Right About Now - Legendary Business Advice

Kate Monroe has survived the Marine Corps, stage four cancer and the fight to win back a company that was taken from her, and she’s come out stronger every time. The CEO of VETCOM and author of Wake Up Ready joins Ryan Alford to share how she shortens the distance between defeat and victory.

Kate shares the lesson that taught her to decide how far she carries a setback, why she believes doing hard things early builds lasting grit, and why she had to leave behind people who wanted to keep her small. She also talks about serving veterans and her community, and why getting out of “the disease of me” changes everything.

She also lays out practical habits from Wake Up Ready, including routines, putting everything on your calendar and the five-second rule.

Topics Covered:

• Resilience and bouncing back from adversity
• Building grit through hardship
• Self-talk, identity and reinventing yourself
• Service and serving veterans
• High-performance habits and routines
• Going from “me” to “we” to scale

POWER YOUR BUSINESS WITH HIGHLEVEL
Turn more leads into customers with one platform for CRM, marketing automation, appointment booking, Voice AI and customer follow-up. Start your 30-day free trial using Ryan’s link:
https://www.gohighlevel.com/ryanalford

Links & Resources:

• Wake Up Ready:https://www.wakeupreadybook.com/
• VETCOM:https://vetcom.us/
• Kate on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/katemonroeceo/
• Kate on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/katemonroeceo/

Connect with Ryan Alford:

• Website:https://www.ryanisright.com/
• Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/ryanalford/
• LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-alford/
• YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@RightAboutNowwithRyanAlford

Ryan Alford talks with Ethan Ouyang, head of US at Atoms by DeepWisdom, about agentic AI that doesn’t just assist but executes. Atoms uses a team of coordinated AI agents to research markets, design products, build full-stack apps, launch them and optimize them for revenue, all from a single prompt.

Ethan explains why execution is now close to instant, which leaves judgment and taste as an entrepreneur’s real edge. He also covers how Atoms handles databases, payments, Stripe integrations and deployment, how running on multiple AI models keeps costs down, and how non-technical founders can push through bugs.

Ryan and Ethan wrap up with real small-business examples and a clear message for anyone worried about AI: stop fearing it and start using it.

Topics Covered:
• What agentic AI is and how multi-agent systems work
• Going from rough idea to launched, revenue-ready product
• Why judgment and taste matter more than technical skill
• Atoms vs. prompt-to-app tools like Base44
• Cost efficiency through model-agnostic AI
• Real use cases for small businesses
• Overcoming the fear of AI replacing jobs

⚡ POWER YOUR BUSINESS WITH HIGHLEVEL
Turn more leads into customers with one platform for CRM, marketing automation, appointment booking, Voice AI and customer follow-up. Start your 30-day free trial using Ryan’s link:
👉 https://www.gohighlevel.com/ryanalford

Connect with Ethan Ouyang & Atoms:
• Website: https://atoms.dev/
• X: https://x.com/atoms_dev
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/atoms-dev
• Discord: https://discord.gg/NMrp44aahe
• Foundation Agents: https://foundationagents.org/

Connect with Ryan Alford:
• Website: https://www.ryanisright.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanalford/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-alford/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RightAboutNowwithRyanAlford

#AgenticAI #AIAgents #Entrepreneurship #NoCode #AIForBusiness #Startups #RightAboutNow #RyanAlford

Why do some businesses stay stuck for 10 years while others 10X in three? Blake Erickson, co-founder of Scaling.com and co-author of The Science of Scaling with Dr. Benjamin Hardy, joins Ryan Alford to explain the mindset and moves behind rapid growth.

Blake walks through his four steps to scale, from focusing on the future to building a team for the company you want to become. He explains why scaling is 80% psychology, why founders need to stop playing defense, and how big thinkers attract other big thinkers.

He also shares a real case study of a company that grew from $20 million to $200 million in 12 months, and how to get The Science of Scaling audiobook for free.

