In this episode of Bigger Than Business , James D. Shields, President of Shields Legal Group, shares his journey from attorney to entrepreneur and strategic investor. He reveals how integrating legal expertise with business strategy helps companies maximize value and prepare for successful transitions. Shields discusses the Growth-to-Exit program, which guides founder-led businesses in increasing their worth before a sale. He also delves into the emotional aspects of business exits, estate plann...
Apr 11, 2025•38 min•Ep. 46
Join us on the Bigger Than Business Podcast as we sit down with Doug Renfro, President of Renfro Foods, to discuss the journey of this iconic Fort Worth-based family business. From its humble beginnings in a garage to becoming the ninth-largest salsa brand in the U.S., Doug shares insights on family leadership, product innovation, and the challenges of running a multigenerational business.
Feb 18, 2025•30 min•Ep. 45
Discover the inspiring journey of Tillie Burgin, founder and director of Mission Arlington, in this episode of the Bigger Than Business Podcast . For nearly four decades, Tillie has been at the forefront of transforming lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Learn how Tillie's vision of "taking church to the people" grew from a simple Bible study in apartments into a comprehensive ministry serving thousands daily, committed to meeting both physical and spiritual needs with no strings attached...
Dec 30, 2024•27 min•Ep. 44
Explore the rich history of Fletcher's Original Corny Dogs with GG Fletcher and her daughter Amber Fletcher, who carry on this iconic Texas brand. Learn how they balance family traditions with modern marketing, from introducing new menu items like veggie dogs to expanding Fletcher’s presence beyond the State Fair of Texas. This interview dives into the values, memories, and hard work that have made Fletcher’s a beloved, three-generation family business.
Nov 19, 2024•38 min•Ep. 43
On today's episode of Bigger Than Business, Jeff Holler and Chris Cassidy discuss the significance of purpose-driven success. Chris, a former Navy SEAL and astronaut, shares his leadership journey, from high school sports to the Naval Academy, and his experiences in space missions. He highlights the importance of authenticity and confidence for new leaders and recounts a humorous yet profound leadership lesson from his SEAL days. They discuss handling team shortcomings, survival rates of new bus...
Jul 29, 2024•38 min•Ep. 42
In this episode of Bigger Than Business, join host Jeff Holler as he sits down with Jeff Crilley, a seasoned journalist turned successful entrepreneur. Crilley takes us on a captivating journey through his illustrious career in journalism, highlighting his groundbreaking announcement of a man's release from prison - a moment that earned him prestigious accolades such as an Emmy. With 25 years of experience in TV news across different cities, Crilley eventually found his way to Texas, where he is...
Jun 25, 2024•33 min•Ep. 41
How can a community keep its children in school and on a pathway to graduation and beyond? How can public-private partnership build a program for disadvantaged kids that becomes effective even beyond its creators’ dreams? Listen as our guest shares how the Fields and Futures program was created, its exponential impact on the youth of Oklahoma City, and how a “stone soup” mentality enriched the project to benefit the entire community. Tim McLaughlin says he feels fortunate to have his family’s va...
Dec 20, 2023•46 min•Ep. 40
What does the future hold for neuro technology? What strides have been made in performance enhancement via brain studies? How can investors help shape the landscape of mental health treatments? Listen as our guest shares how her new endeavor is investing in companies that elevate human flourishing, how modern treatments can unlock a new era of mental health solutions, and how her expert experience provides an advantage in assessing start-ups that will transform the field of neurosciences. Dr. Am...
Nov 21, 2023•45 min•Ep. 39
What is Servant Leadership, and what does it bring to the lives of others? How does being told you’re “too stupid” parlay into an almost 40-year career as a respected and sought-after architect and developer? How do you create from tragedy a way to help families across the nation? Listen as our guest, Isaac Manning, shares how his success came from failure, how he engages in servant leadership to build communities, and how his creation and involvement in the “Light the Trail Ride” is providing p...
Oct 27, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 38
How do you go from making $19,000 a year to being a vendor for the White House? How do you weather troubled times to preserve your family and stay afloat personally and professionally? What does it take to start a business at 22 and grow it into a $60 Million company? Listen as our guest shares his path of entrepreneurship from start-up to multiple thriving businesses, what it’s like to partner with a parent, and how focusing on the needs of others can prove that life can be Bigger Than Business...
