Building Excellence

#130: Anne Beiler is the founder of Auntie Anne’s Pretzels. Many of you already know of Auntie Anne’s from walking through malls, airports, and stores all over the world where you can smell the amazing scent of their pretzels from a mile away. Auntie Anne’s has over 2,000 locations in 26 different countries.

Anne began twisting pretzels in 1987 to support her husbands vision of offering free counseling services in their community. What started as a single farmers market stand grew into Auntie Annes pretzels, the worlds largest hand-rolled soft pretzel franchise. Anne’s journey towards success began many years before she rolled her first pretzel when she and her husband experienced any parents worst nightmare, losing a child. Out of her pain came purpose and the desire to persevere towards personal and professional success. Anne is among an elite group of women who have founded national companies in America and is among an even smaller group that has owned an international franchise company. She was named one of America’s 500 Women Entrepreneurs by Working Women & Entrepreneur of the Year by Inc. Magazine.

More than just the business success though, her story of overcoming despair, abuse, depression, and trauma is incredible. On the show Anne shares how she found hope and overcame tremendously difficult life circumstances to help others find purpose and light in their own life. This is one of the most impactful stories I’ve ever heard.

Also, Anne just released a new cookbook Come to the Table, so if you want to cook like Auntie Anne be sure to check out the link in the bio.

To find out more about Anne check out annebeiler.com and all social media platforms, as well as more of her books such as Overcome and Lead, The Secret Lies Within, & Twist of Faith.

Enjoy the show!

#129: Steve Irby is the founder and CEO of KICKER/Stillwater Designs. 

In 1973, KICKER's Livin' Loud legacy began as a two-man operation, hand-building professional-speaker systems in a narrow one-car garage. With very few resources and an intense love for music Steve invented the mobile-stereo enclosure market from his Stillwater, Oklahoma community, when he developed the Original KICKER. It was the first full frequency-range speaker box designed specifically for cars and trucks. From that historic moment, delivering concert-like audio quality across a wide volume range with renowned bass and accurate sound has always been the KICKER way.

The Original KICKER was made for use behind the seat in pickup trucks, and at the time thousands of the vehicles rolled along Oklahoma roads due to a recent oil boom. Because Steve had already been making a living designing and building the larger P.A. speakers, he literally overdesigned the much smaller Original KICKER. It produced a ton of bass, and when customers had it installed, heard it, and felt the enormous rumble through their truck seat, they said it “really kicked.”

Today KICKER products are currently sold by approximately 1,200 authorized dealers in the United States, and export sales are managed through a network of distributors serving over 2,000 dealers in approximately 50 countries. 

On the show Steve shares the inside story of just how KICKER came to be, lessons growing up, never quitting, the power of the 3P’s passion, perseverance, & prayer, faith, family, and much more. 

To find out more about Steve and KICKER be sure to check out their website at KICKER.com

Enjoy the show! 

#128: Michelle “MACE” Curran led an impressive career as a Fighter Pilot during her 13 years in the United States Air Force. From 2019-2021, she flew as the only female pilot for the Air Force Thunderbirds and performed for millions across the country and internationally.

Upon joining this high performing team, she rapidly discovered the best part was not the flying, but the opportunity to inspire others. Michelle was only the 2nd woman to fly as the Lead Solo in the Thunderbird demonstration since the team’s creation in 1953. Before joining the Thunderbirds, Michelle was a combat-proven fighter pilot completing missions across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

As the Lead Solo Pilot for the Thunderbirds, Michelle realized this put her in a unique position to inspire and empower others to overcome their fears, pursue their dreams, and overcome adversity. Since transitioning out of the Air Force Michelle founded her company, Upside Down Dreams, where she speaks and encourages leaders, teams, businesses, and individuals to overcome obstacles and the fear of failure.

On the show Michelle shares her story, growing up, becoming a pilot, overcoming imposter syndrome, humility, what makes the best the best, flying for the Thunderbirds, taking ownership, preparation, and so much more.

For more on Michelle check out her website at macecurran.com and follow her on all social media platforms. Be sure to check out her new bestselling children’s book Upside Down Dreams on amazon or in the link below.

Book: https://www.amazon.com/Upside-Down-Dreams-Michelle-Curran/dp/1637970757 

Enjoy the show! 

#127: Phillip Fulmer is the College Football Hall of Fame former Head Coach & Athletic Director at the University of Tennessee.

