Driven By with Sam Coates

My guest this week is Danny Palo. Danny is the CEO of Vital Records Control. This company started in 1988 at $300,000.00 in annual revenue and today is at $300,000,000.00. Windjammer Capital now owns VRC and is in 80 markets with 2,000 employees.

What’s even more impressive is that Danny’s only job prior was flipping hamburgers. He then started as a delivery driver, dropped out of college, and has run this company for nearly 40 years with a great group of long-time associates, original investors, and owners. They are one of the top leaders in their industry.

The document management industry has exploded with the adoption of computers and printing, and now, there is a shift to digital.

This is a great episode that covers:

• Why not having a college degree hasn’t held Danny back
• Operating principles that have driven success for decades and why staying relentlessly focused on the customer drives success
• The value of doing a deal with the right private equity partner and what makes that work
• Plus, so much more!

Please enjoy this week’s episode with VRC Networks CEO Danny Palo!

Danny- https://www.linkedin.com/in/danny-palo-46650225/
VRC- https://vitalrecordscontrol.com/
Windjammer- www.windjammercapital.com

My guest this week is Andy Heck. Andy is the Co-owner and President of Alpin Haus, an outdoor recreation powerhouse out of Amsterdam, New York. Alpin Haus has 300 employees and does 100 Million in revenue It is a third-generation private family business that started like many other great American companies with entrepreneurs and a dream. The outdoor recreation space has exploded, and this family business has endured many ups and downs over the last 59 years. This is a great episode that covers:

• How Generation 2 took things to a whole new level after building off the foundation their Dad started
• Why 2008 was a bloodbath and the hard lessons they learned that put them in a strong position when the Covid pandemic first started
• When the rest of the country is struggling with recruiting, why are they thriving, and how do their small-town values drive connection and engagement
• The deeper meaning behind what they do- why their RV’s, boats, snowmobiles, ski equipment, and more drive experiences and meaning to the families they serve
• Plus much more

Please enjoy this week’s episode with Alpin Haus, President Andy Heck! Links:https://www.forbes.com/sites/michellebruton/2023/02/28/outdoor-recreation-industry-sees-significant-growth-with-changes-in-consumer-behavior-sparked-by-covid-19/?sh=53bedfc01c1b--

Hey Everybody, my guest this week is entrepreneur and founder of Alma Del Jaguar McCauley Williams. This episode was a blast. McCauley, a former corporate attorney and C.E.O. of Bluenote Bourbon and he went all in on this new tequila company earlier this year. As McCauley says, we’re overloaded with options as consumers, and authenticity and transparency matter more now than ever. McCauley has put everything he has into this company and then raised several million dollars and found one of a kind production partner in Mexico. This is a great episode that covers:

• A deep dive into the spirits business- the past, present, and future
• Why some believe tequila will pass vodka as the U.S.’s most popular spirit
• Building everything from the ground up with extreme detail and why that matters
• Plus, much more.

Please enjoy this week’s episode with McCauley Williams! Links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mccauley-williams-6667953a/ https://www.almadeljaguar.com/ https://time.com/6276345/tequila-us-popular-climate-change-impact/

My guest today is Bill Proctor. Bill is the President of Nexair. Nexair has been one of the largest independent packaged gas distributors in the United States and has a rich 73-year history. In early 2023, Nexair was acquired by Linde, the thirty-three billion dollar global multinational chemical company. Bill remains president through this acquisition. Nexair is a great American success story that embodies risk, entrepreneurship, generational ownership, talent development, execution, and much more. Please enjoy this week's episode with Bill Proctor and if you like this episode tell a friend! Links:

https://www.nexair.com/

https://www.linde.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-proctor-39825114/

Hey everybody, I hope you're having a great summer. Today's podcast is one I produced for one of the largest privately owned orthopaedic organizations in the United States. Campbell Clinic is based out of Memphis, Tennessee, and has been a leader nationally and internationally in orthopaedics since 1909. And my guest this week is their Chief of Staff, Dr. Frederick Azar. I'm choosing to release this interview on this podcast because Dr. Azar is straight to the point. He speaks to the power of a rich 114-year history, the benefit of staying private and maintaining control of their operation, everything that a physician must do to keep the patient first, and how robotics, ai, and innovation are influencing the field of orthopaedics, plus much more. Dr. Azar attended the University of Notre Dame and received his medical degree from Tulane University School of Medicine. He completed a residency in orthopaedic surgery at the University of Tennessee- Campbell Clinic Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and biomedical engineering and a fellowship in sports medicine at the American Sports Medicine Institute in Birmingham, Alabama. Dr. Azar is the past president of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, a member of the Editorial Board of the American Journal of Sports Medicine, a Member of ALSAC St. Jude Board of Directors and Governors, a team physician the Memphis Grizzlies, the University of Memphis, American Professional Soccer team 901 FC, plus much more. Please enjoy this week's episode with Dr. Frederick Azar! Links: https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/practices/practice-consolidation-private-practice-departures-skyrocketed-during-covid-19 https://www.nba.com/grizzlies https://www.campbellclinic.com/ https://www.campbellclinic.com/about-campbell-clinic/campbells-operative-orthopaedics/ https://www.memphis901fc.com/ https://www.aaos.org/https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-now-and-future-of-orthopaedics/id1689297666

