Ep 270 | Aired 11/12/2021

Today on Up in Your Business I have the pleasure of sitting down with one of the founders of Wendy’s restaurants in Arkansas; the prolific Little Rock restaurateur, Mr. Jim Keet, along with his son, Jake Keet.

Jim has accomplished much in his career but, when asked what he is most proud of, he quickly says working with his sons in their iconic eateries: Tatziki’s Mediterranean Cafe, Petit & Keet, and Cypress Social (the old Cock of the Walk).

On this show, Jim and Jake discuss what it takes to run a successful restaurant, why family is a great small business asset, and Jim’s hobby of piloting airplanes in his free time … and some of his less-than-perfect landings!

Listen to get insight in to how their restaurants took a different approach to managing the pandemic and how it paid off in the end.

Ep 269 | Aired 11/5/2021

Did you know November is Military Month?

We at Flag and Banner know it, and chose to celebrate on Up In Your Business with Kerry McCoy by playing an earlier interview with one of Arkansas’s favorite sons, the highly decorated, four-star General Wesley Clark.

I will always be grateful to General Clark when, in 2017, he lent his star power to my new radio show. In KABF’s non-profit radio station, with our first-generation equipment, we recorded our interview live with an amateur technician at the board. The energy was raw and the stories he told were harrowing.

I especially remember General Clark talking about the special bond between servicemen, about how he was almost mortally wounded on the battlefield, and why he thinks public service should be a requirement for all young adults.

Ep 268 | Aired 10/29/2021

We are having a Mayoral Roundtable today on Up In Your Business with Kerry McCoy. Our super editor (and local celeb within his own right), Tom Wood, has put together a show with three previous guests, Past Mayor Mark Stodola, current Mayor Frank Scott, and former Arkansas Representative Warwick Sabin, who ran against Scott for mayor in the last election.

Listen to get insight into the business of running a city. In addition to each of their experiences in public office, they also share unique stories about their personal call to public service, how they came to Arkansas, and their passion for the city of Little Rock.

Ep 267 | Aired 10/22/2021

You could call today’s show a “second coming” because this will be the second time Reverend Dr. Chris Keller has appeared on Up In Your Business with Kerry McCoy.

Dr. Keller, III, is an Episcopal priest and theologian who, through his ministry and life, has blended scholarly pursuits with pop culture knowledge into an innovative leadership style. I liken him to EF Hutton because “When he speaks, people listen.”

Today, we listen as he speaks about his new book, Getting On Toward Home, a thoughtful collection of funeral sermons written during his career as a priest and theologian. There are mountains of meaning is this heartfelt, 124-page book.

Listen to hear Dr. Keller discuss why he chose the twelve homilies included in the book, including those written for late friends and family. We also discuss his ever-evolving opinions on hot button issues within the Episcopal Church and how you can get a signed copy of Getting On Toward Home at noon on Tuesday, October 24th at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, in downtown Little Rock.

Ep 266 | Aired 10/15/2021

Today, we tried something different and recorded Up In Your Business with Kerry McCoy‘s interview with Mr. Roy Dudley, founder of Roy Dudley Estate Sales, from the Dreamland Ballroom.

Mr. Dudley is one of those fortunate people that found his passion early in life. He was a mere boy in elementary school when he was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug and began treasure hunting at garage sales and reselling his finds in Aunt Hazel’s perpetual yard sale. Hear how Roy took his aunt’s sage advice and parlayed it into a successful business called Roy Dudley Estate Sales.

When asked what his favorite find was, his answer was swift. Finding the papers of school children in Arkansas’ Japanese Internment camp, Rohwer. From 1942 and 1945, more than 8,000 Japanese Americans were interned at Rohwer—a 500-acre camp surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards, in rural Arkansas.

Ep 265 | Aired 10/8/2021

Today on Up In Your Business with Kerry McCoy is my interview with Mr. Aaron Lubin, President of Executive Recruiters Agency, who has been consulting Fortune 500 and small businesses, alike, for over 40 years.

Since the disrupter, Covid-19, it seems everyone is redefining their life and work plan. Before the term “life coach” was even invented, Aaron Lubin Consultants was helping individuals and corporations identify their strengths and build on them. This interview is not about textbook theory; it’s his experience speaking.

get tips on how to interview for a job and hear how Aaron followed his own advice and went where life led him: from a business consultant to a TV and radio host, and even a sports announcer.

