May 23, 2024 • 49 mins
Not all careers are hand picked. Sometimes we land into a career unexpectedly, and a surprising path blossoms before us. And when that happens, we become passionate about our livelihood as we discovered through an alum from the Dallas-Ft. Worth area in the next segment of “On the Road.” Hosted by Dr. Brad Schultz and Amanda Price, this …. is Mustangs Unbridled.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Not all careers are handpicked.
Sometimes we land into a careerunexpectedly and a surprising
path blossoms before us, andwhen that happens we become
passionate about our livelihood.
As we discover through an alumfrom the Dallas-Fort Worth area
in the next segment of On theRoad, hosted by Dr Brad Schultz
(00:27):
and Amanda Price, this isMustangs Unbridled.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Innovation is all around us, especially in the
automotive industry.
Today's guest has built acareer in connected vehicle
services, benefiting millions ofdrivers globally.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Greg Corley, class of 1986, has specialized in
business development ofautomotive software.
He has had a unique career andwe're excited to learn more
about the industry.
Today he's welcomed us into hishome.
Thank you, greg.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
My pleasure.
Glad to have you here.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
We always like to start with our alumni.
How you actually came toLipscomb, what grade did you
start in?
Was there a reason that youwere there?
Just give us the history.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
You bet.
So I moved to Nashville fromAtlanta when I was in fourth
grade.
So the first two years I livedin Tennessee.
I was in Altshedum CountyPublic School and my parents
both worked in town reallyweren't happy with the learning
environment where I was and waslooking for more, especially at
(01:27):
that point in time.
You know private education wasmuch better than a lot of the
public schools were, especiallyin Cheatham County,
unfortunately.
So went around, did a lot ofinterviewing and ultimately
found David Lipscomb at the timeand that's where I ended up,
started there in sixth grade andstayed all the way through
college.
It was a long run, so to speak.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Well, I like to look people up in their yearbooks to
see what they're interested in,and you appeared many, many
times throughout those fouryears in the yearbooks, starting
with fine arts.
So I think I saw you were intwo different chorus groups.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Yeah, I was in some middle school chorus and then
high school chorus.
I guess all four years of highschool I was in the chorus and,
yeah, that was fun.
Robert King was a phenomenaldirector.
I may have been actually in hisvery first class when he took
over leadership of that and so,yeah, I definitely remember a
(02:25):
few times butting heads.
I wasn't the most cooperativeat times, but he was amazing.
It was a blast.
We had so much fun.
I didn't have that strong of avoice so I never had to worry
about solos or anything butbeing a part of the larger
chorus.
It was a blast.
I really, really enjoyed it.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
I also saw you won second place in the talent
contest for a piano piece, so Iwant to know do you still play
piano and what was the piece youplayed?
Speaker 3 (02:56):
I think I played the entertainer Scott Joplin's
entertainer, if I recall whichit's funny, I had completely
forgotten I was in that talentshow.
Thanks, amanda.
Thanks for that and the answerto the first question no, I do
not play the piano, althoughthere's a piano I grew up with
is sitting just down the hall,I've walked away from it.
(03:16):
Yeah, it was one of thosethings I played.
I was classically trained for10 years and unfortunately I had
an experience with my lastmusic teacher that honestly
turned me off to it.
And so why I've drugged thatpiano around for the last 30
some odd years, I don't know.
Maybe my kids have tinkeredwith it a little bit and it's
(03:38):
been fun listening to them.
But it's on that kind of bucketlist.
One day, you know, when I'm notquite so busy, I would like to
get back into it.
But yeah, it was just one ofthose things I've just walked
away from, unfortunately.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Well, you're never too old to learn something again
.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
I might be on that.
I can't remember where Middle Cis now.
That's the unfortunate thing.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
I also saw you were a cross-country runner, so we
always like to.
We know that sports is morethan just winning.
There are so many more thingsthat you learn and you have
growth, personal growth.
So, for you, what did you learnfrom sports and as well as fine
arts, because you were with agroup, for you said all four
(04:22):
years.
So what did you take away fromthose experiences?
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Well, from a sports perspective, I definitely, even
though I ran cross country, Ireally learned that I hate
running.
Uh, it was.
It was funny.
I it's one of those things thatwhen I did it, it was one of
those things that it wasprobably where I had the.
It had the least least barrierto entry for me athletically,
because I could never make thebasketball team.
(04:47):
I wasn't good enough inbaseball, that type of stuff.
But what I definitely learnedwas I needed time to think and
that was one of the coolestthings about it.
As much as I hated the runningitself, it was always a great
time just to get in your ownhead and kind of work through
things, and so that partactually brought me a lot of
enjoyment.
And as much as I hated running,then it's one of those things
(05:09):
that I did start doing.
Once I got older, andespecially once I had kids and
work and a lot of travel forwork, it gave me a chance to
kind of step away and kind ofreset a lot of things mentally.
So that was a lesson that Iwouldn't expect to learn in high
school, that you kind of needthat headspace and you need time
to alone with your thoughts,and that was a good place for me
(05:32):
.
But when you start looking atthe other kind of life lessons,
one was don't ever give up.
That was one thing for sure.
That you definitely are goingto see a lot of obstacles,
especially running, andespecially at that time you
didn't have sidewalks everywhereto run.
So you're running on the sideof the road, you're running in
ditches, you're twisting ankles,that type of stuff.
(05:52):
So it was easy to kind of haveinjuries jump up and kind of
potentially sabotage what you'retrying to do athletically.
But you still needed to workthrough that.
You shouldn't give up.
You've got a team that you're apart of that's depending upon
(06:13):
you, and those are things thatdidn't occur to me then.
But I've absolutely seen andlived for the last 30, 40 years
in life and especially in work.
No one's alone when they'reworking.
Even if you're self-employed,you still have others that are a
part of that team that you'redepending upon.
And especially for me, being asmall part of a much larger
organization and a much largerteam that's been able to deliver
a lot of things understandingwhat it's like to be a part of a
(06:35):
team, understanding the rolethat you need to play and that
the success of teams reallyoccurs when you're not trying to
play hero ball, when you'replaying your position, your role
, you're taking care of yourresponsibilities.
It doesn't mean you can't stepup and go above and beyond, but
the key success elements arereally when everybody is doing
(06:59):
their job and everybody's kindof pulling in the same direction
.
And so being a part of variousteams growing up really helped
kind of plant those seeds samedirection and so, you know,
being a part of various teamsgrowing up really helped kind of
plant those seeds that reallydidn't sprout and I really
didn't understand until Icertainly got a lot further down
the road in my professionalcareer.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Just an FYI, so no question here, but when Amanda
was talking about chorus and youmentioned Robert King so this
is his 40th year I didn't knowif you know.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Okay, yeah so I did get some emails about it and the
links that he put out.
So I did go back and look atsome of the old Granny videos
from back in the day and, yeah,I got a big chuckle out of it.
It was a lot of fun going backand seeing some of the old
performances at Hillsborough andGranny White and Bellevue,
(07:43):
where I grew up going.
It was pretty cool.
It was really neat to relivethat again.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
That's neat.
So if you were to walk throughour campus now and inside the
building several differentplaces lower school and upper
school campus we have some signsthat says you belong here and
for students to feel like that'strue, it's about relationships
with friends, but I think alsothey would say very much with
faculty and staff coaches,teachers, course teachers you
(08:10):
know different areas as wellthat they've connected with.
Were there some individualsthat come to mind when you think
of what allowed you to feellike you belong there with
faculty and staff?
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Yeah for sure.
There's a handful of teachersthat really, truly stick out.
I mean, the first one thatpopped to mind is Nelson Eddy.
You know he was English teacher.
That, oh my gosh, you know frominto the room and he's dressed
(08:45):
up like Shakespeare.
The biggest thing was how hemade everyone feel involved in a
part of the class, because inall of our quizzes and our vocab
test, you know, he wouldactually do a caricature of a
student on every one of them andit was always you.
Couldn't you actually lookforward to the test or the quiz
because you want to see, hey, amI on it this time?
(09:06):
Is this going to be mycharacter?
Cheer?
But he was able to really bringthings to life in such a vivid
way.
And then he was also.
I got to work under him, youknow, the night of January 16th
he was the director, uh, when Iwas, you know, had the uh a part
in in that play and he reallymade things fun.
(09:27):
He made things exciting andthat's one of the things that
actually, for whether it wasMiss Brown, miss Dixon, miss
Boyce, mrs Piper, all thoseteachers in seventh grade, they
all made learning fun, whichreally helped kind of set the
stage of okay, it's not justschool Yuck, this is exciting,
this is fun stuff, and whetherit be what their teaching styles
(09:49):
were or how they interactedwith you, you know, in between
class and home period, that typeof thing, it was great.
You know coach Tracy she was anamazing you know track cross
country coach, but also Englishteacher as well.
It's funny Now that I thinkabout it English really had a
pretty bigger impact on my lifeand kind of impression than I
(10:09):
really thought it would have.
Until I kind of take a stepback and look at it, it kind of
flows down to now my daughter'san English teacher, so it's kind
of crazy how it goes fullcircle.
But those are the names andteachers that really jumped off
the page at me.
You know another teacher that Iknew, but I never had her as a
teacher, mrs Rydell, because Inever took chemistry.
(10:30):
I wasn't smart enough to takethat and I avoided it like the
plague.
But being able to see therelationship that all my friends
had and that she had with allthe students, even though I
never had her in class, beingaround her and seeing her
influence, that definitelysticks, you know, jumps off the
page and sticks with me over theyears of you know.
Again, she made it fun, shemade it interesting, but she was
(10:52):
also a just a phenomenalteacher from a, from a
curriculum perspective, and sothat was.
That was a lot of fun too.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
So you're not the only person that has mentioned
Mrs Rydell in theseconversations, or Nelson Eddy
and I can't remember who it was.
It might have been MonicaWright, she graduated around the
same time you did, and I thinkshe was one who talked about how
he would just come and justmake the words come alive.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
So I'm going to go back to the yearbook for a
minute.
I saw that you were a staffphotographer for the yearbook
and I think were you an editor.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
I wasn't the editor.
No, Okay Well did you that wasJulie Fox.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Do you remember that the very last page of your
senior yearbook, the whole staffwrote a letter to Nelson Eddie
talking about how much y'allappreciated him and his guidance
?
So it impacted.
It impacted me when I read itCause, like I said, you weren't
the first person who actuallytalked about Nelson Eddy.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Yeah, he was.
He was an amazing guide for us,you know, as we were working on
on the yearbook.
It was funny he he gave.
He gave me an opportunity to bea photographer and I wasn't
that great a photographer, sothere were.
