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Speech Transcript

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L. Scott Ferguson: [00:00:00] Time to shine today podcast varsity squad This is scott ferguson and welcome to an episode with my good friend. Ryan johnson from three sparrows Executive services and ryan is a fractional coo for a companies Yet. He’s also a man of god and he’s a christian fellow christian good friend of mine And what he puts out there with the knowledge nuggets about really pouring into service Whether you want to hire him as your coo Or not or have other peer learn about what a fractional is in business You’re going to learn that here But the takeaways that I got had a lot more to do with really leveling up your service to others and how people Be that, be there and be that person for others and also be open to the reciprocation that can come your way.

, Ryan is a fellow Christian. He’s a really good friend. And just what he does to pour into people is above reproach. So if you like this smash, the subscribe button or the like [00:01:00] button, my sponsors and affiliates absolutely love that. And also break out your notebooks. So he talks about how service and ways that you can service.

They come to the surface. We’re just amazing. I have pages and pages of notes myself. So without further ado, here’s my really good friend, Brian Johnson from three Sparrows executive services. Let’s level up.

Time to shine today podcast varsity squad. This is Scott Ferguson. And I, we kind of running short. I’m taking up a lot of this guy’s time. Cause we were on the mic wrapping. For about a good 15, 20 minutes. He’s a baseball stud here. We were talking and dropping some names on each other and kind of our parallel rising through coaching and, and leadership and whatnot, but I’m bringing to you an interview with somebody that I respect immensely, you’ll want to check out his website and also listen to the end.

For a really awesome offer that Ryan’s giving and it’s Ryan Johnson. He’s the founder and CEO of three Sparrows executive services as a fractional. And again, [00:02:00] fractional came up and we were kind of joking about that a little bit off, off Mike, but I had no idea what it was until I did an interview with somebody, but I think it’s just a phenomenal, phenomenal way to really to, to work part time and get paid full time a lot of times.

So anyways, as a fractional chief operations officer and business management coach. Ryan helps small businesses owners, empower their team members to grow from clock punchers to owners in 10 times 10 X their personal and business success. And Ryan, thank you so much for coming on. Please introduce yourself at the time to shine today, podcast varsity squad, but first what’s your favorite color

Ryan Johnson: and why?

Oh, it’s great. Well, first of all, thanks for having me Scott. It’s already a lot of fun. Favorite color green. And not, and not because it’s the color of money. Because it’s the color of grass and growth. Yes. .

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah. And it’s, and it’s always turning over in Michigan State, Spartans, and I’m just kidding.

everything else. But no man, that for real, it’s kind of a rebirth and it shows you, you [00:03:00] can always go back Mm-Hmm. and, and fix things or, , grow even more. Let’s get to the roots because again, we talked about our athletic endeavors, which, , you played at a high level just because like we talked about wanting to ultimately both of us get to the show, but , it’s, but you played at a high level in, but what’s the, even the roots before that, Ryan, that you kind of like kind of grew up and grew into the highly sought after person that you are right now.

Ryan Johnson: Well, I appreciate those, those comments for sure. Well, first of all, I’m a, I’m a Christian. I, I, I’d love, I love Jesus. Yeah, there you go. And , that’s, that’s who I am as a, as a person. I had to learn that though, , obviously I, I chose to follow him at a, at a early age, but how old were you, Ryan?

Just, just curious. Well, I was five when I, when I decided to follow Christ, I was seven, but I didn’t really. Surrender until I was in college, probably my sophomore year, I traveled with an athletes in action group. We had a phenomenal baseball team. A lot of pro athletes came off of that team and, and they challenged me [00:04:00] to really take my faith as my own.

So that’s, that’s who I am as a man. I’m a child of God 1st and then 2nd. Like I said, baseball guy through and through. But even, even from there I love my family. I’ve got a wife and a 19 year old son and love, love my family. And then also I just love helping people just bottom line. Like that’s who I am.

That’s my personality. I’m a support. I was the vice president for so many years. I loved that support to the right hand person. And that’s ultimately what I’m doing now in my business. Love it. Who is your team though? Like your

L. Scott Ferguson: baseball team? Who’s who’s the Cubbies or is it just curious on that? Cause we were talking to where I lived in Oak park for a minute.

And like Wrigleyville was literally, you could hear the games, but let’s, let’s stop, I’ll bring us back to, , course here, but. So you, you played at high level. Okay. And , I’m so happy to hear your Christian. I’m on a bachelorly Christian, , I’m not the guy that’s shoving it down people’s [00:05:00] throats, but if they they’re ready and they want that walk, I’m right there waiting to help them with it.

We shouldn’t shove them, shove it down people’s throats. brother. But what brought you into kind of where you are now with the journey that you had?

Ryan Johnson: Yeah. Yeah. So that, yeah, so I’ll try to keep this concise because this is, this is ultimate for sure. But , when I was pursuing baseball, it was 100%.

