Miss Gene Sparrow.
(34:35):
But all of that is on that page too, so
I welcome everybody to read it. I hope you find
it helpful and I hope it helps you dig deep
and also move forward.
Speaker 3 (34:46):
And you have a podcast too.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
I do Fearless Authenticity with Gene Sparrow, which is on
pause for right now because the book has overtaken everything.
I actually started the podcast to prove to myself that
Fearless Authenticity was true because I people from all different
walks of life, and it has been consistent when I
ask those questions, so a lot of the things that
you hear. I have three seasons of podcasts that you
(35:11):
can listen to that are also interviews that are in
the book, and the next season I do will be
organizing the podcast around the book, so it's a companion pieces.
There will be a season that's a companion piece to
the book, so that should be coming out either in
the fall or at the beginning of twenty six.
Speaker 3 (35:30):
Well, Jeane, thank you so much for joining us.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 3 (35:33):
Angela honored that you said yes.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
I'm honored that you asked. Like my aur Heart family
and my radio family means so much to me because
this is where I started, this is where I've grown,
and you've been witnessed to the whole trip.
Speaker 3 (35:47):
Well, it's been beautiful to sit on the sidelines, dear,
thank you and watch you grow. I mean, just it's
just a blessing, it really is. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
You have.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
You have led a blessed life. You've been really reflective
of our Lord, and thanks you, blessing.
Speaker 2 (36:04):
Thank you. My mother would be so happy, Like when
I hear people say that, I know that I've done,
my mama prout, Yes you have. Thank you, Gene, Thank you, Agela.
Speaker 1 (36:12):
Thanks for listening to the Women Inspire Chicago podcast hosted
by Angela Ingram, produced by Paulina Rowe, presented by iHeartMedia Chicago,
and sponsored by pot Belly. Feed your group from small
to larch with pot Belly Catering.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
Pot Belly, you Gotta get It Hot.
iHeartMedia Chicago presents the Women Inspire Chicago podcast, hosted by
iHeart Chicago's SVP of Public Engagement, Angela Ingram, and produced
by iHeart Chicago's Paulina Rowe. Angela hosts inspiring conversations with
some of Chicago's top women executives. V one oh three
is Gene Sparrow and Emmy winning television and radio personality
and author joins Angela for her second anniversary special edition episode.
(00:23):
Gene Sparrow is a seven time Emmy winning television and
radio personality and podcast host with over thirty years experience
in broadcasting and media. She now uses that expertise as
an author, award winning speaker, trusted leadership communications consultant, and
graduate faculty instructor at Northwestern University. Gene helps people and
organizations amplify their impact and find more success by delivering
(00:46):
their unique, authentic value through visionary leaderships, effective sales, and
inspiring speaking.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Gene Sparrow is everywhere.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Listen to her podcast Fearless Authenticity with Gene Sparrow on iHeartRadio,
hear her on the Saturday Morning Wake and iHeart Chicago's
V one O three, and find her new book Fearless Authenticity,
lead better, sell more, and speak sensationally at your favorite bookseller.
Check out the Women Inspire Chicago podcast and be inspired.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
I am just I don't know what to say.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I am honored to be here because you have been
with me on a lot of the journey that's in
this book.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Jane, it's been thirty years. Yes, where did the time go?
Speaker 2 (01:28):
I don't know. I don't know, but I was once
twenty five and I remember meeting you and how the
way you carried yourself helped me on this journey.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Well, thank you. Well, you know, let me just say
this to you. So I've been in this business over
forty years and I'm wist say they are a handful
because I don't want to get into numbers because then
I'll get in trouble. Been a handful of on their
talent that I have met along my journey that if
I were closed in for twenty four hours, that I
(02:02):
could listen to twenty four sevens ah, And you were
one of those.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
I mean, I just I just listening to you on
the air is just absolutely phenomenal. And yes, you've grown
and changed over the years, but to be sitting here
with you today. I am grateful with a whole list
of accolades, so I can't let today go by without
doing my standard.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
The thing about it is this is audio, so they
can't see that, you know, Jean Sparrow has so many
Emmy awards, paulin us.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Yes, yeah, you.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Can't count them all on one hand, you know, thank you.