I remember I think it wasHomecoming I actually was in.
Thankfully we had multiplephotographers Bobby Johnson and
(12:14):
others were in there doing itBecause I didn't have film in my
camera.
So when we go to the darkroomto development, I pop it open
and there's nothing in there.
So I'm like, okay, that's justawesome Learning experience.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
What a'm like okay, that's just awesome.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
Learning experience, A lot of learning experience.
Yeah, double check your work,everything.
But yeah, he was funny, caring,very instructional and
definitely brought every part oflife that I had a chance to
interact with.
He truly brought it to life andthat made a huge impact on me.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
So I want to read to you what's on his LinkedIn page.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
During my five-and-a-half-year career at
David Lipscomb High School, Itaught English, speech, theater,
bible and yearbook.
I'm especially proud of thefact that one of my students is
now a university athleticdirector, another is an
accomplished songwriter and, tomy knowledge, none of my
students is in prison.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Well, I know he's talking about Philip as far as
the AD, but yeah, thankfullyI've never spent any time in the
pokey, so I'll give Mr Eddieall the credit for that.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
When you were in high school, you were in the Future
Teachers of America Club, whichthat's pretty evident what that
is, but you were also inHomiletics Club.
So do you mind just sharing,for those who may not be
familiar with that, what thatclub entails?
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Sure, the Homiletics Club.
Basically it was a preacher'sclub, for lack of a better term.
It was tied very closelyactually to the chorus and kind
of working together, but it wasa club.
(14:04):
The homiletics club would.
When we would go to perform ata local congregation, a member
of the homiletics club wouldusually deliver the message.
It would speak in the servicethat Sunday evening and then
afterwards the chorus wouldperform.
So it just kind of became anatural connection.
There I'm in one, I can be inthe other and let's kind of do
(14:26):
both of them.
I enjoyed public speaking.
It was one of those things thatI learned early on that I kind
of had a bit of a gift of gaband an ability to do it somewhat
effectively I'll blame MrsBoyce for that and a history
assignment on the Battle ofShiloh.
But that's how it worked.
(14:47):
The Bible teachers at Faith andMr Eddie and others were very
instrumental in kind of guidingus and teaching us speaking
techniques and how to putspecifically around lessons.
Bible lessons kind of here'show you need to structure things
, here's kind of the fundamentalflow and how to put your points
(15:09):
together and your messagestogether and how to do it in a
succinct manner but in aneffective manner as well.
So it was a lot of educationthat, even though I didn't move
into ministry, there were somefundamental things there about
crafting a message that I'veapplied literally every day of
my professional career sincethen.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
So, looking at your current career choice, you're
not a teacher or a preacher thatI'm aware of, but so how did
you end up in the automotiveindustry?
Speaker 3 (15:39):
Completely by accident, not intentional at all
.
So after I graduated fromcollege at Lipscomb needed a job
.
I was doing some TV work andstuff, but I needed an actual,
legitimate, paying job and Iwent to work as a salesperson in
a home security company RollinsProtective Services at the time
and one thing led to another inthe course of spending time in
(16:06):
the home security space thatliterally one day within a
24-hour period I get fourdifferent contacts about going
to work for a company calledWestinghouse Westinghouse Home
Security.
Four different jobopportunities in four different
locations and and a couple ofthem were sales, one was
management and another was anational sales trainer based out
of headquarters corporate here.
And so when you get somethinglike that, it's kind of like I
(16:30):
think God's trying to tell youhere's a path, I think you'd
kind of need to be going down,and one thing leads to another.
I get the job as a nationalsales trainer here.
So when I come down here in endof 96, westinghouse has this
little division that has juststarted.
Literally they'd launched thatyear in their connected vehicle
(16:50):
space.
So I was doing national salestraining.
I had visibility in front ofthe executives and having the
president and other VPs of thecompany coming in and speaking
to new salespeople as part of it, and that gave me visibility at
the executive level that Iprobably shouldn't have had
normally.
And it led to the point of thepresident coming to me and said
(17:11):
hey, we're going to grow thislittle automotive thing that
we're starting.
We're going to do one of twothings we're either going to
spin it off and sell it tosomebody else, or we're going to
grow it and we're going toseparate it.
And we're going to do one oftwo things we're either going to
spin it off and sell it tosomebody else, or we're going to
grow it and we're going toseparate it and we're going to
go public.
I want you to be a part of that.
And so nine months into that Imade a switch over into
(17:32):
automotive and from 1997 totoday I've been in the
automotive-related business.
So completely by accident, butit's been a fun, fun ride.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
That's good for our students to be able to hear,
because I think very often theythink they've got to have it all
figured out, even, like as aninth grader, oh, I need to know
what I'm going to do, right.
So it's nice to hear you don'thave to have it all figured out.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
I'm still trying to figure out what I actually want
to do.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
I can appreciate that too.
So you have worked almost 20years for the company where you
currently are, agero.
You worked, took some differentjobs and then you came back.
So what is it about thiscompany that has made you want
to come back again for a secondterm?
Speaker 3 (18:10):
Sure, for me it's real simple.
It's the executive leadership.
So the first go-around thepresident, chief strategy
officer and chief legal officerare with a company now that were
with a company previously and Ihad an opportunity to travel
domestically and internationallywith some of them and really
(18:32):
had an opportunity to see thembeyond the boardroom and kind of
see what they're like, you know, outside of the four walls of a
work environment and get toknow them on a little bit more
of a personal level.
And with that I saw theintegrity, the, you know, the
quality of the person and thatyou know the persona that they
had at work wasn't their realpersona, that's, they were true
(18:54):
and authentic and so thatdefinitely made an impression on
me and no matter where kind ofwhere life was taking me, you
know, having that kind ofconnection and that ability to
stay in touch with themprofessionally certainly opened
doors so that when anopportunity arose for me to move
from one position to anotherand they had an opening, the
(19:17):
timing was right I absolutelywanted to jump at the chance to
go back.
So you know it was very much apersonal or person-driven
decision and from that I'll usea term that a boss that I had
Steve Milstein for years at ATXand then part of the time at
Agero.
A phrase that he used shadow ofthe leader, and it's all about
(19:38):
you know the effectiveness ofleadership and everybody below
you takes on and kind of fallsunder.
However you act as the leader,that's how the people below you
are going to act.
And I very much see that shadowof the leader approach is very
visible at Agero with DaveFarrick and Peter and Jeff and
the shadow that they cast acrossthe organization from a
(19:59):
professionalism and innovation,a creative thinking, a teamwork,
all those things kind oftrickle down.
And it absolutely was somethingof interest to me, especially
at this point in my career,going on 55, going on 56 years
old.
You know I don't need politicalgames, I don't need all that
type of stuff at this stage inthe business world, and so
(20:22):
that's really what kind ofhelped drive me or really drove
my interest in wanting to comeback and the timing worked out
that there was an opportunitythere as well.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
I like hearing that you chose to follow the people
and not the company, so it saysso much about character when you
want to go back to work for aparticular individual.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
Yeah for sure.
I mean that's one of the thingsthat I would say when I look
back on my professional career.
You know the people aspect ofwhat I've been able to do and
see in the companies I've workedwith, it's really the people
that jump out and stick out forme.
I mean, yeah, we've had anopportunity to work with some of
the biggest companies in theworld in the automotive space,
(21:04):
but it's all about the peoplethere and the relationships that
you've been built, because,especially with what I do and
really for a large part of salesin general, it's all about
relationship selling.
I can think back to 2005 whenwe, when Toyota picked this
little company ATX out of Dallasnon-automotive my president,
(21:27):
steve Milstein, I had flown outhaving the, the, the handshake
signing agreement and that typeof stuff.
And after we were done, youknow they said look, we're not
buying you for the company,we're buying you for you.
We trust you, the two of us,because we've worked with you
and this process has gone solong.
We're trusting that you candeliver on what you've said and
(21:52):
to me that speaks mountains.
You know it goes to theimportance of your character,
your dependability, yourtruthfulness throughout your
process.
It applies to any part of life,but especially when sales I
mean gosh.
I can remember an executive atanother card company that would
always joke with me.
(22:12):
He's like, hey, how do you knowa sales guy's lying?
His lips are moving.
Okay, everybody's heard thatjoke, but it really speaks to
and validates the importance ofthose personal relationships and
their ability to rely on you.
And so truthfulness isabsolutely something that it's
(22:32):
foundational.
Obviously you learn, hopefullyyou learn it at home, but that's
absolutely a foundationalmessage that I learned from
sixth grade, all the way throughcollege at Lipscomb, was to be
earnest, to be truthful and tobe forthright in everything that
you do.
For me, it's paid off in spadesthroughout my life.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
Well, agero started as a motor club company 50 years
ago, and it's expanded toelectric vehicle mobile chargers
and software for real-time,real-time assistance.
So, of all their innovations,which ones have impressed you
the most?
Speaker 3 (23:08):
Oh gosh.
The fact that it's still afamily-run business, I think, is
definitely one of the mostimpressive things you know.
Sid Walk just it's back topeople Sid Walk just late last
year they had a big 50thcelebration for him and the
family and what the company'sdone.
When you look at what Agero'sdone certainly a lot of it in
the window that I wasn't part ofthe organization, but their
(23:32):
leadership in starting anautomotive, but now their
leadership in the insurancespace, dealing specifically with
insurance carriers.
You know, some of the largestinsurance providers in North
America partner with us to takecare of their drivers and so
being able to create veryspecific, very unique solutions
(23:54):
and programs from a connectedvehicle roadside that are very
specific to the insurance space.
Programs from a connectedvehicle roadside that are very
specific to the insurance space.
Things that in 2013, when Ileft Agera, when they sold our
division off, things that werejust on the drawing table to now
, 10 years later, 11 years later, to see them going from just
beginning it to dominating thatspace.
It's amazing.
(24:16):
It's really, really cool to seethe technology that they're
implementing.
It's so much more than just atow truck on the side of the
road the design, the ability toleverage artificial intelligence
on the back end to help speedthings up, the focus they have
on customer satisfaction andhaving someone that at what may
(24:39):
be one of the certainly theworst part of your day, when
you're broken down on the sideof the road, being able to turn
that into a positive, not onlyexperience for you but also a
positive experience for thebrand.
Whether it's your insurancecarrier that you call to help
get you taken care of, whetherit's the car manufacturer, the
innovation and the focus theyput on that absolutely has been
very impressive.
And then, when you startlooking at leveraging technology
(25:02):
, moving forward you know the EVspace and things that we're
doing and lessons learned fromsome of the initial programs
that we've been you know we havein place being able to help a
car company say this is how youneed to design things for the
future, this is how you need totake care of your drivers
tomorrow, 10 years from now.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Those types of things , that vision, very, very
impressive to me and veryexcited to be a part of.