Like, I’m going to the major leagues. I’m doing everything I can to get there. And then I had to get disrupted there because I realized that became everything who I was. I thought that’s who I was. I was the, I was the baseball guy. Right. And I, I had to get to the major leagues. To prove myself. I was never a prospect growing up.

I became a prospect late in my college days and, and I felt like I was constantly proving myself to be the best baseball player I could be. And I thought that was my self worth. And so God had to shake me up. [00:06:00] And, and I, I left coaching, didn’t want to, but I left it. I knew I had to, and then that’s when I found my, my wife to be and was able to adopt her son and we have this amazing family now.

And so I realized at that point, I kept telling myself, this is who I am. I’m a baseball guy. I can’t do anything else.

L. Scott Ferguson: Right.

Ryan Johnson: And he had to, the Lord had to tell me and speak to my spirit and say, no, you’re my child. Number one, and you can do whatever I want you to do. Right. And so, so I, I left that coaching job a really good coaching job.

I wanted to, I was about ready to be a head coach and and I left it cold turkey. I didn’t know what I was going to do. I had no plan. And in two months, I got a job at the local college here in town, central Baptist college. And And then 12 years there ended up making working my way up to executive leadership.

And that’s where I really found a love for leadership development, personal development and then process development. I always, I always [00:07:00] had those tendencies, had those personalities, but. Never really was able to bring it all together until I got to that position. And then it happened again.

Felt like in my spirit, it was time to move. , I thought I was, I said about coaching, I’ll be the coach the rest of my life. And when I got to Central Baptist College, I said, I’ll be here the rest of my life. This is great. But one thing I found out about the Lord is he, he doesn’t like complacency.

He he wants people to grow, right? And as you know as a, as an athlete the only way you get stronger and faster and better is you have to put yourself through stress. You have to put yourself through pain. , right? Yeah. And suffering. And so he likes that too. Sure. He wants us to be our best. And so, so Jesus

L. Scott Ferguson: suffered the worst, so,

Ryan Johnson: yeah.

Oh goodness. A little. Yeah. He, he led the example for sure. So so I felt that again, it was time to move. And, and so I thought, okay, I’ll just go get a marketplace job because I felt like he was wanting me to be in the marketplace influence people for good for the [00:08:00] kingdom and and just help people help small business owners specifically because 90 percent of our business in this, in the, in the U S.

Are small business owners and they have a hard time scaling and surviving because they don’t have the right executive leadership. And so I, I knew it was time to move. However I thought it was just going to get a job. I’ll just get a marketplace job, get some experience and couldn’t get a job.

What year was that, Ryan? That was just a couple of years ago, 2022. And yeah, I was convinced. And after talking with a lot of former executives, I was convinced that you kind of get typecast into your experience. So for 12 years, I was in, well, 22 years, I was in higher education.

L. Scott Ferguson: Right.

Ryan Johnson: And then for the past 12 years, I was, I was in just , nonprofit leadership.

And so. When you’re trying to get into the marketplace, people just don’t see everybody wants 5, 10, 15 plus years of experience in a certain market. Right. So that’s when I just. I’m just going to start [00:09:00] doing work. I had mentors in my life coaches in my life to say, you just, you got skill sets, you got a ton of them.

Just start doing work for people. So I started listening to people, asking great questions. Hey, where, where do you need help? And, and filling in the gap. And so now that’s where I’m at today is just having great conversations with people and simply asking them, how can I help you be your best? And I love that.

L. Scott Ferguson: I love it. It’s like, , a good friend of mine, one of my coaches, Leah, , she said, get your asking here, right? You got to ask, , in the, , like they also say, , how to make God laugh, tell him your plans. Right. So I love that you are following his, instead of, , it probably shortened the learning curve a little bit.

And I think that what I’m hearing and I’m putting on my coaching head here a little bit, but I’m hearing is that. , there was, it was already laid out for you and you’re, you’re following, you’re really for lack of better term, bought in to God’s plan. And you’re still, we’re human. We’re going to be shocked.

What the heck, , we’re going to question things, but that’s beautiful. So [00:10:00] I got to ask you where the three sparrows comes from.

Ryan Johnson: Yeah. Well, as you, as you would guess, it’s, it’s from the Bible. Yeah. So in in the New Testament in Matthew and Luke, you see Jesus talk about how he provides for his children.

Yeah. And he uses the example of the sparrows and the lilies of the field, and, and he says. If, if I provide for them in such great ways , they, he, he compares it to like Solomon’s robes of how the, of how the the, the, the flowers and the lilies of the field are, are dressed. So if aren’t you worth more than those sparrows and those flowers, I’m going to take care of you.

