Disruptive Influence: The Business Storytelling & Brand Communication Podcast
If you know what you do but struggle to talk about it in a way that lands - this podcast is for you.
Most founders, creators, and leaders have the expertise…but not the story, clarity, or communication skills to express it with confidence, conviction, and influence.
Disruptive Influence is the storytelling, communication, and executive presence podcast for founders, solopreneurs, and LinkedIn-era leaders who want to communicate with more clarity and power - in meetings, in pitches, in content, and in everyday conversations.
Learn how to:
- turn lived experience into clear, compelling stories
- communicate with clarity, confidence, and executive presence
- build a strong POV that attracts the right people
- sell your ideas, your value, and your vision with conviction
- unlock the mindset shifts behind real influence and high-performance communication
Hosted by Jeff Abracen - executive storytelling coach, former agency VP, Creative Director, and creator of the Disruptive Influence™ system - each episode reveals how exceptional thinkers shape narratives, build presence, and communicate in ways that create opportunity.
Through a mix of solo tactical episodes and deep conversations with founders and creators who are disrupting and influencing their industries in their own way, you’ll learn how real leaders think, speak, and tell stories that move people.
If you're building a company, growing a personal brand on LinkedIn, leading a team, or simply want to communicate with more confidence and conviction - this podcast gives you the tools and perspective shifts to become the most influential person in the room.
➞ Subscribe and learn how to tell stories that sell - and speak with clarity, confidence, and conviction.
➞ Connect with Jeff Abracen on LinkedIn to continue the conversation.
Disruptive Influence: The Business Storytelling & Brand Communication Podcast
Selling Without the Ick: The Psychology of Helping People Decide with Alli Rizacos
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What if selling wasn’t about convincing someone to choose you - but helping them confidently make the right decision?
In this episode of the Disruptive Influence Podcast, Jeff Abracen speaks with Alli Rizacos about selling with more structure, confidence and humanity - without the pressure, manipulation or ick traditionally associated with sales.
Alli explains why buyers need three things before they are ready to act: awareness of the real problem, enough urgency to change and trust that you can help them solve it.
They explore why your content might not actually be the problem, how imposter syndrome creates awkward sales conversations and why ethical selling means diagnosing before prescribing - even when that means directing someone away from your offer.
Alli also reveals the systems beneath her seemingly casual approach, including personally messaging event registrants, qualifying people before they buy and testing offers in the market before building them.
In this episode:
• Why selling is really about helping people make decisions
• The three conditions buyers need before they act
• How to diagnose the real problem beneath the symptoms
• Why your content might not be the actual issue
• The difference between a “bruise” and a “broken bone” problem
• How imposter syndrome makes sales conversations uncomfortable
• Why personal attention can outperform automation
• How systems make sales more repeatable and predictable
• Why you should sell and test an offer before fully building it
• How to use the language your buyers are already using
• Why new entrepreneurs should begin with a market need - not only their passion
Chapters
00:00 – Stop overcomplicating the sales conversation
00:47 – What does good selling look like in 2026?
03:10 – Stop selling and start helping people decide
10:27 – The three things every buyer needs before acting
16:00 – Diagnose before you prescribe
22:10 – Ethical selling, commitment and client results
28:26 – Success, pressure and moving the goalposts
30:16 – Why your energy and capacity affect your business
35:19 – Building repeatable and predictable sales systems
37:32 – The personal DM strategy most people overlook
42:17 – How imposter syndrome creates awkward selling
47:13 – Testing your offer in the real market
51:45 – Using the language your buyers actually use
57:12 – Solve the market problem before chasing your passion
About Alli Rizacos
Alli Rizacos is a sales coach and former corporate sales leader who helps coaches, consultants and service-based entrepreneurs create structured, repeatable sales systems without losing their personality.
Drawing on her experience in enterprise sales and her fascination with buyer psychology, Alli teaches entrepreneurs how to clarify their market, strengthen their offers, start better conversations and help buyers make confident decisions—without manipulative tactics or performative sales personas.
About the Disruptive Influence Podcast
Hosted by Jeff Abracen, Communication Coach & Advisor, and former agency Vice President, Creative Director, The Disruptive Influence Podcast explores how founders, leaders and creative thinkers use communication, storytelling and unconventional ideas to earn attention, build trust and inspire action.
Connect with Jeff Abracen on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffabracen/]
If you are or know a disruptive influencer who would make a great guest, we'd love to hear from you.
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Cover art by Daniel Devoy
Music by Stephen Voyce
©2024-2026 The Disruptive Influence Podcast - Jeff Abracen