So on several sites we saw adescription of quote white label
, roadside assistance.
So what does white label meanin your industry?
Speaker 3 (25:34):
It's a great question and it's really simple.
It means that we do not promotethe Agero brand.
It means we take on the brandof our customers.
So, for example, we'll answerthe phone as a Toyota or a
Subaru or a Honda, or we'llanswer the phone as State Farm
or Liberty Mutual those types ofthings.
(25:55):
So we take on our customer'sbrand when we're interfacing
with the end client.
That's really what white labelmeans.
So it's something we've donethroughout.
Actually it's a part of whatI've done, except for a small
portion of my career.
Everything's kind of been whitelabeled.
When we first started in theconnected vehicle space, working
(26:15):
directly with the car companiesATX, westinghouse Protection,
one Mobile Services, atx, evenCross Country slash, agero we'd
always answer the phone as,whoever the car company was,
sirius XM, that window.
They had a brand publiclytraded.
Everybody knew what Sirius XMwas.
So that was a little bit of ashift for me because, okay, now
(26:36):
we've got our own massive brandto kind of leverage and put out
in the public.
But for the most part,throughout my career, being a
part of a kind of a white labelcompany or white label industry
has been very beneficial.
So it's problematic whensomeone asks you hey, what do
you do for a living or who doyou work for?
And you say my company name andthey're like no, I never heard
(26:58):
of that.
Well, have you heard of this?
Oh yeah, I've heard of that.
Okay, well, we're actually theones that provide that.
So it's kind of an interestinggive and take around the white
label piece, but it's beenextremely beneficial for us as
an organization supporting ourcustomers and their brands.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
So you mentioned your division was sold off and it
was sold to Sirius XM.
So did you go and you led thatdivision at Sirius XM?
Speaker 3 (27:25):
I didn't lead the division, I was part of it.
So we had the core roadsidebusiness and historical roadside
business and then the connectedvehicle business that I was a
part of that cross country atthe purchased and then sold that
division to SiriusXM and thenthe core roadside and other
things that they were doingstayed under the Agero brand.
(27:45):
So I was you know gosh, therewere probably a few hundred of
us that went from a call centerpiece, operations piece,
marketing, engineering, sales,business development and
executives that went over to theSiriusXM team.
So definitely had a bit of ashift from a role perspective
once I went over because therewas a lot of duplication when
(28:08):
you become part of such amultibillion-dollar organization
like that.
But was still focused onbusiness development, kind of
narrowed the scope down tospecifically the Asia-Pacific
brands, japanese and Koreanbrands, whereas before I was
responsible for all businessdevelopment and sales activities
globally for the automakers wewere chasing.
(28:30):
So a bit of a shift but stillhad the opportunity to do
business with companies I'vebeen working with for years,
both working with them here inNorth America but primarily
working with them back in Japanand Korea at their corporate
headquarters and then in Europeas we were looking to
potentially grow business overthere as well.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
When your division was sold off, it was shortly
after Sirius Radio and XM Radiomerged to become this huge
satellite product.
What was it like?
What was the energy there?
Because I know that satelliteradio came on in the early 2000s
but it took a while to grow towhere it's actually in all the
cars.
So when you started workingthere, that was about the time
(29:12):
that it was really reallygetting big.
What was the vibe like there?
Speaker 3 (29:19):
It was definitely different than anything I'd ever
been in before, because now I'dgone from always being part of
a privately held company to nowas part of a publicly traded
company.
So the expectations and demandsare completely different.
There's certainly, as everyonewould expect, it's all about the
money, it's all about theprofit, it's all about the
returns.
(29:39):
And what's the story?
Going to the street, the goodthing was, with the connected
vehicle piece, we were such asmall part of the massive
SiriusXM entity that we didn'thave the exact, we didn't have
the same scrutiny as the coresatellite radio audio business
did.
So we had a little bit ofprotection there.
Still the same internal demandsand rigor and expectations, but
(30:02):
at least from the street, notquite the same level of
granularity that was focused onour company, the energy.
It was fun, it was exciting, itwas great to be a part of a, an
industry giant, so to speak,because it immediately opened
doors that were so hard to openpreviously.
(30:22):
You had brand recognition, youhad relationships with every car
manufacturer that sold in NorthAmerica, so it definitely made
parts of the job a lot easierbecause of those relationships.
But there were other elementsthat also were difficult to
tackle because okay, wait,you've gone from being a small
company, at least on paper morenimble, more agile, more
(30:48):
moldable from an OEM customerperspective, to now you're part
of a massive company.
Maybe a little bit harder toget something pushed through
quickly, those types of things.
So it had its challenges, butit was a lot of fun.
It was cool to get freesatellite radio for a little
while while I worked there, thatwas nice, always enjoyed 80s on
(31:09):
8.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
I read a lot of information about the companies
you work for.
I read a bunch of automotivestuff and they all seem to be on
the forefront of technology.
So, without giving insiderinformation, what is the next
big thing that's coming?
Speaker 3 (31:31):
Oh gosh, yeah, that's a tough question but it's a fun
question.
It's all about education, bothfrom a consumer perspective but
also from an automotivemanufacturer perspective, of
being educated on how are peopleusing my car, what's important
(31:52):
to them from a featureperspective, from a usage, from
a mileage, what's breaking downso that I can improve my quality
, I can improve that ownershipexperience?
I think that's really when youstart looking at that's the
future, because when you startkind of peeling the layers of
the automotive space back, oneof the challenges that they're
(32:14):
really trying to tackle now isthe buyer profile continues to
change.
I just look at me and mychildren Back in my day couldn't
wait to get your driver'slicense.
It was freedom, it wasindependence and you were gone.
You know, trying to get it at14 or 15, but no later than 16,
you're gone.
You got a car and you're gone.
I look at my kids, andcertainly between one that's a
(32:37):
24-year-old and an 18-year-old,the difference in that age group
and their interest in drivingand getting their own license
and stuff.
It's been shocking that.
You know I don't need that asmuch.
You know I can Uber, I canrideshare in all shape, form or
fashions, having my ownownership of a car isn't quite
(33:00):
the same.
Obviously that's going todepend on parts of the country
you're in, but that's one of thechallenges that the car
companies are looking at.
My job is to build and movemetal, but my users are using it
differently.
So how do I need to change?
Technology is enabling a lot ofthat shift, a lot of that
understanding to change what thecar of the future looks like.
(33:20):
Then you start looking at EVand hybrids and those types of
things.
That's such a massiveopportunity.
There's so many challenges thatare there for that to truly, I
think, become kind of the statusquo of everybody's got, or EV
becomes a part of what everybodyhas.
There's so many infrastructurechanges that have to take place.
(33:44):
Forget range anxiety and stuffof hey, how long is my battery
going to last?
Can I get from point A to pointB?
It becomes a lot more practicalto me of I don't have 30
minutes to wait for my car tocharge so I can go from here to
there.
I need to be able to do it asquickly and as conveniently as
the internal combustion engineis today, and while is it
(34:04):
realistic to have chargingstations that can get you up and
running in five minutes onevery street corner like we got
gas stations?
I don't know, probably not, butthat's really what's got to come
, and that's not just anautomotive thing, that's a
government thing, that's aninfrastructure thing.
That's a government thing,that's an infrastructure thing,
that's a partner thing.
There's so many players thatare involved in that to really
(34:27):
drive.
What everybody believes isthat's where we're going from a
technology perspective withinthe automotive space.
But for me, the next big thingis really how do we leverage
technology to better understandwhat our users' needs are and
then what our products should beto meet those needs?
Speaker 2 (34:51):
So this is graduation season.
You know this very well.
You've got a child graduatingthis year, and so one thing we'd
like for you to do is just kindof reflect on your time since
you graduated high school, ifyou've got a moment to just
share some advice to thesestudents who are seniors, who
are about to be leaving us, anyadvice that they may or may not
listen to.
Speaker 3 (35:12):
Sure, yeah, I mean, maybe one of them will listen.
My kids don't.
But I will start with this.
I'll say the same thing tothese seniors that I've said to
all three of my kids Findsomething that you love,
something you have a passionabout, and chase it until that
chase is over.
You know what?
(35:36):
That's just not what I want todo.
Give it a shot, especially atthis point in time.
There's never a better time tochase your dreams than coming
out of school.
When I look back at my life andGod's blessed me beyond my
wildest dreams.
There are still and it's gottenless and less over the years,
(36:00):
but there's still times I lookback and go what if I'd done
that?
What if I pursued that insteadof this?
What if I'd taken that forkversus this fork in a road so
happy where I'm at, I've got tosee and do some of the most
amazing things, things that,growing up in Cheatham County on
40 acres, never dreamed wouldbe possible.
But that would be the veryfirst thing I would say to the
(36:21):
seniors Don't be afraid to chaseyour dreams, no matter what
they are, no matter big or smallthey are.
Chase your dreams.
And then the second thing isdon't let the money drive you.
Let the relationships drive you.
If you find something, if youcan build relationships and you
find yourself in making a livingthat you enjoy, trust me, the
(36:47):
money will find you.
It will.
The path will lead you to whereare you going to be the richest
person in the world?
Who knows?
But I guarantee you, based offof my own experience, the money
will find you.
God will bless you in waysbeyond your wildest dreams, and
it's not always money the lifeexperiences and things that
you'll get to do, the peopleyou'll get to see along the way,
(37:07):
and the relationships you have.
When you look back, that's whatyou remember, and it's not the
paycheck.
The paycheck helps facilitate,it's important, so don't take it
the wrong way.
But there's so much more toyour life and your career than
just a paycheck.
So chase those dreams and liveit.
Speaker 1 (37:30):
We have come to our favorite part of every podcast,
and it's rapid fire, where wejust ask you some random
questions so that we get to knowyour personality a little bit
more.
But I can tell probably a thirdof the questions you've
answered already have all beenabout relationships, I mean you
are relational, so I feel thatthis is going to be right up
your alley, okay.
Speaker 3 (37:51):
Oh boy.
Speaker 1 (37:52):
I know you said you don't like to run, but what's
the fastest?
You've run a 5k in when you hadto run.
Speaker 3 (37:59):
I don't even know.
Probably the last time I ranthat far I probably ran it in
wait.
What's a 5K again?
Is that three?
Speaker 1 (38:05):
miles 3.2.
Speaker 3 (38:06):
3.2 miles Now.
I probably run that in about 30minutes maybe.
I'm super slow, you know.
I just my knees hurt too much.
I couldn't tell you what thefastest I ever ran it,
unfortunately.
