Driven By with Sam Coates

My guest this week is Pat Lawler. Pat is the CEO of Youth Villages. Founded in 1986 with the merger of two Memphis-based residential campuses, Youth Villages is now a nationally recognized leader in the field of children’s mental and behavioral health. From the early days of serving just 80 children a year, we’ve since grown to help tens of thousands of children, families and young people annually...

My guest this week is Dr. Tracy D. Hall. Tracy is the President of Southwest Tennessee Community College out of Memphis, TN. Regardless of whether you live in Memphis or not, this is an important conversation that applies all across the country.    We talk about education, changing the narrative, the importance of stem education, why community colleges matter, and more. When DR. Hall took over Sou...

My guest this week is Geoff Calkins.    This episode is a fun and valuable conversation where we cover:   Discovering his love for stories while battling leukemia as a kid What it took for a major career change: Leaving the law firm then ending up in Anniston, Alabama What sports can do for a city How he learned to write Finding your voice  And more!     After starting his career as a lawyer in Wa...

My guest this week is University of Memphis Head Football Coach Ryan Silverfield.   For those who live in Memphis or follow U of M Football, do you remember when Ryan was named interim head coach and how he made it known he wanted the job? He didn’t hold back. He went all-in, letting everyone know. I have been looking forward to this conversation, and I am glad to release it to you this week.   Du...

My guest this week is Otis Sanford.    This episode is loaded with experiences, insights, a deeper understanding of how journalism works and where it's headed.   We talk about when he fell in love with journalism, political machines, why he doesn't mind criticism, the funniest story he has covered, the politician who didn't take things personally, and all of the journalism changes and more.    In...

My guest this week is Kent Ritchey.    For over 50 years, Kent has been in the automobile business. Kent’s company, Lander’s Auto Group, has 15 Automobile Franchises with over 450 Associates in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas.    I wanted to have this conversation with Kent to understand all the changes taking place with the automobile industry and how he adapts to them. Additionally, we disc...

My guest this week is David Jordan. For close to 26 years, David has been leading Agape Child Services out of Memphis, TN. Agape serves approximately 3000 children and families each year by loving families and fighting poverty.    I wanted to have a conversation with David to understand the challenges of poverty and what it takes to succeed in getting out of poverty. Additionally, we discuss:   · ...

My guests this week are Wiseacre Brewery Founders Davin and Kellan Bartosch.  Davin and Kellan launched Wiseacre in 2013 and it has been a huge success. They quit their jobs, found a partner, took out personal loans and have built one of the most well known craft breweries in the Southeast. After one year of opening, their Tiny Bomb beer won the Bronze Medal at the Great American Beer Festival in...

My guest this week is Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings. You may know Director Rallings from leading the Memphis Police Department. After announcing his retirement for the year 2021, I wanted to speak with Director Rallings to understand what it felt like when he accessed and walked with protesters off the Mississippi River Bridge in 2016. This is a replay of an episode that was recorded in...

Hey Everybody- As I mentioned last week, while I get ready for the new year- I am resharing some of my favorite episodes from 2020 for January while I get ready for this year. Who would have thought almost one year later we would still be where we are with the Covid 19 pandemic. I reached out to Cathy to get an update on where things are now almost one year later with their work. She said that in...

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be replaying some of my favorite episodes from 2020. I hope you enjoy these episodes and Happy New Year! My guest this week is Isaac Bruce. Isaac was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 2020. Isaac played college football for the University of Memphis and was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the 2nd round and had a 14-year career with the Rams. Isaac was known for...

My guest this week is Kat Gordon. In her mid 20’s Kat opened Muddy’s Bake Shop thinking it likely wouldn’t make it. Thirteen years later, Muddy’s is one of the top bakeries in the United States. This pandemic has been a massive issue for businesses across the country, and Muddy’s is no different. Muddy’s completely shut its doors for several weeks and has opened one of its locations back, but it i...

