D CEO December by DCEO

59 FINALISTS

E XC E L L E N C E I N H E A LT H C A R E AWA R DS 2 02 1

Curated collections of executive holiday gifts

DECEMBER 2021

$7. 95

CEO OF THE YEAR JASON McCANN

The chief exec at Vari reinvented office furniture. Now, he aims to disrupt commercial real estate.

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Wellness With Purpose At Whitley Penn, the health and wellness of our team is a top priority. We purposely bring healthy opportunities into our work environment to improve the physical and mental wellbeing of our employees. When we begin with wellness, we are able to excel in both our personal and professional lives while providing outstanding service for our clients.

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RESILIENCE

REWARDING

OUR POLICYHOLDERS STAYED FOCUSED ON SAFETY AND EARNED $330 MILLION IN DIVIDENDS.

Employers faced unprecedented challenges in 2020. The obstacles were steep, but you adapted, stayed strong and stayed committed to keeping your workers safe. And we were proud to reward that commitment with a $330 million dividend payout this year. It’s our way of helping your business — and Texas — keep moving conﬁdently into a brighter tomorrow. For more on how our dividend program is changing the way workers’ comp works for you, go to texasmutual.com/rewarding.

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WE GIVE IT OUR EVERYTHING, BECAUSE KIDS CAN DO ANYTHING. Children’s Health congratulates all the D CEO Magazine Best in Healthcare nominees. Thank you for helping kids get back to being kids. SM

OUTSTANDING INNOVATION Children’s Health OUTSTANDING HEALTH SYSTEM Children’s Health OUTSTANDING COLLABORATION Children’s Health and Perimeter Health OUTSTANDING REAL ESTATE DEAL Children’s Health OUTSTANDING HOSPITAL EXECUTIVE Dai Chung, M.D., Children’s Health OUTSTANDING HEALTHCARE INNOVATOR Danielle Wesley, Children’s Health OUTSTANDING HEALTHCARE PRACTITIONER Dawn Johnson, M.D., Children’s Health OUTSTANDING HEALTHCARE VOLUNTEER Kristen Baidy, Children’s Health

Learn more at childrens.com

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CELEBRATING

35 YEARS OF SERVICE

RGT strives to simplify the complex details of managing your wealth to support your peace of mind now and for your future. rgtadvisors.com • 214-360-7000

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STRENGTHEN THE

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Your patients depend on you for their health. And you can depend on PlainsCapital for the financial health of your practice. From real estate lending and lines of credit to revenue cycle management and cutting edge technology, we have the banking solutions you need to achieve the goals you've set for your business. Combine that with a full suite of Private Banking solutions for your family, and you have a partner for your entire financial life. Keep your practice thriving with PlainsCapital. Call us today.

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What if our rising stars weren’t all lone stars?

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The Lexus LS and Sewell’s unmatched customer service. Nothing less than extraordinary.

Dallas

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Fort Worth

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THE RICH

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You are changing the world. We are on the journey with you, rising to the challenges, anywhere, anytime with a dedicated, passionate and responsive team, that only a true partner can provide. Guided by a shared vision, we provide the most qualified staff, implement custom talent strategies, and provide technology solutions that help you deliver exceptional care for your communities.

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CONTENTS DECEMBER 2021

VO LU M E 1 6 | I S S U E 1 0

32 CEO of the Year Jason McCann The innovative entrepreneur behind Vari revolutionized office furniture. Now, he has his eye on real estate. story by MATT GOODMAN portraits by SEAN BERRY

38 Executive Gift Guide Curated collections of holiday gift ideas for the business leaders in your life (or yourself). story by BIANCA R. MONTES, HAMILTON HEDRICK, and JAMIE LYONS

Vari, led by Jason McCann, has generated about $2 billion in sales since its 2013 launch.

photography by KELSEY FOSTER

46 The Mission to Save Dallas’ Children

P H OTO G R A P H Y BY S E A N B E R R Y

Children’s Health’s innovative partnerships are helping it have an impact where it’s needed most. PLUS: Finalists and winners in the 2021 Excellence in Healthcare Awards story by WILL MADDOX photography by DAN SAELINGER

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CONTENTS

16 EDITOR’S NOTE

DOSSIER 2 1 YO U N E E D T O K N O W

Tony Carimi, Park Place Dealerships

24 MEET THE 500

Sheri Crosby Wheeler, Fossil Group 24 FRESH IDEAS

P U R S U I T S D A L L A S A R E A R A P I D T R A N S I T ; S N A P S H OT V A N A H A M M O N D P A R H A M ; N E E D TO K N OW J O N A T H A N Z I Z Z O ; W E L L T R AV E L E D S T E I N C O L L E C T I O N ; F O O D & B E V E R AG E S E A N B E R R Y

Kevin Wohlman, Southern Scholar 2 6 F O O D & B E V E R AG E

George Esquivel, Four Corners Brewing Co. 2 8 O N T H E TA B L E

Mark Masinter, Open Realty Advisors

FIELD NOTES 51 LEADING OFF

Albert Black, On-Target Supplies & Logistics 52 ECONOMY

The Texas way of inclusive capitalism: how economic freedom benefits us all. 54 ON TOPIC

Tri Global Energy’s John B. Billingsley Jr., Clouse Brown’s Alyson Brown, and CBRE’s Jack Fraker on what they learned from their fir t jobs.

64 56 THOUGHT LEADER

Jaimee Eddington of Heidrick & Struggles on hiring executive talent.

OFF DUTY 59 ART OF STYLE

Jack Stone, Greysteel 6 0 M U S T- L I S T E N

C-Suiters’ favorite podcasts. 62 PURSUITS

Nadine Lee, DART 62 SNAPSHOT

Vana Hammond Parham, AT&T 6 4 W E L L T R AV E L E D : PA R K C I T Y, U TA H

CEO OF THE YEAR JASON McCANN

59 FINALISTS

E XC E L L E N C E I N H E A LT H C A R E AWA R DS 2 02 1

Curated collections of executive holiday gifts

Charmaine Tang, BNY Mellon Wealth Management

62 012

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DECEMBER 2021

66 ROOTS

The chief exec at Vari reinvented office furniture. Now, he aims to disrupt commercial real estate.

Dr. Bharat Sangani, Encore Enterprises 68 END MARK

Woodall Rodgers

ON THE COVER:

Jason McCann, co-founder and CEO of Vari, photographed by Sean Berry.

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EXPERIENCE MATTERS

In successfully solving complex business disputes

Stefanie Major McGregor

Shawn M. McCaskill

SHAREHOLDER

PRESIDENT

Bruce W. Bowman, Jr.

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

Ira Bowman

CHAIR, BUSINESS/CIVIL LITIGATION

Todd Shadle

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

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Charmaine Voorhees Becken

Donald E. Godwin CHAIRMAN & CEO

SHAREHOLDER

James E. Johanns SHAREHOLDER

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P U B L I S H E R Gillea Allison

EDITORIAL EDITOR Christine Perez MANAGING EDITOR Will Maddox ONLINE MANAGING EDITOR Bianca R. Montes ASSOCIATE EDITOR Kelsey J. Vanderschoot ASSISTANT EDITOR Ben Swanger CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Richard Alm, W. Michael Cox EDITORIAL INTERNS Preston Rios, Catherine Rosas, Sara Rushing

ART DESIGN DIRECTOR Hamilton Hedrick STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Elizabeth Lavin DIGITAL ART DIRECTOR Emily Olson

A DV E R T I S I N G ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Rhett Taylor ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER OF PROFESSIONAL SERVICES Kym Rock Davidson SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Cami Burke, Haley Muse MANAGING EDITOR OF SPECIAL SECTIONS Jennifer Sander Hayes DIGITAL REVENUE DIRECTOR Tracy Albertson DIGITAL ADVERTISING OPERATIONS MANAGERS Riley Hill BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Palmer McGraw SALES INTERN Colleen Burross

MARKETING & EVENTS MARKETING DIRECTOR Gigi Ekstrom EVENTS PRODUCER Beth Albright EVENT COORDINATOR Amber Knowles ADVERTISING ART DIRECTOR Katie Garza SALES MARKETING MANAGER Jenni Elam EVENT INTERNS Karime Alvarado, Jeffrey Uncad

AU D I E N C E D E V E LO P M E N T DIRECTOR Amanda Hammer MANAGER Sarah South DATA ENTRY SPECIALIST Jade Osseck RETAIL STRATEGY MANAGER Steve Crabb MERCHANDISER David Truesdell AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT INTERNS Jessica Taber

PRODUCTION DIRECTOR John Gay MANAGER Pamela Ashby PHOTO RETOUCHER Veronica Jones PRODUCTION INTERN Cassie Davis

BUSINESS CONTROLLER Sabrina LaTorre SENIOR ACCOUNTANT Debbie Travis STAFF ACCOUNTANT Lesley Killen ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE COORDINATOR Jessica Hernandez IT TECHNICIAN Luan Aliji ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Jacob Villalobos

WEB EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Matt Goodman SENIOR DIGITAL EDITOR Alex Macon

MAIL 750 N. Saint Paul St., Ste. 2100, Dallas, TX 75201 The magazine assumes no responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts. WEBSITE www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-ceo MAIN OFFICE 214-939-3636 ADVERTISING 214-939-3636 x 128 REPRINTS 214-939-3636 SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES For immediate assistance, call 214-939-3636 x 232. For other inquiries, e-mail customerservice@dmagazine.us. SUBSCRIPTIONS 11 issues for $54 in the United States, possessions, APO and FPO; $70 per 11 issues elsewhere. Please provide old and new addresses and enclose latest mailing label when inquiring about your subscription. For custom publishing inquiries, call 214-540-0113.

D M A G A Z I N E PA R T N E R S EDITOR-IN-CHIEF AND CEO Christine Allison PRESIDENT Gillea Allison CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Thomas L. Earnshaw CHIEF OF STAFF Rachel Gill FOUNDER Wick Allison

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Healthcare is better when people are known. Catalyst empowers primary care to be the difference-maker in people’s lives that it was always meant to be. That starts with delivery of team-based care that puts trusting relationships and personal connection at the center of every interaction.

Learn more at catalysthealthnetwork.com

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

P H OTO G R A P H Y BY E L I Z A B E T H L A V I N

Now Is the Time to Chase Your Dreams

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kelsey j. vanderschoot’s story on nadine lee (page 62) made me smile. Not because the new DART chief is determined to “define, quantify, and improve” the rider experience, but because she shared how a health scare in her 40s inspired her to pursue her childhood dream of becoming a ballerina. Lee faithfully spends hours each week practicing and perfecting her craft; it brings her joy, with the extra benefit of relieving stress. Her story reminded me of my mother, who ran her first marathon when she was 57 and went on to do 16 more all over the world. She began by walking, then moved up to 5Ks and 10Ks. When a friend suggested she train for a marathon, she laughed. But then she began chipping away at excuses and ingrained beliefs, worked very hard, and, ultimately, made it happen. As we’re emerging from the pandemic, it seems like there’s a collective desire to lead fuller lives and take more risks. What do we want to achieve during our trips around the sun? Motivational guru Tony Robbins offers four reasons for not giving up on your dreams: growth is essential to the human experience; you never know how close you are to success; you’ll always wonder what could have been; and the rewards are worth it. To achieve big goals, he says, you must first get out of your own head. “The only thinking keeping you from what you want is your story about why you can’t have it,” he says. Robbins says to start by making sure you’re genuinely passionate about whatever it is you’re pursuing. Then, create a formal plan, find lessons in every failure and adjust your plan accordingly, and celebrate small successes along the way. As we approach a new year, perhaps we should give it a shot. Whether it’s a dream of becoming an entrepreneur, getting involved in a nonprofit, learning to paint, or visiting the Galápagos Islands, now is a great time to banish the excuses that may have held us back and see what is truly possible.