But yeah, it's probably around30 minutes now.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
I think that's great, I think it's amazing.
Actually, what's your guiltypleasure or guilty indulgence?
Speaker 3 (38:31):
Chocolate chip cookies.
Oh my gosh Do you like themwarm.
I just like them.
You know there's cookie doughin the refrigerator right now
that I'll go and pop Warm.
You know a pizookie?
I don't know if they have BJ'srestaurants back in Nashville.
What is that?
It's a skillet iron skilletchocolate chip cookie with ice
(38:56):
cream on it.
You get it super hot.
Oh my gosh, my mouth's wateringdown just thinking about
Pazookies.
They're unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
How often do you get back to Nashville or Cheatham
County?
Speaker 3 (39:07):
Once or twice a year.
Now Still have a couple ofbrothers that live out in Dixon
County, but business used totake me back a lot more often
when I dealt specifically withNissan.
I don't deal with them directlyanymore, so now I get back once
or twice a year.
Nissan I don't deal with themdirectly anymore, so now I get
back once or twice a year.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
What's your?
Speaker 3 (39:23):
favorite season Spring.
Spring is definitely myfavorite season Does Texas have?
Seasons.
We have no, not really we havebrown and green.
That's pretty much our twoseasons.
Colors yeah.
Speaker 1 (39:39):
Well, you've actually already answered this question,
because you said 80s on 8 wasyour favorite radio station.
Speaker 3 (39:42):
Right, I was going to ask you what your favorite XM
radio station is.
Speaker 1 (39:44):
Yeah, 80s on 8 absolutely was.
So I love Rock and Roll, hallof Fame, but it's gone.
I don't understand how do theyoperate in that you have a
station for about a year andthen it disappears, and then on
your screen it just has XM radioand there's nothing there.
Speaker 3 (39:59):
Yeah, I don't know, the time I was there it was
definitely a veil and sciencebehind it.
There's definitely a sciencebehind what they do.
There's no question about that.
Some of the stuff they'll putup and it's kind of trial
balloons, see what it's like andthen, with the full intent that
it's going to come back downand then pop up every once in a
while, but I never understoodthe thought process.
(40:22):
But there's definitelyabsolutely a science behind what
they do and how they come upwith it.
Speaker 2 (40:28):
This one might be tough.
How many countries have youbeen to?
Speaker 3 (40:32):
Oh gosh, 20 or 30 easily.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
Wow yeah.
Speaker 3 (40:39):
If it wasn't rapid fire, I could go through it
which one stands out.
Speaker 2 (40:43):
If you had to go visit one two weeks from now for
pleasure, which one would yougo to?
Speaker 3 (40:50):
For pleasure.
It's probably Italy or France.
Those are two of my favoriteplaces on earth that I've been
able to travel.
Japan Absolutely love Japan.
I've probably been to Japanmore than 80 times.
France Absolutely amazing.
Was there last summer onvacation with my fiance and it
was the greatest two-week tripI've ever been on.
(41:12):
And then Italy.
Italy is outside of Mexico.
It's the first place I went tointernationally when I was way,
way, way back in the day, andI've been in love with it ever
since.
Absolutely love Italy.
Speaker 2 (41:27):
Eighty times You've been to Japan, but how many
times have you been to Kroger?
Speaker 3 (41:33):
When you go on business three to four times a
year for 25 years, it kind ofadds up but it's all a blur.
But Tokyo is one of the mostamazing cities.
It's incredible, that's great.
Speaker 1 (41:44):
What time is your alarm set on a typical weekday?
Speaker 3 (41:47):
Well, now it's late, my alarm's set at seven.
I'm usually awake long beforethen, but I have my alarm set
just so I can make sure I stopwhatever I'm doing.
It may be waking up, but I stopwhatever I'm doing so I can
spend a few minutes with my sonbefore he heads off to school.
But I love my sleep.
So I'm not a.
(42:07):
I try not to get up early, if Ican help it.
Speaker 2 (42:10):
What's your favorite Texas barbecue joint?
Speaker 3 (42:14):
Meet you Anywhere is my favorite.
There's got a couple oflocations here I just absolutely
love.
Their brisket to me is the best.
But that's a question that willstart fights, because you can
ask five people and get 10different answers on what their
favorite and what the bestbarbecue joint is.
Speaker 1 (42:34):
Okay, In the same realm.
What food in Texas is overrated?
Speaker 2 (42:38):
In your opinion.
Speaker 1 (42:39):
In your opinion.
Speaker 2 (42:40):
In my opinion.
Speaker 3 (42:43):
I'm not sure any food here is overrated the Tex-Mex,
especially.
Growing up when I did inNashville, I never really knew
what that was, it was Taco Bell,holy cow.
The Tex-Mex down here ismind-blowingly good and I can't.
That's the one thing I would dowhen I would go overseas,
especially going to Asia.
But no matter where I traveled,the very first meal I would
(43:04):
have would be Tex-Mex when Iwould get back home.
So I'm not sure that there is afood that's overrated down here
.
Speaker 2 (43:10):
I really don't so I've heard you mention several
different places.
How did you end up being aGeorgia Bulldogs fan?
Speaker 3 (43:17):
well, I was born in Atlanta, that's's right.
So I moved to Nashville when Iwas nine but my father was a
season ticket holder.
So my earliest sports memoriesare between the hedges going
with my father and my brother,jeff, before he graduated from
high school and standing in lineto meet Ugga and see the
(43:38):
cheerleaders pet Ugga pregameback when they used to do that
way, way, way back in the day.
So yeah, that's, those are myearliest childhood memories and
it's just stuck with me and italso kind of ticked my mom off.
So you know it was always goodshe just hated Georgia, she just
hated the University of Georgia.
It was just the University ofGeorgia per se, but so it was as
(43:58):
much as anything to help, kindof, you know you know what?
Kids do like to poke poke theirparents sometimes, so that was
part of it too.
Speaker 1 (44:07):
What book is on your list to either read or listen to
next?
Speaker 3 (44:10):
Oh gosh, um, I don't know.
Honestly, I, I, I, I feelwoefully inadequate.
I've got a lot of shows towatch, but I don't have a lot of
books to read.
So I feel really bad aboutanswering this question,
especially for how much emphasisI put on English earlier in
(44:31):
this conversation.
Speaker 2 (44:34):
Do as I say.
Yeah, exactly, do you playWordle?
Speaker 3 (44:39):
I have played Wordle.
I haven't played in a while.
Speaker 2 (44:41):
You have an app that you waste time on.
Speaker 3 (44:46):
Besides Instagram no, not really Instagram is a big
waste, primarily because oftravel, so looking for travel
ideas and things like that,we're planning trips, so that's
the biggest waste.
The reason I'm on it for that.
Speaker 1 (45:02):
Do you have a favorite musician?
Speaker 3 (45:04):
Oh gosh, I mean I'm still extremely partial to Duran
Duran.
Speaker 1 (45:08):
Oh my goodness, my favorite band ever, simon Le Bon
Was that his last?
Speaker 3 (45:11):
name.
Yeah, and John Taylor, johnTaylor.
He and I have the same birthday.
Speaker 1 (45:15):
Brad's like who's Duran Duran.
I don't know any songs?
No, I know who Duran is.
No, I know who Duran is.
Speaker 2 (45:18):
I don't know any songs.
But oh, yeah, no.
If you play the songs I'll sayoh, I recognize this song.
Speaker 3 (45:22):
Girls on Femme.
Speaker 1 (45:22):
Yeah, you know all those songs Rio Hungry Like the
Wolf.
Her name is Rio Hungry Like theWolf.
I know that.
There we go.
Speaker 3 (45:27):
So, yeah, I had a chance to see them.
Four was a huge Duran Duran fanand they are playing this
summer at a casino near her.
Speaker 1 (45:43):
So, if you want, to just drive right on up there.
You can watch them again.
Speaker 2 (45:46):
I could just say at a hotel near them.
Speaker 3 (45:49):
Well, there's a hotel there too.
It's an amazing facility, greatlocation, great venue.
So if she hasn't been therebefore, it's a phenomenal venue
to see a concert Great.
Speaker 2 (46:01):
So do you consider yourself adventurous?
Yeah, I think so.
What would be a somewhat recentadventure?
Speaker 3 (46:09):
you've been on Well, let me adventure not
life-risking or safe-risking,but adventurous is just the
first things to do.
You know, I would say, well, Ijust think back to last summer
when we went to Paris for twoweeks and said, you know what?
Hey, we're going to take a sidetrip here, Just out of the blue
(46:30):
, we're just going to go here.
And we ended up going to, youknow, Mont Saint-Michel.
You know that little islandcity where the cathedral and all
that stuff is and the waterflows in and out around it.
And I had a chance to meet,stay on the island, meet the
nicest, most amazing littleFrench couple.
We stayed in contact since then.
(46:51):
They opened up their homebecause they rented out a room
in their home to us forovernight.
It was absolutely amazing.
So for me, adventures are likethat Just saying I'm in a
foreign city and I just want togo check out a night market in
Bangkok, or I want to.
You know, I'm in Venice and I'mjust going to wander the city.
(47:14):
I have no idea where I'm going.
Things like that, that's what Iconsider adventurous.
So I very much look forward to,you know, be taking an
adventure with at least a seniorand here in a couple of weeks
going to Belize.
Never been there, so that Ican't wait, you know, Can't wait
for that.
Speaker 1 (47:34):
Well, when I get to Bangkok, I'm going to go check
out a night market.
Speaker 3 (47:37):
It's amazing, it's absolutely amazing.
Speaker 1 (47:39):
What's your biggest pet peeve?
Speaker 3 (47:43):
Slow drivers Oblivious, that would be the
word I would use.
It's not just slow drivers, butit's drivers that are oblivious
to their surrounding,especially those left lane.
Just go so slow, those drive menuts.
So yeah, just people that areoblivious to their surroundings
and are just lost in their ownworld.
(48:03):
They star in their own moviethat drives me nuts.
Speaker 2 (48:08):
Do you have a favorite podcast you like to
listen to?
Speaker 3 (48:11):
Unfortunately, I didn't listen to a podcast until
recently, but now my favoritethat I listen to all the time is
Mustang's Unbridled oh, thereyou go.
Speaker 1 (48:21):
That was even unplanned.
Speaker 2 (48:25):
Well, thank you for letting us come and spend some
time with you, open up your hometo us, share these wonderful
stories.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (48:32):
No, my pleasure.
It was a great time.
Thanks for coming out.
Speaker 1 (48:36):
Thanks for listening to Mustangs Unbridled an
exploration into the lives ofLipscomb Academy students,
alumni, teachers, parents andinteresting folk we meet along
the way.
