CEO Steven Williams is making bold moves to drive innovation and g rowth at the $21 billion+ PepsiCo Foods North America.
As a healthcare provider, your main focus is delivering quality patient care. Whitley Penn’s experienced and knowledgeable healthcare industry professionals understand this priority. We are here to help navigate your practice to a healthier financial future, allowing you to attend to what matters most – your patients.
Connect with an advisor by visiting whitleypenn.com/healthcare.
At RGT, our approach to wealth management is as personal as your hopes and dreams for the future. As an independent firm, we create tailored plans based on objective guidance. And we believe in taking care of you personally.
Of course, we also treat our team members with the same care and respect. That’s why we were recently named one of the best places to work by the Dallas Business Journal
We invite you to learn how rewarding a wealth advisory relationship can be. Contact us to arrange a face-to-face meeting today.
Our only vested interest is our clients.
If the wealth you’ve worked for all your life seems in question right now…we’ve got answers.
Front Row: Lawson A.B. Copley, M.D. | Scott Oishi, M.D. | Carole Deally, M.D. | Lane Wimberly, M.D. Megan E. Johnson, M.D. | Anthony I. Riccio, M.D. | Daniel J. Sucato, M.D., M.S. | J.A. “Tony” Herring, M.D. Shane M. Miller, M.D. | Jane S. Chung, M.D. | Jason R. Petrasic, M.D. | Henry B. Ellis, M.D. | Chris Stutz, M.D.
Back Row: Christine Ho, M.D. | Harry Kim, M.D., M.S. | Jaysson T. Brooks, M.D. | John E. Arvesen, M.D. Karl E. Rathjen, M.D. | David A. Podeszwa, M.D. | Corey S. Gill, M.D. | William Z. Morris, M.D. Amy L. McIntosh, M.D. | Jacob C. Jones, M.D. | Brandon A. Ramo, M.D. | Philip L. Wilson, M.D.
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when my 28-year-old son jordan was turning 5 , he invited John Elway to his birthday party. He idolized the Denver Broncos quarterback and had watched him tear up on TV when he announced his retirement. Jordan thought a birthday party would cheer him up. He insisted on sending Elway a letter, one that included a line that said, “If I didn’t have my dad, I’d want you to be my dad—or Michael Jordan.” A few weeks later, I was stunned when I opened the mailbox at our home in Overland Park, Kansas, to find a large envelope from Elway’s car dealership in Colorado. Inside was an autographed 8x10 photo of the NFL player wishing Jordan a happy birthday and a signed, typewritten letter from Elway, who explained how sorry he was to have to miss the big event. (Pure class.) I read the letter aloud to my son. He was incredulous, but not for the reason you might think. “Wait a minute,” Jordan said. “He’s not coming?!”
It is just one of many (many, many) examples of my son’s bigthinking attitude. Even though it often made him a challenge to parent, I always hoped Jordan would never stop believing that anything is possible. And, for the most part, he hasn’t. I was reminded of this at a recent Venture Dallas event at Hillwood’s Circle T Ranch, where Ross Perot Jr. shared how he and Mike Berry (longtime friends and former frat brothers at Vanderbilt University) developed the country’s first industrial airport in North Fort Worth. The two were in their mid-20s at the time. Established developers told them it would take decades to do the project. But Perot and Berry didn’t listen; they broke ground in the summer of 1988 and the airport opened in the fall of 1989. It now anchors the 27,000-acre AllianceTexas development.
“What’s great about being young is that you don’t know what you don’t know,” Perot told the Venture Dallas crowd. “My father always advised me to surround myself with young people and be openminded enough to listen to their crazy ideas. ... If you have wild ideas of your own, don’t discard them. And don’t let your experience slow you down.”
Stream offers our people an environment where they can successfully lead. Resources, tools, and mentorship are all available, but our people are empowered to forge new business plans, take risks, and learn and work however suites them best as they develop as commercial real estate professionals and business leaders.