Ep 264 | Aired 10/1/2021

Today on Up In Your Business with Kerry McCoy is my interview with retired Honorable Judge, Mr. Robert L. Brown, a stalwart of Arkansas law and politics. Though you may not readily know his name, you know his work and are living by some of the rules and laws he studied, argued, and enacted while serving as associate justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court from 1991 until his retirement in 2012.

In 2010 Counselor Brown published his book, titled Defining Moments: Historic Decisions by Arkansas Governors from Sid McMath through Mike Huckabee, in which he writes about the ten consecutive governors of Arkansas during his tenure and the difficult choices they made about education, the environment, social justice, political corruption, and more. His perspective is more than just historical data, it is his personal experience with these Arkansas leaders, from whence came a US president, two US senators, and two presidential contenders.

And, in honor of the spooky season, we take a break from Justice Brown’s career to talk about a different passion of his: the history of the Salem Witch Trials.

Hear Justice Brown’s first-hand account of nine of the ten governors he personally knew and writes about in his book, as well as why the Salem Witch Trials were one of America’s earliest cases of mass hysteria run-amok.

Ep 263 | Aired 9/24/2021

Join me at today on Up In Your Business with Kerry McCoy to hear my interview with Mr. Gary Lay, founder of GWL Advertising, SeeSpotRun Productions, and GWL Digital, all headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. You know his good works every time you see Steve Landers on TV. Yes, Gary is the man behind the man, in those commercials and others.

At first, you might think, “oh just another adman.” But wait! Mr. Gary Lay is also one of only two survivors of the 1965 Titan II Missile Disaster near Dardanelle, Arkansas. Over the past 20 years, he has had several brushes with his mortality and says, “I truly believe there is something special God wants me to do. I just need to figure it out.”

Listen to this successful, creative man share his secret sauce for breaking through the noise and clutter of advertising in order to build a brand and an image for his clients.

Ep 262 | Aired 09/17/2021

Where has this ‘guy,’ Mr. Jim Guy Tucker, been? Today on Up In Your Business we’ll find out what he has been up to and more.

In the autobiography The Education of Ernie Dumas, the author admiringly describes Jim Guy as a “swashbuckler.” I had to look it up: A swashbuckler is a heroic archetype in European adventure literature that is typified by the use of a sword, acrobatics and chivalric ideals.

After reading about today’s guest, I concur with Mr. Dumas’s summation of Arkansas’s 43rd Governor!

Jim Guy is tall, uncomfortably handsome, a Harvard graduate, a Marine, a Vietnam war correspondent, a politician turned international businessman and a felon. Yes, he was wrongly accused as part of the Kenneth Starr Whitewater Investigations. He settled to a lesser charge, whilst he received a liver transplant due to failing health caused by a life threatening, autoimmune disease. Years later, after finding nothing to charge him of, the case was dropped, and he received an apology letter and refund check from the United States government. The felony charge remains on his record.

And there’s even more interesting facts: young Jim Guy went undercover at the state penitentiary until then-Governor Rockefeller found out and ordered him out of there saying, “Get him out before he gets killed!” See … he is an American swashbuckler!

Ep 261 | Aired 9/10/2021

Today on Up In Your Business with Kerry McCoy, we revisit a past interview with respect and remembrance of all those whose lives changed forever on 9/11.

We all remember where we were when, 20 years ago, two jet planes were hi-jacked and flown into the Twin Towers in New York City. My guest today does too.

Reverend Dr. Stuart Hoke emerged from the New York subway in the financial district to see the sky raining clothes and debris. He walked down the street and stood alongside many other onlookers and gawked upwardly, confused as the second plane hit the tower. He then ran for his life as jet fuel spilled into the streets.

Listen to him recount the next surreal hour and hear firsthand the true story of how the day unfolded as people found shelter and comfort in his company and church. The day of 9/11 would prove to be the largest naval evacuation in our history.

In addition to being a priest, he is an outspoken 12 stepper. No, that is not the name of a dance step, though it would be a good one. Revered Stuart Hoke has lived a life of sobriety for 20+ years and proudly shouts the good news from the roof top and the pulpit. Just hearing this eloquent man will make you want to be a better person and give thanks for all you have.