To learn more about our school,visit wwwlipscombacademyorg.
Until next time when theMustangs run free this has been
(48:57):
Mustangs Unbridled.
Not all careers are handpicked.
Sometimes we land into a careerunexpectedly and a surprising
path blossoms before us, andwhen that happens we become
passionate about our livelihood.
As we discover through an alumfrom the Dallas-Fort Worth area
in the next segment of On theRoad, hosted by Dr Brad Schultz
(00:27):
and Amanda Price, this isMustangs Unbridled.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Innovation is all around us, especially in the
automotive industry.
Today's guest has built acareer in connected vehicle
services, benefiting millions ofdrivers globally.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Greg Corley, class of 1986, has specialized in
business development ofautomotive software.
He has had a unique career andwe're excited to learn more
about the industry.
Today he's welcomed us into hishome.
Thank you, greg.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
My pleasure.
Glad to have you here.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
We always like to start with our alumni.
How you actually came toLipscomb, what grade did you
start in?
Was there a reason that youwere there?
Just give us the history.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
You bet.
So I moved to Nashville fromAtlanta when I was in fourth
grade.
So the first two years I livedin Tennessee.
I was in Altshedum CountyPublic School and my parents
both worked in town reallyweren't happy with the learning
environment where I was and waslooking for more, especially at
(01:27):
that point in time.
You know private education wasmuch better than a lot of the
public schools were, especiallyin Cheatham County,
unfortunately.
So went around, did a lot ofinterviewing and ultimately
found David Lipscomb at the timeand that's where I ended up,
started there in sixth grade andstayed all the way through
college.
It was a long run, so to speak.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Well, I like to look people up in their yearbooks to
see what they're interested in,and you appeared many, many
times throughout those fouryears in the yearbooks, starting
with fine arts.
So I think I saw you were intwo different chorus groups.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Yeah, I was in some middle school chorus and then
high school chorus.
I guess all four years of highschool I was in the chorus and,
yeah, that was fun.
Robert King was a phenomenaldirector.
I may have been actually in hisvery first class when he took
over leadership of that and so,yeah, I definitely remember a
(02:25):
few times butting heads.
I wasn't the most cooperativeat times, but he was amazing.
It was a blast.
We had so much fun.
I didn't have that strong of avoice so I never had to worry
about solos or anything butbeing a part of the larger
chorus.
It was a blast.
I really, really enjoyed it.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
I also saw you won second place in the talent
contest for a piano piece, so Iwant to know do you still play
piano and what was the piece youplayed?
Speaker 3 (02:56):
I think I played the entertainer Scott Joplin's
entertainer, if I recall whichit's funny, I had completely
forgotten I was in that talentshow.
Thanks, amanda.
Thanks for that and the answerto the first question no, I do
not play the piano, althoughthere's a piano I grew up with
is sitting just down the hall,I've walked away from it.
(03:16):
Yeah, it was one of thosethings I played.
I was classically trained for10 years and unfortunately I had
an experience with my lastmusic teacher that honestly
turned me off to it.
And so why I've drugged thatpiano around for the last 30
some odd years, I don't know.
Maybe my kids have tinkeredwith it a little bit and it's
(03:38):
been fun listening to them.
But it's on that kind of bucketlist.
One day, you know, when I'm notquite so busy, I would like to
get back into it.
But yeah, it was just one ofthose things I've just walked
away from, unfortunately.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Well, you're never too old to learn something again
.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
I might be on that.
I can't remember where Middle Cis now.
That's the unfortunate thing.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
I also saw you were a cross-country runner, so we
always like to.
We know that sports is morethan just winning.
There are so many more thingsthat you learn and you have
growth, personal growth.
So, for you, what did you learnfrom sports and as well as fine
arts, because you were with agroup, for you said all four
(04:22):
years.
So what did you take away fromthose experiences?
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Well, from a sports perspective, I definitely, even
though I ran cross country, Ireally learned that I hate
running.
Uh, it was.
It was funny.
I it's one of those things thatwhen I did it, it was one of
those things that it wasprobably where I had the.
It had the least least barrierto entry for me athletically,
because I could never make thebasketball team.
(04:47):
I wasn't good enough inbaseball, that type of stuff.
But what I definitely learnedwas I needed time to think and
that was one of the coolestthings about it.
As much as I hated the runningitself, it was always a great
time just to get in your ownhead and kind of work through
things, and so that partactually brought me a lot of
enjoyment.
And as much as I hated running,then it's one of those things
(05:09):
that I did start doing.
Once I got older, andespecially once I had kids and
work and a lot of travel forwork, it gave me a chance to
kind of step away and kind ofreset a lot of things mentally.
So that was a lesson that Iwouldn't expect to learn in high
school, that you kind of needthat headspace and you need time
to alone with your thoughts,and that was a good place for me
(05:32):
.
But when you start looking atthe other kind of life lessons,
one was don't ever give up.
That was one thing for sure.
That you definitely are goingto see a lot of obstacles,
especially running, andespecially at that time you
didn't have sidewalks everywhereto run.
So you're running on the sideof the road, you're running in
ditches, you're twisting ankles,that type of stuff.
(05:52):
So it was easy to kind of haveinjuries jump up and kind of
potentially sabotage what you'retrying to do athletically.
But you still needed to workthrough that.
You shouldn't give up.
You've got a team that you're apart of that's depending upon
(06:13):
you, and those are things thatdidn't occur to me then.
But I've absolutely seen andlived for the last 30, 40 years
in life and especially in work.
No one's alone when they'reworking.
Even if you're self-employed,you still have others that are a
part of that team that you'redepending upon.
And especially for me, being asmall part of a much larger
organization and a much largerteam that's been able to deliver
a lot of things understandingwhat it's like to be a part of a
(06:35):
team, understanding the rolethat you need to play and that
the success of teams reallyoccurs when you're not trying to
play hero ball, when you'replaying your position, your role
, you're taking care of yourresponsibilities.
It doesn't mean you can't stepup and go above and beyond, but
the key success elements arereally when everybody is doing
(06:59):
their job and everybody's kindof pulling in the same direction
.
And so being a part of variousteams growing up really helped
kind of plant those seeds samedirection and so, you know,
being a part of various teamsgrowing up really helped kind of
plant those seeds that reallydidn't sprout and I really
didn't understand until Icertainly got a lot further down
the road in my professionalcareer.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Just an FYI, so no question here, but when Amanda
was talking about chorus and youmentioned Robert King so this
is his 40th year I didn't knowif you know.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Okay, yeah so I did get some emails about it and the
links that he put out.
So I did go back and look atsome of the old Granny videos
from back in the day and, yeah,I got a big chuckle out of it.
It was a lot of fun going backand seeing some of the old
performances at Hillsborough andGranny White and Bellevue,
(07:43):
where I grew up going.
It was pretty cool.
It was really neat to relivethat again.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
That's neat.
So if you were to walk throughour campus now and inside the
building several differentplaces lower school and upper
school campus we have some signsthat says you belong here and
for students to feel like that'strue, it's about relationships
with friends, but I think alsothey would say very much with
faculty and staff coaches,teachers, course teachers you
(08:10):
know different areas as wellthat they've connected with.
Were there some individualsthat come to mind when you think
of what allowed you to feellike you belong there with
faculty and staff?
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Yeah for sure.
There's a handful of teachersthat really, truly stick out.
I mean, the first one thatpopped to mind is Nelson Eddy.
You know he was English teacher.
That, oh my gosh, you know frominto the room and he's dressed
(08:45):
up like Shakespeare.
The biggest thing was how hemade everyone feel involved in a
part of the class, because inall of our quizzes and our vocab
test, you know, he wouldactually do a caricature of a
student on every one of them andit was always you.
Couldn't you actually lookforward to the test or the quiz
because you want to see, hey, amI on it this time?
(09:06):
Is this going to be mycharacter?
Cheer?
But he was able to really bringthings to life in such a vivid
way.
And then he was also.
I got to work under him, youknow, the night of January 16th
he was the director, uh, when Iwas, you know, had the uh a part
in in that play and he reallymade things fun.
(09:27):
He made things exciting andthat's one of the things that
actually, for whether it wasMiss Brown, miss Dixon, miss
Boyce, mrs Piper, all thoseteachers in seventh grade, they
all made learning fun, whichreally helped kind of set the
stage of okay, it's not justschool Yuck, this is exciting,
this is fun stuff, and whetherit be what their teaching styles
(09:49):
were or how they interactedwith you, you know, in between
class and home period, that typeof thing, it was great.
You know coach Tracy she was anamazing you know track cross
country coach, but also Englishteacher as well.
It's funny Now that I thinkabout it English really had a
pretty bigger impact on my lifeand kind of impression than I
(10:09):
really thought it would have.
Until I kind of take a stepback and look at it, it kind of
flows down to now my daughter'san English teacher, so it's kind
of crazy how it goes fullcircle.
But those are the names andteachers that really jumped off
the page at me.
You know another teacher that Iknew, but I never had her as a
teacher, mrs Rydell, because Inever took chemistry.
(10:30):
I wasn't smart enough to takethat and I avoided it like the
plague.
But being able to see therelationship that all my friends
had and that she had with allthe students, even though I
never had her in class, beingaround her and seeing her
influence, that definitelysticks, you know, jumps off the
page and sticks with me over theyears of you know.
Again, she made it fun, shemade it interesting, but she was
(10:52):
also a just a phenomenalteacher from a, from a
curriculum perspective, and sothat was.
That was a lot of fun too.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
So you're not the only person that has mentioned
Mrs Rydell in theseconversations, or Nelson Eddy
and I can't remember who it was.
It might have been MonicaWright, she graduated around the
same time you did, and I thinkshe was one who talked about how
he would just come and justmake the words come alive.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
So I'm going to go back to the yearbook for a
minute.
I saw that you were a staffphotographer for the yearbook
and I think were you an editor.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
I wasn't the editor.
No, Okay Well did you that wasJulie Fox.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Do you remember that the very last page of your
senior yearbook, the whole staffwrote a letter to Nelson Eddie
talking about how much y'allappreciated him and his guidance
?
So it impacted.
It impacted me when I read itCause, like I said, you weren't
the first person who actuallytalked about Nelson Eddy.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Yeah, he was.
He was an amazing guide for us,you know, as we were working on
on the yearbook.
It was funny he he gave.
He gave me an opportunity to bea photographer and I wasn't
that great a photographer, sothere were.
I remember I think it wasHomecoming I actually was in.
Thankfully we had multiplephotographers Bobby Johnson and
(12:14):
others were in there doing itBecause I didn't have film in my
camera.