Christine Perez Editor

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AGENDA

Karimah Seals, Jesse Parley, Megan Hughes

Nikki Hurst Gibson, Tammy Wood, Jay Wallace

Tory Cronin, James ‘Jim’ Davis, Kelly Kubasta

Corporate Counsel Awards 2021 on sept. 29, guests gathered to celebrate d ceo’s 12th annual Corporate Counsel Awards, honoring exceptional in-house attorneys in Dallas-Fort Worth. Held at On The Levee in Dallas’ Design District, the event brought together corporate counsels, managing partners, and other professionals to celebrate those whose work has distinguished them from their peers over the past year. Twenty-nine finali ts and winners were recognized across eight categories. Guests were greeted with opening remarks from Christine Allison, CEO and editor-in-chief of D Magazine Partners. D CEO Editor Christine Perez and Managing Editor Will Maddox presented the awards, with help from Chris Trowbridge and Nikki Hurst Gibson of Bell Nunnally & Martin. Thank you to title sponsor Bell Nunnally & Martin for making this memorable event possible. Congratulations to all the finali ts and winners, featured in the October issue of D CEO.

Brim Basom, Elizabeth Merino, Dominic “DJ” Merino, Ellen Willmott, Mary Goodman Nix

Tasha Stringer Grinnell

Christopher J. Pappaioanou, Ben Riemer, Chris Trowbridge

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Alexandria Hien McCombs

Meyling Ly Ortiz, Cortland Grynwald, Olesja L. Cormney, Wande Elam

P H OTO G R A P H Y BY B R E T R E D M A N

Jared Pope, Travis O. Foster, Eric Hail

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ARE YOU IN

GOOD COMPANY?

Be recognized as a company that makes a difference in our community in D CEO, CFT’s IMPACT Magazine, and more.

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program or initiative in each of our three pillars of excellence.

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companies that make a difference in our community and exhibit at least one

that take care of their communities. Our Be In Good Company program recognizes

At Communities Foundation of Texas, we take care of businesses, especially those

B E I N G O O D CO M PA N Y - 2021 -

1. Thriving Teams | 2. Thriving Cultures | 3. Thriving Future for all Now more than ever, your commitment to the community makes all the difference. Be recognized for the good you do. Join our Be In Good Company program so we can shine a spotlight on the investment you and your employees are making in our community.

CFT for Business provides expertise and resources to help your business develop and amplify a culture of good corporate citizenship.

Contact our experts today to grow or develop your program at CF TEX A S .ORG/DCEOgoodcompany

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DECEMBER 2021

DOSSIER TRENDS

WATC H

a n d

NORTH TEXAS NEWSMAKERS

YOU NEED TO KNOW

How Park Place Dealerships’ Tony Carimi Competes in a White-hot Market Luxury cars have always been a big deal in Dallas. Today, demand is stronger than ever. story by WILL MADDOX photography by JONATHAN ZIZZO

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DOSSIER

two career paths presented themselves to Tony Carimi when he neared graduation. After performing for President George H.W. Bush and as a member of the Singing Cadets in College Station, he had an opportunity to start a music career at Opryland in Nashville. The second option was to move into advertising in the music industry. Carimi chose neither. And he hasn’t once regretted it. Today, Carimi oversees Dallas operations of Park Place Dealerships, which was sold last year to Asbury Automotive Group for $685 million. He had served as chief operating officer at Park Place for 12 years under previous ownership. It was at a career fair on campus at Texas A&M University where he entertained a conversation with execs from Sewell Automotive Cos. and decided to go off-road and enter a completely foreign business. Carimi entered a management training program with Sewell and moved to Dallas, but some of the perceptions surrounding car sales still lingered. “I still remember that phone call. My mom said, ‘You went four years to school to go and do what? Work in the car business?’” Carimi recalls. “I had to overcome that stigma of what the business truly is and changing the industry and how people view it.” The doubts diminished as he learned about the business, was mentored by customer service gurus Carl Sewell and Ken Schnitzer, Park Place’s founder and CEO. He learned about

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all aspects of the business, from selling vehicles and accounting to the service department, and began to see how they all fit together. Since taking over at Park Place, Carimi has been instrumental in planning training courses that all Park Place employees go through when joining the company. Every Monday, he speaks with new hires about the company’s long history, culture, and goals, making sure to keep the training fresh. “What worked for us 35 years ago doesn’t necessarily translate today,” Carimi says. “New team members who are coming on board push us to stay relevant and evolve.” The pandemic has coincided with booming demand for vehicles and buying suddenly shifting online. With help from the added resources of Asbury, Carimi helped implement a completely remote car buying experience. The browsing, financing, and car delivery can be taken care of in 15 minutes without ever setting foot on a lot. It has been an essential addition in an environment where supply-chain disruptions and inventory shortages have increased competition in the luxury car market. It’s easy to see why Asbury was interested in Park Place; four of its dealerships rank among the nation’s top 10 for their brands: Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Lex“We’re not in us, and Jaguar/Land Rover. Through the ownership the car change, Carimi has focused business. on keeping standards high. We’re in “My goal from day one was that no clients would ever the people know that any change had business; occurred and that they still that is what view Park Place today the we are here same as prior to the acquisition,” he says. “We’re not to do.” in the car business. We’re in the people business; that is what we are here to do. It is about getting our team members, myself included, to understand that we are here to serve each other and to serve the community.”

Luxury Acquisition After months of on-again, off-again negoti tions, Ken Schnitzer sold prime assets in Park Place, the country’s largest private luxury dealership group, to Asbury Automotive for $685 million. The Duluth, Georgia-based company, one of the largest automotive retail organizaitons in the nation, acquired 12 new vehicle franchises in North Texas, including three Mercedes-Benz and Sprinter locations and Lexus Plano. The Park Place brand was included in the deal. Asbury is a Fortune 500 company with 2020 revenue of about $7.1 billion and 91 dealerships. The Park Place deal increased Asbury’s geographic mix to 28 percent of revenue derived from the Texas market and took its overall portfolio from 36 percent to about 49 percent of revenue derived from luxury brands.

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SECTION NAME

ASK THE EXPERT

Persuasion Skills: Pithy Catch Phrases R O G G E D U N N , C EO, R O G G E D U N N G R O U P

c-level execs, managers, and entrepreneurs make sales pitches to motivate employees, sell goods or services, obtain funding from a PE fi m, or win an argument with family or friends. This article analyzes another proven persuasion technique. Given our fast-paced world and people’s short attention spans, effective persuasion needs to be short and sweet. This requires distilling messaging into pithy catch phrases. Prominent newscasters, politicians, athletes, and lawyers know the power of succinct messaging. Many of these catch phrases have become cliches: “Monday morning quarterback,” “Debbie Downer,” and “low-hanging fruit.” When Roger Staubach described his desperate, last-second, “long bomb” pass to Drew Pearson, he could have said that 37 seconds were on the clock, we were on the 50-yard line, I threw a long pass, and hoped for the b est. Instead, he used two words--”Hail Mary,” a phrase now used to describe last-second miracle plays. Lamar Hunt could have said The National Football League versus the American Football League Championship Game; instead, he coined the term “Super Bowl.” When leopards escaped from a zoo, Fox and CNN didn’t say escaped leopards are now roaming a Hangzhou neighb orhood. Reporters lead with “Leopards on the Loose,” “Leopards on the Lamb,” and “Prowling Predators.” Using Catch Phrases to Criticize I’m not a fan of being overly critical of my competitor or opponent and generally prefer to extol the virtues of my client/my argument.

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However, pithy negative characterizations of opponents and opposing views, when used judiciously, are effective Donald Trump used the Rule of Threes to attack Jeb Bush as being “poor, pathetic, and low energy.” Then he seized on the short phrase “low-energy Jeb” to drive home his messaging. Trump could have said Kim Jong-un is an ineffective leader of a third-world country who is using nuclear weapons as a blunt foreign policy instrument to gain geopolitical status. Instead, “little rocket man” negatively and memorably summarized Kim. President Biden could say Trump and his supporters do not accept the election results, so they created a bogus narrative to discredit the election. That’s a mouthful. Therefore, they captured the concept in a short, persuasive message: “The Big Lie.” CNN’s Andrew Cuomo wanted to criticize Senator Ted Cruz for vacationing in Mexico while Texas was suff ring from a massive power outage during an Arctic blast. When Cruz got caught lying about the length of his vacation, Cuomo played off of Trump’s “Lying Ted” phraseology, calling Cruz “Flying Ted.” British journalist Piers Morgan challenged the credib ility of Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex. He could have said Markle was not forthcoming with the public. Piers simply labeled her “Princess Pinocchio.” In a personal injury lawsuit against police for excessive tasing, the plaintiff filed a lawsuit and sued Jose “Taser Joe” Martinez. The takeaway: reduce 500 N. Akard Street, Suite 1900 complicated concepts to Dallas, Texas 75201 short, memorable phrases. 214.888.5000 | info@roggedunngroup.com

ROGGE DUNN represents companies, executives, and entrepreneurs in business and employment matters. These include the CEOs/ presidents of American Airlines, Baker Hughes, Beck Group, Blucora, Crow Holdings, Dave & Busters, Gold’s Gym, FedEx, HKS, Texas Motor Speedway, Texas Capital Bancshares, Texas Tech University, and Whataburger. Dunn’s corporate clients include Adecco, Beal Bank, Benihana, Cawley Partners, CBRE, Match.com, Thackeray Partners, Rent-A-Center, and Outback Steakhouse. In 2021 Dunn was included in DCEO Magazines’ Dallas 500 list, which recognizes the most influential business leaders in North Texas. He has been honored as a Texas Super Lawyer every year that award has been given and recognized as one of the top 100 attorneys in Texas by Texas Monthly (a Thompson Reuters service) and a D Magazine Best Lawyer 12 times.

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DOSSIER

FRESH IDEA

Elevating Men’s Dress Socks

MEET THE 500

SHERI CROSBY WHEELER Vice President, Diversity and Inclusion FOSSIL GROUP

former attorney sheri crosby wheeler leads the DEI charge at retail accessories giant Fossil Group in Richardson. She says it’s important for CEOs to realize that DEI is not a quick-fix and not something that one person, or even a department, can achieve for the organization. It takes the sustained, visible, vocal, and collective will of all employees—especially leaders. A key strategy? “Practice ‘real good DEI, not feel-good DEI,’” Wheeler says. “That’s DEI that has a positive impact on employees’ work experience, not the surface-level DEI that makes for good PR but doesn’t improve the daily experience for employees.” EDUCATION: University at Buffalo (JD), Emory University (BA)

the situation. That is not productive and creates unnecessary stress.”

BIRTHPLACE: “Fort Bliss in El Paso; I’m a proud Army brat.”

DESTINATION OF CHOICE: “I don’t have favorite places to visit; instead, I have favorite people. So, wherever they are, I am cool with being there with them.”

FIRST JOB: “I worked over the holidays during my senior year of high school wrapping gifts for customers at a Weakley-Watson hardware store. I learned the power of networking because my Spanish teacher’s family owned the store, and she was the connection to help me get the job.” BEST ADVICE: “‘Get it out, or get over it.’ Basically, it means I need to let it be known what I am feeling or what I am thinking or let it go and stop wasting time wringing my hands and analyzing

HOBBY/PASSION: “Making people laugh. I fancy myself a budding comedian and have even done a couple of stand-up shows. It feels good when we laugh, and it is especially good when we laugh together and connect over shared experiences.” FUN FACT: “I tried out for the Buffalo Bills’ cheerleaders twice while I was in law school. Let’s just say, J-Lo or Janet Jackson, I’m not.”

TOUGHEST CHALLENGE: “In the span of a few years, I went from litigating, to compliance work, to government relations work, to diversity, equity, and inclusion work. While challenging, those transitions have made me more agile and let me know that there are many ways in which I can use my skills and training to do good work.” PROUD MOMENT: “My most significan personal success has been maintaining some level of calm and steadiness as we endure all that we are going through in the world. I attribute that to my faith, my family, and my friends.” WALK-UP SONG: “I’d choose ‘I Won’t Complain,’ because I have so many blessings and things to be thankful for.” BUCKET LIST: “I’d like to visit Africa.” LOOKING AHEAD: “I’m excited to see how the working world will change in our new hybrid reality, and I am also excited about many companies’ renewed focus on diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice.”

kevin wohlman spent the better half of a year looking for the perfect fabric for a sock line he wanted to create. The former PwC accountant says he got to that point after struggling to find a dress soc that didn’t slip down his ankles throughout the day. The result? Fabrics made using special fiber and 200 needle count knitting machines—and launch of Southern Scholar in 2014. “I’ve spent the majority of my 20s relentlessly researching, testing, and reengineering our socks,” Wohlman says. Available online, sock designs range from micro chevrons to traditional solids and stripes. Since its debut, Southern Scholar has doubled revenue year over year, even during the pandemic, and is on track to once again double gains in 2021. Wohlman has expanded his product line to include noshow socks, ties, and pocket squares. What’s next? “Becoming a household name,” he says. —Sara Rushing

W H E E L E R BY J A K E M E Y E R S ; F R E S H I D E A C O U R T E S Y O F S O U T H E R N S C H O L A R

Southern Scholar founder Kevin Wohlman takes the fashion staple to new heights with a sock that is both stylish and comfortable.