Topics Covered:

• Four practical steps to scale a business

• Focus and doing less, better

• Hiring for the future, not the present

• Scarcity, fear and the psychology of growth

• Playing offense in business

• A $20M to $200M case study

POWER YOUR BUSINESS WITH HIGHLEVEL

Turn more leads into customers with one platform for CRM, marketing automation, appointment booking, Voice AI and customer follow-up. Start your 30-day free trial using Ryan’s link:

https://www.gohighlevel.com/ryanalford

Links & Resources:

• Scaling.com: https://scaling.com/

• Free audiobook: https://scaling.com/free

• The Science of Scaling (Amazon): https://www.amazon.com/Rapid-Transformation-Science-Achieving-Impossible/dp/1401967639

• Blake on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblakeerickson/

Connect with Ryan Alford:

• Website: https://www.ryanisright.com/

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanalford/

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-alford/

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RightAboutNowwithRyanAlford

Where does your data go when you hand it to AI? Nicole Jiang, co-founder and CEO of Fable Security, joins Ryan Alford to break down the real security risks of AI adoption, and why most of them start with people, not technology.

Nicole explains how messy data and loose permissions can turn AI tools into a liability, how attackers use AI to make phishing and impersonation scams more convincing, and why Fable’s personalized, just-in-time coaching works better than annual training videos.

She also leaves listeners with easy habits to start today, from asking AI to sanitize sensitive information to regularly checking what’s being shared that shouldn’t be.

Topics Covered:

* The human side of cybersecurity

* AI adoption across different industries

* Data hygiene and AI integrations

* AI-powered phishing and social engineering

* Rethinking security training

* Practical AI security habits

POWER YOUR BUSINESS WITH HIGHLEVEL

Turn more leads into customers with one platform for CRM, marketing automation, appointment booking, Voice AI and customer follow-up. Start your 30-day free trial using Ryan’s link:

https://www.gohighlevel.com/ryanalford

Links & Resources:

* Fable Security: https://fablesecurity.com/

* About Fable Security: https://fablesecurity.com/about/

Connect with Ryan Alford:

* Website: https://www.ryanisright.com/

* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanalford/

* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-alford/

* YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RightAboutNowwithRyanAlford

Getting the click is the easy part. Steve Oriola, CEO of Unbounce, joins Ryan Alford to explain what happens after it, and why so many businesses waste ad budget by sending paid traffic to generic pages instead of focused landing pages.

Steve explains how to think about customer acquisition cost all the way through to the sale, how attribution can tell you which traffic sources bring your best customers, and how Unbounce uses more than 2 billion conversion events to benchmark performance by industry. He also covers how AI is speeding up page creation and testing.

He also shares the lesson every leader is learning in the AI era: when building software gets cheap, focus becomes your biggest advantage.

Topics Covered:

• Post-click strategy and landing pages

• Acquisition cost, lifetime value and attribution

• Conversion benchmarks from 2 billion events

• AI in conversion rate optimization

• Staying focused when software is cheap to build

POWER YOUR BUSINESS WITH HIGHLEVEL

Turn more leads into customers with one platform for CRM, marketing automation, appointment booking, Voice AI and customer follow-up. Start your 30-day free trial using Ryan’s link:

https://www.gohighlevel.com/ryanalford

Links & Resources:

• Unbounce: https://unbounce.com/

• Conversion Benchmark Report: https://unbounce.com/conversion-benchmark-report/

• The State of Paid Media ROI 2026: https://unbounce.com/paid-media-roi-report/

Connect with Ryan Alford:

• Website: https://www.ryanisright.com/

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanalford/

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-alford/

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RightAboutNowwithRyanAlford

Scott Scovill was a self-described broken kid. He finished near the bottom of his class and flunked out of college, until a chance encounter with U2’s touring crew showed him a life he wanted badly enough to fight for. He joins Ryan Alford to talk about his new book, Tenacious: The Art of Relentlessly Pursuing Your Wildest Dreams, and the promise he made himself that night.

Scott and Ryan unpack the real fear behind not trying, which is proving your doubters right, and why the fear of failure is usually worse than failing. Scott also shares how living like he was “writing a book” led him to astronaut training, Antarctica and touring Europe as Brad Paisley’s opening act.

He also explains why grit and resilience can be learned, and how being grateful for the struggle helped him find his why.

