Driven By with Sam Coates

My guest this week is University of Memphis Head Football Coach Ryan Silverfield.

For those who live in Memphis or follow U of M Football, do you remember when Ryan was named interim head coach and how he made it known he wanted the job? He didn’t hold back. He went all-in, letting everyone know. I have been looking forward to this conversation, and I am glad to release it to you this week.

During this conversation, we cover:

• From sleeping on cots at Hampden-Sydney to being the head coach at Memphis. It hasn’t been easy
• How to have confidence in communicating what can be when you can’t guarantee the outcomes
• How to frame setbacks
• Why character matters 
• And more!

Ryan began his coaching career at The Bolles School in Jacksonville, Fla, after an injury. He then coached at his alma mater Hampden-Sydney, then was the Head Coach of one High School, followed by 4 Universities and two NFL teams, where he then landed at the University of Memphis before being named Head Coach in 2019.

Please enjoy my conversation with Ryan Silverfield.

Have a great week!

RECAP

2:38 Unemployed is apart of the business

2:47 It is okay to admit this is what I want

2:51 Show your vision. How this can work and come together.

3:12 I was their 7th interview

3:26 You have to prove it every year

4:11 People see your genuine enthusiasm for what you want

4:40 why and how is this going to be successful

5:02 The tomorrow diet

5:34 How things work and how will we have success

7:07 The path has been difficult

7:41 It’s all about how I react

7:53 There are times I have thought about quitting

8:15 How can we continue to get better

8:30 Attach it with mindset

8:40 All in

9:19 Couldn’t get a job

10:30 What could make me different? I’ll die trying

11:12 I want them to have success for everything they say they want

14:44 Confidence for the plan in place. But I still fail

15:33 No one will compete higher for the standard than I am

16:00 Not everyday will be perfect

17:10 How to read people

17:30 High character

17:53 Best opportunity to have success, high character. Judge character listen a lot. What are they telling me?

19:35 What makes them tick?

20:00 Not everyone has a perfect background

20:30 Detailed, charismatic, caring, high energy, talk to others that worked with them.

22:13 How to process setbacks

23:25 How to handle the media

24:07 What can I do better?

24:22 How can I improve the culture/ not play calls

25:00 Tune out the outside noise

26:10 Are we making a difference in those guys lives?

26:50 We will be judged on wins, but swing the axe

RESOURCES

• https://www.matthaaga.com/
• https://abjets.com/
• https://gotigersgo.com/sports/football/roster/coaches/ryan-silverfield/1869

My guest this week is Otis Sanford. 

This episode is loaded with experiences, insights, a deeper understanding of how journalism works and where it's headed.

We talk about when he fell in love with journalism, political machines, why he doesn't mind criticism, the funniest story he has covered, the politician who didn't take things personally, and all of the journalism changes and more. 

In 1975 Otis became the first male African American reporter for the Jackson, Mississippi Clarion ledger. Otis then would be the Assistant City Editor for the Pittsburgh Press, deputy City Editor of the Detroit Free Press, and the Commercial Appeal's Managing Editor with a few other titles along the way :). He has also served as the chairman of the Mid America Press Institute. He was president of the Associated Press Managing Editors Association. In 2011 he joined the University of Memphis Department of Journalism Faculty, where he is the Hardin Chair of Excellence in Economic and Managerial Journalism. Otis currently writes a weekly column for the Daily Memphian.

Please enjoy this week's episode with Otis Sanford!

Have a great week!

RECAP

48 Seconds: First Male African American to work at the Clarion Ledger

1:14 Como, Mississippi growing up on the farm

1:53 The impact of cotton

3:31 Wanting to get off the farm

4:01 Father loved newspapers

4:47 Reading to my father

5:12 Fell in love by doing that

5:51 I first wanted to be a reporter at 12 years old

7:40 Looking up to Hank Aaron

7:51 The changes with the delivery of Journalism

8:18 Why print was the dominant way we got our news

9:46 Now a days its two days old because of deadlines

11:23 the impact of change of advertising budgets

15:53 It was a daily experience being able to read

19:47 How to compete in this digital age

20:17 How to communicate differently whether tv and radio

20:55 Be a good storyteller if you want to be an opinion journalist

21:45 Bob Woodward- He has the ability to get people to tell him anything

25:56 Good editor who was patient with me

30:42 How I created my leads

38:51 As long as your reading I’m fine with being criticized 

41:24 Don’t make the same mistake twice

45:33 How people view race through their own lense 

45:38 Why newspapers are influential 

59:00 The mark of a good political leader

1:00:00 Any criticism I do it’s policy not personal

1:04:50 Growing up as a child of segregation

1:06:58 When social justice became part of my DNA

1:08:40 Growing up and that drove me

1:10:28 Importance of my parents support

1:13:01 My family wouldn’t let me give up

1:16:05 Don’t accept excuses just do it

1:18:51 How Phil Trenary crossed racial lines

1:22:23 As long as you care

1:23:15 I’m always trying to keep calm

1:34:31 I’ve stopped telling people the printed newspaper will be round for my whole lifetime