Coach Fulmer lead Tennessee to a National Championship Title in 1998, 2 SEC Championships, 152 wins, Coach of the Year, & many other accolades. He has coached players from Peyton Manning, Eric Berry, Jason Whitten, & many other great players. However, aside from all of the accolades and great teams he coached the intentionality to impact his players off the field is what truly stands out.

Coach Fulmer is Tennessee through and through. He played at the University of Tennessee and once he decided to get into coaching he started as a GA there. He then spent a few years away at Wichita State and then Vanderbilt University before making his way back to Knoxville.

On the show you will get to hear his story of going up, impact of his parents, the power of belief, open communication, being yourself, leadership, faith, being united as one, and much more.

For more information on Coach Fulmer check out phillipfulmer.com

Enjoy the show! 

#126: Bob Beaudine is the President and CEO of Eastman & Beaudine. He is one of the nation's most respected search executives having conducted 100's of searches for Fortune 500 companies, entertainment entities, professional sports organizations, non-profits, olympic bodies, and universities, among many others.

Bob placed people like Deion Sanders at Colorado, Bud Selig as the commissioner of Major League Baseball, Scott Drew as the Baylor men’s basketball head coach, and many more.

Eastman & Beaudine has been named by The Wall Street Journal as the “top recruiting firm in college sports." Sports Illustrated named Bob the “top front-office matchmaker in sports” as well as the “most influential man in sports you’ve never heard of." These accolades come as a result of Bob helping shape the leadership teams of NBA, MLB, NFL, and NHL franchises and league offices, in addition to university athletic departments and conferences across the nation. Bob’s experience extends to the PGA TOUR, USTA, PBR, U.S. Olympics, NASCAR, UFC, and sports-related non-profits among others.

Bob is the bestselling author of The Power of WHO! and 2 Chairs. He is a frequent speaker at universities, corporations, conventions, conferences, and workshops.He has spoken at places like AIG, Exxon-Mobile, Nike, Advocare, Cessna, Learfield, and dozens of other major corporations. He has appeared on The Today Show, Fox Business Network, CNBC, Canada’s Business News Network, Fox Good Day, CBN News, and more.

Bob’s leadership also extends into the community. He is currently on the Advisory Board of Directors for the Positive Coaching Alliance, the College Football Assistance Fund, and the Cox School of Business at SMU, his alma mater. He is a former Chairman of the Doak Walker National Running Back Award, and a former Board of Director of the two-time American League Champions Texas Rangers. Bob and his wife, Cheryl, have been married over three decades and have three grown daughters and four grandchildren.

For more info on Bob check out bobbeaudine.com as well as all social media platforms. 

This is a great conversation, so be sure and take notes. Enjoy the show!

#125: Niko Medved is the head coach of the Colorado State University Men’s Basketball program. Recently, he guided Colorado State to their highest ever seeding in the NCAA tournament.

Coach Medved has helped build and establish successful programs every place he has been. As head coach of Furman University he turned the program from one of the worst programs in the country to one of the best. He also spent a season as the head coach of Drake University before moving to CSU.

On the show Coach Medved shares many invaluable principles on how he has gone about creating vision, buy in, and turning around programs. He also shares his story of growing up, moving from hockey to basketball, deciding to coach, being passionate about something, going above and beyond, serving others, viewing things through others perspective, leveraging your strengths, creating simplicity in a complex world, being a great husband and father, and much more!

You can follow Coach meddled on social media and find out more on the baseball program at csurams.com 

Enjoy the show! 

#124: Mike Linch is the Senior Pastor of Northstar Church in Kennesaw, Georgia. He is also the host of the Linch with a Leader Podcast.

Mike grew up in Georgia and played baseball at Liberty University under legendary New York Yankee great Bobby Richardson. After college he felt called to step into full time vocational ministry. However that didn’t stop his love for athletics. He serves as the pitching coach for the Allatoona High School Baseball Program, as well as a Chaplin for the Bucs football team and is a guest Chaplin for the Atlanta Falcons. He also hosts a call with MLB scouts, college coaches, and athletic administration professionals to help grow in leadership and faith.

As mentioned before Mike is the host of the Linch with a Leader podcast. His podcast is all about inviting leaders to listen  and learn the spiritual principles behind big success. He has interviewed many great people like Jon Gordon, Darryl Strawberry, Andy Stanley, Mark Richt, Patrick Lencioni, Dansby Swanson, Rachel Cruze, and so many more. It is one of my favorites to listen to!