Yes. So we’re in

L. Scott Ferguson: his image.

Ryan Johnson: That’s right. That’s right. So we’re, so we’ve honed in on the sparrows. My wife loves sparrows and she’s like, Hey, when we start this business, let’s, there’s three of us. So let’s just call it three sparrows and whatever else you want to tack onto it, then, then do that. So that’s a reminder [00:11:00] that this is our next stage of provision that he has for us in our lives, but also our next ministry opportunity as well.

I love it. But

L. Scott Ferguson: now let’s dive into the three Sparrows. Okay. What are you offering?

Ryan Johnson: Yeah. So three tiers three services within this this business, it’s an executive services business. But I focus on the fractional chief operations officer role. I’ve got some other contracts, but. But we’re going to focus on that.

So the whole goal there is to make sure the small businesses have a a strong mission, vision, a strategic growth system, not just a plan, but a system that grows with them and moves with them. And and they’re able to. Start to step away from the business so the business can run without them and that they can grow that business.

They can scale that business up because they have a great operations management system, a foundation to build their business. So that’s, that’s the, [00:12:00] the main gist of what I’m doing. I’ve got a few different services within that that scope. But the bottom line is these small business owners.

Don’t typically have the resources to spend 200, 000 plus dollars a year for an executive leader, but they need another executive leader to, to take those, the daily operations, a weekly operations. I shouldn’t say daily, but the weekly operations oversight to work with the management team so they can work on the things that they love and that they do really good to help the business grow.

L. Scott Ferguson: I love it. And so educate our listeners a little bit, cause you’ve, you said fractional a few times, and I know you’re going to explain it heck of a lot better than I can explain what a fractional chief operations officer does and why it’s called fraction.

Ryan Johnson: Yeah, you bet. So what it does is allows a fractional works part time, but is On the leadership team.

So there are there are [00:13:00] full time. They’re on call all the time, but they’re focused in just a portion of the week. So when they’re leading meetings or troubleshooting, , that sort of thing helping create the plans. That’s that sort of thing. So a part time, part time, but about typically about a third of the cost of a full time executive leader.

So I just met with a potential client yesterday and they were asking the same thing. They said, so how many hours you put in and , what’s your hourly rate? I said, don’t do any of that. Listen, I’m on your leadership team. So I set up the meetings, we come to the terms of what needs to get done, those things get done and you have a problem.

You reach out to me, I prioritize it. , same day, next day, we’re gonna, we’re gonna knock it out. So it’s a part, it’s just like any other team, but we’re, we’re reducing the the tasks down to the strategic oversight instead of all of the other tasks that you might tack on to an executive leader, because they make a lot of money.

, say, okay, you’re here for 40 hours a week. [00:14:00] So you’re also going to do X, Y, Z, all these other things along with your strategic leadership and oversight. So we’re just, we’re just reducing that down to the strategic oversight, which is what these businesses need the most. So they can put the money into operations managers or sales people, , that are actually producing the revenue of the company.

So that’s what a fractional. And so so what I do is I come in and help them get a strategic growth system up and running, help train and manage their people, coach their people to be their best within the context of, of the business operations. How to, how to take ownership. You mentioned in the, in the front end from go to clock puncher to owners I believe if you truly empower your people, coach them, train them well, give them all the resources that they need, they’re going to be loyal to you and they’re going to become an owner of what they’re doing.

They’re not just going to say, okay, tell me what to do and give me my paycheck. That’s

L. Scott Ferguson: right. [00:15:00] That’s right. Entrepreneurs in the business. So. I love it. Yeah, absolutely. So, are you, like, are you the actual fractional CEO? Are you bringing other people that are looking for fractional work onto other companies or I’m just trying to really understand what we’re doing.

Ryan Johnson: Yeah, there’s two models. I’m, I’m the solopreneur currently, so I’m, I’m the fractional that comes in and does all the work. Love it. And as demand grows, I’ve been doing this for about a year and a half. So as it grows, I could see an agency model. I was just going to say, brother,

L. Scott Ferguson: with your heart, with your listening capabilities, with what you’re looking for, , what you’re helping people find, because again, a lot of times small business owners, including a lot of them that I coach, , they’re the biggest things they own a job.

And like, when I’m hearing from you is you want them to own a business, scale it, grow it, and put the right people in place because they can see their dream come to fruition, correct?

Ryan Johnson: Absolutely. Yeah. That’s why they got into it is to see their vision and then they get to have the time freedom that they want and the financial freedom that they [00:16:00] want.

Because they own jobs if they’re not, you

L. Scott Ferguson: know, they’re just

Ryan Johnson: there, right? They just created a big old job for themselves.

L. Scott Ferguson: Question for you then Ryan, is Okay, I walk into I’m blessed to coach like two pretty big companies as a Sam, But when I first go in right because I was brought in I happened to speak on a stage and it was a stage side lead To go speak somewhere else and I did it and the guy that has the company Approached me and in It was like, okay, I’d love to have a talk with you whatnot.