COMFY SOCKS

Southern Scholar uses special fibers and 200 needle count knitting machines.

This Q&A is extended content from Dallas 500, a special edition produced by D CEO that profile the region’s most influential busine s leaders. Visit www.dallas500.com for details.

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10/20/21 10:30 AM

Excellence in Healthcare. Methodist Health System is honored to be among the ﬁnalists in the 2021 D CEO Excellence in Healthcare Awards.

OUTSTANDING HOSPITAL EXECUTIVE James (Jim) C. Scoggin, Jr., CEO, Methodist Health System

OUTSTANDING HEALTH SYSTEM Methodist Health System

OUTSTANDING HEALTHCARE PRACTITIONER Anthony F. Boyer, MD, a physician on the medical sta† a t Methodist Richardson Medical Center

OUTSTANDING WELLNESS PROGRAM Crisis Intervention Team (in collaboration with Richardson police)

OUTSTANDING HEALTHCARE VOLUNTEER Marjorie Jackson, Methodist Health System

OUTSTANDING COLLABORATION COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic (in collaboration with Dallas County)

Congratulations to our entire team on this well-deserved recognition. Texas law prohibits hospitals from practicing medicine. The physicians on the Methodist Health System medical sta† are independent practitioners who are not employees or agents of Methodist Health System. Methodist Health System compiles with applicable federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex.

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FOOD & BEVERAGE

The Crafting of Art and Brew Four Corners Brewing Co.’s George Esquivel is sparking multicultural connections with cleverly named brews and vibrant hues. story by BEN SWANGER photography by SEAN BERRY

A WIDE REACH

Four Corners’ products can be found in more than 4,500 stores across the state of Texas.

THE TAPROOM

The company’s home base plays host to game nights, pop-up shops, and musical talent.

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CLASSIC ROOTS

Esquivel’s facility served as a horse stable for the Amabassador Hotel in the early 1900’s.

it was 2002 when george esquivel, the leader of Four Corners Brewing, began to make beer in a dusty garage with co-founder Steve Porcari. Nearly 20 years later, their products can be found in more than 4,500 stores across Texas, and their brewery in the Cedars has become known for its multicultural connections, creative brew names, weekly events, and more. Esquivel’s first dream was to be a musician, but that fantasy never played out. So, he moved to plan B. “Growing up, I thought advertising was sexy,” he says. Early on in his career, he worked in branding with Mission Foods, where his expertise for attracting a customer through packaging was recognized. “I saw my plans in action, and BREWING BIG Four Corners that was exciting,” he says. sits on 1.5 acres and has the At the same time, his curibrewing capacity osity for beer spiked, and he for 500,000 cases of beer. became a homebrewer alongside Porcari. “I tried this VIBRANT HUES blueberry beer, and I thought Bright-colored packaging is it was the coolest thing, so we inspired by Lotería—a tried to recreate it,” he says. Mexican-style “It ended up being horrible.” bingo game.

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Seeking quality, they furnished Porcari’s house with a five-gallon brewing system, and weekends were spent perfecting drafts—drawing sugars from grain, testing the hops-to-yeast ratio, and tinkering with temperatures. “By 2007, we found something,” Esquivel says. That year, they entered a homebrewing competition sponsored by Eno’s Pizza Tavern in the Bishop Arts District alongside six other competitors. Esquivel’s band provided the live entertainment. Both the brew and music hit the perfect note. “From there, we met the right people to help us realize our potential,” Esquivel says. Their popularity grew, Esquivel quit his day job, picked up a third partner, and started a funding campaign in 2011; it netted $650,000, enough to launch Four Corners Brewing Co. A second round banked $1.5 million, and Four Corners was set to soar. Esquivel’s marketing plays on vibrancy and humor inspired by his Latin roots. “Beer is beyond a product,” he says. “It’s a thing that brings cultures together.” Four Corners has fostered 31 percent annual growth since its 2012 founding. In 2018, it was acquired by Constellation Brands—bringing the brew to Southern California. Esquivel has future plans to tap into non-alcoholic beverages. “We’re known as a beer company but aspire to be a brewing company,” he says. “If we think about all of the beverages that are brewed—teas, coffees, beer—there are so many ever-changing needs and wants of consumers.”

An Inclusive Inspiration Four Corners Brewing Co.’s name derives from the intersection of Davis Street and Llewellyn Avenue in Oak Cliff. Near the four corners are four entities Esquivel took a liking to: Taqueria El Si Hay, Gloria’s Latin Cuisine, the now-closed Bolsa, and a tire shop. “That street quadrant felt like the crossroads of inclusivity,” he says. “It felt dynamic, vibrant, accepting. That’s exactly what we wanted to package up and share with people.” The company’s colorful packaging is inspired by Lotería—a Mexican bingo-style game that Esquivel grew up playing. Brews include El Grito, El Chingón, Local Buzz, Heart O’ Texas, and El Super Bee. “We’re trying to give the industry an artful balance ... by merging worlds together. Our real mission is to bridge cultures,” Esquivel says.

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DOSSIER

O N T H E TA B L E

Mark Masinter Has an Eye for Innovation The retail and real estate guru behind one of the region’s largest new projects explains why brick-and-mortar is here to stay.

story by KELSEY J. VANDERSCHOOT illustration by JAKE MEYERS

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mark masinter begins our conversation at Sixty Vines in Uptown by telling me he’ll probably opt for a “semi-healthy” lunch. “On the weekends, I don’t do semi-healthy,” he laughs, ordering the shareable hummus trio to start and the Asian Chicken Chop salad as his main. “It’s a good go-to here,” he says. Masinter helped develop Legacy West and a retail concept that features rotating brands through pop-up displays, alongside Matt Alexander, who fleshed out its business plan and dubbed it Neighborhood Goods. “We’ve gone from an idea to three stores, and we’re going to open two more stores in the next six months,” he says. The new Neighborhood Goods locations will be in California, though Masinter is planning to expand nationwide. Henderson Avenue is also on his mind. When Masinter first moved to Dallas in the ’80s to study political science at Southern Methodist University, he felt something was missing in the city’s retail scene. “It was very commercial,” he says. “It didn’t feel like it had a soul.” He formed his own company for emerging retail and restaurant brands during the real estate crash in 1986, and caught his big break with an upstart out of Eureka, California—Restoration Hardware—where he became responsible for creating the real estate strategy for the brand and securing all its brick-and-mortar locations. Masinter’s firm landed a similar role with Apple in 1999,

when the tech giant was looking to develop a retail presence. “It really informed me on everything else I did after that,” Masinter says. “Everything else” included gigs with J-Crew, Madewell, Tesla, Warby Parker, and more. Now an industry veteran, Masinter is on a path to give Dallas retail the personality needed to attract consumers and new brands to an underutilized area on Henderson Avenue. The area has struggled to find its place—especially with its Knox Street counterpart recently separating itself from the off-U.S. 75 neighborhood. Masinter envisions transforming nearly 4 acres into a shopping mecca with its own vibe, much like the Marina in San Francisco or Abbot Kinney in Venice Beach. He says the shift toward innovative retail brands was already underway in the area: It just needed a maestro. Masinter has come up with plans for a development between McMillan Avenue and Glencoe Street that mixes housing, office, restaurant, and retail spaces. Dallas’ city council approved the plans in 2018, but construction has been delayed due to the pandemic and a capital partner, CIM, monetizing its investment. Masinter hopes to have new financing by the end of 2021 or early 2022, break ground in the last half of 2022, and complete construction 20 months thereafter. Looking ahead, brick-and-mortar, the retail prophet says, will still be essential to brands, despite increasing reliance on e-commerce. Masinter says successful players will focus on creating authentic and engaging connections with customers. He already sees this consumer shift to unique brands with intriguing appeal happening in Lakewood, Bishop Arts, and Lovers Lane. “Dallas is getting a soul,” he says.

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10/22/21 12:23 PM

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ASK THE EXPERT

Managing Employees with High-Functioning Anxiety A M A N DA M A N C H AC K , G R O U P E X EC U T I V E D I R E C T O R , L C S W-S , C O N N E C T I O N S W E L L N E S S

What should CEOs be aware of when it comes to employees with high-functioning anxiety? It is important to distinguish the diff rence between a generalized anxiety disorder and a highfunctioning anxiety disorder. As with most mental health diagnoses, generalized anxiety disorder requires symptoms to interfere with one’s activities of daily living for a prolonged period of time. With high-functioning anxiety, one symptom is the inability to let anxiety affect daily living--to the point of feeling the need to do everything perfectly all the time. Does high-functioning anxiety make someone less capable of performing at a high level? Absolutely not! Some employees with high-functioning anxiety will excel at high-level tasks and projects due to their tendency to b e perfectionists and a desire to go beyond the expectations set before them. Most individuals with high-functioning anxiety present as outgoing and detail-oriented, and they can foresee potential issues others may easily overlook b ecause of their inclination to over-plan and think through all potential outcomes. What are some management techniques or recommendations you can share? The best manager for an employee with high-functioning anxiety is one who shows appreciation for the work they doing, while also recognizing early on when they are putting more pressure on themselves than necessary or healthy. Individuals with high-functioning anxiety can be prone to burnout by overanalyzing relatively simple instructions or allowing their anxiety and planning to get in the way of actually completing tasks.

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Should managing someone with highunctioning anxiety impact confiden e in their ability to lead a team and/or deliver high-quality work? With attentive managers, clear expectations, and an organizational focus on self-care, an individual with high-functioning anxiety can thrive at work and be an amazing supervisor. For a supervisory role, it is important to clearly outline expectations and to make them aware that they cannot expect everyone to meet the same high standards they put on themselves. The supervisor with high-functioning anxiety needs a competent team who can deliver high-quality work but, more importantly, can help them focus on slowing down and appreciating successes as they occur. What are some resources for managing high-functioning anxiety? There are many things someone with high-functioning anxiety can do to manage their symptoms, including allowing themselves time to stop and appreciate their accomplishments, diff rentiating anxious thoughts from expectations, and committing to regular self-care. Some other external options include talking with an individual clinician to better understand where their anxiety stems from, how to set healthy work b oundaries, or joining an outpatient program in a group setting that focuses on managing anxiety.

AMANDA MANCHACK is a licensed clinical social worker who has a passion for advocating for the underserved, underrepresented, and overall misunderstood. With a decade of experience serving patients in the mental health field, she has also held numerous supervisory roles where she trains and mentors fellow social workers and mental health professionals. Connections Wellness Group is a nationally accredited healthcare practice able to care for any need, from the acute depression to the common cold to everything in between. Connections Wellness Group has received more than 29 best-in-class awards, including local, state, national recognition for clinical outcomes. Connections Wellness Group has successfully opened 10 locations this past year and is on trajectory to double this number in 2022.

