Building Excellence

#173: Lorenzo Romar is one of college basketball’s all time winningest and most accomplished coaches. More importantly he is one of the most respected coaches. He has served as the head coach at the University of Washington, Pepperdine, and Saint Louis. He is currently an assistant coach a Loyola Marymount University.  As a head coach, he's had 18 players taken in the NBA Draft. As either a h...

#172: Scott Mabrey is Chief Executive Officer of Mabrey Bank. Mabrey Bank is a $1.7 billion community bank with 15 locations throughout Oklahoma. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Mabrey Bank and Mabrey Bancorporation. Scott first joined the bank in 2001 after working 3.5 years at Bank of Oklahoma in Corporate Lending. An active civic member, Scott has served on the boards or volunteere...

#171: Jeremy Foley is the University of Florida Athletic Director Emeritus and served as the Athletic Director from 1992-2016.  During his tenure leading the University of Florida, the Gators accumulated 27 National Titles, made numerous athletic facility improvements, he handled virtually every aspect of the $119.3 million athletic program during his athletic administrative career, and he won mul...

#170: Wayne Simien is a former NBA world champion with the Miami Heat, Kansas basketball player, and current KU athletics associate AD. Growing up Wayne had two very important role models being his parents. He quickly excelled at basketball and was a part of a 6A State Championship team and became a McDonald's High School All-American. As a player at the University of Kansas he was coached by...

#169: Howard Behar is the former President of Starbucks Coffee Company. During his time at Starbucks he helped the company grow from 28 stores to over 15,000 stores all over the world. Not only does he share some great stories and principles from his time at Starbucks, but also from his early years growing up around the retail business. Howard currently travels around the world speaking to leaders...

#168: 7x MLB All-Star & hosts of the Table 40 podcast, Matt & Leslee Holliday share their journey, as well as lessons in faith, marriage, leadership, and being present.  Matt & Leslee met while Leslee was in college and Matt had just started his professional baseball career. They share their experiences and what it was like to have a great marriage, live out their faith, and still rais...

#113: Steve Robinson is the former Executive Vice President & Chief marketing officer of Chick-Fil-A from 1981-2015. He currently serves as a consultant, speaker, and author on organizational culture, brand strategy, marketing and advertising, as well as leadership development. Steve went to Faulkner State where he played baseball and then finished his college at Auburn University with a bache...

#166: Chad Hennings is a 3 time Super Bowl Champion with the Dallas Cowboys, A10 fighter pilot, real estate businessmen, author, speaker, and ministry founder. In order to achieve a legacy of excellence, one must live a life of integrity and purpose. Excellence isn’t a destination; it’s an identity. Chad Hennings has lived this message through a nine year NFL career and three Super Bowl Championsh...

#165: Horst Schulze is the Co-Founder of the Ritz Carlton & Founder of the Capella Hotel Group. He is also author of the book "Excellence Wins",  a no nonsense guide to becoming the best in a world of compromise.  He is a legend and leader in the hotel world and his teachings and vision have reshaped the concepts of service and hospitality across industries. During his tenure at The...

Jim Harrick is a national championship coach with the UCLA men’s basketball program. In 1995, he led the bruins to the NCAA championship and gained pac-10 and national coach of the year honors. Coach Harrick grew up in West Virginia and after playing college basketball, he and his wife ventured to California where he became a teacher and coach at morning side high school. While at morning side, he...

Pete Chambers is an entrepreneur and businessman at heart. He has been married to his wife Raney for 30 years, and is the proud father of three daughters. He is a graduate of Texas Christian University, is also proud to have attended the University of Texas MBA program. He began his career with the Chemical Lime Company, now a Lhoist Group Company, in plant operations, sales and business developme...

Jerry Colangelo is the founder and former owner of the Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks, as well as Managing Director of USA Basketball. He is a 4x NBA Executive of the Year, former NBA GM & Head Coach, Chairman of the Basketball Hall of Fame, founder of multiple sports franchises, and also started with Dick Klein to found the Chicago Bulls. The accolades are endless, but he additionally...

#161: Brandon Lohse is the CFO of Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. Prior to joining Arkansas Electric he worked more than 26 years in the energy and financial services sectors. Most recently Brandon served as the Director of Investor Relations at One Gas in Tulsa, OK.  He earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration with honors from Seattle Pacific University, a Master’s in Business...