It's not one, it's not two, it's not three, it's
not four, it's not five, it's not six, it is seven. Yes,
you are a seven time Emmy Award winning radio and
television personality.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
And it sounds weird when I hear it, but yeah,
I mean now, three of those I won on my own.
The other four were part of groups. But they they
are still part for the work, the work that we've
done together and and everything. And you know, it's interesting
because like people ask me what they mean sometimes and
(03:15):
I other than the fact that my colleagues are the
ones that said my work was excellent, it's just it's
something that happened already. Right, It's I'm always like, what's next,
what's the next thing? And I and after I got
to a certain point, like I even stopped submitting for
Emmy's because I was just like, you know, I've been there,
(03:39):
I've done it, and that right, I've done that. And
and granted these are I think if I was ever
on a national program, then yes I would I would
submit for that because these are the region that we
belong to in Chicago, So I think I would do
it then. But I think I think that awards are
important as benchmarks for us to like realize where we've been,
(04:01):
the work that we've done, and to celebrate the work
that we've done, because I think, especially as women, we
do not celebrate our accomplishments. We just get the work
done and then we move on to the next thing.
I mean, I don't and I'm all for that moving
on to the next thing. But let's take the moment
to say, this is what I did today, and I'm
(04:23):
proud of this and have no shame about it.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
No, no shame. I wouldn't have Paulina, would you. I
wouldn't have a shame about seven mimics about anything.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Though. Listen, sometimes getting out of bed in the morning
and getting your makeup on your face is an accomplishment.
It is, and it is and pat yourself on the
back for that.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Well, you have a string of accomplishment, so why don't
you share a little bit about your background.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
So let's see. I have been in radio and or
television since I was seventeen years old. I started in
a very small market, New Iberi at Louisiana, my hometown,
and I started when I was in high school. I
was on the speech and debate team, and my speech
and debate coach knew the program director of the local
(05:08):
country western station, Wow. And it was also an easy
listening that was part of it. So this is that
nineteen hundred, y'all. It was very different formats back in
the day, but that's where I started my career, and
then I came up here to Chicago to go to school.
I always thought radio would be like a hobby because
I didn't really make any money doing it when I was,
you know, in high school. So I was like, this
(05:29):
is fun, and this is too fun to make a
living with. And then I realized that you could actually
get paid to have fun, and so I took a
break what I intended to be a gap year, but
they didn't call it that back then. I intended to
take off time because my undergrad major was psychology, and
my graduate I wanted to go to grad school and
be a therapist of all things. But can I tell
(05:50):
y'all my psych degree helped me so much work in
overnights and radio especially, But that's how I ended up,
you know, having a I don't know, twenty some year
tour before I went back to school, and then I
went back to school for something completely different. But I
think I would say, you know, I've gone from radio
to television and back and now I speak, you know,
(06:14):
to corporations and do trainings and any number of different things.
And I realized along the way when I went back
to grad school that I wanted to know what I
knew because a lot of times you just keep, like
I get stuck in the doing of things, and I
(06:35):
wanted to know what I knew, and doing that made
me realize, and being around people who weren't in our
industry made me realize that what we do is special.