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CONNECTING YOU BACK TO WHAT MATTERS MOST

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C E O of the Y E A R 2 0 2 1

JASON McCANN REVOLUTIONIZED OFFICE FURNITURE. story by

M AT T G O O D M A N portraits by SEAN

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BERRY

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MAYBE IT’S BEST TO START WITH DAN FLAHERTY’S BACK. THE IDEA TO CREATE A STANDING DESK—THE VARIDESK—STARTED WITH THE BURNING PAIN THAT SHOT UP FROM THE ENTREPRENEUR’S HIP WHENEVER HE SAT DOWN AT HIS DESK. RESPITE CAME ONLY AFTER STANDING TO WORK, WITH HIS COMPUTER SITTING ATOP A CARDBOARD BOX. 034

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Or perhaps it’s more appropriate to start with Vari CEO Jason McCann growing up in Galveston in the late 1970s, sweeping hair at his mother’s salons and spending evenings talking about appointments around the dinner table. Business was an essential part of life, as normal as telling his folks about his school day. Homework meant class assignments but also riding his bike to the bank before it closed to deposit a green bag of cash. With those sorts of lessons and behaviors coming at such a young age, they became part of McCann, so much so that decades later, when something novel comes along—like a standing desk that takes minutes to assemble—he could quickly see its potential. Both Flaherty’s back and McCann’s business upbringing are foundational to Vari. But foundations are meant to be built upon, to sustain whatever vision the people in charge have for the structure. And so, what started as a desktop converter that allowed employees to stand while they worked has now morphed into something much bigger: a customer base comprising the entirety of the Fortune 500 list, a full suite of offic furniture, real estate holdings, partnerships with brokers and landlords, investments in co-working, and an ambition to transform office space on a and scale. For his innovations and success at building Vari into a global force, D CEO has selected McCann as its CEO of the Year for 2021. To understand his story, it may be best to start in the margins. That’s where McCann keeps spotting things that few others see.

B U T FIRST, LET’ S get back to Flaherty’s back. He and McCann co-founded Vari, partly because of how ridiculous Flaherty looked working with his laptop perched on a box. Flaherty was McCann’s boss at Coppell-based Gemmy, which manufactures and distributes holiday lights and infl tables and other such ephemera to some of the largest retail chains in America. (Gemmy’s most popular item over the years is the singing Big Mouth Billy Bass, all the rage in the late 1990s.) McCann, now a cherub-faced 52-year-old, was the company’s president at the time. Flaherty had taken up cycling and, during a 60-mile ride, the cyclist in front of him slammed on her brakes. Flaherty couldn’t unclip from his pedals in time, which sent him

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C E O of the Y E A R 2 0 2 1

tumbling. His seat broke off. He spent the next 35 miles riding with no seat and spent the next few years paying for it. It hurt to sit for long periods. Workdays could be excruciating—until he stood up. The few standing desks that were available at the time were hulking and took hours to assemble. Flaherty, as he often does, saw an opportunity to innovate. What if he could design a product that would rest on an existing desk and be put together in minutes? Flaherty couldn’t find a ything like it on the market. Surely, he wasn’t alone, he thought. Others must want—or need—relief from sitting while working. Doctors told Flaherty his pain likely was related to the sciatic nerve and piriformis muscle, which looks like a squash blossom near the pelvis and serves as one of the hip’s rotators. Standing, he discovered, made the pain go away. Beyond that, it added health benefits for those who didn’t have that pain. “The key to living longer is movement and activity,” McCann says. “We started to encourage it and started to provide the tools.” At fir t, the duo tried selling their innovative VariDesk like a traditional piece of offi furniture, getting it to distributors for resale to other companies. McCann and Flaherty took the concept to folks like Steelcase and Herman Miller, but nobody seemed to know what to do with it. Flaherty remembers one distributor incentivizing salespeople with donuts and small bonuses. “Jason and I looked at each other like, ‘OK, this offic furniture industry is so antiquated,’” Flaherty recalls. Instead of slinking away, McCann asked what has become a guiding principle for Vari: “How can we do this better?” And so, they zagged, reaching out directly to consumers through e-commerce and cutting out the middlemen that govern the vast majority of this country’s office furniture d tribution. Around this time, in 2012, the two men were on a flight when they saw a Wall Street Journal article on the negative health and life-expectancy impact of sitting for long periods. Sitting was called “the new smoking.” McCann and Flaherty passed the newspaper back and forth, their eyes growing wider at each new fact, realizing how their new product could help. They couldn’t have picked a better time to create a standing desk. Nothing like it existed—at least nothing so easy to configure

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and store and use—and now studies were preaching the gospel of verticality. Shortly thereafter, Gemmy spun off VariDesk into its own company with McCann at the helm.

OU TFI TTI N G

The Office

Vari has moved beyond its original desktop converter to build a portfolio of more than 300 products. Here are a few of the mainstays:

1 : (2013) Original VariDesk hits the consumer market. Today’s best-selling converter is the VariDesk Pro Plus 36, designed for dual-monitor setups or larger workstations. 2 : (2017) Standing conference table makes its debut. Available in four finishes, it accommodates up to eight people; tall chairs are optional. Comes on roll-and-lock casters.

3 : (2018) Electric standing desk is launched. It’s replaced with a 2.0 model in 2020 that comes in three sizes and fi e finishes. djusts in height from 25 to 50.5 inches. 4 : (2018) QuickFlex Walls are introduced. Made of tempered glass and heavy-duty aluminum, they feature optional wall and ceiling anchors; whiteboard finishes vailable. 5 : (2019) Privacy booth is added. It features a fi ed-height shelf and built-in charging outlets, ventilation openings, an automatic fan, and sound-dampening felt lining.

6 : (2019) Soft seating is launched, including sofas, lounge chairs, coffee tables, ottomans, side tables, and more. Comes in fi e collections: modular, lounge, casual meeting, and quiet.

T H E DIRE CT-to-consumer model created a new community that began informing an expansion in VariDesk’s portfolio of products. First came a floor mat to stand on, chairs that would raise or depress, and full-on standing desks that could be used as conference or worktables. Then it released an electric version of its original product, which still lived on the desk employers provided. This is where Flaherty and McCann diverged. Flaherty considers himself an idea man, more entrepreneur than CEO—even though he literally is still CEO of Gemmy— who “sees a problem and knows there’s an easy solution.” Offic furniture is a notoriously difficult business segment to break into, partly because of the entrenched relationships between distributors and purchasers. VariDesk delivered something that was missing from the market, but would the same appetite exist for a full suite of offic furniture? Soft seating for lounge areas? Lights? Partitions? “We could have taken it two ways,” McCann says. “We could have said, ‘Oh, we’re done,’ or we could challenge ourselves to grow. We’ve got VariDesk; we’re now pushing into what Vari is. Could we innovate entire workspaces?” In 2014, the company began branching out into other segments based on the idea that businesses wanted more versatility in their office It expanded its B2C approach to include B2B. McCann believed there was an appetite for fl xing, that a tenant with a 10-year lease might need something different in terms of furniture about halfway through. Why did they have to tear out walls as staffing vels changed? By 2017, about 2 million people worldwide were using some sort of VariDesk product. Businesses were pushing McCann’s design teams to do more and help them transform their office with the company’s products. They proved McCann’s hunch; they were buying walls that could be moved around and full-sized standing desks. VariDesk was selling lounge seating, lighting, and more. The “desk” part of the company’s name was beginning to feel self-limiting and quite inaccurate. So, McCann engaged Landor Associates, the

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firm responsible for the rebrand of FedEx, to give it a refresh. With the direct-to-consumer approach, people knew the VariDesk brand. McCann likens it to the Kleenex of offic furniture. “If you ask someone what desk they use, they’ll say, ‘I don’t know,’” McCann says. “But they know a VariDesk.” Landor Associates built on that awareness, and the modified Vari brand was born. By this time, McCann already had his eye on another industry to disrupt— commercial real estate.

T HE F ORME R Zales Corp. headquarters in Las Colinas was a real time-warp of a building, so specifically designed for its jewelry tenant that most prospective buyers balked at the substantial retrofit that would be needed. There was a secure vault in the basement for jewelry deliveries, and the rows upon rows of wavy glass bricks placed it squarely in the 1980s. Its centerpiece was an escalator. The property near State Highway 114 sat empty for five or six years before Vari bought the distressed asset in 2018. McCann saw an opportunity that was grounded in his past— an ambitious proof of concept. Back when he was at Gemmy, representatives from the company’s large retail partners—think Home Depot, Walmart—would often travel to China and Hong Kong to view the manufacturer’s new offerings for upcoming holiday seasons. McCann had the idea to make the showrooms luxurious with the kind of amenities you’d find at a nice hotel. Its competitors didn’t provide an experience like that. Visits to Gemmy calmed buyers after long flights and the stressful navigation of dense city streets. It gave them something to look forward to instead of something to have to do. By 2020, VariDesk was Vari and had a full catalog of offic furniture and other products. It also had gotten into the education market by acquiring a company called Stand2Learn. The Las Colinas building was close enough to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to make day trips doable to pretty much any market in the country. Potential clients could come to see how fl xible the space was and look at the company’s furniture in action. Conference rooms could collapse or expand in less than an hour; pods could be recalibrated to accommodate new project teams; an R&D lab could expand or contract.

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R EI N VEN TI N G

Real Estate

Vari hopes to do for commercial space what its VariDesk has done for office furniture through a new platform called VariSpace. Its holdings include:

VA R I S PAC E L A S C O L I N A S SIZE: 305,000 square feet STATUS: Fully leased TOP TENANTS: Verizon, RumbleOn, and Akili ACQUIRED: November 2018

VA R I S PAC E S O U T H L A K E SIZE: 380,000 square feet STATUS: 52 percent leased TOP TENANTS : Microsoft, Solo Stove ACQUIRED: August 2019

VA R I S PAC E C O P P E L L SIZE: 180,000 square feet STATUS: Under construction TOP TENANTS: New global HQ for Vari LAND ACQUIRED: December 2020

When a guest walked into the revamped building, there was now an enormous, beautiful staircase where the escalator had been, right behind the reception desk, which was also a coffee shop. Eyeing the beautiful space, McCann had a thought: Why not start renting it out? And, so, Vari became a landlord, offering tenants fully furnished spaces with shorter leases, usually three to five years. McCann called the new platform VariSpace. It filled a hole in commercial real estate. Traditionally, landlords want longer-term commitments from their tenants to make the cost of redesigning their space worth it. VariSpace didn’t need to take down walls. It could redesign its open floorpla in tandem with the tenant, using its own furniture that it would keep once users left. Flaherty had for years been a passive investor in commercial real estate and was aware of how costly tenant improvements could be. Before he sold off his investments, one of his buildings leased to a large insurance company for three years with no finish-out while the business waited to move into a new corporate headquarters that was being built. Another tenant moved in right afterward. McCann had another epiphany, like Flaherty standing in front of a cardboard box on his desk. “If you talk to CEOs, they’ll say, ‘I don’t know what my real estate needs are going to be five or 10 years from now,’” McCann says. “Business goes up and down, ebbs and flows ” Space in the Las Colinas building got snapped up by RumbleOn, Akili, and Verizon, which took 200,000 square feet. McCann replicated his success with VariSpace Southlake, leasing 82,000 square feet to Microsoft during the pandemic. He then made his most ambitious bet yet: doing ground-up development of a new offic building in Coppell, one that wouldn’t require the major rehab the others did. Just a few years ago, the company just had a desktop converter; today, it is leasing nearly 1 million square feet of commercial real estate.

VARI H IRED Dallas-based Corgan to design the interiors of the three buildings. These weren’t typical jobs, says Lindsay Wilson, one of the architecture fir ’s two presidents and head of its interiors practice. “It was so fun for our team because it made us ask, ‘Maybe it’s not a problem?’” she says. “The conventional

P R O D U C T A N D B U I L D I N G I M AG E S C O U R T E S Y O F VA R I

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whole company, holding weekly Zooms that shared updates but also offere meditation and yoga classes. He leaned on what a friend told him when SARS and H1N1 threatened Gemmy’s Asian operations a decade before: “We’ve got to keep rowing until the wind catches our sails,” McCann says. “That became our mantra.” And so, he zagged again. He opened a new distribution center in Atlanta, getting the products closer to more companies in the middle of the country. Sales reps began coordinating with business clients to get Vari products to their employees at home. Before March 2020, about 70 percent of the company’s products went to corporate offices and 30 percent went to residences. After the pandemic hit, online sales skyrocketed, and Vari was shipping about 90 percent to homes. McCann won’t reveal annual revenue numbers or financials for the private company. He’ll only allow that Vari has done about $2 billion in total sales since it was launched in 2013. The dozen showrooms have opened, from Phoenix to Washington, D.C. And, as the country emerges from the pandemic, Vari, which beyond its own innovative real estate maneuvers took a stake in co-working company Common Desk in 2019, has found a very interesting offi market. According to Cushman & Wakefield, the availability of sublease space is up 76 percent year over year and 99 percent since the start of 2020. That’s about 147 million square feet of offic space sitting empty across the country. McCann is betting that landlords will be looking for a way to reconfigure that space to appeal to tenants that are still trying to figur out their space needs. He’s betting that the three VariSpace locations are proof that, as tenants grapple with work-from-home and in-offic strategies, they need fl xible lease terms and spaces. The CEO—who’s so focused on growth that years ago he switched to an allblack wardrobe to eliminate at least that daily decision—is betting that this is the next iteration of Vari, where its products give companies the tools they need to innovate and operate in a way no other furniture company has. He’s betting that, just as Dan Flaherty believed when putting his laptop on that cardboard box, there has to be a better way.