So I coached him for an hour. He’s like, okay, yeah, let, let, let, let’s talk when he wanted to bring me onto his team, , in, in coaches company and again, I’m not a consultant, I’m a coach on that, , there’s that performance gap. You, I just helped bridge that a lot of things happen at home and I help them with that, , to bring them back to the office, they’re on point.

When you are in a fractional situation like me as a coach, so you have the owner or CEO and it goes down and I get a lot [00:17:00] of pushback from one of the people because they’re like, dude, what the hell is this guy doing here? , kind of thing. Okay, being a fractional, , COO, when you walk into these companies.

, me, if I work for the company, I would say this affectionately, Hey, part timer, , I would say something like that. Just joking with you. I’m not the guy that gives rep, but do you catch any flack from the full timers that are there because you’re in a leadership role, but you’re not. At the company as much just curious.

Ryan Johnson: Yeah, so from from my where i’m sitting right now I work with very small groups. So right now under 4 million annual gross revenue, , 5 to 15 employees that type of thing

L. Scott Ferguson: Okay,

Ryan Johnson: so so I don’t experience that what I experienced right now is oh, thank god Because because my I had a property management client was my first one And they were a couple buddies of mine and they brought me in and Initially thought they just needed the PMP manual and we get to talking and we’re like, no, you [00:18:00] need a COO.

Right. Like, oh, we, we can’t afford that. , what does that even look like? So we started having conversations and, and so I got to go in there and that’s what their management team was, was, was like they were so happy because they didn’t have the resources that they needed. Now, these. These, the co owners were amazing guys, but they were movers and shakers.

They were visionaries. They, they didn’t want to get bogged down in the weeds and they were in the weeds and they were miserable. And so when I came in, it was like a brush of breath of fresh air, not necessarily because it was me, but it was because, Oh, they care. They do care. They’re giving us a resource to hit our numbers and get our bonuses and all of this stuff.

So, so I don’t experience that now. Some, some fractionals that work with. Enterprise companies and bigger companies. Sure. I’m sure. Yeah. And , I’m sure that you, they would experience that. But if you, yeah, but for me, I, I focus on the, the small, the small business owner.

L. Scott Ferguson: No, that’s very good. As a fractional, are you allowed to be [00:19:00] contracted by multiple companies?

Let’s say you work as a fractional this company, fractional that company, as long as there’s no competing, , that’s right. But is that, do people do that? Yeah, that’s, that’s expected. Okay. Absolutely. So you can be a fractional of, , a X, Y, and Z, but ABC, but as long as they’re not both like builders, , you wouldn’t

Ryan Johnson: want, you wouldn’t want competitors.

You’re signing NDAs. You’re not giving away any secrets, , that sort of thing. You would just be able to advise better because you, you experience more situations. So I can come in and say, okay, this is how we did it over here. , again, non compete. So it wasn’t really. It doesn’t matter.

They wouldn’t care. And if I don’t sign an NDA, then that’s great, but I’m always going to protect any type of secret sauce. And everybody’s bound to that, , unspoken because this is our business. This is our livelihood. So we’re not here to pit, , people against one another, but yes, that’s, that’s the expectation.

L. Scott Ferguson: Okay.

Ryan Johnson: Gotcha.

L. Scott Ferguson: So If [00:20:00] I was kind of out at a networking event, right. And I’m hearing things that, , cause , again, God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason. Right. And believe me, I’m way more interested in your story than telling you about mine. But if I’m sitting there and I’m, , how networking events unfold, do you usually kind of like a one on ones?

 Okay, if I’m at a networking event Ryan and I’m just kind of wrapping with somebody on a one on one off to the side, Is there anything that they’re saying that would make them?

A good referral prospect or con contact for you Whether it’s now or maybe when you start to build out an agency, what am I hearing?

Ryan Johnson: Yeah, that’s good Yeah, they’re these these business owners are going to talk about they’re people not knowing what they’re supposed to do. They’re always coming to me they’re productivity is is down.

I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to inspire You [00:21:00] My workforce, , they’re saying stuff like that, or they’re, or they’re saying I, I hate operations. I know we need it. I just need somebody to handle that. , those types of things. All, all small business owners are going to be overwhelmed.

That’s, that’s typically my, my thing is I’m looking for overwhelmed business owners. Well, that’s pretty much all of them. So so that’s, that’s, that’s an initial trigger that goes, man, I’m just. Yeah. , I can’t even keep up with all these operations and I don’t have another executive leader help me.

So those types of things. Absolutely.

L. Scott Ferguson: Gotcha. Do they expect more from you than what your role is supposed to be? And if they do, how do you handle that? Meaning if you’re the COO. But they start talking, let’s just say something that’s not included in the COO’s role. Are they expecting you to know that or do you set the preface from the start and like, again, it just seems like a guy like you, I could come to you and if it’s not in your realm, you’re going to find a solution for me [00:22:00] anyways, not to listen to you to tell me what to do, but say, I know this guy or something like that.

