#204: Ricky Dickson is the former CEO and President of Blue Bell Creameries, as well as an accomplished speaker and author with his newest book One Scoop at a Time.

Ricky graduated from Baylor University with a BBA in marketing and journalism. He began his career with Blue Bell in 1981 as a territory manager in Dallas. He transferred to the Fort Worth branch in 1982 and became sales manager. In 1984, he was promoted to San Antonio branch manager. He transferred to Oklahoma City and then to Tulsa when each of those branches opened.

In 1992, Ricky was named assistant Dallas/Fort Worth division manager. He transferred to Kansas City as branch manager in 1993 and returned to Tulsa later that year. He was named Midwest division manager in 1994. Four years later, he became general manager of the Broken Arrow plant but continued to stay involved in sales, particularly with the Walmart account. Ricky was named general sales manager in 2003 and moved to Brenham. In 2010, he was promoted to vice president of sales and marketing and was also appointed to serve as a director on the Blue Bell Board of Directors.

In 2017, he was promoted to company president, and in 2019, he was elected CEO and president of Blue Bell Creameries. In 2024, Ricky received the International Dairy Foods Association Laureate Award for his significant, prolonged contributions to the development and growth of dairy. He was also inducted into the Dairy Products Institute of Texas Hall of Fame.

To find out more on Ricky you can find him on social as well as his website rickydickson.com 

For more on his book One Scoop at a Time check out amazon and where all books are sold as well as the link below. 

Enjoy the show! 

Book:

https://www.amazon.com/One-Scoop-Time-Stories-Lessons/dp/1957616709

Matthew Mitchell is the winningest head coach in the history of the University of Kentucky women's basketball program, a three-time SEC Coach of the Year, and a two-time best-selling author and speaker. 

The foundation for his teams’ achievements is the Winning Tools principles - honesty, hard work, and discipline. Through Mitchell's focus on the fundamentals, he led the program to new heights―seven 25-plus winning seasons, 3 Elite Eights, multiple sweet sixteens, and UK’s first SEC Championship in 30 years. 

Coach Mitchell now leads the Winning Tools leadership platform, sharing the proven value of these principles with executive teams across the country. On the show he shares the Winning Tools, his newest book Ready to Win, his story of growing up, getting into coaching, learning from legendary Tennessee Coach Pat Summit, building and sustaining excellence, and much more. 

For more on Coach Mitchell check out social media and CoachMatthewMitchell.com and for his newest book you can check out readytowinbook.com for extras and bonuses. 

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#202: Jack Herschend has served as Chairman, President and CEO of Herschend Family Entertainment and its portfolio of theme park, resorts, and aquariums.

Today, Herschend Family Entertainment and its parent company Herschend Enterprises are considered the nation’s largest family-owned themed attractions corporation in the US. Their team of more than 11,000 employees creates, develops, and operates entertainment, tourism, and hospitality properties that currently span 26 locations across the US and British Columbia.

Herschend’s roots date back to 1950 when the Herschend family founded their first attraction, a small cave tour in Branson, Mo., which later expanded into the famed Silver Dollar City®. Operating companies within Herschend Family Entertainment include Dollywood® Parks & Resorts, Silver Dollar City® Attractions, Harlem Globetrotters, Adventure Aquarium®, Newport Aquarium®, Kentucky Kingdom®, Vancouver Aquarium, and Wild Adventures®.

Jack’s intensity and deep caring for people shaped the company culture into what it is today. Jack attended Northwestern University as a wrestler and served as a Lieutenant in the Marine Corps before returning home to focus on the family business. He has a deep passion for personal service and giving and has actively served several Christian ministries including including Lives Under Construction Boys Ranch, Kids Across America and the National Institute of Marriage. In 1992, Jack founded The Gift of Green which has planted nearly 200,000 trees to counter deforestation due to development in the Missouri Ozarks.

On the show he shares his story, growth of HFE, building a business, leadership, encouragement, failures, family, faith, marriage, and much more. 

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#201: Michael Alford is the Florida State University Director of Athletics. 

Alford has helped position Seminole athletics among the nation’s elite both in terms of competitive excellence and as influential in the critical issues of the day. He has truly emerged as one of collegiate athletics’ leaders while remaining true to his primary objective – an unwavering commitment to student-athlete welfare.

That commitment has produced measurable results by every metric within a solution-oriented, positive culture that places the student-athlete first in all pursuits. It’s evidenced, in part, by his direction of more than $400 million for projects to improve athletic facilities and fields in just the last three years.