My guest this week is Jean McGhee. Jean is one of the owners of Hollywood Feed – the fastest-growing pet retail store in the country with 110 stores across the U.S. Jean and her husband Shawn purchased Hollywood Feed in 2006. Before purchasing Hollywood Feed, Jean was a stay-at-home mom. Through this conversation, you'll see that Jean doesn't get caught up with numbers and scale. You'll see how sh...

My guests this week are Jim and Amy Yurchenco. Jim and Amy have both live and work in Palo Alto, California. Jim was the first employee for worldwide engineering firm Ideo and Amy, most recently as a software engineer for Intuit. In addition to their professional careers, they have canoed the Mississippi River and hiked tens of thousands of miles in 10 different countries (Wales, Turkey, Spain, Sc...

My Guest this week is Shawn Askinosie. Askinosie Chocolate is a small batch, award-winning chocolate factory located in Springfield, Missouri. They source 100% of their beans directly from farmers. Shawn travels to Ecuador, the Philippines, and Tanzania to source cocoa beans for his chocolate. This allows the chocolate to be traced to the source and labeled authentic single origin.   Their mission...

My guest this week is JP Dinnell. JP is from Northern California, enlisted in the Navy out of High School, served as a U.S. Navy Seal for 10 Years, and is now with Echelon Front, teaching leadership development and organizational management worldwide.   We talked life's highs and lows, life transitions, and everything in between. This episode is a great perspective on making the most out of your c...

My guest this week is Warren Doyle. Warren holds the informal record for hiking the Appalachian Trail the most times. That number is 18 times. Yes, he has hiked 18 total times from George to Maine, which is 2,190 miles and typically takes 5-7 months to complete. In 1973, Warren set the unofficial endurance record of hiking the trail in a record time of 66 days. Since then, Warren has gone on to st...

My guest this week is Clark Butcher. Clark is back on for a part two episode. Last week we left off at what happens when you go all-in on your business, and it burns down one month after starting. This week, we will dive into what it is like to build a high-touch retail store.  This episode is an in-depth conversation on what it looks like to make a brand and build a successful small business that...

My guest this week is Clark Butcher. Clark is a cyclist and owner of Victory Bicycle Studio. I wanted to have Clark on the show for a few reasons. First, I read earlier this year when he was asked how he thinks about Covid-19 and how it affects his business, he answered they would continue to serve and deliver a customized service to his clients and focus on that. In other words, it struck me that...

This week's guest is Matt Cook, Matt is currently the VP of Engineering at Tilled; before that, he launched his own startup, and before that, he was head of platform for Shipt. As you may know, Shipt was started in 2014 and was acquired by Target in 2017 for $550 Million Dollars. As you know, we live in a growing gig economy where people get to work in flexible ways that were not possible before....

Did you know that there are currently over 81,900 missing American Service Members around the world? Why does this matter? Why is this important?  What does it take to identify and bring home Service Members? Why is closure essential, and how do these experiences affect us today? We cover all of this and much more.   These service members served our country, sacrificed their lives, and they haven’...

My guest this week is Retired United States Marine Sergeant Major Justin LeHew. This episode is the first of two conversations with Sergeant Major (Ret) LeHew. The second one will be next week and also including the organization that he leads today. Sergeant Major (Ret) LeHew has been awarded the Navy Cross, The Bronze Star. He is also known as the Hero of Nasiriyah for his work taking part in the...

Educational inequality is a significant problem today. Last week’s episode covered what it takes to make a positive impact on this problem. When you think about childhood education, you also understand the importance of the child’s development as a person. Teachers are crucial in how this happens, and this work is more than just teaching curriculum.   This week I am releasing the 2nd part to the s...

As of 2019, the gap is increasing between rich and poor children with the quality of education that they receive in America. This week’s episode features what it takes to make a positive impact on this problem.   A couple of the top leading factors of crime are education levels and family structure. It’s been discussed on this podcast on previous episodes. Go back to episode three with City of Mem...

This week's episode is going to have a different twist to it than the previous weeks. A few days ago, an article came out where JP Morgan(one of the world's largest banks) told a portion of their staff that they must come back to the office.  This report said that through internal data collection, they saw decreased productivity on Mondays and Fridays and worries that remote work is not a substitu...