Hey Everybody, I hope you're having a great start to the summer. My guest today is Oscar Subrats; a previous guest suggested Oscar, and the more I looked into him, the more I was interested. Oscar is the President of College Prospects of America, a company that has helped over 35,000 students get an education and play college sports in the United States. Many of these students are international students, and as you'll hear, Oscar grew this company into Mexico and Latin America. According to NCAA, over 20,000 international student-athletes are competing at NCAA schools. Oscar has lived the same experience and opportunity he speaks about in this conversation. He's also an author and recently released a new book called Closing Intelligence. This is a great episode that covers the following:

• The biggest mistake that American parents/ kids can make when they don't think they need to promote themselves to play college sports
• Why international students succeed and how their mindset can be more resilient since they have no plan b
• The power of getting an education in the United States plus much more

Please enjoy this week's episode with Oscar Subirats! Links:

1. https://cpoaworld.com/
2. https://www.amazon.com/CLOSING-INTELLIGENCE-Others-Life-Business/dp/B0BRQCD4JX
3. https://closingintelligence.com/
4. https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2018/3/21/international-student-athlete-participation.aspx#:~:text=There%20are%20over%2020%2C000%20international,and%20competing%20at%20NCAA%20schools.

My guest this week is the CEO of the nation’s largest three-service municipal utility service Doug McGowen. Former Top Gun Pilot, Navy Captain, City of Memphis COO, (plus more stops along the way) and now CEO of MLGW. I’ve heard many times that Doug simply knows how to get stuff done so it was a privilege to record this with him. His reputation did not disappoint. This is a great episode that covers the following:

• How you bring urgency, transparency, and accountability to transform performance under a government owned system
• The threat and consequences of an insufficient workforce and what to do about it
• Why Memphis is one of the greatest cities in America

Plus a whole lot more Please enjoy this week’s episode with current MLGW CEO Doug McGowen! Links: https://www.axios.com/2023/03/18/technical-worker-shortage-trade-education-construction https://www.mlgw.com/about/execs_presidentceo https://www.linkedin.com/in/doug-mcgowen-09223229/

Who would have thought an English mid-19th-century sport would empower inner-city students to overcome? My guest today is Shane Young. Shane co-founded Memphis Inner City Rugby and is a former Teach for America Educator. After working in the inner city school system and knowing there had to be a new way to additionally transform lives, Shane and his co-founder launched Memphis Inner City Rugby from scratch. As you'll hear in this interview, they've put everything they've had into this work. This work has evolved to way more than just Rugby. Their work provides mentorship, job creation, nutrition, counseling, transportation, and much more. There are 11,000,000 children in poverty in the U.S.A, and this organization knows how to reduce that number. On this episode, you'll hear:

• Why some non-profits become a shell of what they once were as they scale. How to fight against it
• Why and how Rugby transforms lives and helps girls and boys overcome the opportunity gap
• The unrealized opportunity that the U.S.A. Rugby has to accelerate the transformation of lives across the U.S.A.
• Plus much more

Thanks so much for tuning in and as always if you like this episode, please share and tell a friend! Please enjoy this week's episode with Shane Young! Click here to see more about Memphis Inner City Rugby

My guest today is Candace Steele Flippin, DM. Candace is currently the chief communications officer for Acuity Brands- a 4 Billion dollar revenue organization, and previously served as Chief Communications Officer of First Horizon Bank, a 3.49 Billion dollar revenue bank. Acuity has 11,500 employees, and First Horizon has 7,000 plus employees. She also has her Doctor of Management from Case Western Reserve University out of Cleveland, Ohio. Candace is on this podcast because I want to understand what works and what doesn't work when you're communicating with 10k people and do that in a way that's actually effective. This podcast turned out to be so much more. You'll hear everything from:

• Why her parents never held back the dreams and ambitions of her and her siblings growing up after they were raised in the Jim Crow south
• How generations change and how this affects work and what people want- what works and what doesn't, bringing people together to make sure people do great work and take care of the customer
• Helping women grow and get the jobs they need, not staying stuck, and addressing pay parity

Please enjoy this week's episode with Candace Steele Flippen! If you like the show, please tell a friend! Click here to see more about Candace and her work. Links:Candace- https://www.linkedin.com/in/candacesteeleflippin/ https://www.acuitybrands.com/ https://www.firsthorizon.com/ https://case.edu/ https://americanexperience.si.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/The-Jim-Crow-South.pdf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_generations https://www.adp.com/resources/articles-and-insights/articles/p/pay-equity.aspx https://www.candacesteeleflippin.com/

My guest this week is Memphis Fire, Chief Gina Sweat. Chief Sweat was selected to be the first female director of fire services in Memphis, TN, and there were only a handful of female fire chiefs nationally when she was selected. The world of fire departments is changing. Chief Sweat says in this episode 80% of their calls are medical, so gone are the days when you are only going to fight fires. This is a great episode that covers the following:

• What it's like living with the responsibility of 1600+ firefighters that put themselves in harm's way every day
• Getting scrappy and looking for new ways to tackle old problems and getting creative with funding and grants to get your people what they need
• Remembering the tragedies and those that gave their lives just doing their job
• What the future of fire departments look like and why they must innovate to add value to the communities they are apart of
• Plus a lot more

Please enjoy this week's episode with Memphis Fire Chief Gina Sweat!

1. https://www.linkedin.com/in/gina-sweat-4625b382/
2. https://archive.commercialappeal.com/news/government/city/strickland-names-gina-sweat-citys-first-female-fire-director-26dfbef7-76dd-280f-e053-0100007f1d74-361905801.html/
3. https://apnews.com/article/15e06ad3778f4ee88b67a1bdbbc97c29
4. https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/2022/08/23/funeral-held-memphis-fire-department-driver-killed-crash-david-pleasant/7877457001/