Topics Covered:

• Fear of failure and fear of judgment
• The moment that changed Scott’s life
• Taking the first step and staying tenacious
• Living your life like you’re writing a book
• Grit, resilience and finding your why

POWER YOUR BUSINESS WITH HIGHLEVEL
Turn more leads into customers with one platform for CRM, marketing automation, appointment booking, Voice AI and customer follow-up. Start your 30-day free trial using Ryan’s link:
https://www.gohighlevel.com/ryanalford

Links & Resources:

• Tenacious (Amazon):https://www.amazon.com/dp/1637633874
• Scott Scovill:https://scottscovill.com/
• Scott on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/scottscovill

Connect with Ryan Alford:

• Website:https://www.ryanisright.com/
• Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/ryanalford/
• LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-alford/
• YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@RightAboutNowwithRyanAlford

Cisco put AI agents in the hands of all 90,000 of its employees, and Joe Vaccaro, an SVP at Cisco, is here to share what they learned. He joins Ryan Alford to break down how business leaders can roll out agentic AI quickly while still keeping the trust and guardrails that critical systems need.

Joe explains why agents act like overconfident teenagers, why clear and specific direction beats vague prompts, and how giving AI the right context changes everything. He also covers the real cost of AI tokens, how model routing will bring that cost down, and when a company should train its own model on its own data.

His closing advice is simple: don’t hand AI off to someone else. Use it yourself, because that’s the only way to see where it can really transform your business.

Topics Covered:

• Lessons from Cisco’s company-wide AI agent rollout
• Why AI is moving faster than any past revolution
• Guardrails, trust and safety for AI agents
• Prompting with clarity and context
• AI costs, model routing and on-device models
• Turning your data into a competitive advantage
• Why leaders need to be hands-on with AI

POWER YOUR BUSINESS WITH HIGHLEVEL
Turn more leads into customers with one platform for CRM, marketing automation, appointment booking, Voice AI and customer follow-up. Start your 30-day free trial using Ryan’s link:
https://www.gohighlevel.com/ryanalford

Links & Resources:

• Cisco:https://www.cisco.com/
• Joe Vaccaro (Cisco):https://newsroom.cisco.com/c/r/newsroom/en/us/executives/joe-vaccaro.html
• Joe on X:https://x.com/joevaccaro
• Project Glasswing:https://www.anthropic.com/glasswing

Connect with Ryan Alford:

• Website:https://www.ryanisright.com/
• Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/ryanalford/
• LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-alford/
• YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@RightAboutNowwithRyanAlford

Derrick Hayes promised his father he would open a business. Years later, that promise became Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks, a Philly-born, Atlanta-built brand now franchising across the Southeast. The founder and CEO joins Ryan Alford to tell the story of going from selling Italian ice nobody understood to running a cheesesteak spot people fly into Atlanta just to try.

Derrick explains what fishing taught him about patience in business, why the winners keep going without proof, and why hustling without mastering your craft just makes you a “hobby hustler.” He also shares his biggest scaling lesson: be humble enough to build a team that challenges you.

He also talks about the impact of bringing a business into a community, hiring locally, and his Blue Apron program, which gives young employees a real career path.

Topics Covered:

• The Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks origin story
• Patience, belief and working without proof
• Hustling vs. mastering your craft
• Scaling and franchising a restaurant brand
• Building the right team and advisors
• Community impact and creating careers

POWER YOUR BUSINESS WITH HIGHLEVEL
Turn more leads into customers with one platform for CRM, marketing automation, appointment booking, Voice AI and customer follow-up. Start your 30-day free trial using Ryan’s link:
https://www.gohighlevel.com/ryanalford

Links & Resources:

• Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks:https://www.bigdavescheesesteaks.com/
• Franchise info:https://www.bigdavescheesesteaks.com/franchise
• Big Dave’s on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/bigdavescheesesteaks/
• Derrick on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/officialdhayes/

Connect with Ryan Alford:

• Website:https://www.ryanisright.com/
• Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/ryanalford/
• LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-alford/
• YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@RightAboutNowwithRyanAlford

Arturo Nuñez has told stories for some of the biggest brands on earth, including Nike, Apple, the NBA and Pepsi. He joins Ryan Alford to explain what separates great marketing from expensive noise, and why a customer telling your story beats anything a brand can say.

Arturo shares rare stories about Kobe Bryant's savage competitiveness, Nike's open, inspirational culture versus Apple's need-to-know secrecy, and the "Bleed Blue" campaign people in India still remember 15 years later. He also predicts that AI could make apps obsolete within two years.

It all ties back to his new book, The Culture Compass: Navigate the Corporate World Without Losing Yourself. Arturo makes the case that your culture and your perspective are your edge at work, and that in a world where AI has all the answers, being uniquely human matters more than ever.