McCann adopted an all-black wardrobe to eliminate at least one daily decision.

wisdom of real estate is you market it to what tenants are looking for. No one had really disrupted it this way. People use the word ‘disruptor’ so flag antly … but Jason was constantly saying, ‘Why does it have to be that way? Why can’t we do it better?’” Wilson says VariSpace dared to provide Class A amenities—a lounge, a café, a gym, places to work outside (which would prove prescient)— to smaller companies that likely wouldn’t be able to afford it otherwise. Larger companies looking for interim space also didn’t have to slum it in an outdated cubicle farm. McCann

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bent a bit on his insistence that everything be fl xible. “They had clients saying, ‘We love 98 percent of this, but we have to have an enclosed conference room for private meetings and confidentiali y,’” Wilson says. But in March of 2020, Vari, like the rest of the world, had to send everyone home. The company had been experiencing such momentum. It had closed on the Southlake property, hired about 50 new salespeople, and had plans to open showrooms in a dozen other cities. McCann went into “over-communication mode,” sending daily emails to the

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Quality is measured by thread counts and finishe for The Pampered, whether unwinding at home or jet-setting across the globe. 1. The Laundress, Le Labo Detergent, $45/ The Laundress. 2. Peacock Alley, Spa Bathrobe, White, $190/ Peacock Alley. 3. Byredo, Hand Wash and Lotion, Suede, $65 (hand wash) $70 (lotion)/ Forty Five Ten. 4. Diptyque, Feu de Bois Candle, $68/ Forty Five Ten. 5. VitaJuwel, Glass Water Bottle, $120/ Neiman Marcus, Four Seasons Las Colinas. 6. Joanna Czech, Dry Massage Body Brush, $39/ Joanna Czech. 7. Dr. Barbara Sturm, Sun Drops SPF 50, $145/ Forty Five Ten. 8. Tekla, Pinstripe Poplin Sleepwear, $310/ Tekla. 9. Joanna Czech, Facial Massager, $189/ Joanna Czech. 10. NuFace, Fix Line Smoothing Device, $149/ Joanna Czech.

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EXECUTIVE

GIFT GUIDE Curated collections of holiday gift ideas for business leaders of every personality.

by BIANCA

R . M O N T E S , H A M I LT O N H E D R I C K , A N D J A M I E LY O N S photograpby by KELSEY

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The Professional is all about paying attention to details; accessories are purposeful, understated yet elegant, and made of exceptional materials.

1. Celine, 16 Bag, Light Burgundy, $2,950/ Forty Five Ten. 2. Molekule, Air Mini+, $499/ Molekule. 3. Sonos, One, $219/ Sonos. 4. Baccarat, Be@rbrick, $370/ Neiman Marcus. 5. Cire Trudon, Dada Candle, $125/ Grange Hall. 6. Casarialto, Cotisso Totem, Amber, $810/ Forty Five Ten. 7. Leatherology, iPad Portfolio, Signature, Camel, $190/ Leatherology. 8. L’Objet, Haas Simon Leg Table Lamp, $1,100/ Forty Five Ten.

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1. Leatherology, Nested Travel Organizer Trio, Black Onyx, $260/Leatherology. 2. The Pillow Bar, Globetrotter Travel Set, White, $199/ The Pillow Bar. 3. Away. The Carry-On: Aluminum Edition, Silver, $545-$565/ Away. 4. Aesop, Departure Kit, $53/ Aesop. 5.Cereal City Guide: Paris, $24.99/ Barnes & Noble. 6. Native Union, Leather AirPods Pro Case, Brown, $40/ Neiman Marcus. 7. Steamery, Pilo Fabric Shaver, Grey, $50/ The Container Store. 8. 111Skin, The Antioxidizing Bag, $190/ Neiman Marcus.

Although functionality is a must, The Traveler blends a passion for technology with sophistication and style.

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The Foodie has an adventurous palate and is all about indulging in fl vors, experience, and the latest kitchen gadgets.

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1. Gran Centenario, Leyenda, $219/ Total Wine & More. 2. Acetaia Giusti, Aceto Balsamico di Modena IGP 12+ Year, $139/ Eataly Dallas. 3. Marcato, Atlas 150 Pasta Machine, $85/ Eataly Dallas. 4. Our Place, Always Pan, Spice, $145/ Nordstrom. 5. Lobmeyr, Carafe and Tumblers, $270 (carafe), $120 (tumblers)/ Grange Hall. 6. Menu, Norm Architect Bottle Grinders, Carbon and Ash, $80/ Design Within Reach. 7. Feast For The Eyes: The Story of Food in Photography, $37/ Amazon. 8. Murano Glasses, $120 and $98/ Forty Five Ten. 9. Ooni, Koda 12 Pizza Oven, $399/ Crate & Barrel. 10. Fabbri Amarena, Panettone, $19-$38/ Eataly Dallas. 11. Defined Dish, $15/ Interabang Books. 12. Tartine Bread, $40/ Crate & Barrel.

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The perfect watch or a chic pair of shoes embody The Stylish, and unexpected wardrobe decisions separate them from the pack.

1. Juergen Teller Handbags, $125/ Artbook.com. 2. Balenciaga, Tote Bag, Black, $1,650/ Neiman Marcus. 3. Celine, $440/ Forty Five Ten. 4. Prada: The Complete Connection (Catwalk), $75/ Getty Museum Shop. 5. Celine, $850/ Forty Five Ten. 6. Shinola, $900/ Neiman Marcus. 7. Title of Work, Wool Tie with Brass Figures, $500/ Grange Hall. 8. Jay Shree Dalal, Gold Paperclip Necklace, $4,225/ Grange Hall. 9. Fernando Jorge, Gold Flame Ring, $2,950/ Grange Hall. 10. Jill Sander, $590/ Forty Five Ten. 11. Jill Sander, $1,290/ Forty Five Ten.

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From backyard campfi es to off-the-be ten-path weekend getways, The Adventurer is always ready for anything.

1. Pendelton, Takima Camp Blanket, Mineral Umber, $169/ REI. 2. Menu, Modern Brass and Steel Rechargeable LED Lantern, Olive, $180/ Food52. 3. The Kinfolk Garden, $40/ Anthropologie. 4. Shinola, Leather Wrapped Boxed Flask, $140/ Neiman Marcus. 5. Tom Ford, $440/ Neiman Marcus. 6. Bala, Bala Bangles, 2-Pound, Sand, $65/ Bala. 7. Therabody, Theragun Elite, $399/ Therabody. 8. Oura, Smart Ring, $299-399/ Oura. 9. Solo Stove, Bonfire, $349/ Solo Stove.

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CEL

LENC

IN E

THC

The Mission to Save Dallas’ Children ARE

story by

WILL MADDOX

photography by

DAN

SAELINGER

Children’s Health’s innovative partnerships are helping it have an impact where it’s needed most.

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T H E H AWK ING S H E LL of what used to be RedBird Mall in southern Dallas is a place in transition. A new, free-standing Starbucks on the outskirts of the sprawling parking lot contrasts with a closed and vacant Golden Corral buff t. Across Camp Wisdom Road, there are multiple to-go daiquiri locations interspersed between fast-food restaurants and payday lenders. Surrounding the mall, construction fences make traversing the retail space difficult, but they signal that change is on the way. Retail space is transforming into healthcare. The area is one of hope juxtaposed with neglect—healthcare with unhealthy options. This corner of Dallas will soon be an outpost of Children’s Health, joining affil ted organizations Parkland and UT Southwestern in the former mall. But it will be more than just a place to see a pediatrician or specialist. It will be a symbol of a greater mission, a manifestation of the desire to serve the underserved and be an educational home for providers in the region. The southern Dallas development may be unconventional for a healthcare facility, but Children’s Health is no stranger to unconvential beginnings. In 1913, a group of nurses organized the Dallas Baby Camp, an outdoor clinic on the lawn of the old Parkland Hospital. It was part of the growing recognition that children were not just small adults in mind or body and needed their own hospital to serve their unique needs. More than 100 years later, the health system is the only hospital in the region ranked in 10 out of 10 specialties by U.S. News & World Report and is the eighth-largest pediatric healthcare provider in the nation. In the 1990s, Children’s Health took over the safety net care for children of Dallas County from Parkland Hospital. But what makes the system stand out this year is how it is reaching out to the community to expand access to patients and serve as an educational outlet for area providers. For those reasons and more, Children’s Health has been named the Health System of the Year in D CEO’s 2021 Excellence in Healthcare Awards.

MINDING T H E G AP Dallas is one of the most segregated cities in the United States. An Urban Institute study recently ranked Dallas 272 out of 274 cities in the country for opportunity for all residents, especially underserved populations, to benefit from and contribute to economic prosperity. By any number of measures, Dallas is split between the haves and have-nots, and that lack of economic integration plays out in racial division, too. In a UT Southwestern measure of life expectancy in diffe ent Dallas ZIP codes, crossing a highway from a low-income neighborhood to a higher-income neighborhood can mean an increase of more than 20 years. In Dallas, Interstate 30 is often the line of demarcation. Opportunity, resources, and, yes, healthcare are concentrated on the north side of town. While hospitals, clinics, and provider office are

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Mental Health Hub Children’s Health is the regional base of a state program called the Child Psychiatric Access Network, which allows pediatricians to register and have access to pediatric mental health experts. Many primary care physicians do not feel adequately trained to address mental health issues, even though as many as one-third of all cases involve mental health concerns. The Texas Legislature funded the program to give pediatricians across the state free access to child psychiatrists at Children’s Health. The primary care providers can discuss patients and situations with experts to allow them to grow in their own practice and treat low-level mental health conditions without referring the patient to a psychiatrist. Because of a shortage of pediatric mental health providers, scheduling a visit can often take weeks or months to schedule. Children are more likely to get in to see their pediatrician than a mental health specialist, and consulting via CPAN can help providers manage symptoms before they become an emergency.

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ubiquitous in North Dallas, southern Dallas experiences a dearth of healthcare options. That distance can be a hurdle for the residents of the city’s southside, meaning they may not be able to get the care they need for themselves and their children. Students in Dallas Independent School District, which is 94 percent students of color, experience asthma at more than a percentage point higher than the national average. Half of children in Dallas County are either obese or in danger of becoming obese as adults. These health gaps mean more missed class, growing the educational gaps that already exist between low-income students of color and their wealthier, White counterparts. It is into this segregated environment that Children’s Health is planting, but their patients were already coming from communities like this. Seven of 10 Children’s Health patients have Medicaid or CHIP, half are Latino, and one-fi th are Black. Partnering with UT Southwestern via a joint pediatric enterprise, the new development will anchor the Reimagine RedBird development and include around 68,000 square feet of space dedicated to pediatric service lines. The services will be anchored in primary care and include specialists such as cardiologists, pulmonologists, urology, and others. Co-locating priSchool mary care with these specialties will add conveTelehealth nience for patients who may not be able to make Healthcare innovaseveral appointments at different places tors are always trying “We as a system want to be able to go out to to lower the bars the community irrespective of their payer mix,” to access care, and Children’s Health has says Dr. Dai Chung, the chief medical office of played a massive role Children’s Health System and UT Southwestern’s in connecting children Joint Pediatric Enterprise. “We truly believe in to providers through our mission, and we want to provide the best care Dallas-Fort Worth. The health system’s schoolfor the kids in southern Dallas. That’s the founbased telehealth prodation and why we have a strong presence there.” gram allows children The facility will be a pediatric resource closer to see a provider and to home for underserved in southern Dallas. The be diagnosed while at school or learning from system is also making a push to have a clinic in home, avoiding the RedBird that will focus on training pediatricians scheduling, extra trip in the area to diagnose and treat mental health to the pediatrician, and missed work that often issues. It will have child psychiatrists who can follows a sick child. The help improve the area’s pediatric network to be appointment can also able to identify and treat the lower-level behavlead to a prescription ioral healthcare matters in their practices. Initiathat can be delivered to the home or picked tives such as this have a multiplying effe t on the up at a local pharmacy. community, as pediatricians are better equipped Whether it is asthma, and educated. flu, pink ye, earaches, “Care is always a better idea closer to home,” or other conditions, the program connects says Chris Durovich, CEO of Children’s Health. students and their “This is a holistic endeavor to keep the child parents at more than physically and mentally well. Our effo ts are a two dozen school natural extension of who we are and what we districts and more than 200 schools via their do. We are working with community providers school’s nurse with to be a resource of primary care, specialty care, a Children’s Health and mental health for the growing community physician or nurse in southern Dallas.” practitioner.