Sep 12, 2023•56 min•Ep. 37
Why is it important to train people how to treat you? How can knowing your guiding principles establish your path to success? How can leveraging your capabilities affect not only your future, but the futureof those around you? Listen as our guest shares why it’s necessary to lean into the hard stuff, why giving should be about more than just money, and how it is never too late to be the person you were destined to be. Janeé Hill is a seasoned strategic brand builder, television producer, and mot...
Feb 22, 2023•44 min•Ep. 36
How do you go from being literally dirt poor to becoming a serial entrepreneur responsible for founding, investing in, or serving on the board of over 100 companies? How can an eagerness to learn and serve shape your life in a way that influences local and global communities for the better? Listen as our guest shares his path from a subsistence farm life to one filled with “FinTech” and “Impact investing,” the importance of knowing what you are good at and creating a dream team to handle the res...
Jan 24, 2023•50 min•Ep. 35
How do you decide if you need a Family Office? What goes into building one that will truly serve your family’s needs? What role does intentionality play in its design and success? Listen as our guest shares with us how a commitment to shared values created a need for a Family Office to steward his family’s resources in a way that impacts not only generations of family members, but an entire community, as well, and how communication and clarification of objectives helps maintain trust, respect, a...
Dec 16, 2022•43 min•Ep. 34
In a family business, how do you overcome being the Owner’s Child? What can you do to ensure success on your own merits? How do you lead a team that may initially question your qualifications? Listen as our guest shares his advice for not only young people wanting to join the family business but also for the parents who want their kids to continue the business legacy, and thoughts on how being the Owner’s Child doesn’t have to overshadow your own success. David K. Sargent started investing in st...
Nov 17, 2022•38 min•Ep. 33
Why is the success of an organization dependent on the health – not just physical health, but also mental and spiritual health - of the leader? When the microculture of a team is set by leadership, how can business owners refocus the parts of their own brains to help cultivate their employees’ most forward-thinking and creative efforts? Listen as our guest shares why some companies become plateaued due to leaders’ negative non-verbals having a trickle-down effect on their teams, how stressors ca...
Aug 01, 2022•37 min•Ep. 32
What are the challenges of creating, working for, or taking over a family business? What are the strengths a family business needs to succeed? How can you avoid the pitfalls that cause the high failure rate in succession of a family business? Listen as our guest, Dr. Keanon Alderson, gives us a picture of how each succeeding generation tends to lead, what tools are necessary to shape a healthy family business – including a family constitution! - and what resources are available to owners to help...
Apr 29, 2022•50 min•Ep. 31
How can you shed 60% of your client base and still grow? How can a CPA take time off right before April 15, a notorious deadline in the industry, while others are sweating and working overtime? How can setting boundaries with your clients lead to a prosperous, more holistic business? Listen as our guest, Jackie Meyer, tells us how she built her own practice after being fired for having too much of an entrepreneurial mind-set, what attributes led to her becoming a much sought-after consultant on ...
Mar 31, 2022•39 min•Ep. 30
How do you combine four very different personalities into a leadership team working toward a common goal? What kind of resolve does it take to make changes to a strategy that is already working? Listen as our guest, Joseph Ferrell, shares with us how his company made surprising decisions on change, why “culture eats strategy for breakfast,” and why every leader needs people who will speak unfiltered truth into their life and organization to spur continued success. Joseph Ferrell built his career...
Feb 28, 2022•47 min•Ep. 29
How can recognizing the need to pivot your plans lead to a bigger sense of purpose? How can facing the reality that you are better off partnering with others, rather than going it alone, build greater success? How can recognizing the need to pivot your plans lead to a bigger sense of purpose? How can facing the reality that you are better off partnering with others, rather than going it alone, build greater success? Listen as our guest shares with us how following a highly successful career as a...
Jan 31, 2022•40 min•Ep. 28
How important are a company’s values to its growth and success? What can a business owner do to ensure their team buys in to the company culture and lives those values daily? And how can you take them even further and affect a community in need? Listen as our guest, Stacey Pearson, shares with us how he perpetuates the company values his family created, and how his business relationships help provide for the unique foundation he and his sister started in honor of their older brother. Stacey Pear...