Topics Covered:

• Authentic storytelling and word-of-mouth marketing
• Nike vs. Apple culture from the inside
• Lessons from Kobe Bryant's obsession with the craft
• Apple's business model and the future of apps in an AI world
• Selling what customers actually want
• Culture as a business advantage
• Bringing your whole self to work without losing credibility

POWER YOUR BUSINESS WITH HIGHLEVEL
Turn more leads into customers with one platform for CRM, marketing automation, appointment booking, Voice AI and customer follow-up. Start your 30-day free trial using Ryan's link:
https://www.gohighlevel.com/ryanalford

Links & Resources:

• The Culture Compass (Amazon):https://www.amazon.com/Culture-Compass-Navigate-Corporate-Yourself/dp/1668032171
• Arturo Nuñez:https://www.arturo-speaks.com/
• Arturo on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/arturonunezspeaks/
• Arturo on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/arturo-nunez-79329177

Connect with Ryan Alford:

• Website:https://www.ryanisright.com/
• Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/ryanalford/
• LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-alford/
• YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@RightAboutNowwithRyanAlford

What if the most profitable car in your driveway is the cheapest one? George Madden, co-founder of Car Rental Coach, joins Ryan Alford to explain how older economy cars under $12,000 can rent for the same price as $30,000 cars. He shares how one $8,300 SUV brought in more than $15,000 in a year.

George gives the honest numbers: about $1,000 a month in revenue per car, not the $3,000 people claim online. He also covers the commercial insurance most new hosts get wrong, why you should start with fewer than five cars, and how busy professionals can co-host their fleet and simply collect the check.

Ryan also pulls out a lesson for any entrepreneur: document what you learn as you build, because your experience can become a business of its own.

Topics Covered:

• Starting and scaling a Turo car rental business
• Choosing cars with the best return on investment
• Real revenue and profit numbers per car
• Commercial rental insurance and avoiding denied claims
• Theft, trackers and keeping cars rented
• Depreciation and tax benefits
• Co-hosting for hands-off investors
• Turning expertise into a coaching business

POWER YOUR BUSINESS WITH HIGHLEVEL
Turn more leads into customers with one platform for CRM, marketing automation, appointment booking, Voice AI and customer follow-up. Start your 30-day free trial using Ryan's link:
https://www.gohighlevel.com/ryanalford

Links & Resources:

• Car Rental Coach:https://www.carrentalcoach.com/
• Car Rental Coach on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@carrentalcoach
• Car Rental Coach on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/carrentalcoach/
• George on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-madden-b824142a3/

Connect with Ryan Alford:

• Website:https://www.ryanisright.com/
• Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/ryanalford/
• LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-alford/
• YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@RightAboutNowwithRyanAlford

Is your job a "star" role or an "extra" role? Matt Britton, founder and CEO of Suzy and author of Generation AI, tells Ryan Alford that AI will multiply the impact of creative problem solvers. Meanwhile, anyone who shows up waiting to be told what to do is at risk.

Matt explains why Gen Alpha, the first generation raised with AI, will bring the biggest change to business and culture since the internet. He covers why the knowledge economy is collapsing, why he'd put coding and advanced math on the chopping block, and how parents can build creativity into their kids early.

Matt also breaks down the three levels of AI, from prompts to automations to fully autonomous agents that can book your family vacation. He finishes with a warning for leaders: companies that don't reorganize for speed now will be the next Circuit City.

POWER YOUR BUSINESS WITH HIGHLEVEL
Turn more leads into customers with one platform for CRM, marketing automation, appointment booking, Voice AI and customer follow-up. Start your 30-day free trial using Ryan's link:
https://www.gohighlevel.com/ryanalford

Topics Covered:

• Gen Alpha and the AI-native generation
• Why AI is replacing "extras" and 10x-ing "stars"
• The future of college, trade skills and the knowledge economy
• Should kids still learn coding and math?
• Why prompt engineering is already dead
• The 3 levels of AI: prompts, automations and agents
• Robotics, AI wearables and life after the smartphone
• Voice cloning, AI avatars and the "real human" backlash
• Speed, organizational design and why many CEOs won't change

Links & Resources:

• Generation AI by Matt Britton:https://www.amazon.com/Generation-AI-Alpha-Change-Everything/dp/139430885X/
• Matt Britton:https://www.mattbritton.com/
• Suzy:https://www.suzy.com/
• Matt on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattbbritton/
• Matt on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/mattbrittonnyc

Connect with Ryan Alford:

• Website:https://www.ryanisright.com/
• Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/ryanalford/
• LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-alford/
• YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@RightAboutNowwithRyanAlford

Marketing channels have changed dramatically since Jason Kocina began helping companies build websites in the 1990s, but he argues that the foundation of effective marketing remains the same. The Publicity.com partner and digital marketing president joins Ryan Alford to explain how businesses can protect their visibility as audiences move from traditional search engines to AI-generated answers.

