James Keyes, Former 7-Eleven and Blockbuster CEO and author of EDUCATION IS FREEDOM: The Future Is in Your Hands, joins Natalie on the podcast to discuss:

• Change equals opportunity – lessons from Jim’s career and how to avoid being disrupted during periods of turbulence.
• Dispelling the myths behind Blockbuster’s demise – why fear, not Netflix, killed Blockbuster.
• Why Jim believes we might see a revival of the Blockbuster brand.
• Diversification – with Netflix opening restaurants, TikTok opening shops and Amazon opening hair salons, just how far could and should brands veer from their core?
• How technology can empower staff and elevate the customer experience.
• Lessons from Jim’s new book – understanding the importance of collaboration, cultural literacy, continual evolution and character.

Jim’s bio:

James Keyes is the former CEO of two internationally recognized Fortune 500 companies - 7-Eleven and Blockbuster. Jim is a global business leader, a philanthropist, educator, artist, musician, commercial pilot, and modern renaissance man. 

His other business interests cover a broad range of industries from retail, consumer products, technology, healthcare, cyber security, new space, energy, and advanced nuclear. He sits on several public company boards and serves as a board adviser to a venture capital firm and a number of start-up companies.

Keyes’s philanthropic initiatives have an equally broad focus, including serving a three-term seat on the Board of Governors for the American Red Cross, acting as the former Chairman of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and serving on the board of directors for institutions such as UT Southwestern Medical School, Cooper Institute, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Dallas Performing Arts Center, SMU Cox School of Business, Columbia Business School, and his alma mater, College of the Holy Cross. He has had a lifelong commitment to education, serving as a founding director of the Dallas Education Foundation and is the founder of the Education Is Freedom Foundation. Keyes is a personification of the American Dream, as he comes from humble beginnings. He was inducted in 2005 as a Member of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.

More on Jim’s new book, EDUCATION IS FREEDOM: The Future Is in Your Hands:

Growing up in poverty in a small town in central Massachusetts, James Keyes seemed destined for a difficult life—one working at the local factory alongside his father and struggling to get by. Instead, he went on to become the CEO of 7-Eleven, where he increased shareholder value by tenfold during his tenure, and then CEO of Blockbuster, where he secured opportunities for the company even as the world wholeheartedly embraced streaming. How did he defy the odds? In EDUCATION IS FREEDOM: The Future Is in Your Hands (Savio Republic; February 27th, 2024) with a foreword by Stedman Graham, Keyes shows how lifelong education and education access shaped his life and why they need to play a much larger role in in the public consciousness: because they empower us with the mindset to overcome adversity while preserving our democracy.

Order Jim’s book on Amazon UK or Amazon US.

Follow Jim on LinkedIn