1:37:12 The demand of news will continue to grow

RESOURCES Matt Haaga State Farm AB Jets Otis Stanford Bio

My guest this week is Kent Ritchey. 

For over 50 years, Kent has been in the automobile business. Kent’s company, Lander’s Auto Group, has 15 Automobile Franchises with over 450 Associates in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas. 

I wanted to have this conversation with Kent to understand all the changes taking place with the automobile industry and how he adapts to them. Additionally, we discuss:

• Checking your ego and going from an owner to a salesperson when you need a job
• What he’s learned about people and what they want after 50 years of selling automobiles
• What’s ahead with electric and autonomous cars
• How the USA compares with China and India with automobile sales
• How he navigated the 2008 Financial crisis right after he bought his first dealership
• And more!

Please enjoy my conversation with Kent Ritchey!

RECAP

Show Notes: 

1:01 The love of basketball, competing, and Hendrix College

2:30 The challenge of being Married while being a College Athlete

5:12 Growing up in the auto business

6:07 Only as far as word and credit will take you

6:42 The most important things: stress, cash, and people skills

7:42 2008 Financial Crisis 

8:36 Covid similar to now

11:01 New blood coming into organization

11:26 Buying money losing dealerships

12:03 Mr. Penske had Unwavering discipline and unwavering consistency

12:39: Have a plan, execute that plan, know what everyone’s role is in that plan

12:45 Too many people spend too much of their life getting ready to get ready

13:28 Lack of drive, personal discipline, and expectations

14:33 Convinced key people with equity position

15:55 Ups and Downs

16:08 Greatest fear is the unknown

17:54 Still learning like my first day in college

20:22 Failure is our greatest teacher

22:00 I wasn’t getting ready to get ready

23:18 Absolute refusal to take no for an answer

23:45 So afraid of failing

24:19 Ability to relate to people

24:57 Positive attitude, goals and objectives, path to get there, measured, and compensated

25:20 talented people once they make money leave them alone

26:30 This is what I enjoy and this is what I do for a living

26:33 Do whatever it takes to sell the car and our volume went up exponentially 

34:01 Electric and autonomous vehicles here to stay

35:16 Someone has to be looking beyond the horizon

37:25 Building scale

39:39 Two or one will rise to the top and one will be an equity partner

44:10 What auto sales looks like in india and china

48:40 We don’t take dividends until debt is done

50:19 I think people can only do two to three things. We won’t fix all overnight. But we can do one today and never have to do it again.

58:50 Don’t hide, don’t sweep under the rug, get to the root of the problem, solve it. First loss is the least loss.

1:01:12 You better ask people exactly what they want. People have to tell you. 

1:04:20 What would you do if you had to start over tomorrow?

1:05:20 Find something you are passionate about

RESOURCES

• Matt Haaga State Farm
• AB Jets
• Lander Memphis

My guest this week is David Jordan. For close to 26 years, David has been leading Agape Child Services out of Memphis, TN. Agape serves approximately 3000 children and families each year by loving families and fighting poverty. 

I wanted to have a conversation with David to understand the challenges of poverty and what it takes to succeed in getting out of poverty. Additionally, we discuss:

·        That point when you want to throw in the towel

·        The impact of Covid-19 and poverty

·        Pivoting the organization to be proactive versus reactive

·        The power of trust when building relationships

·        And more!

Please enjoy my conversation with Davin Jordan!

RECAP

Show Notes: 

1:29 Aggressive with the mission

1:41 Pivoting Covid with 130 staff

2:09 Being with each other and connecting

4:17 What it takes to keep the relationship

4:36 Where are our families at? What do they need?

4:36 What are your needs?

4:36 How have they changed?

4:36 How do we advocate on your behalf?

5:25 Two generations of fighting poverty

7:06 What is braided funding?

8:42 Relationships critical to any work

11:12 What’s working well and what’s not

13:13 Addressing barriers that prevent you from being successful

15:54 Am I good enough?