So when we go to the darkroomto development, I pop it open
and there's nothing in there.
So I'm like, okay, that's justawesome Learning experience.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
What a'm like okay, that's just awesome.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
Learning experience, A lot of learning experience.
Yeah, double check your work,everything.
But yeah, he was funny, caring,very instructional and
definitely brought every part oflife that I had a chance to
interact with.
He truly brought it to life andthat made a huge impact on me.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
So I want to read to you what's on his LinkedIn page.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
During my five-and-a-half-year career at
David Lipscomb High School, Itaught English, speech, theater,
bible and yearbook.
I'm especially proud of thefact that one of my students is
now a university athleticdirector, another is an
accomplished songwriter and, tomy knowledge, none of my
students is in prison.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Well, I know he's talking about Philip as far as
the AD, but yeah, thankfullyI've never spent any time in the
pokey, so I'll give Mr Eddieall the credit for that.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
When you were in high school, you were in the Future
Teachers of America Club, whichthat's pretty evident what that
is, but you were also inHomiletics Club.
So do you mind just sharing,for those who may not be
familiar with that, what thatclub entails?
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Sure, the Homiletics Club.
Basically it was a preacher'sclub, for lack of a better term.
It was tied very closelyactually to the chorus and kind
of working together, but it wasa club.
(14:04):
The homiletics club would.
When we would go to perform ata local congregation, a member
of the homiletics club wouldusually deliver the message.
It would speak in the servicethat Sunday evening and then
afterwards the chorus wouldperform.
So it just kind of became anatural connection.
There I'm in one, I can be inthe other and let's kind of do
(14:26):
both of them.
I enjoyed public speaking.
It was one of those things thatI learned early on that I kind
of had a bit of a gift of gaband an ability to do it somewhat
effectively I'll blame MrsBoyce for that and a history
assignment on the Battle ofShiloh.
But that's how it worked.
(14:47):
The Bible teachers at Faith andMr Eddie and others were very
instrumental in kind of guidingus and teaching us speaking
techniques and how to putspecifically around lessons.
Bible lessons kind of here'show you need to structure things
, here's kind of the fundamentalflow and how to put your points
(15:09):
together and your messagestogether and how to do it in a
succinct manner but in aneffective manner as well.
So it was a lot of educationthat, even though I didn't move
into ministry, there were somefundamental things there about
crafting a message that I'veapplied literally every day of
my professional career sincethen.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
So, looking at your current career choice, you're
not a teacher or a preacher thatI'm aware of, but so how did
you end up in the automotiveindustry?
Speaker 3 (15:39):
Completely by accident, not intentional at all
.
So after I graduated fromcollege at Lipscomb needed a job
.
I was doing some TV work andstuff, but I needed an actual,
legitimate, paying job and Iwent to work as a salesperson in
a home security company RollinsProtective Services at the time
and one thing led to another inthe course of spending time in
(16:06):
the home security space thatliterally one day within a
24-hour period I get fourdifferent contacts about going
to work for a company calledWestinghouse Westinghouse Home
Security.
Four different jobopportunities in four different
locations and and a couple ofthem were sales, one was
management and another was anational sales trainer based out
of headquarters corporate here.
And so when you get somethinglike that, it's kind of like I
(16:30):
think God's trying to tell youhere's a path, I think you'd
kind of need to be going down,and one thing leads to another.
I get the job as a nationalsales trainer here.
So when I come down here in endof 96, westinghouse has this
little division that has juststarted.
Literally they'd launched thatyear in their connected vehicle
(16:50):
space.
So I was doing national salestraining.
I had visibility in front ofthe executives and having the
president and other VPs of thecompany coming in and speaking
to new salespeople as part of it, and that gave me visibility at
the executive level that Iprobably shouldn't have had
normally.
And it led to the point of thepresident coming to me and said
(17:11):
hey, we're going to grow thislittle automotive thing that
we're starting.
We're going to do one of twothings we're either going to
spin it off and sell it tosomebody else, or we're going to
grow it and we're going toseparate it.
And we're going to do one oftwo things we're either going to
spin it off and sell it tosomebody else, or we're going to
grow it and we're going toseparate it and we're going to
go public.
I want you to be a part of that.
And so nine months into that Imade a switch over into
(17:32):
automotive and from 1997 totoday I've been in the
automotive-related business.
So completely by accident, butit's been a fun, fun ride.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
That's good for our students to be able to hear,
because I think very often theythink they've got to have it all
figured out, even, like as aninth grader, oh, I need to know
what I'm going to do, right.
So it's nice to hear you don'thave to have it all figured out.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
I'm still trying to figure out what I actually want
to do.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
I can appreciate that too.
So you have worked almost 20years for the company where you
currently are, agero.
You worked, took some differentjobs and then you came back.
So what is it about thiscompany that has made you want
to come back again for a secondterm?
Speaker 3 (18:10):
Sure, for me it's real simple.
It's the executive leadership.
So the first go-around thepresident, chief strategy
officer and chief legal officerare with a company now that were
with a company previously and Ihad an opportunity to travel
domestically and internationallywith some of them and really
(18:32):
had an opportunity to see thembeyond the boardroom and kind of
see what they're like, you know, outside of the four walls of a
work environment and get toknow them on a little bit more
of a personal level.
And with that I saw theintegrity, the, you know, the
quality of the person and thatyou know the persona that they
had at work wasn't their realpersona, that's, they were true
(18:54):
and authentic and so thatdefinitely made an impression on
me and no matter where kind ofwhere life was taking me, you
know, having that kind ofconnection and that ability to
stay in touch with themprofessionally certainly opened
doors so that when anopportunity arose for me to move
from one position to anotherand they had an opening, the
(19:17):
timing was right I absolutelywanted to jump at the chance to
go back.
So you know it was very much apersonal or person-driven
decision and from that I'll usea term that a boss that I had
Steve Milstein for years at ATXand then part of the time at
Agero.
A phrase that he used shadow ofthe leader, and it's all about
(19:38):
you know the effectiveness ofleadership and everybody below
you takes on and kind of fallsunder.
However you act as the leader,that's how the people below you
are going to act.
And I very much see that shadowof the leader approach is very
visible at Agero with DaveFarrick and Peter and Jeff and
the shadow that they cast acrossthe organization from a
(19:59):
professionalism and innovation,a creative thinking, a teamwork,
all those things kind oftrickle down.
And it absolutely was somethingof interest to me, especially
at this point in my career,going on 55, going on 56 years
old.
You know I don't need politicalgames, I don't need all that
type of stuff at this stage inthe business world, and so
(20:22):
that's really what kind ofhelped drive me or really drove
my interest in wanting to comeback and the timing worked out
that there was an opportunitythere as well.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
I like hearing that you chose to follow the people
and not the company, so it saysso much about character when you
want to go back to work for aparticular individual.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
Yeah for sure.
I mean that's one of the thingsthat I would say when I look
back on my professional career.
You know the people aspect ofwhat I've been able to do and
see in the companies I've workedwith, it's really the people
that jump out and stick out forme.
I mean, yeah, we've had anopportunity to work with some of
the biggest companies in theworld in the automotive space,
(21:04):
but it's all about the peoplethere and the relationships that
you've been built, because,especially with what I do and
really for a large part of salesin general, it's all about
relationship selling.
I can think back to 2005 whenwe, when Toyota picked this
little company ATX out of Dallasnon-automotive my president,
(21:27):
steve Milstein, I had flown outhaving the, the, the handshake
signing agreement and that typeof stuff.
And after we were done, youknow they said look, we're not
buying you for the company,we're buying you for you.
We trust you, the two of us,because we've worked with you
and this process has gone solong.
We're trusting that you candeliver on what you've said and
(21:52):
to me that speaks mountains.
You know it goes to theimportance of your character,
your dependability, yourtruthfulness throughout your
process.
It applies to any part of life,but especially when sales I
mean gosh.
I can remember an executive atanother card company that would
always joke with me.
(22:12):
He's like, hey, how do you knowa sales guy's lying?
His lips are moving.
Okay, everybody's heard thatjoke, but it really speaks to
and validates the importance ofthose personal relationships and
their ability to rely on you.
And so truthfulness isabsolutely something that it's
(22:32):
foundational.
Obviously you learn, hopefullyyou learn it at home, but that's
absolutely a foundationalmessage that I learned from
sixth grade, all the way throughcollege at Lipscomb, was to be
earnest, to be truthful and tobe forthright in everything that
you do.
For me, it's paid off in spadesthroughout my life.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
Well, agero started as a motor club company 50 years
ago, and it's expanded toelectric vehicle mobile chargers
and software for real-time,real-time assistance.
So, of all their innovations,which ones have impressed you
the most?
Speaker 3 (23:08):
Oh gosh.
The fact that it's still afamily-run business, I think, is
definitely one of the mostimpressive things you know.
Sid Walk just it's back topeople Sid Walk just late last
year they had a big 50thcelebration for him and the
family and what the company'sdone.
When you look at what Agero'sdone certainly a lot of it in
the window that I wasn't part ofthe organization, but their
(23:32):
leadership in starting anautomotive, but now their
leadership in the insurancespace, dealing specifically with
insurance carriers.
You know, some of the largestinsurance providers in North
America partner with us to takecare of their drivers and so
being able to create veryspecific, very unique solutions
(23:54):
and programs from a connectedvehicle roadside that are very
specific to the insurance space.
Programs from a connectedvehicle roadside that are very
specific to the insurance space.
Things that in 2013, when Ileft Agera, when they sold our
division off, things that werejust on the drawing table to now
, 10 years later, 11 years later, to see them going from just
beginning it to dominating thatspace.
It's amazing.
(24:16):
It's really, really cool to seethe technology that they're
implementing.
It's so much more than just atow truck on the side of the
road the design, the ability toleverage artificial intelligence
on the back end to help speedthings up, the focus they have
on customer satisfaction andhaving someone that at what may
(24:39):
be one of the certainly theworst part of your day, when
you're broken down on the sideof the road, being able to turn
that into a positive, not onlyexperience for you but also a
positive experience for thebrand.
Whether it's your insurancecarrier that you call to help
get you taken care of, whetherit's the car manufacturer, the
innovation and the focus theyput on that absolutely has been
very impressive.
And then, when you startlooking at leveraging technology
(25:02):
, moving forward you know the EVspace and things that we're
doing and lessons learned fromsome of the initial programs
that we've been you know we havein place being able to help a
car company say this is how youneed to design things for the
future, this is how you need totake care of your drivers
tomorrow, 10 years from now.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Those types of things , that vision, very, very
impressive to me and veryexcited to be a part of.
So on several sites we saw adescription of quote white label
, roadside assistance.