Ryan and Jason explore the evolving relationship between earned media, SEO, content marketing, paid advertising, social media, and sales automation. Jason explains why companies need documented messaging, a clearly defined audience, and consistent brand language before an agency or AI platform can market them effectively.

They also discuss how skilled professionals use AI to work faster without sacrificing originality, strategy, or human judgment. This episode gives business owners a practical approach to choosing marketing channels, building authority, and remaining discoverable as search behavior continues to change.

POWER YOUR BUSINESS WITH HIGHLEVEL

HighLevel helps businesses manage leads, automate follow-up, book appointments, and use AI to keep opportunities moving. Start your 30-day free trial using Ryan’s link:

https://www.gohighlevel.com/ryanalford

TOPICS COVERED

• Jason Kocina’s experience in digital marketing
• The similarities between the internet revolution and AI
• Declining organic search traffic
• Referral traffic from ChatGPT, Gemini, and Grok
• AI visibility and the future of SEO
• Creating consistent company messaging
• Earned media and third-party credibility
• Public relations, paid media, and content marketing
• Selecting channels based on the target customer
• Marketing automation and sales follow-up
• Using AI to improve professional efficiency
• The marketing fundamentals that never change

CONNECT WITH JASON KOCINA

Publicity.com:https://www.publicity.com/

About Publicity.com:https://www.publicity.com/our-story/

Marketing Resources:https://www.publicity.com/publicity-resources/

The CEO’s Guide to Marketing:https://greenleafbookgroup.com/titles/the-ceos-guide-to-marketing

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/company/media-relations-inc-/

CONNECT WITH RYAN ALFORD AND RIGHT ABOUT NOW

Right About Now:https://www.ryanisright.com/

Ryan Alford:https://www.ryanalford.com/

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/ryanalford/

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-alford/

Many successful professionals are already coaching people for free without realizing their experience could become a meaningful source of income. Mitch Matthews joins Ryan Alford to share the Authority Bridge, his framework for adding coaching, speaking, and consulting to an existing career without destroying the life you have already built.

They discuss why a small, well-defined audience can outperform a massive following, what most coach-training programs leave out, and how value-based promotion creates trust and consistent content. Mitch also explains why imposter syndrome can signal growth, how human connection keeps coaches valuable in the age of AI, and why the best coaches help clients uncover answers they already possess.

The conversation offers a practical way to define success, dream bigger, and turn your knowledge into greater income, impact, and freedom.

SPONSOR

HighLevel gives entrepreneurs one platform for lead management, marketing automation, appointment booking, and customer follow-up. Start your 30-day free trial using Ryan’s link:

https://www.gohighlevel.com/ryanalford

TOPICS COVERED

• The Authority Bridge business model
• Monetizing your professional knowledge and experience
• Starting a coaching business without leaving your career
• Building substantial income without a massive following
• Creating a clear audience, offer, and outcome
• The business education missing from coaching certifications
• Teaching from your journey instead of your destination
• Overcoming imposter syndrome and comparison
• Coaching, human connection, and artificial intelligence
• Asking questions that inspire action
• The Dream Think Do approach to personal growth
• Creating more income, impact, and career flexibility

CONNECT WITH MITCH MATTHEWS

Official Website:https://mitchmatthews.com/

Authority Bridge:https://mitchmatthews.com/authoritybridge/

DREAM THINK DO Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dream-think-do-motivation-encouragement-strategy/id958773768

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/mitch.matthews/

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchmatthews/

CONNECT WITH RYAN ALFORD AND RIGHT ABOUT NOW

Right About Now:https://www.ryanisright.com/

Ryan Alford:https://www.ryanalford.com/

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/ryanalford/

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-alford/

Artificial intelligence is transforming the workforce faster than schools and employers can update how they prepare people for it. Ryan Lufkin, Vice President of Global Academic Strategy at Instructure, joins Ryan Alford to examine the widening gap between traditional education and the skills modern businesses actually need.

