Bigger Than Business

How can you shed 60% of your client base and still grow? How can a CPA take time off right before April 15, a notorious deadline in the industry, while others are sweating and working overtime? How can setting boundaries with your clients lead to a prosperous, more holistic business?

 Listen as our guest, Jackie Meyer, tells us how she built her own practice after being fired for having too much of an entrepreneurial mind-set, what attributes led to her becoming a much sought-after consultant on best practices, and how what she calls Meraki Leadership leads to a fulfilling life in both work and at home.

Jackie Meyer leads Meyer Tax Consulting, a team of top-tier talent across the US, that specializes in Tax Strategies Planning, Business Development and Leadership Coaching programs for a high return on investment. Jackie also founded TaxPlanIQ, a tax firm planning application that helps with calculations, planning and organization, and she has pledged to dedicate ten percent of the profits to charity this year. Jackie, a CPA, Certified Concierge Accountant, and a Certified Tax Specialist, is a member of the Forbes Finance Council and has written several published articles for Forbes, which can be found online. She earned a BBA Finance from the University of Texas at Arlington, a Master of Science in Accounting from Southern Methodist University, and is currently working on a Doctorate of Strategic Leadership at Regent University. Jackie is married to Mark, and they live in Southlake, Texas, with their two children.

Bigger Than Business is the show where you’ll discover real-world stories of business owners living their purpose. You’ll encounter men and women all over the world who draw strength from understanding why they do what they do and how they remain true to that purpose through the ups and downs every business owner will face.

www.thecapitalchartroom.com

How do you combine four very different personalities into a leadership team working toward a common goal? What kind of resolve does it take to make changes to a strategy that is already working? Listen as our guest, Joseph Ferrell, shares with us how his company made surprising decisions on change, why “culture eats strategy for breakfast,” and why every leader needs people who will speak unfiltered truth into their life and organization to spur continued success. 

Joseph Ferrell built his career as a project manager at two other firms before going to work at Building Engineering-Consultants, Inc., a building envelope consulting company that specializes in preventing and repairing water intrusion in commercial buildings.  In 2007, when BE-CI decided to expand to Houston, Texas, their first expansion out of their Destin, FL, headquarters, they hired Joseph for his expertise related to design, project management, and on-site quality assurance. Only six years later, Joseph was invited to become a member of BE-CI’s Board of Directors and invited to buy in as a partner. In 2019, Joseph became Chief Executive Officer. Joseph has a bachelor’s degree in Ocean Engineering from Texas A&M University and is a member of C-12, a Christian business leadership development and business coaching group. He and his wife, Jill, live in the Cypress, Texas, area with their two children. 

How can recognizing the need to pivot your plans lead to a bigger sense of purpose? How can facing the reality that you are better off partnering with others, rather than going it alone, build greater success?

How can recognizing the need to pivot your plans lead to a bigger sense of purpose? How can facing the reality that you are better off partnering with others, rather than going it alone, build greater success? Listen as our guest shares with us how following a highly successful career as a leader in the Air Force, he built a real estate business that serves the community through housing in what he calls the “second mile,” and also helps others reclaim their time to pursue their life’s passion.

Lane Beene has accomplished two professional dreams so far in his lifetime: He became an Air Force fighter pilot, eventually becoming a Lt. Colonel, and he founded a real estate business which eventually led to investing in and restoring distressed multifamily properties with a vision to help these housing communities and their tenants flourish.  Lane’s core business values are: Think Big, Love people through housing, and something he calls the 2nd Mile Effort. Lane earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1991 from the United States Air Force Academy, and a Master of Business Administration from Sul Ross State University in 1997. Lane and his wife, Dana, life in Crowley, Texas, and have two children in college.

How important are a company’s values to its growth and success? What can a business owner do to ensure their team buys in to the company culture and lives those values daily? And how can you take them even further and affect a community in need? Listen as our guest, Stacey Pearson, shares with us how he perpetuates the company values his family created, and how his business relationships help provide for the unique foundation he and his sister started in honor of their older brother.

Stacey Pearson joined the family business, Pearson Air Construction, in 2000 and purchased it from his uncle in 2012. In 2008, Stacey and his sister, Leslie, started The Gregg Pearson Foundation in honor of their older brother who died in 2003 after an 11-year struggle with brain cancer. The Foundation helps cancer patients with financial needs other than medical, like house, utility, and car payments, as well as provide spiritual and emotional support to impacted families and friends. Stacey’s role as the foundation’s President focuses on fundraising, event planning, and the ministry’s purpose. Stacey has a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing and Management from Abilene Christian University. He and his wife, Paige, a photographer, have three children and live in Trophy Club, Texas.