On the show Mike shares his story, the impact of his parents, playing college baseball and the impact of his coach, stepping into ministry, pursing a calling, being able to say no, having vision, how consistency compounds, parenting, lessons from his podcast, and much more.

For more info on Mike check out his podcast Linch with a Leader on all podcast platforms, as well as mikelinch.com and northstarchurch.org 

Excited to introduce you to this great man. Enjoy the show! 

#123: Anson Dorrance is a 21x National Champion Coach for the University of North Carolina’s Women's Soccer Program & led the United States Women’s National Team to their first World Cup title in 1991, where he served as the head coach from 1986-1994.

In 2008 he was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame. He has one of the most successful records in all of sports with 1,093 games won at Carolina. The list of accomplished athletes that he has coached is endless. He has coached 19 different players to National Player-of-the-Year honors, including three-time recipient Cindy Parlow and Mia Hamm, who was selected the Greatest Female Athlete in the ACC’s first 50 years. Dorrance has been named National Coach of the Year seven times, six as the women’s head coach (1982, 1986, 1997, 2000, 2003 and 2006) and once with the men (1987).

On the show Coach Dorrance shares his unique story of growing up, learning from Coach Dean Smith, playing soccer, competition, coaching, snowplow parents, accountability, being a loving critic, the competitive-cauldron and much much more.

Be sure to check out his three books: Vision of a Champion, Training Soccer Champions, and The Man Watching, which can be found on amazon. He also has a podcast called The Vision of a Champion Podcast, which can be found on all platforms.

You can check out the UNC Women’s soccer team in acton as they start their season this week up at Penn State. You can find their schedule at https://goheels.com/sports/womens-soccer/schedule and if you know someone that would want to become a better player and learn form the best check out their summer camps at carolinagirlssoccercamp.com 

Enjoy the show!

#122: Dr. David Burkus’ is one of the world’s leading business thinkers. His forward-thinking ideas and bestselling books are helping leaders build their best team ever.

He is the bestselling author of five books about business and leadership. His books have won multiple awards and have been translated into dozens of languages. Since 2017, David has been ranked multiple times as one of the world’s top business thought leaders. His insights on leadership and teamwork have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, USAToday, Fast Company, the Financial Times, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, CNN, the BBC, NPR, and CBS This Morning. A former business school professor, he now works with leaders from organizations across all industries, including PepsiCo, Fidelity, Adobe, and NASA.

On the show David shares his story of growing up, the power of story, leadership, common understanding, psychological safety, prosocial purpose, and his newest book Best Team Ever, the surprising science of high performing teams. David gives you a framework from hours and hours of research to help you build your best team ever.

To find out more about David, his books, podcast, speaking, and resources check out davidburkus.com as well as the links in the show notes. 

Enjoy the show!

Books:
https://www.amazon.com/Best-Team-Ever-Surprising-High-Performing/dp/1544541740?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=&linkCode=sl1&tag=davidburkus-20&linkId=0a60a28bc0583bac05a2034c4f9585f4&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl 

Podcast:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/david-burkus-presents/id1543942272

Speaking:
https://davidburkus.com/keynote-speaker/

#121: Pat Williams is the co-founder of the Orlando Magic and a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame. He has also been the former GM of the Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Hawks, Orlando Magic, and the Philadelphia 76ers, where he helped lead to the NBA title in1983.

He has drafted players like Shaquille O’Neil, Charles Barkley, & Penny Hardaway and built rosters with players like Julis Erving, Maurice cheeks, and many many others.

Pat is also a top inspirational speakers and is a best selling author of over 100 books! He has many, but one of my favorite books is Your Formula For Success, which I  would highly encourage you all to check it out. It is a great tool focused on helping you find the place where your talent and passion meet.

And even with the long list of accolades, Pat is not slowing down. With his newest venture he shares what it takes to start a new MLB franchise from the ground up in Orlando, Florida.

He has a unique perspective of being an executive in professional baseball and basketball, building a championship team, and building something from the ground up.

Pat and his wife have 19 children, including 14 who are adopted. On the show he shares his perspective on the importance of faith and family.

For more info on Pat, the Orlando Dreamers, and his newsies book on Aging check out patwilliams.com 

Enjoy the show!