They discuss whether college degrees still hold value, why lifelong learning has become essential, and how certificates and microcredentials can help professionals remain competitive. Ryan also explains why communication, creativity, judgment, collaboration, and subject-matter expertise become more valuable as AI takes over routine work.

The conversation offers a practical look at AI literacy, employee training, the future of entry-level jobs, and what businesses must do to develop an adaptable workforce.

POWER YOUR BUSINESS WITH HIGHLEVEL

Save time, strengthen your follow-up, and manage more of your business from one AI-powered platform. Start your 30-day free trial using Ryan’s link:

https://www.gohighlevel.com/ryanalford

TOPICS COVERED

• The widening gap between education and employment
• AI’s effect on entry-level career opportunities
• Why workers feel unprepared for the modern workplace
• Degrees versus skills-based hiring
• Certificates, credentials, and continuing education
• The importance of AI literacy
• Why subject-matter expertise still matters
• Human skills that are difficult to automate
• The changing value of coding
• Employer responsibility for employee development
• The risks of failing to train existing employees
• Using AI to expand employee capabilities
• How Canvas supports modern education
• Preparing students for an AI-powered workforce

CONNECT WITH RYAN LUFKIN

Instructure:https://www.instructure.com/

Canvas:https://www.instructure.com/canvas

Educast 3000:https://www.instructure.com/resources/podcast

Apple Podcasts:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/educast-3000/id1751576704

Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/2QTGC57NLu4id9FhV8GWZu

CONNECT WITH RYAN ALFORD AND RIGHT ABOUT NOW

Right About Now:https://www.ryanisright.com/

Ryan Alford:https://www.ryanalford.com/

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/ryanalford/

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-alford/

YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@RightAboutNowwithRyanAlford

Robin Alex, co-founder of GoHighLevel, joins Ryan Alford to explain how better systems can make businesses more productive, profitable, and prepared to scale. He shares how GoHighLevel brings CRM, marketing automation, lead management, customer communication, scheduling, and other essential tools into one platform.

Robin and Ryan examine the hidden costs of disconnected technology, manual follow-up, and inefficient workflows. They also discuss how business owners can use automation and AI to respond to leads faster, provide a stronger customer experience, and give their teams more time to focus on revenue-producing work.

This episode offers a practical look at how the right technology can simplify business operations without eliminating the human relationships that drive long-term growth.

BUILD A MORE EFFICIENT BUSINESS WITH GOHIGHLEVEL

Replace disconnected tools, automate time-consuming tasks, and manage your marketing, sales, and customer relationships from one platform.

EXPLORE GOHIGHLEVEL WITH RYAN:
https://gohighlevel.com/ryanalford

Topics Covered

• How GoHighLevel simplifies business operations
• Replacing disconnected tools with one central platform
• Improving lead management and response times
• Automating repetitive marketing and sales tasks
• Creating more consistent customer communication
• Increasing team efficiency and productivity
• Using AI without losing the human element
• Building scalable systems for sustainable growth

Connect With Robin Alex and Ryan Alford

Get started with GoHighLevel:
https://gohighlevel.com/ryanalford

Robin Alex on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/robinalex

GoHighLevel:
https://www.gohighlevel.com/

Right About Now:
https://www.ryanisright.com/

Ryan Alford:
https://www.ryanalford.com/

Ryan on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/ryanalford/

Real estate investor Justin Brennan grew up around construction and watched his father’s business collapse during the 2008 financial crisis. He joins Ryan Alford on Right About Now to explain how that experience led him toward recurring-income assets, apartment investing, and a collaborative approach to raising capital.

Ryan and Justin discuss real estate syndication, cash flow, bonus depreciation, and the two forms of value an investor can bring to a deal: check equity or sweat equity. Justin explains how someone with limited capital can become valuable by finding, analyzing, structuring, and managing promising multifamily properties.

Beyond the financial strategies, they examine money as a tool for freedom, philanthropy, generational wealth, and greater control over your time. This conversation is educational and should not replace personalized financial, legal, or tax advice.

THIS EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY GOHIGHLEVEL

GoHighLevel helps businesses and agencies manage leads, automate follow-up, book appointments, and keep customer conversations moving from one platform.