It is clear to anyone that comes to campus as construction on the 150,000 square foot Dunlap Football Center and state-of-the-art improvements to historic Doak Campbell Stadium are fully in progress entering the 2025 football season.

Alford is equally committed to the success of the student in the classroom resulting in the strongest consistent academic performance in athletics department history. FSU student-athletes established an all-time best cumulative grade-point average of 3.250 as a department. Not only that but numerous teams have excelled in their respective sports from football, baseball, softball, volleyball, and many others. 

Over three decades in intercollegiate athletics and professional sports, he has held positions with the Dallas Cowboys, the University of Alabama, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Southern California, the Cincinnati Bengals and was Associate Vice President and Director of Athletics at Central Michigan University.

For more info on Michael check out social media and seminoles.com This is a great conversation with an incredible leader. Enjoy the show! 

200 episodes

#200: Jimmy Mellado is President and CEO of Compassion International, a global ministry that is dedicated to holistic child development in partnership with local churches. 

Jimmy is passionate about Compassion’s church-based approach to releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name. The son of an engineer, Jimmy spent his childhood in the developing world and saw firsthand the powerful impact thriving local churches can have on their communities, especially in under-resourced environments. 

Before taking office as CEO of Compassion International in 2013, Jimmy served for nearly 20 years as the president of the Willow Creek Association.

He earned his MBA from the Harvard Business School. Jimmy is an accomplished athlete who competed in the decathlon in the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games and still retains the national record for his birth country, El Salvador, in that event. 

Jimmy and his wife have three adult children and grandchildren. They’ve been passionate Compassion sponsors since 2005.

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#199: Jerod Haase is the former Stanford university head men’s basketball coach. During his time on the farm at Stanford the Cardinal had won 126 games, recorded its best conference finish and most league wins in a decade and earned a postseason berth for the first time since 2015. The 2020 team was set to be postseason bound before the cancellation of the NCAA Tournament.

A native of South Lake Tahoe, Calif., Haase attended California in 1992-93, starting 23 games as a freshman and playing alongside Jason Kidd in the backcourt. Haase then transferred to Kansas, where he helped lead the Jayhawks to three consecutive conference titles and finished his career ranked in the school’s top 10 in assists, three-point field goals and steals. Haase started 99 of 101 games at Kansas and scored 1,264 points, averaging 12.5 per game and reaching double figures 74 times. While at Kansas, Haase was a candidate for the Naismith and Wooden Awards.

 Haase was also a first-team GTE Academic All-American as a senior, a second-team Academic All-American as a junior and a three-time academic all-conference pick. The Jayhawks' Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 1997, Haase later earned a master's degree in business at Kansas in 2000.

After playing professionally he went on to help as an assistant with his former college coach Roy Williams at Kansas and then North Carolina, before he became the head coach at UAB. 

At UAB, Haase led the Blazers to a regular-season Conference USA championship in 2016 and the program’s 15th all-time NCAA Tournament berth in 2015. Haase compiled an 80-53 overall record in four seasons while improving the Blazers’ win total every year. In 2016 he was tabbed as the Gene Bartow Conference USA Coach of the Year, leading the Blazers to a 26-5 overall record and a 16-2 conference mark while capturing their first regular-season title since 2011.

 In 2017, Haase joined the National Advisory Board of the Positive Coaching Alliance, the organization that uses the power of positive reinforcement to pursue winning and the more important goal of teaching life lessons through sports.

On the show you will hear his story, overcoming setbacks, being genuine and authentic, core values, relationships, and much more. 

Enjoy the show! 

Book Link:

https://www.amazon.com/Floor-Burns-Inside-Kansas-Jayhawk/dp/0965839214  

#198: Joe Scarlett is the former CEO, President, and Chairman of Tractor Supply Company. He spent nearly thirty years in leadership roles with the company. Today Joe is engaged in teaching and writing about leadership, working in the family foundation, and striving to improve Tennessee.

In 1982 Scarlett played a key role in the initiative to return the company to profitability through improved customer service and focused product selection as part of a classic leveraged buyout. He was instrumental in developing the company culture which today is admired and often copied.  In 1994 Joe led the successful effort to take the company public.

Tractor Supply Company was honored by Forbes as one of the “Best Managed Companies in America” and Scarlett was recognized as Ernst & Young’s Southeast Entrepreneur of the Year. Joe also served twenty years on the board of the nation’s largest retail trade organization, including four as its chairman.

On the show Joe shares his story of growing up, hard work, common sense, working at Two Guys Discount Store alongside Bernie Marcus who went on to found The Home Depot, leading and growing Tractor Supply Co, focusing on people, listening to the customer, using the corporate jet (aka Southwest Airlines), adapting, over 50 years of marriage, intentionality with your kids, and much more. 