Like I had taken it for granted after having been
in it for so long that I didn't realize that
what we did, like I knew what we did was
(06:56):
still fun, but I didn't realize how special it was
because people started asking me more questions when they realized
what I did, Oh I need help with this or
I need help with that. And I was like, oh,
this has values. And other people don't know what we know,
like I think we take for granted that their special
knowledge that we have about how we communicate to people
(07:19):
that other people just don't learn, right. And so even
and these were other I was in a communications master
program with other people who were in marketing and community
and they were still coming to me and asking me
questions and I was just like, oh, oh, okay, So
I would say I would say that that was a
(07:39):
turning point for me, is realizing that what I had
done actually meant something.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Wow, And you were a two time Northwestern University grant.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Yes, went to Northwestern undergrad. I came up here sight unseen,
had no idea. My mother went to music to the
music school, and that was and I wanted to get
out of Louisiana, even though as much as I love home,
it was it was, you know, I was in a
small town and I wanted to see what was out
there in the world. I'd been to New Orleans and
I was like, okay. I was like, let's see what's up.
(08:13):
And came up here and was very shocked when my
aunt Here's the thing. A lot of my mom's family
is up My mom's side of the family was up
here at that time. My Auntie saw my coat. We
had gone over for Thanksgiving to her house instead of
going all the way to Louisiana, and she literally got
on the phone with throw and she was like, Ethel,
you need to get this child a better coat. I
(08:33):
was like, this is my winter coat. She was like, no, baby,
that will not last you. She said, I'm surprising, last
did you this long? Let's get you something. And my
mother literally bought me like one of those big comforter
Parkers for my first winter here. And I was I
was like, why am I here? But Chicago is, as
Diyla would say, one of it is the everything dope
(08:56):
about America comes from Chicago, and Chicago is the opa
city in this country. I can say that. I can
say that now. I can say that now even with
the weather.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
Yeah, the weather is most interesting. And I have a
code story when I first moved here. I moved here
from North Carolina and originally from Kentucky, so we had,
you know, cold weather, but Michigan Avenue the corner of
Michigan Avenue. My first winter, I went straight to Marshall
Fields and the coach Jene I bought. I mean I
put it on in the morning before I got the door.
(09:28):
I mean I was sweating because it was so heavy.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
I mean, the weather's real.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
I remember my sister coming to visit me the first year.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
I was here.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
She said, I won't be back in December. Just know
that I love you.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
But my family was like, it doesn't warm up in
the summertime. Because it all it took was one family
member to come here from the side of my family
that doesn't live here, to come up here during the
winter and be like, we never miss visiting Gene again.
She got to come home. I was like, okay, no,
I need the excuses. But but this city has been
(09:58):
central to my development men and how I've moved forward
in life because I think, and I think it's interesting
writing a book about authenticity in a town that is
so real, like Chicago is. It doesn't have the edge
(10:19):
that New York does. New York is real but hard.
I think in a way that Chicago is not. And
that's no shame to them at all. It's just I
feel like Chicago is a perfect place to discover who
you are and figure that out and how that applies
to your life and your work.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Well, now we can add Arthur to your string of accomplishments.
Tell us about this brand new book that launched in January.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
So it's called Fearless Authenticity, Lead Better, Sell more, and
speak sensationally. And it is based on the premise that
I came up with the belief that I have that
who we are is where we find our biggest gift.
And it all starts, you know, right here at a
radio station. You know, it was a different radio station
(11:12):
at that time. WGCI was was what I was with,
the station I was on where I really started here.
And my boss, Elroy Elroy R. C. Smith, our program director,
said to me a string of words that I actually
quote in the book that I think encapsulate what fearless
Authenticity means. He was like, I don't pay you to
(11:33):
play the hits. I pay you for what you say
in between the hits, because that's the thing that's going
to keep people on the station, because they can get
this music anywhere, but they choose to get it here
because of what happens in between. And so I want,
and so he was very clear, I want you to
know that what you have to say to them, whether
(11:55):
it's about what's happening in the world, your perspective, or
about you your your life and the way that you
see things or the way that you see them, that's
the thing that is special. And I it was kind
of the first time anybody professionally told me that my
voice mattered, even though he didn't say it in those words.