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T H E OT H E R PANDE MIC While the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted every aspect of society, the isolation and cancelation of life threw gasoline on the flames of an already burning pediatric mental health crisis. A study of more than 80,0000 children from the Journal of the American Medical Association found that 12.9 percent of children experienced depression, and 11.6 percent felt anxiety before the pandemic. The August 2021 study found that depression was present in 25.2 percent of children, while 20.5 percent had anxiety. The conditions of the pandemic caused prior levels to double. At times during the pandemic in North Texas, there weren’t enough inpatient psychiatric beds; Children’s Health would house patients in other areas or the emergency department while staff made contact with other facilities across the region to find a bed in another facility. But help was on the way. Given an influx of children with mental health conditions into the health system’s emergency departments, Children’s Health created an innovative partnership with Perimeter Health, a relatively recent arrival to the North Texas region. Its Perimeter Behavioral Hospital of Dallas began accepting patients in the early days of the pandemic, and has quickly grown. The Georgia-based health system provides behavioral health services for children and adults; its quality and ability to expand caught the eye of Children’s Health. The systems began sharing best practices and quality data, and soon a small partnership grew in a big way. Perimeter has two pediatric behavioral health hospitals in North Texas; the partnership allows patients who come into Children’s Medical Center needing psychiatric hospitalization to be transferred to Perimeter, where it had reserved and staffed 40 beds explicitly for use by patients arriving from Children’s Health. Perimeter remodeled its space to add the capacity, and now provides 10 intensive care unit beds for children with more intense behavioral health needs. “It’s a unique relationship, says Philip Willcoxon, regional CEO at Perimeter. “It will be interesting to see how it works. So far, it has worked very well. But it’s a case study to say, ‘Does this work here? Can it work in other markets?’ At the end of the day, it goes back to the patient getting the appropriate level of care. These relationships are important, not just for our needs or Children’s Health’s needs, but the needs of the patient and their family.” The partnership gets children out of a hectic emergency room quicker, helping them receive the treatment they need in a timely manner. The timing couldn’t have been better. “I can’t even imagine what it would be like if they had not opened up at that time,” says Sue Schell, Children’s Health vice president and clinical director

P H OTO G R A P H Y C O U R T E S Y O F C H I L D R E N ’ S H E A L T H

2 0 2 1 E XC E L L E N C E I N H E A LT H C A R E AWA R D S

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of behavioral health. “Prior to that, there were very few patients that could be hospitalized. That’s frightening when you think about it and look at the impact on the pandemic.”

Winners and Finalists

AC H I E V E M E N T I N C O M M U N I T Y O U T R E AC H

O R G A N I Z AT I O N S

A CO M M UN I T Y E F F O R T The United States has some of the best hospitals in the world, and if patients need top-notch pediatric care, they can’t do much better than Children’s Health. But if barriers prevent those patients from receiving the excellent care offered by the system, it might as well not exist. Both the partnership with Perimeter Health and the RedBird expansion are part of a larger trend in healthcare of improving access for patients. And in a year where a lingering pandemic has made regular medical care and a connection to an integrated system even more critical, Children’s Health is satisfying a growing need for kids and their families in North Texas and around the country. Part of Children’s Health’s mission is to provide the right care, at the right place, at the right time. With the tide of mental health needs threatening to overwhelm providers and more than one in five children in Dallas County living in poverty, that mission needs to be fulfilled now more than ver. “As we are able to reach into communities and provide primary care with our partners, it helps us steward our resources and enables us to continue in our mission,” Durovich says. “Kids from Highland Park and South Dallas are all coming through here, and we are going to continue to provide care where they live and go to school. It’s a community effo t.”

2021 Excellence in Healthcare

National Association of Hispanic Nurses, Dallas Chapter FINALISTS: Baylor Scott & White Health and Wellness Center; Taylor Counseling Group; Texas Health Resources AC H I E V E M E N T I N I N N OVAT I O N

TimelyMD

FINALISTS: BlockitNow; Children’s Health; IntelliCentrics AC H I E V E M E N T I N M E D I C A L R E S E A R C H

UT Southwestern Medical Center and Texas Health Resources FINALISTS: Baylor Scott & White Health; Prism Health North Texas O U T S TA N D I N G W E L L N E S S P R O G R A M

Baylor Scott & White Health

FINALISTS: Choice Health at Home; Methodist Health System; Whitley Penn O U T S TA N D I N G H E A LT H S Y S T E M

Children’s Health

FINALISTS: Baylor Scott & White Health; Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council; Medical City Healthcare; Methodist Health System; Texas Health Resources O U T S TA N D I N G H E A LT H C A R E C O L L A B O R AT I O N

Nexus Recovery Center and Parkland Health & Hospital System FINALISTS: Baylor Scott & White Health, Texas A&M University, and Baylor College of Medicine; Children’s Health and Perimeter Health; Methodist Health System and Dallas County O U T S TA N D I N G M E D I C A L R E A L E S TAT E P R O J E C T

Texas Health Resources

FINALISTS: Baylor Scott & White Health and American Cancer Society; Children’s Health; UT Southwestern Medical Center O U T S TA N D I N G M E R G E R O R AC Q U I S I T I O N

Steward Health Care

FINALISTS: AMN Healthcare; MB2 Dental; StratiFi Health

I N DIVI DUAL S

L I F E T I M E AC H I E V E M E N T I N H E A LT H C A R E

Dr. William C. Roberts, Baylor Scott & White Health O U T S TA N D I N G H E A LT H C A R E A DVO C AT E

Robert Ferguson, Texas Health Resources

FINALISTS: Karla Alvarado, Baylor Scott & White Health; Dr. John Carlo, Prism Health North Texas; Diana Driscoll, POTS Care O U T S TA N D I N G H O S P I TA L E X E C U T I V E

James (Jim) Scoggin Jr., Methodist Health System FINALISTS: Dr. Dai Chung, Children’s Health; Kirk King, Texas Health Resources; Zach Mueller, Medical City Healthcare; Janice Walker and Dr. Alejandro Cristobal Arroliga, Baylor Scott & White Health O U T S TA N D I N G H E A LT H C A R E E X E C U T I V E

Stuart Archer, Oceans Healthcare

FINALISTS: Dr. Christopher Crow, Catalyst Health Network; Awstin Gregg, Connections Wellness Group; Clayton Walberg, Aspen RxHealth; Dr. Andrew Ziskind, Southwestern Health Resources O U T S TA N D I N G H E A LT H C A R E I N N OVAT O R

Vicki Nolen, Christus Health

FINALISTS: Nick Reddy, Baylor Scott & White Health; Kirsten Tulchin-Francis, Scottish Rite for Children; Danielle Wesley, Children’s Health O U T S TA N D I N G H E A LT H C A R E P R AC T I T I O N E R Bedside telehealth gives providers and patients in need access to specialists.

Dr. Jeff ey Zsohar, Baylor Scott & White Health

FINALISTS: Dr. Anthony F. Boyer, Methodist Richardson Medical Center; Dr. Dawn Denise Johnson, Children’s Health; Dr. Allison Liddell, Texas Health Dallas O U T S TA N D I N G H E A LT H C A R E VO L U N T E E R

Kristen Baidy, Children’s Health

FINALISTS: Tim Davis, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Denton; Marjorie Jackson, Methodist Health System; Raymond Ornelaz, Baylor Scott & White Health

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Imagine. Empower. Impact. The Real Estate Council (TREC) would like to thank our greatest resource, our members, for a successful 2021. As we work to serve the Dallas community and beyond, the power of the commercial real estate community is undeniable and our members’ collective expertise, and dedication provides unlimited potential for creating a positive, transformative impact on our city. Visit recouncil.com and learn how you and your company can engage with the commercial real estate community to cultivate relationships, catalyze community investments, influence policy, propel careers and develop the leaders of tomorrow. •

Learn from industry experts during cutting-edge events and educational programs.

•

Connect with industry peers through exclusive networking opportunities.

•

Sharpen your leadership skills through our Associate Leadership Council and Executive Leadership Program.

•

Develop the leaders of tomorrow in our young professionals’ program and foster connections for future success.

Join TREC today and make a difference in the community where we live and work.

recouncil.com

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DECEMBER 2021

FIELD NOTES

N O R T H T E X A S B U S I N E S S A D V I C E , A N A LY S I S ,

a n d

C O M M E N TA R Y

BEST ADVICE

Handing Off the Reins to the Next Generation Albert Black, Executive Chairman

J U A N M OYA N O

O N -TA R G E T S U P P L I E S & L O G I S T I C S

“when people think of minority-owned companies, many think in terms of a small startup. On-Target Supplies & Logistics is quite different. We’ve had an incredible run through four bad economies—1987, 2001, 2008, and the pandemic—and we’re still standing. From the start, I never managed On-Target thinking it would become a family enterprise, but my son Tré joined the company in 2018. I quickly realized that Tré wasn’t the entrepreneur I was or a strict professional, but a hybrid that could tie us together. Our board identified him as a high-potential candidate to become the next president and CEO. Now, here we are today amidst that transition. My dad wanted his son to be a business leader. Now, I see something in my son that’s going to far exceed my success. Perhaps that’s what it’s all about—grow, develop, and form a succession plan that gives the next generation and others in your company the opportunity for success.” —As told to Ben Swanger

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FIELD NOTES

ECONOMY

The Texas Way of Inclusive Capitalism story by W. MICHAEL COX

AND

RICHARD ALM

the u.s. census released this summer put Texas’ population at 29.1 million—up 4 million since 2010, more than any other state. One part of the latest headcount stood out: People of color accounted for a staggering 95 percent of the state’s population growth over the past decade. The state’s fastest-growing ethnic group, Hispanics, made up 40.1 percent of the population in 2020, just slightly below the 40.6 percent for Whites. Blacks were at 12.1 percent and Asian-Americans (and others) at 7.2 percent (see chart). As their numbers increase, racial and ethnic groups are becoming even more important to Texas’ economic fortunes. The state will need an ever-expanding labor supply if it wants to remain among the leaders in growth and job creation; non-Whites will be filling most of those jobs. Regular readers of this column will be familiar with the Texas model of economic freedom, the shorthand for a regime of low taxes and light regulation that for decades has empowered the private sector. The model served the state well over

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P H OTO G R A P H Y BY P I X E L S T O R I E S ; C H A R T S O U R C E S M U C O X S C H O O L O F B U S I N E S S

The state’s growth is being driven by people of color; here’s how economic freedom benefits us all.

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10/28/21 11:42 AM

FIELD NOTES

Blacks, and $19,400 for Asian-Americans. For women, the edges were $13,900 for Whites, $12,800 for Hispanics, $12,200 for Blacks, and $12,800 for Asian-Americans. Our research doesn’t deny the minority groups’ past hardships or today’s structural racism. In fact, our data show large gaps in adjusted earnings between Whites and non-Whites. The disparities, however, are smaller in Texas and other states with greater economic freedom.

SALARY BREAKDOWN

The Texas Attraction: High Real Earnings An analysis of 70 occupations to yield average earnings (adjusted for cost of living and state taxes) found that Texas Hispanics earned an average of $73,600 a year—the most by far among the 15 states with the largest labor markets. Georgia was next at $62,700, and economically unfree New York brought up the rear at $39,900. Blacks in the state earned an average of $62,900, ahead of Arizona and Ohio at $55,100. New York was last again, at $36,900. Average earnings for Asian-Americans in Texas was $67,000 a year, compared with $63,000 in Michigan and $38,100 in New York.