17:01 That’s where your jet fuel comes from 

17:24 Your life experience is your greatest teacher

18:11 I would not have scripted this for my life

20:22 Seeing outside of yourself

23:33 Strongest sense of calling I have had

24:46 Being proactive versus reactive

28:01 Circumstances have their place

28:40 Circumstances to not need to define my future

30:13 Generational change requires a generational commitment

31:43 If you don’t know who you are you don’t know where you are going

32:25 Going deep in the communities you’re in

32:25 Keeping the voice of your people at the center

34:03 The Pandemic has backed up poverty

35:11 The significance of MLK

36:34 2.8% of people in poverty actually excape

36:34 Systemic poverty

39:49 How trauma happens

42:54 Judgement creates a divide

44:00 Why $15 an hour is important

53:17 People’s God Given desires

57:00 70% of people work here because of their own experience

1:04:50 Evidence of what you’re doing is working

1:12:22 My Job is to continue to change

RESOURCES

- Matt Haaga State Farm: https://www.matthaaga.com/

- https://abjets.com/

- https://agapemeanslove.org/

My guests this week are Wiseacre Brewery Founders Davin and Kellan Bartosch. 

Davin and Kellan launched Wiseacre in 2013 and it has been a huge success. They quit their jobs, found a partner, took out personal loans and have built one of the most well known craft breweries in the Southeast. After one year of opening, their Tiny Bomb beer won the Bronze Medal at the Great American Beer Festival in 2014.

I wanted to have a conversation with Davin and Kellan to learn how they have generated such momentum in a crowded craft beer market. This conversation doesn’t disappoint. We cover:

• Going all in at the beginning
• Building Wiseacre their way
• Living with challenges and ambiguity
• Their plans for growth
• And more!

Please enjoy my conversation with Davin and Kellan Bartosch!

RECAP 

45 secs Beer critics

2:00 You can’t please everyone

3:15 Taking things personally

4:09 Where it started

6:34 The PitBull Named Carlito

10:15 When Tiny Bomb Hit It Big

12:35 Why Memphis Water Matters

14:33 Something Always Goes Wrong

15:02 Founding Brewmaster loves lager and that drives it

15:38 Leveraging their relationship

18:31 Passion can lead to bad decisions

21:37 How to grow a craft brewery 

22:18 Doing the job I did before except doing it for myself

22:22 Quantifiable goals and how to measure them

24:13 The power of design

24:50 We both took out two loans each

25:38 Good debt and forecasting money

28:55 Our experience and our instincts got us through

30:18 Telling stories

32:00 I’m better at working by myself than with other people

33:25 Now we’re just reacting 

34:05 Cast the vision and what do we need to change to become that vision

35:03 Get going in direction and others execute

37:45 I’m more focused than I was at the beginning

41:00 We’re in a crunch right now

45:07 We have to be okay with grey area

58:00 Natural Progression

59:03 Our identity is Memphis

1:01:01 Approach things with a sense of humor

1:03:10 Be willing to put your time in

1:04:10 Lessons learned from upbringing

RESOURCES

• Matt Haaga State Farm: https://www.matthaaga.com/
• AB Jets: https://abjets.com/
• Wiseacre Brew: https://wiseacrebrew.com/
• http://rachelbriggs.com/

My guest this week is Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings.

You may know Director Rallings from leading the Memphis Police Department. After announcing his retirement for the year 2021, I wanted to speak with Director Rallings to understand what it felt like when he accessed and walked with protesters off the Mississippi River Bridge in 2016. This is a replay of an episode that was recorded in the summer of 2020.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• The principles that he has lived by throughout his life
• What a global perspective teaches him about the City he leads
• How to have context for the big picture when you're thinking about specific challenges
• And more

Please enjoy my conversation with Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings.

1:40 Family, Dignity, Respect, and Loving People

1:57 Being Responsible for one’s own actions

3:08 Why discipline matters

3:39 Only two things I wanted to be: a soldier and an officer

4:36 Parents didn’t want me to join

7:20 The sacrifice others have made

7:35 What others have done for me

8:41 What a true global perspective gives you

12:24 George Floyd

12:41 Actual facts about law enforcement

15:00 Soldier for life

16:45 Look at the whole body of work

21:29 I have a long way to go

24:10 I am not going through anything anybody else hasn’t

24:40 Criticism has few terrors for a man with great purpose 

26:30 If it’s good to my boss it’s great to me

27:17 You can’t do it all

28:23 Drown out the noise and do the work

29:44 Only hear because of the grace of God

30:04 Love yourself

33:20 President Obama I made a mistake every day

36:20 Getting in harms way

40:36 Negative Media

42:41 Transitioning career and getting to know Mike

RESOURCES

Matt Haaga State Farm

AB Jets

Memphis Police Department

Hey Everybody- As I mentioned last week, while I get ready for the new year- I am resharing some of my favorite episodes from 2020 for January while I get ready for this year. Who would have thought almost one year later we would still be where we are with the Covid 19 pandemic. I reached out to Cathy to get an update on where things are now almost one year later with their work. She said that in 2019 the mid-south food bank provided 15 Million meals. IN 2020, they provided close to 42 Million meals. They have close to tripled their distribution since the beginning of Covid 19.

