Driven By with Sam Coates

My Guest today is Garrott McClintock. Garrott is the COO of AcreTrader. AcreTrader is a hot new start-up out of Fayetteville, Arkansas, that recently finished a series its 12 Million Dollar funding round. AcreTrader matches investors with farmland while giving Farmers the land they need to grow their operation.

Did you know that In 1935, there were 7 million farms, and now there are only 2 million in operation?

What’s changed? Why is farming so hard? What is often hard for farmers to grow their operations? What’s the fulfillment a farmer feels by growing the crops that drive our world today?

I had a great time talking with my long-time friend Garrott McClintock. Garrott is a 5th generation farmer, and I wanted to have him on this show where you’ll hear the following:  

• What’s in the DNA of a Farmer? The fulfillment they feel with the work they do 
• The non-linear path his own career has taken
• The barriers he and his team break down 
• The future of farming- growing demand, decrease acreage, and lower number of farmers
• And More!

  Please enjoy this week’s conversation with Garrott McClintock!

https://www.acretrader.com/

My guest today is Brent Beshore. If you haven’t heard of Brent before, I bet you’ll be impressed with his story. After starting and acquiring companies in his 20’s, he now is CEO of Permanent Equity, where he and his team currently own 11 plus companies and oversee the deployment of 300 million dollars in capital. Brent and his team believe in owning companies for the long run hence the name Permanent Equity. This conversation is about much more than just business. I had a great time with Brent where we cover:

• His own transformation after a breaking point in his late 20’s
• Why for him, life is a gift, not a game
• How the once in a lifetime opportunities he has experienced drive him to create those for others
• Why they are building educational systems inside their companies to give people the ability to advance their own value to the world
• And more!

https://www.permanentequity.com/

My guest today is Dr. Dennis Black. Dr. Black is one of a kind. I heard of Dr. Black from a listener to this podcast, and once I heard how established he is as an accomplished researcher and award-winning physician while also being an avid fan of Bonnaroo- I couldn’t resist asking him to be on the show.

I had a great time with Dr. Black where we cover:

• The time when he wanted to be a mad scientist as a kid, and he lit a desk on fire
• The patience and persistence of a researcher
• Why he loves pouring into students finding their way
• How research is changing and why data is being used to proactively solve problems 
• And more!

Please enjoy this week’s episode with Dr. Dennis Black!

Dr. Black is currently the scientific director of the Children’s Foundation Research Institute (CFRI), The Buckman Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Finally, he is the co-owner of the Memphis-based music label Black and Wyatt Records. 

Links: https://www.blackandwyattrecords.com/ https://www.lebonheur.org/publications/delivering-on-a-promise/fallout/profile-dennis-black-md https://www.bonnaroo.com/

My guest today is Ken Masterson. You may know Ken from FedEx, where he built the legal department and was the General Counsel for FedEx from 1979 - 2005. Ken tells a one-of-a-kind story when Fred Smith wanted him to build a value-added legal department. But Ken didn’t stop there; when Ken retired in 2005, he founded Masterson Farms, where he and his team are dedicated to breeding, raising, and developing the finest western show horses available where he is working today with his wife, Marilyn.

This episode is a great conversation where we cover:

• Why his parent’s work for civil rights In Missouri taught him to take risks for causes, he believes in
• Why the thought of failure doesn’t bother him when the cause is worthwhile
• How his work today still operates off of the principles he learned at FedEx
• How Covid taught him to slow down and enjoy the farm and cut down the excess busyness of life
• And more!

Last but not least, you can find Ken at mastersonfarms.com

So please enjoy this week’s conversation with Ken Masterson!

RESOURCES

• https://abjets.com/
• www.mastersonfarms.com

Over the last several weeks, my team and I have had the pleasure of taking my podcast and using it to come alongside and help organizations tell their story to their own people through their own private podcast channel. By creating an exclusive podcast channel for the organization and all of its associates, we help them build further engagement.

This work has been a ton where I prepare by understanding the following:

• What makes the company unique? 
• What's their position in the market they are in?
• What's made them successful?
• What are the challenges they face?
• What are the ups and downs the organization has overcome along the way?
• Where are they headed?
• What changes are they making?
• I interview their own associates and uncover what makes them successful and why they are committed to the organization, and these are produced into weekly episodes.

This work informs and brings together the entire organization to make it more informed and connected to continue to meet their customer's needs and improve buy-in. Our content is engaging and authentic to make it worthwhile for people to listen to it in an already busy week.

One thing that is very clear right now that everyone is running lean. Even the organizations that have only accelerated because of Covid-19 are understaffed, and hiring new talent is challenging. The companies we work with want their people to know they are valued, and they want effective ways of distributing important information.

Consistency matters to me with this podcast, and I have new interviews starting at the beginning of May. I have taken a few weeks off my personal podcast due to a heavy travel schedule recording all of this work.

Be on the lookout soon for new episodes. If you'd like more information on what my team and I are doing above, then go to www.drivenbyproductions.com.