(12:17):
And I don't know that I ever thought about it
that way, but I realize, oh, I do have opinions,
and they are welcome, and people want to hear them,
maybe argue with them, maybe agree with them. But what
I had to say was what was important. And mind you,
this was a time before music was as easily available
(12:38):
as it is now, right. This was a time when
you really just listen to the radio for music and
you bought it at a record store, you know, or
eventually CDs and then you know, on your iPod and
things like that, but you actually bought music at that time.
And so but I think, I think that thing is
still true for everybody, whether it's television, because like on TV,
(12:59):
the way I realize it, all of us are talking
about the same stories every morning, every afternoon, every evening newscast.
If you flip around to all the stations, everybody's talking
about the same thing. It's about the person. All of
us have people that we turn to in our personal
lives and professionally that we want to get news from that,
we want to get information from that, we want to
(13:20):
tell each other things. And I think that's the thing
that makes us different in the workplace as well. No
matter what we do for a living, is when we
decide to let whatever our experience and knowledge is shine
through in the way we do our work. That's how
we set up our reputation. That's how we get known
(13:41):
for doing certain things like I know what to turn
to Angela for, right, I know what to turn to
Echo for, and Karen for and Polina for I know
who you guys are because you let that shine through
in your work. And the people who are successful and
who stay that's the other thing. Staying power and our
business is not guaranteed. Even the most talented of us
(14:05):
don't always last, right, But in any industry, I think
that can be true. And I think the people that
end up having a more durable career are the ones
who infuse themselves into their work, because that's what makes
it special. It puts that extra little pixie dust on
top of it that makes people go, oh yeah, okay,
(14:26):
and people notice that. And that's what fearless authenticity is about.
The problem is with it is that the world often
tells us, especially as women, that who we are is
not enough that and we are we believe that to
be true because sometimes it's not what the world is
telling us, but we think that's what it is, and
so we try to change ourselves to fit something. And
you know, if you're trying to be somebody else, you
(14:47):
will always be a poor imitation of something else instead
of being the excellent version of who you are.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
And it's about presentation. It's how you present yourself. That's
how someone's going to receive you. M If you present
your people, know what, Angela, what you see is what
you get, right. I mean, I'm as authentic as they come,
probably too much.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
I think you get more permission to do that as
you progress as well.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
Yeah, but the key is it's all in the presentation.
And I think that's what do you think, Paulina, I.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Definitely agree with that. I have always been a believer.
I'm not gonna lie of the fake it till you
make it thing.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Now.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
I love it, but I also hate it because I'm,
like you said, if I'm not being authentically myself, right,
I feel like a people can see right through it.
But b I feel like that I'm really not living
kind of what I'm setting up myself to live for, right, Like, Oh,
I want to do this in my life where I
want to, you know, be on the radio and exactly
what I want it to be. But I always knew
(15:44):
when I come here and I get on this mic,
like I'm going to say what Pauline's gonna say. I
don't care what if you hate it, you love it, whatever,
take it, take it or leave it essentially right or
take what do they say, take it with a grain
of salt.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Yep. One thing I will say about fake it until
you make it, even though I'm not a fan of
that concept. In practice though, I think the way that
people apply it actually can be authentic, okay, right, because
if you start to think about what you want to be.
(16:16):
Because this is one of the things I do with
my students at Northwestern, I say to them because many
of them I'm getting like in their first jobs, maybe
right out of college, you know, looking in their first internship,
trying to figure out how they're going to make a mark.
I tell them, what do you want to be? What
do you want to do? How do you want to
(16:37):
use these talents you have? Because you could apply them
in any number of ways. I was like, then you
have to start acting like that now, Like when people start,
you know, and I start talking about manifestation and things
like that, right, a lot of people think it's all
woo woo or whatever and don't realize that you do
that every day of your life. Like the words you
speak create your reality. So if they it till you're
(17:00):
making it is in your definition saying this is who
I want to be. Yeah, and this is what I'm
shooting for and this is how I'm going to use
my talents to be this person. But I'm not there yet.