So what does white label meanin your industry?
Speaker 3 (25:34):
It's a great question and it's really simple.
It means that we do not promotethe Agero brand.
It means we take on the brandof our customers.
So, for example, we'll answerthe phone as a Toyota or a
Subaru or a Honda, or we'llanswer the phone as State Farm
or Liberty Mutual those types ofthings.
(25:55):
So we take on our customer'sbrand when we're interfacing
with the end client.
That's really what white labelmeans.
So it's something we've donethroughout.
Actually it's a part of whatI've done, except for a small
portion of my career.
Everything's kind of been whitelabeled.
When we first started in theconnected vehicle space, working
(26:15):
directly with the car companiesATX, westinghouse Protection,
one Mobile Services, atx, evenCross Country slash, agero we'd
always answer the phone as,whoever the car company was,
sirius XM, that window.
They had a brand publiclytraded.
Everybody knew what Sirius XMwas.
So that was a little bit of ashift for me because, okay, now
(26:36):
we've got our own massive brandto kind of leverage and put out
in the public.
But for the most part,throughout my career, being a
part of a kind of a white labelcompany or white label industry
has been very beneficial.
So it's problematic whensomeone asks you hey, what do
you do for a living or who doyou work for?
And you say my company name andthey're like no, I never heard
(26:58):
of that.
Well, have you heard of this?
Oh yeah, I've heard of that.
Okay, well, we're actually theones that provide that.
So it's kind of an interestinggive and take around the white
label piece, but it's beenextremely beneficial for us as
an organization supporting ourcustomers and their brands.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
So you mentioned your division was sold off and it
was sold to Sirius XM.
So did you go and you led thatdivision at Sirius XM?
Speaker 3 (27:25):
I didn't lead the division, I was part of it.
So we had the core roadsidebusiness and historical roadside
business and then the connectedvehicle business that I was a
part of that cross country atthe purchased and then sold that
division to SiriusXM and thenthe core roadside and other
things that they were doingstayed under the Agero brand.
(27:45):
So I was you know gosh, therewere probably a few hundred of
us that went from a call centerpiece, operations piece,
marketing, engineering, sales,business development and
executives that went over to theSiriusXM team.
So definitely had a bit of ashift from a role perspective
once I went over because therewas a lot of duplication when
(28:08):
you become part of such amultibillion-dollar organization
like that.
But was still focused onbusiness development, kind of
narrowed the scope down tospecifically the Asia-Pacific
brands, japanese and Koreanbrands, whereas before I was
responsible for all businessdevelopment and sales activities
globally for the automakers wewere chasing.
(28:30):
So a bit of a shift but stillhad the opportunity to do
business with companies I'vebeen working with for years,
both working with them here inNorth America but primarily
working with them back in Japanand Korea at their corporate
headquarters and then in Europeas we were looking to
potentially grow business overthere as well.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
When your division was sold off, it was shortly
after Sirius Radio and XM Radiomerged to become this huge
satellite product.
What was it like?
What was the energy there?
Because I know that satelliteradio came on in the early 2000s
but it took a while to grow towhere it's actually in all the
cars.
So when you started workingthere, that was about the time
(29:12):
that it was really reallygetting big.
What was the vibe like there?
Speaker 3 (29:19):
It was definitely different than anything I'd ever
been in before, because now I'dgone from always being part of
a privately held company to nowas part of a publicly traded
company.
So the expectations and demandsare completely different.
There's certainly, as everyonewould expect, it's all about the
money, it's all about theprofit, it's all about the
returns.
(29:39):
And what's the story?
Going to the street, the goodthing was, with the connected
vehicle piece, we were such asmall part of the massive
SiriusXM entity that we didn'thave the exact, we didn't have
the same scrutiny as the coresatellite radio audio business
did.
So we had a little bit ofprotection there.
Still the same internal demandsand rigor and expectations, but
(30:02):
at least from the street, notquite the same level of
granularity that was focused onour company, the energy.
It was fun, it was exciting, itwas great to be a part of a, an
industry giant, so to speak,because it immediately opened
doors that were so hard to openpreviously.
(30:22):
You had brand recognition, youhad relationships with every car
manufacturer that sold in NorthAmerica, so it definitely made
parts of the job a lot easierbecause of those relationships.
But there were other elementsthat also were difficult to
tackle because okay, wait,you've gone from being a small
company, at least on paper morenimble, more agile, more
(30:48):
moldable from an OEM customerperspective, to now you're part
of a massive company.
Maybe a little bit harder toget something pushed through
quickly, those types of things.
So it had its challenges, butit was a lot of fun.
It was cool to get freesatellite radio for a little
while while I worked there, thatwas nice, always enjoyed 80s on
(31:09):
8.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
I read a lot of information about the companies
you work for.
I read a bunch of automotivestuff and they all seem to be on
the forefront of technology.
So, without giving insiderinformation, what is the next
big thing that's coming?
Speaker 3 (31:31):
Oh gosh, yeah, that's a tough question but it's a fun
question.
It's all about education, bothfrom a consumer perspective but
also from an automotivemanufacturer perspective, of
being educated on how are peopleusing my car, what's important
(31:52):
to them from a featureperspective, from a usage, from
a mileage, what's breaking downso that I can improve my quality
, I can improve that ownershipexperience?
I think that's really when youstart looking at that's the
future, because when you startkind of peeling the layers of
the automotive space back, oneof the challenges that they're
(32:14):
really trying to tackle now isthe buyer profile continues to
change.
I just look at me and mychildren Back in my day couldn't
wait to get your driver'slicense.
It was freedom, it wasindependence and you were gone.
You know, trying to get it at14 or 15, but no later than 16,
you're gone.
You got a car and you're gone.
I look at my kids, andcertainly between one that's a
(32:37):
24-year-old and an 18-year-old,the difference in that age group
and their interest in drivingand getting their own license
and stuff.
It's been shocking that.
You know I don't need that asmuch.
You know I can Uber, I canrideshare in all shape, form or
fashions, having my ownownership of a car isn't quite
(33:00):
the same.
Obviously that's going todepend on parts of the country
you're in, but that's one of thechallenges that the car
companies are looking at.
My job is to build and movemetal, but my users are using it
differently.
So how do I need to change?
Technology is enabling a lot ofthat shift, a lot of that
understanding to change what thecar of the future looks like.
(33:20):
Then you start looking at EVand hybrids and those types of
things.
That's such a massiveopportunity.
There's so many challenges thatare there for that to truly, I
think, become kind of the statusquo of everybody's got, or EV
becomes a part of what everybodyhas.
There's so many infrastructurechanges that have to take place.
(33:44):
Forget range anxiety and stuffof hey, how long is my battery
going to last?
Can I get from point A to pointB?
It becomes a lot more practicalto me of I don't have 30
minutes to wait for my car tocharge so I can go from here to
there.
I need to be able to do it asquickly and as conveniently as
the internal combustion engineis today, and while is it
(34:04):
realistic to have chargingstations that can get you up and
running in five minutes onevery street corner like we got
gas stations?
I don't know, probably not, butthat's really what's got to come
, and that's not just anautomotive thing, that's a
government thing, that's aninfrastructure thing.
That's a government thing,that's an infrastructure thing,
that's a partner thing.
There's so many players thatare involved in that to really
(34:27):
drive.
What everybody believes isthat's where we're going from a
technology perspective withinthe automotive space.
But for me, the next big thingis really how do we leverage
technology to better understandwhat our users' needs are and
then what our products should beto meet those needs?
Speaker 2 (34:51):
So this is graduation season.
You know this very well.
You've got a child graduatingthis year, and so one thing we'd
like for you to do is just kindof reflect on your time since
you graduated high school, ifyou've got a moment to just
share some advice to thesestudents who are seniors, who
are about to be leaving us, anyadvice that they may or may not
listen to.
Speaker 3 (35:12):
Sure, yeah, I mean, maybe one of them will listen.
My kids don't.
But I will start with this.
I'll say the same thing tothese seniors that I've said to
all three of my kids Findsomething that you love,
something you have a passionabout, and chase it until that
chase is over.
You know what?
(35:36):
That's just not what I want todo.
Give it a shot, especially atthis point in time.
There's never a better time tochase your dreams than coming
out of school.
When I look back at my life andGod's blessed me beyond my
wildest dreams.
There are still and it's gottenless and less over the years,
(36:00):
but there's still times I lookback and go what if I'd done
that?
What if I pursued that insteadof this?
What if I'd taken that forkversus this fork in a road so
happy where I'm at, I've got tosee and do some of the most
amazing things, things that,growing up in Cheatham County on
40 acres, never dreamed wouldbe possible.
But that would be the veryfirst thing I would say to the
(36:21):
seniors Don't be afraid to chaseyour dreams, no matter what
they are, no matter big or smallthey are.
Chase your dreams.
And then the second thing isdon't let the money drive you.
Let the relationships drive you.
If you find something, if youcan build relationships and you
find yourself in making a livingthat you enjoy, trust me, the
(36:47):
money will find you.
It will.
The path will lead you to whereare you going to be the richest
person in the world?
Who knows?
But I guarantee you, based offof my own experience, the money
will find you.
God will bless you in waysbeyond your wildest dreams, and
it's not always money the lifeexperiences and things that
you'll get to do, the peopleyou'll get to see along the way,
(37:07):
and the relationships you have.
When you look back, that's whatyou remember, and it's not the
paycheck.
The paycheck helps facilitate,it's important, so don't take it
the wrong way.
But there's so much more toyour life and your career than
just a paycheck.
So chase those dreams and liveit.
Speaker 1 (37:30):
We have come to our favorite part of every podcast,
and it's rapid fire, where wejust ask you some random
questions so that we get to knowyour personality a little bit
more.
But I can tell probably a thirdof the questions you've
answered already have all beenabout relationships, I mean you
are relational, so I feel thatthis is going to be right up
your alley, okay.
Speaker 3 (37:51):
Oh boy.
Speaker 1 (37:52):
I know you said you don't like to run, but what's
the fastest?
You've run a 5k in when you hadto run.
Speaker 3 (37:59):
I don't even know.
Probably the last time I ranthat far I probably ran it in
wait.
What's a 5K again?
Is that three?
Speaker 1 (38:05):
miles 3.2.
Speaker 3 (38:06):
3.2 miles Now.
I probably run that in about 30minutes maybe.
I'm super slow, you know.
I just my knees hurt too much.
I couldn't tell you what thefastest I ever ran it,
unfortunately.
But yeah, it's probably around30 minutes now.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
I think that's great, I think it's amazing.
Actually, what's your guiltypleasure or guilty indulgence?