Explore GoHighLevel with Ryan Alford:
http://gohighlevel.com/ryanalford

TOPICS COVERED

• Justin Brennan’s third-generation real estate background
• Lessons from his family’s bankruptcy in 2008
• Purchasing his first rental with partner capital
• Building recurring income through multifamily real estate
• Moving from owning a job to owning investments
• Raising capital through real estate syndication
• Other people’s money and strategic partnerships
• Bringing sweat equity when you lack capital
• Finding, underwriting, and managing apartment deals
• Potential tax advantages of real estate ownership
• The limits of passive-income promises
• Philanthropy, freedom, and generational wealth

CONNECT WITH JUSTIN BRENNAN

Justin Brennan:https://www.justincbrennan.com/

Brennan Pohle Group:https://www.brennanpohle.com/

Multifamily Schooled:https://www.multifamilyschooled.com/

Free Multifamily Playbook:https://www.multifamilyschooled.com/free-guide

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/officialjustinbrennan/

YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@JustinBrennan

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinbrennan

CONNECT WITH RYAN ALFORD AND RIGHT ABOUT NOW

Right About Now:https://www.ryanisright.com/

Ryan Alford:https://www.ryanalford.com/

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/ryanalford/

YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@RightAboutNowwithRyanAlford

The workforce shortage is not only a labor problem. According to Nicole Feenstra, it is also a storytelling and marketing problem created by companies that fail to make their opportunities meaningful.

The DNA Agency founder joins Ryan Alford on Right About Now to discuss employer branding, workforce development, skilled trades, artificial intelligence, employee retention, and the changing expectations of younger workers. They explain why employers should communicate purpose, career growth, impact, and culture instead of relying on generic job descriptions.

Nicole also shares how digital advertising, audience targeting, geofencing, customer journeys, and rapid campaign testing can help organizations reach the right candidates. This conversation gives business owners a practical framework for making their companies more attractive to the people they want to hire.

THIS EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY GOHIGHLEVEL

GoHighLevel helps businesses and agencies manage leads, automate follow-up, book appointments, and keep customer conversations moving from one platform.

Explore GoHighLevel with Ryan Alford:
https://www.gohighlevel.com/?fp_ref=ryanalford

TOPICS COVERED

• Employer branding and recruitment marketing
• Why job descriptions have become “word salad”
• Communicating the value of work
• Marketing jobs as opportunities
• The construction and skilled-trades shortage
• How AI could reshape the workforce
• Careers that still require human skills
• Attracting candidates through storytelling
• Employee retention, training, and advancement
• Purpose-driven work and younger generations
• Improving the online application funnel
• Geofencing workforce-development events
• Measuring recruitment campaigns
• Niche marketing and audience identification
• Testing messages before perfecting campaigns

CONNECT WITH NICOLE FEENSTRA

The DNA Agency:https://thednagency.com/

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolefeenstra

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/thenicolefeenstra/

The DNA Agency on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-dna-agency

CONNECT WITH RYAN ALFORD AND RIGHT ABOUT NOW

Right About Now:https://www.ryanisright.com/

Ryan Alford:https://www.ryanalford.com/

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/ryanalford/

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-alford/

Jason Brown grew up sleeping in sleeping bags, entered the stock market with $500, and eventually transformed a $10,000 student loan into a six-figure trading account. After one emotional trade wiped out approximately $250,000, he was forced to move home and rebuild his finances and investment strategy from the beginning.

On Right About Now, The Brown Report founder and Five-Year Millionaire author joins Ryan Alford to explain how that failure reshaped his approach to risk, options trading, and wealth accumulation. Together, Ryan and Jason discuss financial advisors, stock charts, paper trading, financial literacy, and the importance of knowing when to exit a losing position.

Jason also outlines his Five-Year Millionaire framework while emphasizing the education, practice, and discipline required before risking real money. This episode is for educational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice.