Nov 29, 2021•39 min•Ep. 27
How can being involved in organizations during your youth prepare you for unexpected events in your business future? Where do you turn for advice when you feel overwhelmed by responsibility, and you are having to learn as you go? And when personal tragedy strikes, how can the planning of one individual transform entire communities? Listen as our guest shares with us how he helped a family empire weather the storms of state and global downturns through the decades, and how a parent’s worst nightm...
Oct 27, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 26
How can following your instincts when presented with the challenges of new strategy, new technology, and inequality in the workplace create an opportunity that transforms the business landscape of a city? How can collaboration take you further than sole pursuits and grow your business exponentially? And how can you take what you’ve built and do even more for others? Listen as our guest shares with us how she went from a respected teaching career to fearless entrepreneurship, fighting through dec...
Sep 28, 2021•48 min•Ep. 25
How can companies struggling with an employment landscape that is “opportunity long and talent short” attract future team members for the long haul? How can nurturing an emotional connection for your existing team to your company’s values position your company to attain the best, right-fit employees? What are the differences between Millennials and Generation Z, coming out of colleges today, and how can understanding those differences give you an edge in your talent management strategy? Listen a...
Aug 30, 2021•53 min•Ep. 24
How important is a succession plan to your company’s health? What are the challenges to putting one into place? How can business owners and founders step outside of their egos, face the idea of being replaced, and ask the hard questions on future leadership? Listen as our return guest, Phil Clemens, shares why every leader should create a succession plan long before they intend to hand over the reins, how taking time to determine the different, necessary skills to take the business to the next l...
Jul 27, 2021•40 min•Ep. 23
Phil Clemens began his career on the clean-up crew of the family business, Hatfield Quality Meats, and worked his way up to be the CEO of the company. Over the decades, he worked in all areas of the family business, with 20 of those years in Human Resources and seven as CEO and President of the legacy business, now known as The Clemens Food Group. Listen as Phil shares how and why his family engaged in the challenging transformation of being a Family Business to being a Business Family and restr...
Jun 30, 2021•44 min•Ep. 22
Ty Smith founded Exline Capital, a commercial real estate investment company, after experiencing many facets of the industry as a project manager, an analyst, a dealmaker, and even a ranch manager. Taking that experience and combining it with a desire to build something himself, Ty and Exline work with investors in what he calls the “middle market” in real estate’s four core food groups: office, industrial, multi-family, and retail. Ty initially built the company through one-off investments to b...
May 28, 2021•42 min•Ep. 21
David Q. Sargent started stocking shelves at Kmart as a junior in high school before parlaying that into a 24-year career with Kmart, Builder’s Square, and The Home Depot. Retiring at the young age of 38, David became a business owner when he and his family bought Stripe-A-Zone, Inc., a pavement marking company in 1996. Over the next 24 years, they grew it into one of the largest and most nationally recognized striping companies in the U.S. before selling majority ownership in 2020. Listen as Da...
Mar 25, 2021•49 min•Ep. 20
After accomplishing so much in the Navy, Clay Trantham became a well-respected national leader in heavy steel construction, eventually becoming an industrialist in his own right and a founder of nine companies in the construction, tech, logistics, and real estate industries. Listen as the inventor of the dance move "The Sprinkler" shares how being the middle child of 5 boys prepares one for the blood battles of being in business, why Navy and Marine personnel make excellent company hires, and al...
Feb 04, 2021•42 min•Ep. 19
After starting a successful media company while in college, Rand Stagen, at the age of 23 through executive coaching, discovered his passion for personal development. Rand founded Stagen Leadership Academy in 1999, which works with leaders from all over the country on concepts of Conscious Capitalism and taking individual responsibility for moving oneself and others toward desired goals. Listen as Rand shares with us why organizations are reflections of their leaders, why sobering conversations ...
Jan 05, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 18
Elyse Dickerson struggled in school as a result of dyslexia but persevered to find her inner greatness and become a much respected and lauded CEO of her own company. Listen as Elyse shares how she was able to push through low expectations of educators throughout her childhood, and later, the gender-biased behaviors of colleagues to become the accomplished founder and leader of Eosera, a biotech company that is a pioneer in the Conscious Capitalism movement, putting purpose, people, and company v...
Dec 08, 2020•49 min•Ep. 17