That's one of the most authentic things you can do,
because you are guiding your path toward a particular thing.
And I don't think that's fake. I actually think that
is aspirational. That is taking your talents and pouring them
(17:24):
into something. And I don't know that enough people realize
how much power that sort of visioning has because we
all do it. And when you see people who fall short,
who talk down to themselves and that sort of thing,
and I don't want to say it's their fault because
they don't know any better. But once you know better,
(17:46):
you do better. So be very careful about the words
you speak over your own life and on each other.
That's all. That's all I have to say.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
And Paulina, I mean we've watched her girl, Yeah, I mean,
Paulina is now heard on the one oh three five
Kiss morning show and she is also the producer of
the Women in spar Chicago podcast. But I have watched
her girl. She spent some time in my chair. Oh
time in my chair. So yeah, Jeane's right, So you'll
come up with another phrase other than fake it till
(18:17):
you make.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
It, maybe, right? I mean?
Speaker 1 (18:19):
But the thing is, like you said, like, I think
you can maybe spend that too positive, right, spend it
in a positive way. I'm that say, I'm gonna walk
in here and you know, dress like a cowboy tomorrow
because it's not who I am?
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Right, Why is she wearing that? Right? Hold on?
Speaker 1 (18:31):
What are we doing well? Beyonce's concerts this weekend. So
maybe she's going to the Beyonce concert is what people
might think. But I just feel like that's a great
way to look at it because I'm a big manifesting
Like I love the idea of manifesting the concept of it.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Right.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
I'm very spiritual in that way, and I've always said
like everything that I've spoken into existence has happened. So
I'm very guilty though, of being very self deprecating.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
And you mentioned it.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Watch how you talk about others or about yourself, right,
And I'm so good at just you know, calling myself
a name because I forgot to do something or whatever.
And I have a daughter now who's one, and I'm like,
I need to stop because she will see that. And
I don't want this, you know, these habits that I've
created for myself of speaking down on myself, I don't
want them to be you know, instilled in her at all.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Yeah, So I'm.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Really trying my best, so I'm doing it for me
and for her.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Melissa and I had that cut. Melissa Foreman and I
had that conversation because you know, we worked together on
a TV show for a long time and she talked
about you know, how how important it is to pour
these things into your girls. And I remember one morning
and we all beat ourselves up from one time to another,
and when you sit next to somebody on a couch
at six o'clock in the morning, you get to know
(19:38):
each other pretty well. I remember what and the thing
that was beautiful about working with another woman in that situation,
especially in an industry that can beat us up. You know,
it's like, if I'm having a bad day, then she's
not having you know, she's the chances are she's having
a good day and can lift me up, and vice versa.
And I remember one day she was having a hard
day and she was saying something that was like, Okay,
(20:00):
I'm gonna stop you right there. I said, Missy, if
I said that to you, would you think I was
a good friend. And she looked at me. She had
tears in her eyes. She was like, Okay, Jeene's barareh Okay,
I'm gonna pull it together. She was like, you're right,
And that's what I think we need to do for
ourselves and for each other, because we are going to
have those times. We are going to have those times
(20:20):
where we you know, just pour the all the negativity
that we judge ourselves with, because I have a theory
that we judge ourselves far harsher than anybody else ever would.
So when I tell people, give your self feedback, give
yourself the best feedback you can, the most helpful feedback.