Have a great week,

Sam

My guest this week is Kat Gordon. In her mid 20’s, Kat opened Muddy’s Bake Shop thinking it likely wouldn’t make it. Thirteen years later, Muddy’s is one of the top bakeries in the United States.

This pandemic has been incredibly difficult for businesses across the country, and Muddy’s is no exception. Muddy’s completely shut its doors for several weeks before reopening one of its locations, but things are not as bad as they may sound for Kat. This episode may take a different turn than you expect!

Download this episode if you want to learn more about: 

• Taking advantage of a do-over
• What’s something I care so much about that I’m willing to be bad to be good at it
• Thinking about selling
• What it’s like when you start to break down
• How to make significant changes
• Feeling alive again
• How the pandemic can jumpstart change
• Taking advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity
• And more!

I had a great time recording this episode with Kat. Happy New Year to you and yours!

RECAP

4:27 Making people feel special and loved

6:28 After the pandemic

6:57 What happens when water isn’t flowing in?

7:15 Starting to break down

10:28 Should I sell the bakery?

11:50 How to think about making major changes

13:00 How to do visioning

14:25 We all have great advice for ourselves that we don’t take

15:49 Low stakes way of me playing with the future

19:20 The fact that I didn’t want to pick up that vision again

24:13 How the pandemic can jumpstart change

24:00 What’s most important

25:00 When the world shifted I knew what we needed to do

27:00 I wanted people to feel that they were at my house

34:10 Game over if your burned out in first month

39:35 The difference between receiving a compliment and someone telling me how to live my life

41:00 Doing stuff for the sake of others

50:00 Creativity thrives with boundaries

56:45 Take this once in a lifetime opportunity 

RESOURCES

• https://www.muddysbakeshop.com/
• https://abjets.com/

My guest this week is Pat Lawler. Pat is the CEO of Youth Villages. Founded in 1986 with the merger of two Memphis-based residential campuses, Youth Villages is now a nationally recognized leader in the field of children’s mental and behavioral health. From the early days of serving just 80 children a year, we’ve since grown to help tens of thousands of children, families and young people annually, with a complete continuum of programs and services across 24 states and 100 locations.

RECAP

3:00 My Father, where did this come from?

4:56 What drew me in?

6:39 You don’t want to sell tools do you?-- intro?

7:35 Gone back to school

8:13 Drawn to the kids with the biggest problems

8:50 Driven to get to the root

9:15 How to help people with the biggest problems

9:49 What caused these conditions?

13:37 Generational change. Always sticking up

15:27 Learning to be a good parent. Ups and Downs

19:07 Commitment to overcome what comes your way

19:56 Persistent until we get your support

20:50 Research, data, exhaust all options- no turning back

21:20 Not be deterred 

21:38 The hardest thing is to change the way people think

22:25 Obsessive compulsive gene

23:05 Thousands of kids and families

24:18 The burden- the passion, the drive, the momentum, the enthusiasm, and the excitement

25:00 Clearly defined and measurable goals, hold accountable, talk experts and data

25:42 Relentless drive to make things better for other people

27:09 Horrible abuse, neglect that scars young people

28:20 Your passionate

29:28 Not now, maybe later. Failure with young people, what did we learn and do it differently learning and experience

31:30 We all need a support system- family is critical and data

32:50 They asked me to quietly close it down-- intro? 33:06

36:20 Pivot, change to support families

39:30 Peer group is key creating change

41:00 I couldn’t do other work

41:20 For the bad there is a thousand more good. Balance work and personal life

42:50 Be open to change, open to where other people are coming from, bring people along slowly, engaged in the process

48:45 The courage to try it

49:05 Committed and passionate- small steps impact their life

50:41 I don’t want to hear about your successes, I want to hear about your failures

57:29 Scaling that problem

56:14 Memphis, TN Murder rate is a serious problem

58:53 Data collecting around the country and scale. Meet needs and replicate it

1:00:13 Make it a safe place for people to live

1:00:55 Deaths across the country are overwhelming/ safe place for kids to grow up in

1:01:43 If people don’t have the opportunity to earn money they turn to crime

1:02:15 Very few cities have put together a comprehensive plan

1:03:55 I know we can do it. We will learn lessons align the way

1:04:51 Giving people hope and meaning into their life

1:07:40 we had passion but no expertise. We needed advice and counsel. These supports could read a balance sheet, help organizational chart, forecast a budget, could help us solve that specific problem and raised money before

1:10:14 Just excited today as I was 41 years ago and I still have that passion and commitment

1:11:00 Moving the organization forward. We need to identify the people that need us

1:12:18 We need to understand the capacity of the problem and scale it to meet the needs

RESOURCES

• AB JETS
• Youth Villages

My guest this week is Dr. Tracy D. Hall. Tracy is the President of Southwest Tennessee Community College out of Memphis, TN. Regardless of whether you live in Memphis or not, this is an important conversation that applies all across the country. 

We talk about education, changing the narrative, the importance of stem education, why community colleges matter, and more. When DR. Hall took over Southwest TN Community College, Southwest had a graduation rate of 5%. Under her leadership, Southwest TN was awarded the prestigious national bellwether award in the category with Redesign, Reinvent, and Reset.