Like, does that happen?

Ryan Johnson: Yeah. Yes and no, it certainly could happen. Yes. But what, what I do and. And any good fractional leader is going to do is come with their expectations up front. And they’re going to say Hey, this is what I do. And, and once we hear out the, the business owner, what they really need, because I’m not going to ever push myself on people I’m going to tell them, okay, no, you don’t need even a fractional COO right now.

You need an ops manager. You need a daily ops manager. So you need to go that route. And then when you need help, After that, once you get him, that him or her landed, then let me know. So, so I’m never going to do that. So I always come in and say, okay, this is what you need. This is what I do. And, and this matches or it doesn’t match.

So upfront I’m always happy to, to, to refer and connect. If they’re looking for [00:23:00] someone to do a bunch of tasks, then that’s going to be the manager. That’s an operations manager. So I would advise to, to go that

L. Scott Ferguson: route instead. So on the fractional side of things, are you really just a COO? Not just, but are you, is that your jam COO?

Is that what you do? That’s my main thing. Absolutely. But my

Ryan Johnson: other

L. Scott Ferguson: skill

Ryan Johnson: sets, and this is, I’m glad you asked. I was just going to say,

L. Scott Ferguson: because you come from a vacationed, ? Absolutely.

Ryan Johnson: Back backstory. So, absolutely. And so currently I have sales contracts, I have marketing contracts, I have development contracts.

And so that’s why I called it executive services. Love it. And so I have not only executive operations leadership, I have operations manager experience, I have sales recruitment , all sorts of different things that I can do. And so so, so yeah, I, I can do a lot of things. So the benefit is, is you bring me in, you actually are kind of like getting a chief marketing officer as well.

Right. Kind of like you’re getting a VP of sales, [00:24:00] sales as well. So it’s kind of a three in one for me. I’m a little bit of a unicorn to have an operations guy. That’s usually Pretty black and white to also be very creative and, and yeah,

L. Scott Ferguson: that’s awesome, man. So let me ask you something, right? Have you seen the movie back to the future?

Oh yeah. Okay. Let’s get Delorey with Marty McFly. Now let’s go back to the double deuce. The 22 year old Ryan. Don’t change anything because God’s path is God’s path. But is there any knowledge nuggets that you might drop on him to maybe shorten a learning curve a little bit, or maybe blast through maybe just a little bit quicker?

Ryan Johnson: Yes, absolutely. Focus on others first. Really, really look to serve people when we’re young, we’re looking for what life has to offer us. Right. Right. And If I could, if I could know how how your network, how a, how a group of friends and a network can support one another. If I, if I would have [00:25:00] learned that a long time ago, I think I would have, I was blessed with some really good coaches.

, my mentor coach at Lyon College, Kirk Kelly was awesome. And he was all about, Hey, you give, and you give, and you serve, and you serve. And he was all about leaning into the network not for, Just what it would be for, for me, but what I could be for others. Win win situations. So don’t be selfish.

Don’t, , that I would tell myself things will happen. The Lord’s got a sovereign plan he’s executing, but he wants you to serve. So go serve and don’t worry about so much about your life and what, what’s going to happen.

L. Scott Ferguson: Okay. About this, then

Ryan Johnson: I’m going to play the advocate or

L. Scott Ferguson: what are they called?

Devil’s whatever devil’s advocate. Yeah, there you go. But. So as Christians, again, I was raised very southern baptism, very strict. Okay. Mm-Hmm? . Yeah. Fire and brimstone, ? Yeah. It’s, it is what? It’s Mm-Hmm. . Okay. And that’s when I kinda ran away from the Lord when I was in war or in the military, ?

Yeah. So it was like I [00:26:00] had found my own plan at that time. Mm-Hmm. . Now we’re not taught, at least how I was raised in the faith is like reciprocation is almost bad, like receiving, like, and I have a lot of clients. That have a hard time. They give, give, give till it hurts. So good. Right. But , they have a hard time receiving for me.

I have to, like, I have a plant in my office or I’m blessed to coach people at the beach and be like, listen, man, what do we breathe in like oxygen? Right. What do we breathe out? Carbon dioxide was a plant breathing in carbon dioxide, breathes out oxygen. I asked him, does that plan have a choice? It doesn’t have a choice.

So with you, I have to ask you, are you good at receiving as you are a giving?

Ryan Johnson: That’s a great question. Not as good me neither Brother, i’m not either. Yeah, because when you’re when you’re a doer and you’re Goal oriented and high achiever at type a personality. Like I am. Yep. We prideful , we, we struggle with pride and we struggle [00:27:00] with image and saying, hey, I’ve got it.