TOPICS COVERED

• Jason Brown’s childhood and early interest in wealth
• Losing most of his first professionally managed investment
• Making his first $100 trading Sprint stock
• Growing a student loan into a six-figure account
• The trade that wiped out approximately $250,000
• Greed, ego, and emotional investing
• Risk management and predetermined exit points
• Stock charts, fundamentals, and market patterns
• Using options for leverage and portfolio protection
• Paper trading and practicing with realistic amounts
• Evaluating financial advisors and investment funds
• The Five-Year Millionaire wealth-building framework
• Teaching financial literacy at an earlier age

CONNECT WITH JASON BROWN

The Brown Report:https://thebrownreport.com/

Free Trading Resources:https://thebrownreport.com/account/

Five-Year Millionaire:https://fiveyearmillionaire.com/

Power Trades University:https://powertradesuniversity.com/

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/brownreport/

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonbrown1124/

CONNECT WITH RYAN ALFORD AND RIGHT ABOUT NOW

Right About Now:https://www.ryanisright.com/

Ryan Alford:https://www.ryanalford.com/

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/ryanalford/

YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@RightAboutNowwithRyanAlford

Brett Farmiloe built Featured after seeing small-business owners with deep expertise but no reliable way to get quoted by the media. He joins Ryan Alford to discuss earned media, digital PR, AI search visibility, and the revival of Help a Reporter Out.

They explain how media citations may influence LLM recommendations, why AI is compressing the marketing funnel, and why a single high-profile feature rarely produces instant revenue. Brett also shares how Featured and HARO connect journalists with verified experts while giving publishers greater control over AI-generated responses.

The conversation offers a realistic strategy for building authority, earning backlinks, reaching customers, and becoming more visible across traditional search and AI platforms.

TOPICS COVERED

• Brett Farmiloe’s journey from agency owner to Featured founder
• The difference between paid media and earned media
• How businesses can earn credible media coverage
• AI search optimization, AEO, and GEO
• Getting cited and recommended by large language models
• How ChatGPT is changing the customer journey
• Why PR results are difficult to measure
• Consistency, quality, and quantity in media outreach
• The acquisition and relaunch of Help a Reporter Out
• Connecting journalists with verified expert sources
• Using AI without removing human expertise
• Free and paid ways to begin using Featured and HARO

CONNECT WITH BRETT FARMILOE

Featured:https://featured.com/

Help a Reporter Out:https://www.helpareporter.com/

Brett on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/brettfarmiloe

Brett on X:https://x.com/BrettFarmiloe

CONNECT WITH RYAN ALFORD AND RIGHT ABOUT NOW

Right About Now:https://www.ryanisright.com/

Ryan Alford:https://www.ryanalford.com/

Ryan on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/ryanalford/

Ryan on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-alford/

Apple Podcasts:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/right-about-now-legendary-business-advice/id1346054199

Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/0gy9HkTiwpAAgu1DFyIW9h

YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@RightAboutNowwithRyanAlford

Lisa Holladay has spent her career building loyalty for Mercedes-Benz, The Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, and now TIGER 21. She joins Ryan Alford to explain how intentional customer experience turns transactions into lasting relationships and why product quality alone cannot create brand love.

Their conversation covers customer journey mapping, experiential marketing, surprise-and-delight moments, community building, and the challenge of creating meaningful value for ultra-high-net-worth members. Lisa also takes Ryan inside TIGER 21’s peer-learning model, where entrepreneurs and executives connect around investing, family, philanthropy, health, and life after a major business exit.

Lisa and Ryan discuss what changed when she moved from global corporations with massive sponsorship budgets to an entrepreneurial organization where ideas can be tested quickly and leaders are trusted to take risks.

TOPICS COVERED

• Lisa Holladay’s career at Mercedes-Benz and Marriott
• Building luxury customer experiences
• The relationship between brand love and customer loyalty
• Why a strong product is only one part of retention
• Designing an intentional customer journey
• Creating memorable experiential marketing
• Building communities instead of customer lists
• TIGER 21’s peer-to-peer learning model
• Serving entrepreneurs after a major liquidity event
• Connecting wealth, family, philanthropy, and purpose
• Maintaining engagement through digital and in-person experiences
• Creating an entrepreneurial culture inside a growing organization

CONNECT WITH LISA HOLLADAY

TIGER 21:https://tiger21.com/

Lisa on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisaholladay01

Lisa on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/holladaytime/

CONNECT WITH RYAN ALFORD AND RIGHT ABOUT NOW

Right About Now:https://www.ryanisright.com/

Ryan Alford:https://www.ryanalford.com/

Ryan on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/ryanalford/

Ryan on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-alford/

Apple Podcasts:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/right-about-now-legendary-business-advice/id1346054199

Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/0gy9HkTiwpAAgu1DFyIW9h

YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@RightAboutNowwithRyanAlford