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
EDITOR Christine Perez EXECUTIVE EDITOR Brandon J. Call MANAGING EDITOR Ben Swanger ONLINE MANAGING EDITOR Kelsey J. Vanderschoot SENIOR EDITOR Will Maddox
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Richard Alm, W. Michael Cox EDITORIAL INTERNS Alyssa Fields, Chris Goodwin, Briana Musgrove
DESIGN DIRECTOR Hamilton Hedrick STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Elizabeth Lavin
SALES MANAGER Rachel Gill ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Rhett Taylor SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Cami Burke, Haley Muse MANAGING EDITOR OF SPECIAL SECTIONS Jennifer Sander Hayes BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Palmer McGraw
MARKETING DIRECTOR Gigi Ekstrom MARKETING COORDINATOR Natalie Swaim EVENTS MANAGER Anja Matukic ADVERTISING ART DIRECTOR Katie Garza EVENTS INTERNS Miracle Ellison, Guadalupe Gomez
SENIOR MANAGER Sarah South EDITORIAL PROGRAMS MANAGER Sarah Masquelier
SPECIAL PROGRAMS COORDINATOR Jade Osseck RETAIL STRATEGY MANAGER Steve Crabb MERCHANDISER David Truesdell
HEAD OF DIGITAL OPERATIONS Katrina Witherspoon
DIGITAL ADVERTISING OPERATIONS MANAGER Riley Hill DIGITAL DESIGN ASSOCIATE Andrea Chavez SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Melissa Neely
PRODUCTION
DIRECTOR John Gay MANAGER Pamela Ashby COORDINATOR Grace John PHOTO RETOUCHER Jasmine Green BUSINESS CONTROLLER Sabrina LaTorre SENIOR ACCOUNTANT Debbie Travis ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE COORDINATOR Jessica Hernandez EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT DIRECTOR Patricia Martin IT TECHNICIAN Luan Aliji OFFICE MANAGER Will Smith RECEPTIONIST Phoebe Chew
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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF AND CEO Christine Allison
PRESIDENT Gillea Allison CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Thomas L. Earnshaw FOUNDER Wick Allison CERTIFIED AS A WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS
d ceo welcomed 400 attendees to its fourth annual diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Symposium in September. The event was held at Renaissance Dallas hotel and brought together leaders working to make workplaces more inclusive. Panels and presentations focused on the theme “The Business of Belonging,” and provided a backdrop for insightful conversations and key takeaways. Attendees also received a copy of the Big D Reads paperback edition of The Accommodation. Thank you to series sponsor Maker’s Mark and title sponsors Bank of Texas, Dallas College, Haynes and Boone, ISP Creative, Thomson Reuters, and Visit Dallas for helping make this important event possible.
What is your advice on successfully building a business—then selling or merging?
Building a high-growth company is like driving a car down the track at 200 miles per hour while constantly upgrading the components to a Formula 1 race car and keeping all four wheels on the track. And, of course, winning.
Build to buy, never to sell. This sounds contradictory but it will maximize your exit price as acquirers value quality operations. We never built STRAIT for sale. Of course, every owner wants an exit and ours was no different. As managing partner, I never cut corners nor ran our team too lean at the expense of our clients. Rather, I challenged my team to innovate, automate, and improve processes. Success is no accident; it takes strategy and grit. Before we hit the gas pedal, we developed a strategic plan for every aspect of the firm—operations, marketing, BD, recruiting, and HR. The result? Our team and our operations were a well-oiled machine. Our clients and our team benefited, and so did our eventual acquirer, Sanne Group.
What roles do company’s team members play in an eventual M&A? How do you motivate team members and align with the M&A process?
Hire the best, give them the tools to succeed, and put them in the owner’s seat early. We hired the best and empowered them to embody the firm’s value “Own the Business.” We created a culture of high-performance expectations, and we all held one another accountable. We also incentivized our team members accordingly. People were promoted, compensated, and recognized based on their individual contributions. When we announced the sale of STRAIT to Sanne Group, we also announced a generous bonus program for team mem -
bers post acquisition. Both Sanne Group and STRAIT’s owner contributed generously, as we all wanted to reward our team for their hard work and success.
How important is trust before, during, and after an M&A transaction?