I don’t need anybody’s help. I’ve got it. But I want to help you. So why would, Why would anybody else want to be helped, , if I’m not willing to be helped. And so I’m actually learning that entrepreneurial journey right

L. Scott Ferguson: now. Oh yeah. I might, I have to be reminded all the time, brother. Like listen, Ferg, like.

Yeah, take this. Yeah, I’ll be like, no, no, I’m good. I’m good. And it’s not meaning like, I’m too good. I’ll be like, I’m good. I’m good. But like, no, like, even at like, I enjoy Cabo, it’s a, it’s a route, it’s a drink, whatever. And they always are like, Hey, man, have a Cabo with me. And, , and I’m like, no, no, man, I’m good.

Like, sit down. Like the guy that owns the place. Was on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and he has that New York like I’m like, okay But it was like god put him there as a reminder be like dude, you need to receive too , it’s I was just curious to ask you that question So right, how do you want your dash remembered that little line in between your incarnation date and your expiration date life date and death?

Day, hopefully it’s way down long because this world needs [00:28:00] you. Okay Yeah, but how do you want your dasher

Ryan Johnson: number? That’s good. Actually, we actually talk about this in my men’s discipleship group that I facilitate that, that I love that. So thank you for that. Yeah, I want to be remembered as, as someone that, that truly, truly cares for others and really has their best interest in mind so much that they’re willing to risk the relationship.

to tell them about the good news of Jesus or anything else that I’m doing in my business, or somebody else is doing in their business. And I want to be genuine. I want people to think, man, he was authentic. He was genuine. He wasn’t trying to chase the dollar. He wasn’t just trying to take advantage of people because really these days you really don’t know there.

I mean, people could put on a amazing act. I was great at that brother. I was really good at that.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah. , you’re losing your house. I’ll, I’ll, I’ll negotiate with the bank and instead of getting them into credit restoration, I mean, I would get them out of [00:29:00] foreclosure, right. But I didn’t do what I really could have did.

Right. And so I was that guy.

Ryan Johnson: Yeah. And so that’s, that’s what I want to be, be known for just just a child of God and an authentic person. I love that.

L. Scott Ferguson: I love it. that. I mean, what do you think people might misunderstand the most about writing?

Ryan Johnson: Yeah, that’s a, man, I don’t know if I’ve ever thought about that.

So probably I can be stoic at times. I could be really stoic. So I think that they might think, I think early on in my life, my life, people did think I was stuck up and too good. For people, but inside I was scared to death. That’s why I didn’t talk, , I was scared to death and couldn’t talk to girls even until almost late into my high school years.

, I was afraid of what everybody thought of me. That’s what drove me so hard to be the best. Cause I was like, I don’t want to fail. I don’t want people to think I’m an idiot, , all these things. So I think I [00:30:00] can be misunderstood in that way, maybe a little too harsh at times because I can get really intense as a, as a former coach.

I was just going to say, you’re still a competitor. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. That’s

L. Scott Ferguson: cool.

Ryan Johnson: Yeah. That’s why we have,

L. Scott Ferguson: we

Ryan Johnson: have scoreboards in our businesses. We got to know if we’re winning or losing today. We’re going to win the championship. So, so I have to really temper my, even my look. Sometimes my wife will say, don’t look at me that way.

I’m like, what, what, what look, what look, , so I can be very intense and sometimes come across as a, as, as not caring. And so, so I’ve learned that I have to. Go over

L. Scott Ferguson: the top. You and I are so like, I, I speak a lot, my agent that, that books all my stuff. She, , she’ll show up at some of the stuff and we have this cue where she’ll be like, especially at my big events, , soft, because I’ll have that like thousand mile stare.

Like it’s game time. And I always have a trampoline wherever I’m. About to speak and I’m always on it. And I just have that look. She’s like, by the time you get off that trampoline, [00:31:00] wipe that look off. It’s soft. , I’m like, I’m really probably the same way. Cause , it’s, it’s time, and I still compete at 52 years old and submission grappling and I I’ve got to like, I’m just, cause I want to, , keep going, , that’s awesome.

So what is Ryan’s definition of a life well lived?

Ryan Johnson: How many, how many people I was able to impact? How many, how many people that I was able to, now I say this very loosely because I don’t save anybody. Thank you. So thank you. Thank

L. Scott Ferguson: you.

Ryan Johnson: Yeah. So, but. That’s the only thing we can, that’s the only thing that’s counted at the end of our lives.

Again, not as a performance for us, but that’s the only thing we can take with us or other people’s souls. So I want to put, I want to put my, my work into that houses, money, savings, accounts, fame, all that stuff burns up in the end. Yeah. Yeah. So people are all that matter. So love people well and love them [00:32:00] to Jesus.

Don’t beat them over the head with the Bible.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yes. Thank you, brother. It’s like, I am like, I’m blessed to have a Saturday night services here at Christ Fellowship. Right. And it’s like, it’s nice because I can get guys to go with me. Like you guys can go do whatever you want after I’m not a drinker, whatever.