(20:41):
Be honest, but don't don't focus on putting yourself down,
or judging yourself or assuming taking it too far and
assuming the worst of yourself. Because you made this mistake,
think more about how you can correct it and what
you can learn from it. But because every bad thing
(21:01):
is an opportunity, every single one, and nothing, nothing that
happens to you happens to hurt you, It happens to
help you, even the bad. Like even the worst things
that have happened to me in my life, the firings,
the this, the that, all you know, losing my parents,
(21:22):
going through those things, all of those things have have
made me the person I am now. So I can't.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
They all work together for good. Exactly, all work together for.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Good, and it's all a building block.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
As I listen to you, I can't imagine the students
because you also have time to be a faculty in
stuctor Northwestern ere.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Yeah, I just teach one quarter out of the year
and the program that I went to, and I love
it because and I especially love it now because I'm
teaching even though I love teaching adult learners old, you know,
mid career adult learners, teaching young people and trying to
help them set a foundation. Now it makes me feel
(22:01):
so good about my work because they have a chance
to do it better than I did. They have a
chance to go farther than I did, you know what
I mean, because they're learning things that that I learned
later in life. And we all have stuff we're gonna
learn later in life that we go. I wish I
would have known that sooner, but exactly we were.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
Not supposed to. So why was it so important for
you to share and you share deeply in that I
about your life? Why at this stage was it.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
So important girl? Midlife? And I was a trying to
figure those things out for myself anyway, you know, when
you lose parents, especially when you've been a caregiver. You know,
my father had dementia and I cared for him for
many years, and going through that changes you and you
get to know yourself very differently. As I'm sure you have,
(22:56):
you know, being a new mom. Yeah, you get to
know yourself in a very different way. And caring for
your parents is it's a great responsibility in addition to
a gift, but it also makes you examine yourself. And
so I, you know, went to therapy during that time
and because I needed that support. And I actually never
(23:20):
intended to write a book. I just wanted to figure
things out for myself. And I had a business coach
at the time who when I started explaining to her,
you know, the challenges I was having building my business,
she said, oh, she was like, you need to write
a book because and I was like, I'm not that interesting.
But she told me the same words I had already
said to her, like everybody's story. Everybody has a story,
(23:43):
and everybody's story is interesting. And she was like, you've
built this whole system of helping people to get you know,
able to do similar things to what you do. She
was like, that's a book, Jeane, And I was like, oh, okay,
And then the book became I am part of like
all of the things I have been through in therapy,
(24:04):
do you know what I mean? And I think it
was important for me because so much of my work
is fhemeral, like when you get on the air. Even
though you can pull recordings because we record these things.
Even though you have podcasts and you have stuff that
you've taped, it's not a document. And I was like, Okay,
(24:26):
I think I'm ready to commit to writing what I
know onto paper and seeing what it is and the
fact that I got two hundred pages on it is amazing.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
Well, you have three mantras that you talk about, be brave,
being free, and be you. What's the thought behind?
Speaker 2 (24:46):
So it to me is what it takes to be
fearlessly authentic Because being authentic and being yourself is not
as easy as it sounds. It takes courage. You have
to be brave. You have to be able to say
in the face of a world that tells you or
seems to be telling you, that you're not enough. You
have to be able to say, you know what, no
(25:07):
I am, and I'm gonna stand right here as the
kids say, I'm a stand on business and I'm a
stand right here and stand in it. Right. You have
to be brave enough to look at yourself to see
where you need to grow, what your kind of core
gifts are, how your experiences have made them better and
(25:28):
or take detracted from them. How can you take away
some of the negative effects of your life to bring
it into a positive and be able to let that blossom.
That's the brave part. Be free is opening your mind
enough up to the possibilities of what can be and
freeing yourself from other people's judgment, from other people's opinions,
(25:52):
because even though those things do impact us, they shouldn't
be ruling us. Like it's you and whatever you believe
divinely is or not Like I feel like every type
of belief system could work with this right, but you
have to. You have to kind of free your mind
(26:12):
from societal constraints and then be you, the most simple
but most difficult thing to do. You know, simple isn't
always easy, but being you is the gift that you
have to offer to the world. Are you know? Are
you brave enough and free enough to be you? Is
the is the question. So if you can remember those
three things, being brave, freeing yourself, and then being you,
(26:37):
then you will be fearless and authentic.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
Wow, and you also talk about the foundation of success.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
I have a theory I love things in threes because
that's how I read. That's how I remember things. Angela
looked and you know and truth be told. That's how
most people remember things. If you can give people three
or five things, nobody remembers two or four things. They
remember three or five. And I also think seven like that,
Uh Stephen Covey the seven habits of highly successful people
(27:05):
Like I. There's something about prime numbers. But three is
my favorite thing because I'm like a two and three.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
But live it, tell it, and sell it. It's how
I look at communication because I think there are three
parts to any kind of communication, And to me, that
applies to everything you want to do, whether that is
planning an event, whether that is making something you know
happen at work, planning out a project, what have you?