Trust is everything. Trust bonds must exist in every direction as they are the glue that holds a team together. If the team believes in their leader and in one another, any change in ownership or M&A is just the next chapter in the team’s success story. Building a high-performing team and creating team trust has always been my secret arrow in my quiver. Successful integration requires team buy-in and assistance from everyone throughout the fi rm. While the acquired fi rm’s top executive manages the integration, they are also responsible for achieving earn-out metrics, such as revenue growth and margin improvement negotiated during the sale. I can say from experience, achieving those is never easy.
We had a good experience with Sanne Group, but it takes a lot of planning, focus, and execution from every member of the team to ensure success and a seamless transition for clients. M&A transactions are never easy, but if you have built a fi rm with strong infrastructure and clean operations, and if the trust bonds throughout your team are rock solid, the integration process—whether you are the acquirer or the acquired—will be successful.
Contact Stacey Relton: Stacey.Relton@sannegroup.comFollowing the sale of STRAIT to Sanne Group in April 2021, Stacey Relton assumed the title of Head of North America, overseeing operations and maintaining financial responsibility for the jurisdiction. In August 2022, Apex Group acquired Sanne Group, and Relton now serves as Head of Strategic Development, North America. She has been recognized as a Dallas Business Journal Women in Business honoree and has received numerous awards, including the Chairman’s Award for Leadership by the National Association of Investment Companies and LSU Top 100. She has also been recognized by the NAIC for championing diversity in the alternatives industry.
dancers are doers. that’s the motto of Lily Cabatu Weiss, who left a 36-year career on the dance faculty at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (where she ultimately served as artistic director) to become executive director of the Dallas Arts District in 2016. After a nine-month search, the hiring team realized the perfect leader was someone who had seen the neighborhood grow all around her since 1978. “I’ve always said dancers are doers because we’re physical,” Weiss says. “And so, when something needs to be done, the response always immediately is, ‘I can do it.’”
That tenacity led Weiss to change jobs at the age of 62 to lead the largest contiguous urban arts district in the country. The 19-block neighborhood includes all of the city’s major cultural facilities—the Dallas Museum of Art, AT&T Performing Arts Center, Myerson Symphony Center, Winspear Opera House, and more.
A connector by nature, Weiss began by meeting with the district’s many stakeholders. One of the chief struggles, she says, is figuring out how to balance the commuter tendencies of those in the region with a more pedestrian-centric approach. That’s what’s needed, she says, to create a thriving neighborhood in the tradition of some of Europe’s greatest Renaissance cities.
And just as she developed a strong curriculum as an educator, Weiss went to work on the latest version of the Arts District Connect Masterplan, a strategy that received city council approval in January 2021. Like the Sasaki Plan, which laid
Dthe groundwork for the neighborhood in 1983, the new vision calls for transforming Pearl Street into the “Avenue for the Arts” and remaking the Ross Avenue corridor into a more pedestrian-friendly boulevard.
In addition, the new strategy aligns with Downtown Dallas Inc.’s Dallas 360 Plan, which calls for more public art, infi ll development, enhanced greenery and lighting for the district, and more. “I’ve had to learn patience,” Weiss admits. “Nothing happens overnight. Incremental progress is still progress. And working with an urban district like Dallas made me understand the speed—or lack of speed—in anything that happens in a big, bureaucratic area.”
Of course, the most significant test of her leadership—and the arts community’s resiliency as a whole—has been the pandemic, which caused some organizations to lose nearly 50 percent of their revenue overnight. Instead of retreating into silos, Weiss encouraged disparate arts groups to collaborate, share ideas, and work together. “At the end of March 2020, we got on the phone and said, ‘OK. What are we going to do?’” Weiss says. “We immediately figured out that it would take all of us. We needed to determine what everybody was doing, and only then did we realize there is strength in numbers. We’ve probably always known that, sure, but Dallas has not necessarily always played that game.”
With a new sense of espritdecorps, a survey of arts organizations commissioned to put a number to the pandemic losses, revealing that 92 organizations lost about $95 million in revenue. She and the Dallas Arts District will soon unveil a new public relations and social media campaign with the goal of helping the groups recover some of those critical funds.
“Nothing replaces that live arts experience,” Weiss says. “It’s not about selling tickets. It’s about creating memories. It’s about focusing on experiences. If you experience something that is game-changing and transformative, you will come back again and again.”