I mean, I’m don’t judge, but I just don’t, , I just, , I was raised around alcohol and just, , with, with regards to one side of my family, but like they go with me and then they’re like, Ferg, we go on next week. I’m like, man, so we, , I get like 10, 15 guys going now on Saturday nights.

No, we might go off for a nice dinner or if it’s college football season, being here in South Florida, you have people from everywhere. So go catching the games and stuff like that. I’m glad to hear that you’re doing that, man. That that’s fantastic. Time to shine today. Podcast varsity squad. We are back in Ryan. I’d love to get you here to Florida for a long weekend or something. I have to find you a speaking engagement or something. Talk about a few of these questions, maybe at length over, , a burger here or, , something. [00:33:00] But today you have five seconds with no explanations.

I promise you, they can all be answered that way. You’re ready to level up. All right. Ryan, what is the best loving leveling up advice Ryan’s ever received? Serve first. Yeah. Share one of your personal habits that contributes to your success.

Ryan Johnson: Oh, rising early and a great calendar. My man. Yes. Yes.

L. Scott Ferguson: So you see me kind of walk down the street, , I’m in my doldrums.

Like Fergie looks like he’s in his doldrums a little bit. Other than the good book, what book have you read? That’s really made a shift in your mindset.

Ryan Johnson: Oh man. That’s so good. There’s so many of them. My, my buddies, the Benham brothers expert ownership.

L. Scott Ferguson: Donnie, write that down, please. Awesome.

Thank you. You’re most commonly used emoji when you text, if any. Smiley

Ryan Johnson: the, the, the laughing laughing so, so hard you’re crying face. Love it. Love it. Nicknames growing up. I’m sorry? Nicknames growing up. Yeah. [00:34:00] Our Rhino actually after Ryan Sandberg and then RJ.

L. Scott Ferguson: Yeah. Best second baseman ever. And I’m saying that above my Lou Whittaker from Detroit, but yeah, Ryan Sandberg is the best.

Yeah. Any hidden talent and or superpower that you have that nobody knows about until now?

Ryan Johnson: Yard work. I’m a great landscaper and

L. Scott Ferguson: Boeing.

Ryan Johnson: Yeah.

L. Scott Ferguson: Chess checkers are monopoly. Monopoly. Yeah. Headline for your life.

Ryan Johnson: Oh, man. Oh, love. God loves people. I love go to ice cream flavor. Oh, man. Cookie dough.

That’s a good

L. Scott Ferguson: jam right there. It’s

Ryan Johnson: a flair, but we’re putting it. Oh, it

L. Scott Ferguson: is. Yeah. So go. Okay. There’s sandwich called the rhino. Build that sandwich for me. What’s on it. Okay. Yeah. See if you’re really friends. No, I’m kidding. No, but what’s on that sandwich.

Ryan Johnson: Yeah. Yeah. So we’ve got smoked Turkey. I mean, we got mozzarella, [00:35:00] we’ve got all the fixings, , the lettuce, the tomatoes, the stuff, some sort of a sweet and spicy sauce on it.

Yep. Definitely hanging out in toasted bun, breaded, toasted bun and just piled high bacon.

L. Scott Ferguson: I was just dude, if you leave out man candy, I’m just going to have to say we have an issue. That’s awesome, brother. That’s awesome. Any favorite charity and or organization you like to give your time and or money to?

Ryan Johnson: Yeah, got a lot, but we’ll start with go with the the ministry center here in Conway. Okay. That is it administers to our homeless and and the people that need jobs, that do an amazing job. So that’s, that’s one for sure. I have so many, but we’ll do that one. So it’s ministry center in Conway, Conway, Arkansas.

L. Scott Ferguson: You guys take donations online at all. Absolutely. Okay. Yeah. Ministry center. org. Perfect. Excellent. Excellent. Last question. We can elaborate on this one a little bit, but what is the best decade of music? 60s, seventies, eighties or nineties. Ooh, 80s for sure, right? Can I ask your age? [00:36:00] 48. Okay. So we’re same.

Yeah, we’re Xers. Yeah. I love it man. You’re, what are you, what’s your age? 52. 52. Yeah. So like we’re right there. You would’ve been probably a frothy when I was a senior. Yep. You had to carry my bat bag. I’m kidding. . Yep. All stuff you remember those days, brother. Love it man. Love it. So. Ryan, how can we find you my friend?

Ryan Johnson: Yeah, my website three sparrows es. So the number three sparrows es. com. And then you can connect, they can connect with me on LinkedIn through the website there. Love it. And

L. Scott Ferguson: the ES is executive services, correct? Right. That’s right. Yes. Okay. Beautiful. And tell us a little bit about your framework that you’re offering, which there’ll be a link in every show note and everywhere squad.