I wanted to have a conversation with Tracy because when I heard her speech when she was named the new President, she was very straightforward. She was honest about the reality but also hopeful about what her new community college could be. Additionally, we discuss:

-          Why she hates the term at-risk students

-          How she is living out the dreams of those before her

-          How to do more than talk and get stuff done

-          The future of community college education and how they are adapting to the marketplace

-          And more!

Please enjoy my conversation with Dr. Tracy Hall!

RECAP

1:52 First generation college student

2:28 My mother told me the difficulty of navigating college

3:45 Homecoming Queen

4:35 Growing up in a home with a single parent teen mother

5:30 A lot of my life she has lived vicariously through me

6:14 Living out the dreams of others before me

6:48 Grit and Grind that’s my mother

7:09 How hard she worked

7:19 Defying the odds and stereotypes 

7:35 We’ve never lived our lives off of someone else’s standard

10:05 My mentor and the path of teaching

11:18 Moving up through the ranks

11:33 Other people that shaped me

12:35 They didn’t have fancy backgrounds but they were College Presidents

13:16 Start preparing yourself

14:55 Everything in my past prepared me for today

16:14 Now I understand, I didn’t see it

19:04 That’s what drives me when you count me out

20:09 I don’t desire the limelight

20:30 I’m used to being ignored

21:43 Driven to find students marginalized

22:21 Labeling people and their potential

22:46 They don’t have to be A students

23:23 People will limit you based on your zipcode

28:14 They don’t realize their potential

30:47 During those years, we’re supposed to tell them they do matter

36:44 Owning our role in the problem

38:38 What small tweaks can do

41:26 Getting things done

42:02 Politics play a role, we move slow

43:19 When people are in need they don’t need help 6 months from now

49:35 Systems thinking

50:20 Taking a risk on something that may not work

52:16 Strategic risks

59:07 Battling covid

1:01:23 Positioning southwest for the future

1:03:23 We’re not going back to the way the world was before

1:06:05 We can’t let you stay in your comfort zone

1:06:51 High Skill, High Wage, Family sustaining

RESOURCES

• AB Jets
• Southwest Wins Prestigious National Bellwether Award

My guest this week is Geoff Calkins. 

This episode is a fun and valuable conversation where we cover:

• Discovering his love for stories while battling leukemia as a kid
• What it took for a major career change: Leaving the law firm then ending up in Anniston, Alabama
• What sports can do for a city
• How he learned to write
• Finding your voice 
• And more!

After starting his career as a lawyer in Washington DC, Geoff made a major career change, attending Columbia's School of Journalism. Geoff's first job led him to Anniston, Alabama, then to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and finally, Geoff came to Memphis, TN, in 1996 as the sports Columnist for the Commercial Appeal. Geoff now is the lead columnist for the Daily Memphian and also hosts the Geoff Calkins Show. Geoff's been named the best sports columnist in the country five times by Associated Press sports editors, and he's also received many more awards.

Please enjoy this week’s episode with Geoff Calkins!

RECAP

1:40 I had a much harder edge when younger

2:18 You don’t have to wake up and destroy someone everyday

2:36 I’m best suited to celebrate life where I can

2:52 People in Memphis need more lifting up than crushing

3:02 Mitch Albom- transcendent life lessons

4:00 What you learn child 8 of 9 being flexible

4:25 I pursue stories I write as aggressively as needed

4:40 I have a chip on my shoulder about the city of Memphis

5:00 Cities dismissed by people that live there

6:00 Evolution of Memphis sports

6:25 Why did you move to Memphis?

7:15 Fred Smith

7:57 I’ve been lucky to be around for so many things to write about

9:30 What sports can do for a city

10:53 Leukemia as a kid and everyone died at that time

12:50 Poodle tails

15:12 That was the expectation

15:14 I never worried about money

16:00 We were all trying to prove ourselves all the time

16:40 It’s hard to figure out what you want to do with your life

18:00 I didn’t know if it was going to work

18:15 As it was unfolding it was messy

18:57 Harvard builds a cushion

22:39 You’re better at what you like

23:09 I like people’s stories

23:57 I like being in the spotlight

28:15 Baseball players mooing

29:53 The changes of journalism

31:30 Everyone finds their own voice

32:28 Some of it feels forced

34:10 Stealing people’s ideas

35:50 How data drives stories

36:38 Stories changed with Covid

39:04 The odds of daily memphian making it

41:18 Raising the bar

42:00 Consequences of a roll up

47:15 The world is not waiting on me to get here

50:10 at the end of the day your judged on your clips

56:51 Before you have kids

58:00 side hustles

1:05:38 I have some insecurity of my work

1:09:00 The stories I want to write

RESOURCES

• https://dailymemphian.com/authors/[email protected]
• http://www.afterthejumpbook.com/about-geoff/
• https://www.radio.com/929espn/podcasts/the-geoff-calkins-show-20398
• https://abjets.com/