Bigger Than Business is the show where you’ll discover real-world stories of business owners living their purpose. You’ll encounter men and women all over the world who draw strength from understanding why they do what they do and how they remain true to that purpose through the ups and downs every business owner will face.

www.thecapitalchartroom.com

How can being involved in organizations during your youth prepare you for unexpected events in your business future? Where do you turn for advice when you feel overwhelmed by responsibility, and you are having to learn as you go? And when personal tragedy strikes, how can the planning of one individual transform entire communities? Listen as our guest shares with us how he helped a family empire weather the storms of state and global downturns through the decades, and how a parent’s worst nightmare transformed into a legacy that fulfills the dreams of others in remote areas of the globe.

Bio: Larry Bell started out as a young CPA from New Mexico before he moved to Texas when he married Ellen, who was part of a well-known ranching family. Together, Ellen and Larry own Parks Bell Ranch and Kalpowar Quarter Horses. Larry serves as president and board member of the Amy Bell Charities, as well as the Ellen and Larry Bell Foundation. He also serves or has served on numerous boards, and he has held officer positions for other foundations and organizations, including the Beal Foundation, the National Reined Cow Horse Association, Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Arthritis Foundation, Boys Club, First Presbyterian Church Midland, and the American Quarter Horse Association Foundation Council – just to name a few! Larry was inducted into the NRCHA Hall of Merit in 2017, and he has won several awards. Larry and Ellen just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and split their time between the ranch in Parker County and a home in Fort Worth, Texas. They have three children, Matthew, Brian, and Amy, and four grandchildren.

Bigger Than Business is the show where you’ll discover real-world stories of business owners living their purpose. You’ll encounter men and women all over the world who draw strength from understanding why they do what they do and how they remain true to that purpose through the ups and downs every business owner will face. www.thecapitalchartroom.com

How can following your instincts when presented with the challenges of new strategy, new technology, and inequality in the workplace create an opportunity that transforms the business landscape of a city? How can collaboration take you further than sole pursuits and grow your business exponentially? And how can you take what you’ve built and do even more for others? Listen as our guest shares with us how she went from a respected teaching career to fearless entrepreneurship, fighting through decades of chauvinism and constantly evolving technology to become one of the most influential women in the state, changing attitudes and providing opportunities for women in Texas and beyond.

Valerie Freeman grew up in Houston, Texas, and became a teacher at El Centro College in Dallas, Texas, where she wrote the first curriculum and taught the first classes that trained people to use word processing technology. In 1982, Valerie started a business called WordTemps to train and place people into technology jobs, which eventually became Imprimis Group. In 1985, she founded the Dallas chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners. Valerie and three partners started Texas Women’s Ventures in 2005, the first venture firm that invested solely in women-owned businesses, and have just completed their third fund, raising and investing $20M. Valerie also help found ANSERTEAM, a woman-owned national staffing firm. She has been honored as one of the 25 most influential women in business by the Dallas Business Journal, is a Former Girl Scout Woman of Distinction awardee, and received the Athena Award from the Dallas Regional Chamber of Commerce. Valerie has earned places in the Dallas Business Hall of Fame, Tech Titans Hall of Fame, and the Women’s Business Enterprise Hall of Fame.  Valerie has Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in business education from the University of Houston, and currently lives in Dallas, Texas, with her husband, her college sweetheart.

Bigger Than Business is the show where you’ll discover real-world stories of business owners living their purpose. You’ll encounter men and women all over the world who draw strength from understanding why they do what they do and how they remain true to that purpose through the ups and downs every business owner will face. www.thecapitalchartroom.com

How can companies struggling with an employment landscape that is “opportunity long and talent short” attract future team members for the long haul? How can nurturing an emotional connection for your existing team to your company’s values position your company to attain the best, right-fit employees? What are the differences between Millennials and Generation Z, coming out of colleges today, and how can understanding those differences give you an edge in your talent management strategy? Listen as our guest shares with us how developing an intellectual and emotional connection to our organizations will help attract and retain employees at all stages of their careers, and how valuing your existing team in ways that turn them into ambassadors willing to help recruit the employees you need will build a better future for all.

Bio: Daniel Pullin is dean of Texas Christian University’s Neeley School of Business, and former dean of the Michael F. Price College of Business at the University of Oklahoma.  Prior to his career in higher education, Daniel worked at McKinsey & Company, a global consulting firm, Hicks Muse Tate & Furst, a leading private equity fund, and served as a vice president for Home Interiors & Gifts.  Daniel, a licensed attorney, has served on multiple boards and coalitions, and has won teaching awards several years in a row. Daniel earned undergraduate degrees in accounting and finance from the University of Oklahoma, an MBA from Harvard Business School, and a juris doctorate from the University of Oklahoma. He and his wife, Tamara, have two sons and live in Fort Worth, Texas.