#160: Clint Hurdle is a former Major League Baseball player and manager. He spent 9 seasons as the Manager for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Over his tenure in Pittsburgh he led the Pirates to multiple playoff appearances. In 2013, only his third season as manager, he led the Pirates to their first winning season and playoff appearance since 1992. He also won the award for National League Manager of the...

#159: Scott Nield is the CEO of Montereau, which is Oklahoma’s premier retirement community. Scott is a deeply passionate senior living and hospitality executive who looks for innovative platforms and programming to delight his residents. Scott is a servant leader. He believes in living a life of service and purpose. Service has to benefit another. He feels his purpose in life is to ensure people...

#158: Joe Moglia is the former CEO and Chairman of TD Ameritrade, former Head Football Coach and current Executive Advisor to the President and Chair of Athletics at Coastal Carolina. In 1984 Joe entered the MBA Training Program at Merrill Lynch, there were 25 MBA's and 1 football coach. By 1988, that football coach was the Number One Producer in the World. He became a member of both the Inst...

#157: Will Reece is a sports agent, entrepreneur, and former basketball coach. In 2007, he set out to create his dream job, one that tied together his passion for sports, his knack for networking, and his desire to help others succeed. The result was NextLevel Sports Marketing and Representation. Now with over a decade of experience in the industry, he was recently featured in a CBSsports.com arti...

#156: Steve Largent is a NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver who spent 14 seasons with the Seattle Seahawks. When he retired he held all of the major NFL receiving records. Steve played at the University of Tulsa where he was an All American. He was drafted in the 4th round of the 1976 NFL Draft by the Houston Oilers. After the preseason with the Oilers Steve was cut, but signed with Seattle and the re...

#155: Nicholaus Rohleder is the Co-Founder of Climate Commodities and a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree.  At CC, he sits on the steering committees of CC’s operating businesses in physical trading, mineral processing & refining, transportation & logistics, renewable power & alternative fuels, and reinsurance. Outside of his professional commitments, Nicholas serves as an Adjunct Professor a...

#154: Joanne P. McCallie is the former Duke University head women’s basketball coach. She is an author and elite-level NCAA basketball coach with nearly 700 career wins. She received a BA from Northwestern University and an MBA from Auburn University, and has coached at Maine, Michigan State, and Duke, making National Coach of the Year in 2005, and winning numerous championships at all three schoo...

#153: Jerry Stritzke is the former President & CEO of REI, which is one of the premier American retail and outdoor recreation corporations with over 24 million people. Before Jerry stepped into his role at REI he served on the board of Lulu Lemon as well as President & COO of Coach, COO of Victoria’s Secret, and CEO of Mast Industries. Jerry grew up on a farm we he learned the value of har...

#152: Jeremiah Dickey is the Boise State University Athletic Director. Under Dickey’s leadership Boise State has experienced tremendous success on and off the field and court. The Business Development and Revenue Innovation unit, Broncos United, and the Athletics Master Village are just a few of the many initiatives he has launched during his tenure in Boise. He is a great example of casting visio...

#151: Bruce Heppler is the Georgia Tech head men’s golf coach.  As the 10th-longest tenured head coach in Division I at 29 years, he has guided the Yellow Jackets to an NCAA regional every year since 1998 (no NCAA championships were held in spring of 2020), while 19 of those teams advanced to the NCAA Finals. Twelve of those teams have finished in the top eight, with five of those teams reaching m...

#150: James D. ‘Murph’ Murphy is the Founder & Chairman of Afterburner, Inc., a former Air Force F-15 fighter pilot, and owner of multiple businesses and the private equity firm Afterburner Capital. He has a unique and powerful mix of leadership skills in both the military and business worlds. Murph joined the U.S. Air Force where he learned to fly the F-15. He logged over 1,200 hours as an in...

#149: Gary Gilmore is the head baseball coach at Coastal Carolina University. In 2016 he led CCU to a National Championship winning the College World Series and was named the National Coach of the Year.  A two-time ABCA Atlantic Region Coach of the Year (2005 and 2016) and a 10-time conference Coach of the Year, Gilmore ranks among the NCAA’s all-time top 25 in wins with 1,293 and is also ranked f...