For more on Joe his book newsletter and foundation check out joescarlett.com as well as scarlettfoundation.org 

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#197: Mike Small is the University of Illinois head men's golf coach and is currently entering his 25th season.

The GCAA Hall of Fame & 2015 GCAA Dave Williams National Coach of the Year, has brought national recognition to Illinois golf in his 25 years at the helm of the program, as he has guided the Illini to 13 of the last 15 Big Ten Championship titles, including a conference-record run of eight straight from 2015 through 2023 to established a new standard for sustained excellence in the league.

Under Small’s direction, the Illini program has seen consistent success as his teams have not only continued to achieve greatness at the conference level, but on the national level as well. Small has led Illinois to top-five NCAA finishes in nine of the last 13 postseasons, including a runner-up finish in 2013. Illinois has advanced past NCAA Regionals to the NCAA Championship 17 times under Small’s guidance, including a run of 13 straight from 2008 to 2021, a streak that ranked second nationally during time. The Orange and Blue have won six NCAA Regional titles, including four consecutive NCAA Regional Championships from 2013-2016, becoming one of just two schools in NCAA history to do so. 

Since the start of the 2014-15 season, Small’s Illini have been a consistent force among the top 25 in the Golfweek/Bushnell Coaches’ Poll, and own the longest streak ranked in the top spot. Small was again recognized for his coaching success in 2016 as he was inducted into the Golf Coaches Association of America Hall of Fame.

Small has been named Big Ten Coach of the Year a conference-record 13 times in his career (2023, 2022, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2002) and has also been named Midwest Regional Coach of the Year on 13 occasions (2024, 2023, 2021, 2019, 2018, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2003). Under his direction, 19 Illini have won 37 All-America honors and 65 All-Big Ten accolades garnered by 28 student-athletes. He also has the distinction of playing on a Big Ten championship team and coaching 13 more.

Small has continued his professional career while coaching, most recently playing on the PGA TOUR Champions. Since 2000, he is a three-time winner of the PGA Professional National Championship, a three-time PGA Professional National Player of the Year, a 14-time IPGA Champion, four-time Illinois Open Champion and he has participated in 13 major championships. Small has made the cut in 15 of 34 PGA TOUR events since he began coaching at Illinois, and 18 of 19 PGA TOUR Champions events, earning three top 10 finishes and playing in three U.S. Senior Opens. He was also named the 2017 OMEGA Senior PGA Professional Player of the Year.

Enjoy the show! 

#196: Lisa Lutoff-Perlo is the former CEO of Celebrity Cruises. She is a recognized global business powerhouse and recipient of numerous awards including the South Florida Business Journal and Forbes Travel Guide Lifetime Achievement Awards. 

Most recently, Lisa served as President & CEO of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ Miami Host Committee, where she led the strategy, fundraising, fan activations, and operations for the seven Miami matches of this globally significant event. During her time in this role, her dedication to excellence and innovation helped position Miami—a world-renowned sports and entertainment destination—as a standout host city for the matches and a city that expects over 700,000 visitors and close to two billion dollars in economic impact during the tournament. 

Prior to her role with FIFA, Lisa spent 40 years in progressive leadership positions at the Royal Caribbean Group where she made history as the first woman to serve as President and CEO of one of the company’s multibillion-dollar subsidiaries, Celebrity Cruises (2014–2023). During her tenure as CEO of Celebrity she redefined the luxury cruise industry with groundbreaking ship designs, innovative services, and a commitment to leadership. 

She also transformed the financial performance of the Brand to historic levels. Before leaving the Royal Caribbean Group, she held the role of Vice Chairman, External Affairs for the Royal Caribbean Group, where she strengthened industry partnerships and advanced company strategy across its global portfolio of three Brands. 

A trailblazer in the global hospitality industry, Lisa has received numerous accolades for business transformation, leadership, and now serves on corporate Boards as Chairwoman of the Board of the Hornblower Group, where she oversees the strategic direction of this industry leader in transportation and experiential travel, the Board of Directors for Fortune 500 company AutoNation (NYSE: AN), the Advisory Board of AHC Group, and the Board of Directors of Amerant Bank (NYSE: AMTB).

Lisa shares her inspiring journey and leadership insights in her best-selling book, Making Waves: A Woman’s Rise to the Top Using Smarts, Heart, and Courage and through numerous public speaking engagements.  

For more on Lisa visit her website at lisalutoffperlo.com as well as all social platforms. 

Enjoy the show!