Bigger Than Business is the show where you’ll discover real-world stories of business owners living their purpose. You’ll encounter men and women all over the world who draw strength from understanding why they do what they do and how they remain true to that purpose through the ups and downs every business owner will face.

www.thecapitalchartroom.com

How important is a succession plan to your company’s health? What are the challenges to putting one into place? How can business owners and founders step outside of their egos, face the idea of being replaced, and ask the hard questions on future leadership? Listen as our return guest, Phil Clemens, shares why every leader should create a succession plan long before they intend to hand over the reins, how taking time to determine the different, necessary skills to take the business to the next level in the future is crucial to the life of the business, and how the mindset of retiring TO something, not FROM something, can help leadership transition smoothly. 

Bio: Phil Clemens began his career on the clean-up crew of the family business, Hatfield Quality Meats, and worked his way up to be the CEO of the company. Over the decades, he worked in all areas of the family business, with 20 of those years in Human Resources and seven as CEO and President of the legacy business, now known as The Clemens Food Group. Phil retired from The Clemens Food Group in 2015 as Chairman and now serves as an ambassador to family businesses throughout the country, as well as being a national speaker on family business issues and teaching leadership skills. Phil currently serves and has served on numerous boards such as Crown Financial Ministries, North American Meat Institute, Eden Bridge Foundation, Profit Sharing Council of America, and American Red Cross. He has received many awards in the meat industry, as well as community service awards, and has honorary doctorates from Lancaster Bible College and Elizabethtown College. Phil and his wife Linda live in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and have three daughters and seven grandsons.

Bigger Than Business is the show where you’ll discover real-world stories of business owners living their purpose. You’ll encounter men and women all over the world who draw strength from understanding why they do what they do and how they remain true to that purpose through the ups and downs every business owner will face.

www.thecapitalchartroom.com

Phil Clemens began his career on the clean-up crew of the family business, Hatfield Quality Meats, and worked his way up to be the CEO of the company. Over the decades, he worked in all areas of the family business, with 20 of those years in Human Resources and seven as CEO and President of the legacy business, now known as The Clemens Food Group. Listen as Phil shares how and why his family engaged in the challenging transformation of being a Family Business to being a Business Family and restructured the company’s governance by the owners, the Board, and management to ensure the company would continue to thrive into the sixth generation of leadership, a very rare feat in today’s marketplace!

Phil Clemens retired from The Clemens Food Group in 2015 as Chairman and now serves as an ambassador to family businesses throughout the country, as well as being a national speaker on family business issues and teaching leadership skills. Phil currently serves and has served on numerous boards such as Crown Financial Ministries, North American Meat Institute, Eden Bridge Foundation, Profit Sharing Council of America, and American Red Cross. He has received many awards in the meat industry, as well as community service awards, and has honorary doctorates from Lancaster Bible College and Elizabethtown College. Phil and his wife Linda live in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and have three daughters and seven grandsons.

Bigger Than Business is the show where you’ll discover real-world stories of business owners living their purpose. You’ll encounter men and women all over the world who draw strength from understanding why they do what they do and how they remain true to that purpose through the ups and downs every business owner will face.

www.thecapitalchartroom.com

Ty Smith founded Exline Capital, a commercial real estate investment company, after experiencing many facets of the industry as a project manager, an analyst, a dealmaker, and even a ranch manager. Taking that experience and combining it with a desire to build something himself, Ty and Exline work with investors in what he calls the “middle market” in real estate’s four core food groups: office, industrial, multi-family, and retail. Ty initially built the company through one-off investments to build a track record, and in 2018, he pivoted to focus on fund management as the core business. Six years later, Exline has invested in projects exceeding $1.2 billion in multiple states. Listen as Ty shares how and why he started a business under strained circumstances and how finding your niche and staying the course can lead to achieving your ambitions.

Ty Smith, founder and Principal of Exline Capital, has experience in multiple areas of the commercial real estate industry including new construction development, historic redevelopment, public private partnerships, value-add acquisition and stabilized acquisition projects. Ty received his Master’s degree in Real Estate and Construction Management from The University of Denver and earned his Bachelor’s degree from Texas Christian University. Ty, his wife, Natalie, and their children live in Fredericksburg, Texas.

Bigger Than Business is the show where you’ll discover real-world stories of business owners living their purpose. You’ll encounter men and women all over the world who draw strength from understanding why they do what they do and how they remain true to that purpose through the ups and downs every business owner will face.

 www.thecapitalchartroom.com