31st October 2025
Inspire Club Podcast: EP #33 – Joanna Parsons
Our latest Inspire Club Podcast guest is Joanna Parsons — CEO of The Curious Route, Dublin-based internal communications consultancy and author of Innovative Internal Communication (Kogan Page).
Joanna talks to host Matt Manners about the leaders who have shaped her — for better and worse. From an empathetic manager who led through curiosity and listening, to a bullying boss who became her lifelong reminder of how not to lead. As Joanna says, “She’s always been my north star of how not to behave. I just do the opposite.”
That philosophy informs her belief in humility, curiosity, and kindness as essential leadership traits. She shares how her purpose has always been to help others — from campaigning with Amnesty International as a teen to helping communicators thrive today.
There’s wisdom too in her favourite piece of advice, from a senior colleague early in her career: “Go and make a nuisance of yourself.” Joanna explains how that permission to take initiative opened doors that waiting never could.
They also explore what the modern workplace needs most — basic human kindness — and the power of simple gratitude, sleep and doing nothing to restore creativity.
Authentic, relatable and full of heart, this episode reminds us that great leaders listen, care and lift others up.