You have you and the way that you affect other people.
That's the livid lived is about you, how you see
(27:35):
yourself and how you realistically affect people when you are
delivering information, instructions or whatever, and being aware of that
and using that in your everyday uh. Communications. Then tell
it is about the stories of life because stories a
wire connect us. The way we tell stories about our
(27:56):
work about our lives are the are the connective tissue
between us is here and beings and then sell it
is because we're always selling something or we should be right.
Whether it's an idea, what we're going to have for
dinner or some big project you want to do. At work,
you are always selling something. So sell it is about
the people that you talk to. Who are they, why
(28:17):
do they care or why should they care about what
you're talking about? And how can you serve that service?
Is a big part of how I see our work
as communicators, but also in whatever work we do, because
to get that work done, we do have to talk
about it, we have to plan it out, we have
to make it happen. Most of the breakdowns I see
when people bring me into companies are around communication. They
(28:41):
may call it something different, but at the end of
the day and most of the time when people bring
me in is because of an external communication issue. When
I get in there, there's always an intern internal problem
that they haven't addressed, whether that's passing on information that's
living in the heads of their most long term employees,
that institutional knowledge that somehow hasn't gotten communicated to the
(29:04):
younger people or the new people who are newer to
the company, or maybe it's a team isn't working well together,
or the teams have been reorganized. Is always internal. It
is always internal. It's always about communication. So when you
start thinking about the people you're talking to and tailoring
your story the tell it piece through you as the
conduit of the message, then you are hitting all the
(29:26):
parts of what makes communication whole. And when you approach
to and the reason why I call it foundations for success,
is when you approach everything you do with the aspect
of service, of connecting, and of understanding how you impact it,
then you've hit all of the things that the biggest
things that can go wrong.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
This book the core foundation from page one yes to
page two hundred. It's faith based.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
It is it is because I was raised. I didn't
realize it until it was already written. And one of
my more biblically sound friends was like she was literally
quoting scripture to me of different pieces. But it was
how I was raised my parents. That's who my parents were,
(30:15):
you know, I went. I don't go to church as
much as I should now, but I am a faithful person.
I've I do what I know to be right for me,
and that's how I was raised. So yet. But but
it's also not just about faith in a spiritual or
(30:35):
religious sense. It's also about faith in yourself and faith
that you were you know, fearfully made and wonderfully made,
and trusting that you are here to do something. I
think a lot of us, especially at middle age, you're
not quite there yet. No, not yet, but but you
will be if you look God, God willing, and you
(30:59):
wonder what was all this about? And I think because
I have several friends who are like who get to
like fifty and go, why am I here?
Speaker 3 (31:08):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (31:08):
What was all this for? And I think we have
to trust that we're here for something and trust that
we were made to do it. And if we do that,
then our purpose will find us. And we have to
trust that. That's what faith is all about.
Speaker 3 (31:24):
You know. It's interesting because I had planned for you
to read the first paragraph of chapter ten in the book,
on page one eighty seven, if you have a hard book,
but you just explained it, you just said it, so
I don't have to go.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
We don't have to read it.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
I mean, as she's talking, I'm like this girl.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
Listen, I couldn't even remember what was on that page.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
But this, no, that's what's on this page? Who or
what inspires you?