Mid-South Food Bank based out of Memphis, TN. Mid-South Food Bank is a part of Feeding America, a nation wide network of more than 200 food banks that feed more than 46 million people through food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and other community based organizations. Forbes ranks this as the second largest charity by revenue.

In this conversation, we talk:

• what food insecurity looks like
• what it takes to make this incredible work happen
• the importance of community, and more.

Please enjoy my conversation with Cathy Pope.

RECAP

1:33 Starting a new organization

2:47 How feeding America works

3:38 The similarity between a hurricane and a pandemic

5:25 Pushing you at a faster pace

6:15 The impact of underemployment and food consumption

13:00 What ramping up looks like

15:00 How the pandemic pushed production in a positive direction

RESOURCES

• Matt Haaga State Farm
• AB Jets
• Mid-South Food Bank

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be replaying some of my favorite episodes from 2020. I hope you enjoy these episodes and Happy New Year!

My guest this week is Isaac Bruce. Isaac was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 2020. Isaac played college football for the University of Memphis and was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the 2nd round and had a 14-year career with the Rams. Isaac was known for his work ethic.

This episode is for you if you want to learn more about:  

• How those closest to you notice your gifts
• The Ups and Downs of the ride
• Copying other’s moves and making them work for you
• Embracing your gifts and putting in the work
• Transitioning to a new chapter of life
• And more!

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

RECAP

1:40 The excitement of being in the hall of fame

2:18 When the hall of fame became a thought

3:30 Football it’s what we did growing up

4:26 When you know your gifts are noticed by others

4:50 An athlete having the choice to embrace the gifts you have and put in the hard work

5:25 Seeing people’s moves and copying them

6:07 Ups and downs along the way

6:44 Never lose sight of the end goal

7:25 Getting all the juice out of it

8:12 Preparing for the next phase of your life

9:20 Keeping the same principles

9:48 Importance of parents

12:00 Being there for family

12:47 You can’t start with the how

RESOURCES Matt Haaga State Farm AB Jets

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 a massive issue for businesses across the country, and Muddy’s is no different. Muddy’s completely shut its doors for several weeks and has opened one of its locations back, but it is not as bad as it sounds 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

• Muddy’s Bake Shop
• Matt Haaga State Farm
• AB Jets

My guest this week is Jean McGhee. Jean is one of the owners of Hollywood Feed – the fastest-growing pet retail store in the country with 110 stores across the U.S. Jean and her husband Shawn purchased Hollywood Feed in 2006. Before purchasing Hollywood Feed, Jean was a stay-at-home mom. Through this conversation, you'll see that Jean doesn't get caught up with numbers and scale. You'll see how she sticks to what she loves and how this serves the public.

This episode will expose you to everything you need to know about:

• Confidence
• Importance of single-sex education
• Aligning strengths within a partnership
• Living through when a key person leaves
• Building an ecosystem of talent
• The humbling early days
• The deeper "why" behind her work
• And more!

I had a great time recording this episode with Jean, and I hope it impacts you as much as it did me. Happy New Year to you and yours!

RECAP

2:08 Being a stay at home Mom

3:43 Her husband always thinking big

5:05 Pet Industry follows the human heart

7:34 When you’re young your impatient to find the right answer

8:40 Our job is to help people find their role to succeed

11:08 There is a bias of women in the workplace

12:58 Diverse perspectives create the most value for our company

14:30 First principles- avoid the rabbithole

23:12 No passion it doesn’t last

26:40 We’re going to recover

39:50 If you work hard and you’re focused you will succeed

41:20 Your spouse cannot be your business mentor

41:55 My dad’s answers are the simple ones

43:29 The eternal optimist

59:48 If you aren’t someone else is

1:06:00 We don’t need the whole piece of the pie to be successful 

1:12:08 Why pet adoption matters

RESOURCES

Hollywood Feed

Matt Haaga State Farm

AB Jets