Ryan Johnson: Yeah, that’s great. Yeah. 3SparrowsES. com slash framework. And so this framework is my 3P system that I, that I lead from. So people, processes, and productivity. So it’ll give, give our listeners a PDF. Downloadable [00:37:00] with no deposit of their email address, completely free. And go get this PDF. It’s explains the people side, kind of my definition of why people processes and productivity are important to small business, and then gives a assessment, a very high level.

Easy assessment. They just kind of check off the boxes to see if they need an executive leader or kind of to show them where they are as far as their people training and, and that sort of thing too. So that’s completely free. And then at the bottom of the document, if they want to schedule a free strategy session, then they can reach out to me.

They can click the button and schedule a session with me for free. Oh, that’s beautiful. Is it for somebody that is it for companies that are really. And again, it can lean a couple different ways from what I’m hearing. I’m going to check it out. But is it for companies that are looking to really stop being owning a job and get their, , people process and productivity going?

L. Scott Ferguson: Or is it for [00:38:00] people that are doing what you do to find places? Oh, I gotcha.

Ryan Johnson: Yeah. Good question. Good clarifying question. So this is, these are, this is for business owners that, that yes, that are struggling in their business to scale up and they need to find out where they are and what to do next.

L. Scott Ferguson: Beautiful. Excellent, man. Thanks for clarifying. And last thing, please leave us with one last knowledge nugget we can take with us internalize and take action.

Ryan Johnson: Okay. Well, I hate to be a, , a broken record here, but just, yeah, if, if we can, if we can lead with A servant leadership attitude work on that every day, level up, as you would say, level up in your leadership every day, because everybody has influence.

And that’s the most important thing is people will listen to you and to, and to want to be friends with you, no matter your differing views. I think today is tolerance is There is no tolerance today. If, if, if you disagree with somebody, you just hate [00:39:00] them, right? Like let’s disagree to agree to disagree if we need to, but let’s just, let’s just let’s just be great servant leaders and level up to that every day.

That’s beautiful, man.

L. Scott Ferguson: And that’s what it’s about in squad. I just said, again, more education on about what fractional means in the business world. But this gentleman like even takes it to the next level, , including that servant leadership, , we’re both unabashedly God loving, , human beings here.

, he started in athletes in action, Ryan did, , and he, he played at high levels. He started realizing though, that service is the key. To everything. That’s what I talk about. Even with my coaching clients, my friends, , Ryan and I are both kind of in that silverback time of our life where we’re not young, but we’re not old, so we get a lot of people coming to us and we’re so happy to pour into whether it’s God, whether it’s knowledge that we have, , he found out that his identity thought was baseball, but , God had different plans for him, shook him, shook him up a little bit, introduced him to a fantastic [00:40:00] woman.

And, and he took her child in and this. Ryan is just a fantastic person that reminds the God, , he provides in great ways, , in ways that you’re not even waiting for. You just have to listen for it. I mean, that’s why I talk a lot about prayer and meditation out there squad. It’s like God’s voice is silence.

He’s putting it out there to you just have to be listening for it. And to get to the business side of things, , fractional is, a fractional person in a business. Is kind of part time, but they’re on the leadership team, but it also will cost about a third of the cost of hiring someone full time.

So think about that. If you’re a business owner, that’s really owning a job. Okay. And if it’s comes into the COO part of it, please let me make a warm introduction to my good Ryan, good friend Ryan. Cause if he’s not the right horse for the course, he probably will know somebody else, or at least put you in touch with resources to get you there.

So stop owning. A job, start running your [00:41:00] business, , in focus on others. First, Ryan, Ryan, give us that, , give, give, give until it hurts. So good, but also be open to that, , reciprocation is God does want to give it to you. All right. He’s going to be remembered as somebody that slid across home plate metaphorically and kind of realistically, , but people realize that he gave everything of himself.

, and he had other people’s interests in mind. I mean, my guy does things for the intention, not the attention. I don’t see him on social saying, look at me. I’m this fractional dude, rah, rah, no, he does things and he really pours into where he’s at in that present moment. I mean, my guy, Ryan’s here is planting trees.

He’s never going to sit in the shade of, , he wants to impact more and more people every day. And to remember lead with a servant leadership attitude, make it part of your daily protocol. Okay. Get to praying, get to that silence, that God’s voice and let him out there. And that’s what my good friend Ryan does.

He levels up his health. He levels up as well. He’s a handsome [00:42:00] devil and he’s earned his varsity squad letter here at time to shine today. Not that you need another letter, but Hey, yeah, I got it. You earned another one, man. Thank you so much for coming on, brother. I absolutely love your guts.

Ryan Johnson: Yes, Scott.

This is a blessing and thanks for, thanks for the varsity letter, man. That’s we’ll chat soon. Ryan. All right.

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