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Hosted by Ryan Calkins and Erny Epley · 🇺🇸 US · EN-US · 37 episodes
Established thought leaders with verified media credentials.
Leadership looks shiny on social media. But the reality is it’s messy, isolating, and full of self-doubt. Leading Ain’t Easy pulls back the curtain on the side of leadership nobody puts on their résumé. Hosted by Ryan Calkins (Marine Corps veteran, career/leadership coach, and founder of Reframe & Rise) and Erny Epley (public-sector leader and founder of Bus Pro Network), this show dives into the raw, unfiltered truths of leading others; whether it’s in the military, the public sector, or the private world of business. We’re not here with corporate buzzwords or textbook definitions. Instead, you’ll hear: Honest stories about the challenges and failures that shaped us. Real conversations about the doubts and decisions leaders wrestle with every day. Lessons, frameworks, and laughs that remind you you’re not alone in the struggle. Episodes run 45-60 minutes (long enough to go dee
Ryan Calkins and Erny Epley hosts Leading Ain't Easy, a business show with 37 episodes published.
Every leadership resource tells you how to make the hard call. Nobody tells you what happens after. Ryan Calkins and John Moore talk through the emotional and psychological fallout of difficult leadership decisions (term
A viral LinkedIn post claimed that if five employees leave within a year of your leadership, you're the problem. Ryan Calkins, John Moore, and returning show staple Erny Epley take that take apart, share real stories fro
A viral LinkedIn post claimed that if five employees leave within a year of your leadership, you're the problem. Ryan Calkins, John Moore, and returning show staple Erny Epley take that take apart, share real stories fro
Ryan Calkins and John Moore get into the leadership echo chamber; how it forms, why it's usually the leader's own doing, and what it costs when the people around you stop telling you the truth. If you've ever wondered wh
Ryan Calkins and John Moore get into the leadership echo chamber; how it forms, why it's usually the leader's own doing, and what it costs when the people around you stop telling you the truth. If you've ever wondered wh
Ammie Bird (Brandon) led operations for 15 years at a Fortune 250 waste management company, one of the most male-dominated and physically dangerous industries around. She joins Ryan Calkins and John Moore for an honest c
Ammie Bird (Brandon) led operations for 15 years at a Fortune 250 waste management company, one of the most male-dominated and physically dangerous industries around. She joins Ryan Calkins and John Moore for an honest c
Ryan Calkins and John Moore talk through what happens when you can't separate the manager from yourself; when your team's struggles start to feel like your own failures. This one's for anyone who's ever cared too much ab
Ryan Calkins and John Moore talk through what happens when you can't separate the manager from yourself; when your team's struggles start to feel like your own failures. This one's for anyone who's ever cared too much ab
Every team has the person everyone depends on, and sometimes that person is the leader. Ryan Calkins and John Moore discuss what happens when that dependency stops being a strength and starts becoming a trap, for both th
Ryan Calkins and John Moore talk through what happens when the instinct to be understanding slowly slides into avoidance, and why the thing that feels like kindness ends up being harder on everyone. A real conversation f
Ryan Calkins and John Moore both came up through project management, and they've both felt what it's like to be responsible for something you don't fully control. This is an honest conversation about navigating accountab
Getting promoted feels like validation... until you get there and realize what you actually don't know. Ryan Calkins and John Moore talk honestly about the transition from high performer to new manager: the imposter synd
The corner office used to be shorthand for authority. Now leadership happens through a camera icon, a chat message, and a lot of trust you didn't have to build the same way before. Ryan Calkins and John Moore have a real
Ryan Calkins and John Moore get into what it actually feels like to be forced into a decision when you don't have nearly enough information, but can't wait any longer. An honest conversation about perfectionism, pressure
Most leaders know they're supposed to stay composed. Very few talk honestly about how hard that actually is, or what it costs when you don't. Ryan Calkins and Erny Epley get into the part nobody puts in a leadership manu
Most of us started our careers being told what to do. Some of us had bosses who yelled. Some had bosses who kept everything to themselves (every client, every process, every piece of institutional knowledge) because that
When a high performer keeps pushing for a promotion, the easy instinct is to either reward the performance or buy time. But Ryan Calkins and John Moore get into why both of those can backfire, and what's actually underne
Most leadership development focuses on the technical side: how to run a meeting, how to build a plan, how to hit a number. Emotional intelligence doesn't fit neatly on a training checklist. And that gap, Ryan Calkins and
The "we're like a family here" pitch is everywhere... and for a lot of people, it sounds like exactly what they want. Belonging. Loyalty. People who have your back. But Ryan Calkins and John Moore have both lived the oth
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To pitch Leading Ain't Easy, visit https://leadingainteasy.buzzsprout.com for contact information, then craft a tight one-paragraph hook that ties your expertise to a gap in their recent business coverage.
Leading Ain't Easy is hosted by Ryan Calkins and Erny Epley. The show is categorised under business (management) and has published 37 episodes.
Leading Ain't Easy has published 37 episodes.
Leading Ain't Easy regularly covers business, management, careers. It sits in the business category, with a management focus.
Leading Ain't Easy is accessible for guests with genuine business expertise. A personalised, episode-aware pitch will still outperform a generic one every time.
Leading Ain't Easy hasn't explicitly signalled guest openness in recent episodes. That doesn't rule out pitching. your hook just needs to be especially compelling and relevant to their recent content.
Episodes of Leading Ain't Easy average 51 minutes. a focused format where a clear narrative arc and tight preparation matter most.
Our data rates Leading Ain't Easy's guest bar at 80/100 (Premium tier). Established thought leaders with verified media credentials. Sign in to PitchCentric to see how your own Pod Score compares against this show.
Methodology. Booking Probability™ blends Listen Score, 30-day Virality, open-to-guests detection, and Apple ratings. Data refreshed every 60 minutes. Listen Score and Booking Probability are calculated by PitchCentric. Last enriched 10 days ago.