Speaker 2 (31:47):
Oh girl? So many things. First and foremost my parents,
because my parents chose me. Like one of the central
features of the book, I talk about me being adopted
as sort of how I look at my path to authenticity.
And you know, looking back on what my parents did,
(32:09):
especially at the time that they did it, they were
extraordinary human beings in a way that I didn't understand
for the choices that they made. They also taught me
most of the stuff that's in that book, at least
the foundational things. But I would say that outside of
(32:30):
my parents, the people that I look up to, the
people who inspire me are the people who shine their light.
It's always the people Melissa Foreman, like, you know, like
that girl brings her weather everywhere she goes, like it
doesn't matter, like she was, like, you can decide to
be sunshine to rain, she will do it. All of
(32:51):
my soars that I went to school with too many
to name who are supportive and choose to serve, people
like you, Angela, who have been mentors to me, whether
or not it was intentional, whether or not it was
(33:11):
you know, because I don't ever remember asking anybody to
be my mentor, but it happened. You know, people like
Lanna Thompson. Uh. And then there are people that you know,
I admire on a on a larger scale, Maya Angelou,
my goodness, the wisdom of that woman and and the
beauty of the way she expresses it. They're authors that
(33:36):
I love. But you know what, when it comes down
to is when people have a light, they know that
they have that light and they let it shine no
matter what. They are brave, they are free, they are themselves,
they are fearless, they're authentic. Those are the people that
I have always gravitated to, that have always and they
also when you surround yourself with people like that, they
(33:58):
also keep you honest with yourself to be able to
do that for yourself too. Oh Gene, oh Angela.
Speaker 3 (34:07):
Thank you so much. So how can people connect with you?
Where can they find this book?
Speaker 2 (34:11):
They can find this book at on all of the
places where you buy your books. I also was able
to do the audiobook, which I'm so excited about, so
you can find it on all the audiobook platforms, and
you know, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, all of those. I
do have it all collected for you at Fearless Authenticity
dot com slash book. You can also find me on
social media at JM Sparrow or at Miss Gene Sparrow.
(34:35):
But all of that is on that page too, so
I welcome everybody to read it. I hope you find
it helpful and I hope it helps you dig deep
and also move forward.
Speaker 3 (34:46):
And you have a podcast too.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
I do Fearless Authenticity with Gene Sparrow, which is on
pause for right now because the book has overtaken everything.
I actually started the podcast to prove to myself that
Fearless Authenticity was true because I people from all different
walks of life, and it has been consistent when I
ask those questions, so a lot of the things that
you hear. I have three seasons of podcasts that you
(35:11):
can listen to that are also interviews that are in
the book, and the next season I do will be
organizing the podcast around the book, so it's a companion pieces.
There will be a season that's a companion piece to
the book, so that should be coming out either in
the fall or at the beginning of twenty six.
Speaker 3 (35:30):
Well, Jeane, thank you so much for joining us.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 3 (35:33):
Angela honored that you said yes.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
I'm honored that you asked. Like my aur Heart family
and my radio family means so much to me because
this is where I started, this is where I've grown,
and you've been witnessed to the whole trip.
Speaker 3 (35:47):
Well, it's been beautiful to sit on the sidelines, dear,
thank you and watch you grow. I mean, just it's
just a blessing, it really is. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
You have.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
You have led a blessed life. You've been really reflective
of our Lord, and thanks you, blessing.
Speaker 2 (36:04):
Thank you. My mother would be so happy, Like when
I hear people say that, I know that I've done,
my mama prout, Yes you have. Thank you, Gene, Thank you, Agela.
Speaker 1 (36:12):
Thanks for listening to the Women Inspire Chicago podcast hosted
by Angela Ingram, produced by Paulina Rowe, presented by iHeartMedia Chicago,
and sponsored by pot Belly. Feed your group from small
to larch with pot Belly Catering.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
Pot Belly, you Gotta get It Hot.
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