Speaker 3 (38:31):
Chocolate chip cookies.
Oh my gosh Do you like themwarm.
I just like them.
You know there's cookie doughin the refrigerator right now
that I'll go and pop Warm.
You know a pizookie?
I don't know if they have BJ'srestaurants back in Nashville.
What is that?
It's a skillet iron skilletchocolate chip cookie with ice
(38:56):
cream on it.
You get it super hot.
Oh my gosh, my mouth's wateringdown just thinking about
Pazookies.
They're unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
How often do you get back to Nashville or Cheatham
County?
Speaker 3 (39:07):
Once or twice a year.
Now Still have a couple ofbrothers that live out in Dixon
County, but business used totake me back a lot more often
when I dealt specifically withNissan.
I don't deal with them directlyanymore, so now I get back once
or twice a year.
Nissan I don't deal with themdirectly anymore, so now I get
back once or twice a year.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
What's your?
Speaker 3 (39:23):
favorite season Spring.
Spring is definitely myfavorite season Does Texas have?
Seasons.
We have no, not really we havebrown and green.
That's pretty much our twoseasons.
Colors yeah.
Speaker 1 (39:39):
Well, you've actually already answered this question,
because you said 80s on 8 wasyour favorite radio station.
Speaker 3 (39:42):
Right, I was going to ask you what your favorite XM
radio station is.
Speaker 1 (39:44):
Yeah, 80s on 8 absolutely was.
So I love Rock and Roll, hallof Fame, but it's gone.
I don't understand how do theyoperate in that you have a
station for about a year andthen it disappears, and then on
your screen it just has XM radioand there's nothing there.
Speaker 3 (39:59):
Yeah, I don't know, the time I was there it was
definitely a veil and sciencebehind it.
There's definitely a sciencebehind what they do.
There's no question about that.
Some of the stuff they'll putup and it's kind of trial
balloons, see what it's like andthen, with the full intent that
it's going to come back downand then pop up every once in a
while, but I never understoodthe thought process.
(40:22):
But there's definitelyabsolutely a science behind what
they do and how they come upwith it.
Speaker 2 (40:28):
This one might be tough.
How many countries have youbeen to?
Speaker 3 (40:32):
Oh gosh, 20 or 30 easily.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
Wow yeah.
Speaker 3 (40:39):
If it wasn't rapid fire, I could go through it
which one stands out.
Speaker 2 (40:43):
If you had to go visit one two weeks from now for
pleasure, which one would yougo to?
Speaker 3 (40:50):
For pleasure.
It's probably Italy or France.
Those are two of my favoriteplaces on earth that I've been
able to travel.
Japan Absolutely love Japan.
I've probably been to Japanmore than 80 times.
France Absolutely amazing.
Was there last summer onvacation with my fiance and it
was the greatest two-week tripI've ever been on.
(41:12):
And then Italy.
Italy is outside of Mexico.
It's the first place I went tointernationally when I was way,
way, way back in the day, andI've been in love with it ever
since.
Absolutely love Italy.
Speaker 2 (41:27):
Eighty times You've been to Japan, but how many
times have you been to Kroger?
Speaker 3 (41:33):
When you go on business three to four times a
year for 25 years, it kind ofadds up but it's all a blur.
But Tokyo is one of the mostamazing cities.
It's incredible, that's great.
Speaker 1 (41:44):
What time is your alarm set on a typical weekday?
Speaker 3 (41:47):
Well, now it's late, my alarm's set at seven.
I'm usually awake long beforethen, but I have my alarm set
just so I can make sure I stopwhatever I'm doing.
It may be waking up, but I stopwhatever I'm doing so I can
spend a few minutes with my sonbefore he heads off to school.
But I love my sleep.
So I'm not a.
(42:07):
I try not to get up early, if Ican help it.
Speaker 2 (42:10):
What's your favorite Texas barbecue joint?
Speaker 3 (42:14):
Meet you Anywhere is my favorite.
There's got a couple oflocations here I just absolutely
love.
Their brisket to me is the best.
But that's a question that willstart fights, because you can
ask five people and get 10different answers on what their
favorite and what the bestbarbecue joint is.
Speaker 1 (42:34):
Okay, In the same realm.
What food in Texas is overrated?
Speaker 2 (42:38):
In your opinion.
Speaker 1 (42:39):
In your opinion.
Speaker 2 (42:40):
In my opinion.
Speaker 3 (42:43):
I'm not sure any food here is overrated the Tex-Mex,
especially.
Growing up when I did inNashville, I never really knew
what that was, it was Taco Bell,holy cow.
The Tex-Mex down here ismind-blowingly good and I can't.
That's the one thing I would dowhen I would go overseas,
especially going to Asia.
But no matter where I traveled,the very first meal I would
(43:04):
have would be Tex-Mex when Iwould get back home.
So I'm not sure that there is afood that's overrated down here
.
Speaker 2 (43:10):
I really don't so I've heard you mention several
different places.
How did you end up being aGeorgia Bulldogs fan?
Speaker 3 (43:17):
well, I was born in Atlanta, that's's right.
So I moved to Nashville when Iwas nine but my father was a
season ticket holder.
So my earliest sports memoriesare between the hedges going
with my father and my brother,jeff, before he graduated from
high school and standing in lineto meet Ugga and see the
(43:38):
cheerleaders pet Ugga pregameback when they used to do that
way, way, way back in the day.
So yeah, that's, those are myearliest childhood memories and
it's just stuck with me and italso kind of ticked my mom off.
So you know it was always goodshe just hated Georgia, she just
hated the University of Georgia.
It was just the University ofGeorgia per se, but so it was as
(43:58):
much as anything to help, kindof, you know you know what?
Kids do like to poke poke theirparents sometimes, so that was
part of it too.
Speaker 1 (44:07):
What book is on your list to either read or listen to
next?
Speaker 3 (44:10):
Oh gosh, um, I don't know.
Honestly, I, I, I, I feelwoefully inadequate.
I've got a lot of shows towatch, but I don't have a lot of
books to read.
So I feel really bad aboutanswering this question,
especially for how much emphasisI put on English earlier in
(44:31):
this conversation.
Speaker 2 (44:34):
Do as I say.
Yeah, exactly, do you playWordle?
Speaker 3 (44:39):
I have played Wordle.
I haven't played in a while.
Speaker 2 (44:41):
You have an app that you waste time on.
Speaker 3 (44:46):
Besides Instagram no, not really Instagram is a big
waste, primarily because oftravel, so looking for travel
ideas and things like that,we're planning trips, so that's
the biggest waste.
The reason I'm on it for that.
Speaker 1 (45:02):
Do you have a favorite musician?
Speaker 3 (45:04):
Oh gosh, I mean I'm still extremely partial to Duran
Duran.
Speaker 1 (45:08):
Oh my goodness, my favorite band ever, simon Le Bon
Was that his last?
Speaker 3 (45:11):
name.
Yeah, and John Taylor, johnTaylor.
He and I have the same birthday.
Speaker 1 (45:15):
Brad's like who's Duran Duran.
I don't know any songs?
No, I know who Duran is.
No, I know who Duran is.
Speaker 2 (45:18):
I don't know any songs.
But oh, yeah, no.
If you play the songs I'll sayoh, I recognize this song.
Speaker 3 (45:22):
Girls on Femme.
Speaker 1 (45:22):
Yeah, you know all those songs Rio Hungry Like the
Wolf.
Her name is Rio Hungry Like theWolf.
I know that.
There we go.
Speaker 3 (45:27):
So, yeah, I had a chance to see them.
Four was a huge Duran Duran fanand they are playing this
summer at a casino near her.
Speaker 1 (45:43):
So, if you want, to just drive right on up there.
You can watch them again.
Speaker 2 (45:46):
I could just say at a hotel near them.
Speaker 3 (45:49):
Well, there's a hotel there too.
It's an amazing facility, greatlocation, great venue.
So if she hasn't been therebefore, it's a phenomenal venue
to see a concert Great.
Speaker 2 (46:01):
So do you consider yourself adventurous?
Yeah, I think so.
What would be a somewhat recentadventure?
Speaker 3 (46:09):
you've been on Well, let me adventure not
life-risking or safe-risking,but adventurous is just the
first things to do.
You know, I would say, well, Ijust think back to last summer
when we went to Paris for twoweeks and said, you know what?
Hey, we're going to take a sidetrip here, Just out of the blue
(46:30):
, we're just going to go here.
And we ended up going to, youknow, Mont Saint-Michel.
You know that little islandcity where the cathedral and all
that stuff is and the waterflows in and out around it.
And I had a chance to meet,stay on the island, meet the
nicest, most amazing littleFrench couple.
We stayed in contact since then.
(46:51):
They opened up their homebecause they rented out a room
in their home to us forovernight.
It was absolutely amazing.
So for me, adventures are likethat Just saying I'm in a
foreign city and I just want togo check out a night market in
Bangkok, or I want to.
You know, I'm in Venice and I'mjust going to wander the city.
(47:14):
I have no idea where I'm going.
Things like that, that's what Iconsider adventurous.
So I very much look forward to,you know, be taking an
adventure with at least a seniorand here in a couple of weeks
going to Belize.
Never been there, so that Ican't wait, you know, Can't wait
for that.
Speaker 1 (47:34):
Well, when I get to Bangkok, I'm going to go check
out a night market.
Speaker 3 (47:37):
It's amazing, it's absolutely amazing.
Speaker 1 (47:39):
What's your biggest pet peeve?
Speaker 3 (47:43):
Slow drivers Oblivious, that would be the
word I would use.
It's not just slow drivers, butit's drivers that are oblivious
to their surrounding,especially those left lane.
Just go so slow, those drive menuts.
So yeah, just people that areoblivious to their surroundings
and are just lost in their ownworld.
(48:03):
They star in their own moviethat drives me nuts.
Speaker 2 (48:08):
Do you have a favorite podcast you like to
listen to?
Speaker 3 (48:11):
Unfortunately, I didn't listen to a podcast until
recently, but now my favoritethat I listen to all the time is
Mustang's Unbridled oh, thereyou go.
Speaker 1 (48:21):
That was even unplanned.
Speaker 2 (48:25):
Well, thank you for letting us come and spend some
time with you, open up your hometo us, share these wonderful
stories.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (48:32):
No, my pleasure.
It was a great time.
Thanks for coming out.
Speaker 1 (48:36):
Thanks for listening to Mustangs Unbridled an
exploration into the lives ofLipscomb Academy students,
alumni, teachers, parents andinteresting folk we meet along
the way.
To learn more about our school,visit wwwlipscombacademyorg.
Until next time when theMustangs run free this has been
(48:57):
Mustangs Unbridled.
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