MIGRANTS WITH A MESSAGE

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Research by SMU’s Mission Foods Texas-Mexico Center finds that once migrants get to Texas, they tend to stay put. They like it here. They find work that affords a better life here. They seem to grasp intuitively what our research finds empirically: economic freedom—i.e., the capitalist system of markets and free enterprise—is inclusive. It raises living standards for all people. Our data has a message for Texas and the rest of America. It’s wrong to blame capitalism for racial and ethnic groups’ economic struggles. Strangling the private sector with taxes and red tape isn’t the way to improve living standards— for Whites or for people of color.

Texas’ Changing Demographics 1850-2020 100 ASIAN, OTHER (7.1%) 90 HISPANIC

(40.1%)

80 70 60 NON-HISPANIC BLACK

(12.1%)

50 40 30 20

NON-HISPANIC WHITE

(40.6%)

20 20

0 0

19 70

0 19

80 18

0 18

The questions triggered a research project that found real incomes for all major ethnic groups are higher in Texas and states with similar pro-market policies. Ethnic groups’ incomes are lowest in states with the least economic freedom. The study started with Census Bureau data on workers’ annual earnings by state and age from 2015 to 2019, which we adjusted for differences in states’ average cost of living and tax burdens. We then looked at four ethnic groups: non-Hispanic Whites, Hispanics, Blacks, and Asian-Americans, subdivided by five levels of educational attainment, 53 fields of study, and 70 occupations. We made separate calculations for men and women. To determine states’ friendliness to free enterprise, we used the Economic Freedom of North America rankings, compiled by our Bridwell Institute colleague Dean Stansel. We divided the states into five groups. The study found a substantial economic freedom premium that persists across race and ethnicity in the freer states. Among men with high school diplomas, for example, the premium was $11,100 for Whites, $7,200 for Hispanics, $12,000 for Blacks, and $13,500 for Asian-Americans. Women with bachelor’s degrees exhibit a similar pattern—gaps of $13,500 for Whites, $12,750 for Hispanics, $10,000 for Blacks, and $10,500 for Asian-Americans. The data confirm earnings rise with education—for all four ethnic groups. Among Hispanics with bachelor’s degrees and above, for example, men in the freest states earn an average of 40 percent more than those in the least-free states. For Hispanic women, the economic premium approaches 30 percent. We also looked at workers in the same jobs in states with different levels of economic freedom. For males, the freest states’ premiums over the least free were $19,900 for Whites, $21,600 for Hispanics, $13,500 for

A DEEP DIVE INTO THE DATA

the past two decades. Texas outpaced the nation by an average of 1.5 percentage points a year in GDP growth and increased employment more than twice as fast as the rest of the country. By highlighting Texas’ shifting demographics, the 2020 census raised some interesting questions about the Texas model of economic freedom. Does it deliver better living standards for people of color? Would non-Whites fare better in places like California and New York, big states more disposed to tax, spend, regulate, and redistribute?

DECEMBER 2021

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FIELD NOTES

ON TOPIC

“What was your fi st job, and what did you learn from it?” edited by BEN SWANGER

054

illustrations by JAKE MEYERS

JOHN B. BILLINGSLEY

ALYSON BROWN

JACK FRAKER

Founder, Chairman, and CEO TRI GLOBAL ENERGY

Partner and Co-Founder CLO U S E B ROWN

Vice Chairman and Managing Director CBRE

“In 4th grade, I won a registered Duroc gilt (baby girl pig) in a 4-H essay contest. I bred the pig and sold the offspring to other 4and FFA members as show pigs. Within two years, I was earning about $3,000 per year. It taught me the value of owning assets that generate an ongoing income stream. This experience also launched me on my career path of being a serial entrepreneur.”

“My fir t job was at a regional amusement park called Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, Missouri. It was the mid-1970s, and I made a whopping $2.15 an hour. I worked in ride operations on a team for the Zambezi Zinger roller coaster. I learned to show up on time, listen and follow instructions, and ignore hecklers. I also learned that I didn’t want to operate a roller coaster for the rest of my life.”

“My fir t job was on the TransAlaska Pipeline System. I worked in a construction site trailer, and I learned to interact with skilled laborers in a harsh climate on the biggest construction project in the world. I was able to save all my money as housing and food were provided by a general contractor. This job set me up for subsequent assignments in Saudi Arabia, Belgium, and Scotland.”

DECEMBER 2021

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T h eMo s tE l e c t r i f y i n gS h o w o ft h eHo l i d a yS e a s o n ! E v e r yF r i d a y&S a t u r d a y No v1 9. –De c . 1 8|6p m

T o s t i t o sCh a mp i o n s h i pP l a z a|F r e e&Op e nt ot h eP u b l i c

T h e S t a r Di s t r i c t . c o m

No v . 2 6–De c . 2 4

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progress was long overdue, and it spotlights the need to continue adding new voices and unique skill sets—including people in underrepresented age groups, women, Latinx, Asian, Asian-American, LGBTQ directors, and those with nontraditional backgrounds.

THOUGHT LEADER

Strategies for Hiring Executive Talent Heidrick & Struggles’ Americas leader Jaimee Eddington shares proven strategies for advancing DEI goals.

COURTESY OF HEIDRICK & STRUGGLES

1. DIVERSITY IS MORE THAN SKIN-DEEP. Visible representation is critical, but true diversity takes hold when all forms of representation are pursued. Last year, we saw notable progress in the appointments of new Black directors—a jump up to 28 percent, compared to 10 percent in 2019. This

as a member of the dallas business community, i have seen the conversation on diversity, equity, and inclusion evolve over time. At Heidrick & Struggles, where I lead the Americas region, we’ve seen shifts in our clients’ perspectives, too. Our firm advises on executive search and other leadership matters. Three years ago, we pledged that at least half of the initial candidates we presented to clients would be diverse. That commitment is showing up in our U.S. placements; at this point in 2021, 52 percent overall and 73 percent of our board placements are diverse. The experiences of last year caused boards and organizations to become more intentional and purposeful in driving change. Leaders are more committed than ever to advancing their DEI goals. They’re casting a wider net to find executives outside of existing networks, building relationships with larger numbers of diverse candidates, and working to create inclusive cultures. This is the path forward, and those not on board are behind. Here are three factors to help ensure success:

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MENTORING AND SPONSORSHIP ARE KEY. As boards and C-Suites add leaders with unique experience and diverse backgrounds, they are finding the e is still work to be done to ensure minorities are actively a part of a company’s succession planning pipeline. Mentorship and sponsorship are key. Sponsors can play a pivotal role in supporting new talent to a management team or a board and ensuring they have access to the skills and opportunities to be successful longterm leaders, increasing sustained inclusion and diverse representation.

3. CHANGE REQUIRES EMPATHY AND COURAGE. The pandemic and social justice movement have been catalysts for progress, but companies diving into DEI commitments will require empathy and courage. Leaders must model empathetic listening— understanding different perspectives, motivations, and concerns—and empower employees to co-create solutions. They must also have the courage to address issues that need attention and initiate honest and, sometimes difficult, conversations to help forge a path forward.

Jaimee Eddington heads up the Americas region for Heidrick & Struggles, an executive search and leadership consulting firm

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10/22/21 12:26 PM

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FROM SUCCESS TO SIGNIFICANCE CEO

“If someone can do something 80 percent as well as you, let them do it.” LTK’s A M B E R V E N Z B OX on the importance of delegating.

CEO

Align your business with D CEO and leverage the power of the best regional business magazine in the country. Solidify your strength in the market by including D CEO in your business plans for 2022.

F I N A LI S T S

P LU S : Pioneer Award Winner Shawn Todd

THE NEXUS OF

OPPORTUNITY Michael Sorrell has partnered with big names in business and government to remake education at Paul Quinn College. And he’s just getting started.

FINANCIAL

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CEO

Start Strong

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The Top M&A Deals and Dealmakers

David and Ann Sutherland have profoundly reshaped the luxury home goods industry. Here’s how.

March: Power Brokers + Women Leaders in Law Space Reservation: January 21 April: Commercial Real Estate + Leaders in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Space Reservation: February 25 May: Finance + Faces of Dallas Business Space Reservation: March 25

Ample digital opportunities, special sections, and custom sponsorships available as well. Contact Laurie Stovall to get started: laurie.stovall@dmagazine.com or 214.939.3636.

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DECEMBER 2021

OFF DUTY THE PERSONAL SIDE

o f

DFW BUSINESS LEADERS

ART OF STYLE

P H OTO G R A P H Y C O U R T E S Y O F J A C K S T O N E

GREYSTEEL CAPITAL MARKETS EXEC JACK STONE SAYS HIS LOOK ALTERNATES BETWEEN MODERN AND CLASSIC.

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WHAT I DO: “I lead our multifamily investment sales team, focused on North Texas markets. I also co-chair our student housing practice group. In just the last couple of months, we’ve transacted several hundred million in deals.” STYLE ICON: “Ryan Gosling in Crazy, Stupid, Love. Be better than the Gap.” ON THE JOB: “Coming from big law, where many of my colleagues preferred nontailored suits purchased from a 3-for-1 sale at Jos. A. Bank, the commercial real estate vibe is much more versatile. And I take advantage of that. Depending on who I’m meeting with, I’ll alternate between jeans and a blazer, a suit, or even a t-shirt.”

M U S T- L I S T E N

Executive Podcast Club Area leaders share the one podcast they think everyone should listen to—and why. “Although it is sobering as a physician, given the tragic events chronicled, the Dr. Death podcast is a must-listen. It confronts difficult questions about how ingrained system processes, and perverse incentives can lead to horrible outcomes and breaches of trust. The key lesson is that we must redouble our efforts to challenge assumptions and reco mit to putting our patients at the center of everything.” SA N JAY S H E T T Y | Stewa rd H e a lth C a re

INSPIRATION: “Comfort and simplicity” STYLE DEFINED: “A mix of modern and classic. I’ve never been one to rock the super skinny jeans. I’m nowhere near cool enough for that. But I’m going to pass on anything that doesn’t fi well either. A good tailor is always worth it.” GO-TO LOOK: “Anything that’s black. It’s easy, and you can’t go wrong—unless you’re covered in your dog’s hair, a look I frequently cultivate.”

“The Business Wars podcast strikes the right balance of being educational and entertaining. Several clients are profiled, and i ’s interesting to hear about their early days that shaped their businesses today.”

“It’s a tie between The Tim Ferriss Show and At the Table with Patrick Lencioni. Ferriss has a wide array of guests, and the interviews are deep. I learn something new every time. At the Table offers quick, practical leadership tips.”

“The Revisionist History podcast by Malcolm Gladwell is fantastic. I’ve found myself deeply thinking about my leadership and our business in new ways after listening to an episode—even the one on McDonald’s French fries!”

JA SO N D OW N I N G Deloitte

DEBORAH GIBBINS Mary Kay

C H R I S K E L LY Ebby Halliday Cos.

“At the moment, I am loving the Double Date podcast with Marlo Thomas and Phil Donahue. They interview long-married, famous couples in a fun and casual way about what makes relationships work.”

“Chasing Scratch: A Golf Podcast follows two dads in their mid-30s who have 11 handicaps but aim to become scratch golfers. It’s a story about dedication and perseverance, with plenty of humor.”

“I recommend Race at Work with Porter Braswell. He and his guests open up about the role race plays in our careers and lives. The insights are unique, highly relevant, and actionable for business leaders.”

K E L LI E FI S C H E R Texas Rangers

Z AC H FE E UMB Bank

SA N DY C ROS S PGA of America

ACCESSORIES: “Sock flai ”

FAVORITE STORE: “DLM Supply in Oak Cliff. It’s local and independently run by my friend Deavon Moore. It always seems to cultivate the latest and greatest in men’s clothing and accessories—whatever your style.”

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I M AG E S C O U R T E S Y O F P O D C A S T S

WEEKEND LOOK: “I’m usually in workout clothes when I’m not working. They’re easy and comfortable, and people may even think you work out.”

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PURSUITS

Making a Childhood Dream a Reality

TRUE BLUE

Parham with Dallas’ former police chief, David Brown.

After a health scare, DART chief Nadine Lee discovers the joy of dance and finds balance through ballet SNAPSHOT

nadine lee moves around a lot. and each time she relocates, she chooses where she lives based on proximity to three things: transit, Whole Foods, and a good ballet school. The new CEO of Dallas’ transit agency began studying dance after a health scare in her early 40s prompted her to pursue a childhood dream. “I always wanted to dance, and I never really had a chance,” she says. Lee used a Groupon deal to begin classes at the Colorado Ballet Academy while working for Denver’s Regional Transportation District, where she led the development of the Flatiron Flyer Bus Rapid Transit. Roughly 10 years later, ballet has become not only a passion but a priority. “I will pretty much drop everything else to go to dance,” Lee says. She moved to Dallas in June to lead DART after five years with the Los Angeles County Met-

ropolitan Transportation Authority. Her immediate goal? Define, quantify, and improve the DFW rider experience. “If we don’t take care of some of the fundamental needs that people have when they think about traveling—things such as speed, reliability, and safety—at a very base level, then people don’t even think about transit as an option,” Lee says. Only a few months into her new life’s ride, Lee’s schedule is already jam-packed, and ballet offers welcome respite. “Going to dance class, I can’t really think about work because it takes so much concentration to do what we’re doing on the dance floor or at the barre that it allows me that release,” she says. Lee spends about six hours a week at Contemporary Ballet Dallas, perfecting her flexibility balance, and technique. An engineer by training, she loves the structure that ballet offers compared to other dance forms. “I feel like if you get the foundation, then you can do anything,” she says. Jumps, especially tour jetés—in which the ballerina does a high leap, kicking her legs through the air to create a half turn, and lands with one leg lifted—are Lee’s favorite. “It’s just such a fun thing where you feel like you’re throwing your body up in the air,” she says. One day, she would like to get en pointe. “It’s a big milestone,” she says. ON BOARD AT DART Lee moved to Dallas in June after working in L.A. and Denver.

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AT&T Exec Vana Hammond Parham’s Time on the Force Vana Hammond Parham, assistant VP and senior legal counsel at AT&T, served the Dallas Police Department as a senior corporal early in her career. She has had a love for law her entire life and earned a J.D. from Texas A&M University, but segued into law enforcement after hearing a radio plea for Dallas Police Academy applications. “I was working a job I didn’t like at the time, and I spoke to my mom about becoming a police officer,” Parham recalls. “My mom said I would be good at it, and I gave it a shot.” Ignited by a journey of self-discovery, Parham served on the force for eight years. “The more I worked, the more I liked serving,” she says. “When you’re a police officer, you’re pushed in ways you’ve never been pushed. During the police academy training, you fin out who you are and your own limits.” Parham went on to serve as assistant city attorney then was named chief of community relations for the city and Grow South. She moved to AT&T in 2019 as executive vice president of external and legislative affairs, and was promoted to her current post this past March. —Preston Rios

P H OTO G R A P H Y C O U R T E S Y O F D A R T A N D V A N A H A M M O N D P A R H A M

story by KELSEY J. VANDERSCHOOT

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CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2021 D CEO MAGAZINE EXCELLENCE IN HEALTHCARE FINALISTS. On behalf of everyone at Texas Health

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and the communities we serve, thank you

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for your heroic efforts and dedication to excellence in healthcare. 1-877-THR-WELL | TexasHealth.org

Outstanding Community Outreach THRIVE Initiative Texas Health Resources Outstanding Healthcare Volunteer Tim Davis Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Denton Outstanding Real Estate Deal Jane and John Justin Patient Surgical Tower Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth

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JINGLE BELLS

At Stein Eriksen Lodge, you truly can go dashing through the snow in a one-horse open sleigh.

DOWN TIME

Try a full-body sugar exfoliation, après ski facial, or Ashiatsu massage at The Spa at Stein Eriksen Lodge.

W E L L T R AV E L E D

Park City, Utah story by CHRISTINE PEREZ

MOUNTAIN RETREAT

Montage Deer Valley offers ski-in, ski-out access to one of Utah’s premier ski resorts.

FORAGER FIND The fl vorful Wild Mushroom Agnolotti is a delicious fir tcourse option at Glitretind.

FAMILY FUN

Woodward Park City offers snow-tubing, snowboarding, and many other action sports.

SNOW GLOBES

Reservations at Stein Eriksen’s Alpenglobes are $200 for 90 minutes, plus the cost of your meal.

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P H OTO G R A P H Y C O U R T E S Y O F A B B E Y M A U R I C E , S T E I N C O L L E C T I O N , M O N T A G E D E E R V A L L E Y , C H R I S P E A R S O N / S K I U TA H , AND PA R K C I T Y C H A M B E R / B U R E A U .

Outdoor activity opportunities abound in BNY Mellon exec Charmaine Tang’s favorite winter getaway.

OFF DUTY

LET IT SNOW

The Chateaux Deer Valley is nestled in the mountains above Park City, an old mining town.

i’m always impressed by how many north Texans like to ski. Growing up near several ski resorts in Michigan, my friends and I were clicking our boots into bindings and schussing down the hills from an early age. Despite not having such opportunities in Dallas, people here love to head west and hit the slopes. One destination that’s quickly growing in popularity is Park City, Utah, just a quick 40-minute drive from Salt Lake City. The weather was perfect when my future daughter-in-law and I visited Deer Valley in the Wasatch Range, where the winter season runs from December through early April. It had been a while since I last skied; still, I didn’t anticipate that my legs would feel like noodles afterward. We stayed at The Chateaux Deer Valley, part of the Stein Collection, which also owns the adjacent Stein Eriksen Lodge. Inspired by the Olympic legend and his Norwegian heritage, it has the feel of an elegant European ski lodge. Fortunately, it also has a Forbes Five-Star spa, and healing massages got us ready for more outdoor fun. Next up was Woodward Park City, home to Utah’s longest snow-tubing runs. Bouncing down the hills at high speeds had me giggling like a 12-year-old.

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In between all of the sporty stuff, make time to visit Park City’s Historic Main Street. The former silver mining town offers a bevy of quaint shops and top-notch restaurants. Among them is the award-winning Riverhorse on Main, where the eclectic menu frequently changes. The ahi tuna tartare is a must-try, as is the wild game trio (elk, buffalo, and venison). And, depending on your poison, try a wine tasting at Old Town Cellars or a whiskey tasting at High West Distillery’s saloon. Wining and dining opportunities abound at the Stein Collection properties, too. The popular Golden Hirsch is known for its contemporary Alpine fare and cheese or chocolate fondues. On one memorable evening, we enjoyed a sleigh ride after the lifts had shut down for the night. It was meditative to take in the stunning beauty of the mountains and the stillness of the evening, broken only by the muted clop-clop of the horse’s hooves on the snow and the jingle of the sleigh bells. Dinner at the four-star Glitretind that evening was served in one of its Alpenglobes. Of the many appealing options on the menu, we chose Wild Mushroom Agnolotti, followed by Maine Sea Scallops and a filet of Double R Ranch Beef; everything was delicious. As our gold leaf-topped sticky toffee pudding arrived, right on cue, fluffy snowflakes began gracefully falling from the sky—a final touch to a truly magical evening. Another resort that’s highly recommended is Montage Deer Valley, with its in-room WINTER SUNSET Park City, which fireplaces and ultra-luxurious hosted the 2002 spa. (The Masterpiece Facial Winter Olympics, is known for its will not disappoint.) At Apex, outstanding skiing. on the resort’s lower level, you can create your own surf-andturf with a seafood platter of crab, oysters, and tuna poke to start, followed by an elk steak entrée. Seafood lovers should also spring for a meal at Yama Sushi; try the nachos (crab, tuna, avocado, wakame, and tare sushi on black truffle wontons), the chef’s nigiri selection, and Wasatch roll.

T R AV E L T I P S

Park City’s ‘Casual Swank’ Charmaine Tang and her family were regulars at Vail and Beaver Creek before a friend recommended Park City. It was a revelation. The ability to get in more skiing on weekend trips, the laid-back culture, and natural beauty made her an instant fan. “The skiing is great, and it’s just stunningly gorgeous,” says Tang, senior client strategiest at BNY Mellon Wealth Management. It’s a mining town with an Old West feel that blends luxury and comfort; my husband calls it ‘casual swank.’” Tang and her family typically stay in the private Talisker Club. “My kids become different people,” Tang says. “They epitomize Gen Z, and in Park City, they’re able to center and get away from digital and just relax.”

DECEMBER 2021

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DOUBLE THREAT

An early experience with a cardiology treatment center led Sangani to add real estate to his business pursuits.

MAKING ROUNDS

Sangani as attending physician at Mount Carmel Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio, in 1985.

ROOTS

CHAIRMAN AND CEO E NCORE E NTE RPRISES

as told to SARA RUSHING illustration by JAKE MEYERS

066

dr. bharat sangani had $10.45 on him when he emigrated from India in 1983. Already a physician, the 26-year-old came to America to pursue training as a cardiologist. He took that pocket change and went on to build one of the largest cardiology treatment centers in Mississippi. Discovering a knack for real estate, Sangani formed a side business and has since closed more than $2.9 billion in deals through his investment and development firm, Dallas-based Encore Enterprises. Here, he shares his story. “The U.S. is considered a land of opportunity, so I was filled with a lot of enthusiasm and positive feelings when I came here. I did not have a job, but I knew that I would make it if I were good. My dad taught me from a young age to be self-supporting. Problem-solving was inherently part of my upbringing; you can come for advice but don’t come for help. Raising the bar every time you achieve something

was instilled by my father. Nothing is ever enough; I like to go to the next level. Normally, entrepreneurs will let the business die when they retire or lose interest. But because the ‘nothing is ever enough’ theory, when building our Encore Enterprises’ portfolio, I didn’t want the business to suffer the same consequences. So, every time we accomplished something, we think, ‘OK, how can we make this better?’” HAPPY FAMILY

Sangani at age 37 with his wife Smita and daughter Nili in Gulfport, Mississippi.

P H OTO G R A P H Y C O U R T E S Y O F D R . B H A R A T S A N G A N I

DR. BHARAT SANGANI

DECEMBER 2021

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10/25/21 10:06 AM

EXCELLENCE HAPPENS HERE. At Medical City Healthcare, our world-class specialists are committed to delivering expert care with compassion, integrity, and kindness. We are the destination of choice for healthcare excellence in North Texas.

MedicalCityHealthcare.com

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END MARK

LEGENDS UNITE

Dallas’ Wartime Mayor J A M E S W O O DA L L R O D G E R S May 11, 1890–July 6, 1961

story by PRESTON RIOS

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FROM THE COLLECTIONS O F T H E D A L L A S H I S T O R Y & A R C H I V E S D I V I S I O N , D A L L A S P U B L I C L I B R A R Y

From left to right: George Sprague, T.F. Jackson, J.B. Adoue Jr., Woodall Rodgers, William M. Holland, Wallace Savage, R. L. Thornton Sr., James R. Temple, George Sergaent. Seated is Henry Kucera.

hough he was not born, raised, or educated in dallas, james Woodall Rodgers had a profound impact on the city as its mayor from 1939 to 1947. His four-term tenure saw the development of Central Expressway, Dallas Public Library, and Garza-Little Elm Reservoir (now Lake Lewisville), as well as the expansion of Love Field airport. Today, Spur 366 is named Woodall Rodgers Freeway, and a plaza underneath that links Victory Park and the West End bears his name. Born in New Market, Alabama, Rodgers attended Vanderbilt University, the University of Texas, and Columbia University before starting a law career in Dallas—which was briefly halted while he se ved in the U.S. Army in WWI. Rodgers returned to Dallas and made a name for himself in oil and gas law. His most notable client was Standard Oil Co. and its Texas subsidiaries. A civic leader, Rodgers continued to advocate for the city’s future by serving on various nonprofits, such as the Dallas useum of Art and the Dallas Council of World Affairs. e also helped organize, and was the fir t president of, the Dallas Salesmanship Club.

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Let’s talk about your outlook your earnings your people your value being partners.

Bringing more to banking. www.texascapitalbank.com Texas Capital Bank Member FDIC NASDAQ ®:TCBI

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D CEO December

Articles inside

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WELL TRAVELED

THOUGHT LEADER

ECONOMY

EDITOR’S NOTE

ON THE TABLE

FOOD & BEVERAGE

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