1984
The year the Dallas Arts District Foundation 501(c)3 was founded.
4.1 MILLION
The number of people who visit the district each year.
$95 MILLION
Revenue lost by 92 Arts District organizations during the pandemic.
118 ACRES
The neighborhood’s total size, making it the largest contiguous urban arts district in the United States.
Health System
honored to be among the finalists in the 2022 D CEO Excellence in
along with serving as ceo of hunt investment Holdings and co-CEO of its holding company, Hunt Consolidated, Chris Kleinert leads Hunt Realty Investments. The group secured several big wins in 2022, including welcoming JPMorgan Chase to a 132,000-square-foot office at 1900 N. Akard St., which will also soon become the new home of the Dallas Petroleum Club. But dwar fing those deals was a 1 millionsquare-foot commitment from Goldman Sachs to occupy the first three new office buildings in Hunt’s North End development, housing up to 5,000 employees.
EDUCATION: Texas Christian University (MBA), Southern Methodist University (BBA)
BIRTHPLACE: “Minneapolis”
FIRST JOB: “When I wasn’t playing baseball in my summers growing up, I was umpiring games. It didn’t take long to learn some important life lessons, such as showing up early, knowing the rules, giving 100 percent, and being decisive.”
BEST ADVICE: “It takes a long time to build a reputation and can take only seconds to lose it.”
DINNER PARTY: “It’s so hard to choose just two—Ray Hunt and Harlan Crow, or perhaps Michael Sorrell, Ron Kirk, Mike Rawlings, Bobby Lyle, Jennifer Sampson, Sara Madsen Miller, or Sophia Johnson. Can I only choose two? And can I bring my wife?”
DESTINATIONS OF CHOICE: “Cody, Wyoming; Edinburgh, Scotland; and Istanbul, Turkey”
HOBBY/PASSION: “Doing anything that is competitive, from physical activities to card games.”
INDUSTRY CHANGE: “I’d like to see the commercial real estate community play a bigger role in addressing issues like home affordability, education, and job training to ensure that Dallas remains competitive for corporate relocations.”
LOCAL FARE:
“My favorite is Corrientes 348 on Ross Avenue. I love the Bariloche salad with salmon.”
FUN FACT: “Most people who know me know that I’ve been to more than 1,000 sporting events, so that would not be surprising. The fun fact might be that a close friend of mine is Turkish, so I’m trying to learn the language. I’m approaching
1,000 consecutive days on my Duolingo app. Dedi, lütfen benden bir şey söylememi isteme!”
GO-TO ADVISER: “My go-to person is my father-in-law, Ray Hunt. My own father died many years ago, and I’m incredibly blessed to have a father-in-law who I consider a great mentor and friend.”
TOUGHEST CHALLENGE: “I sold a major component of Hunt’s real estate portfolio in 2016. With the sale went some great people and investments. The remaining team and I retooled our strategy to be almost entirely Dallas-focused, which has allowed us to attract great talent for the opportunities now on our plate.”
FUTURE FORECAST: “Persistent issues in our city like equity gaps, transportation challenges, housing shortages, education, and job training are being discussed and possible solutions being tested and measured.”
Sarah-Allen Preston connects gift buyers and local retailers through her on-demand company, Afloat.
a bottle of salad dressing left on her front porch was the boost that Sarah-Allen Preston needed one day while her youngest son recovered from open-heart surgery. “I became obsessed with bottling this feeling of gratitude,” Preston says. During another hardship a few years later, an idea took hold—an app that would allow gift-givers to select thoughtful presents from local shops, then have them wrapped and delivered the same day with a hand-written card. Preston launched Afloat earlier this year in Dallas an her hometown of Kansas City, partnering with retailers such as Stanley Korshak, Joanna Czech, and Saint Bernard Sports. The app integrated with Shopify in November and by year’s end the company will close a seed round, to bring its total funding to more than $4.5 million. Preston plans to use the capital to enter the Houston and Nashville markets by early 2023. Afloat is on track to trple its user count by 2023. “There’s a reason gifting is a love language,” Preston says.—Alyssa Fields
GIRL POWER Aflot’s SarahAllen Prestonleads her gifting app with a team made up entirely of women.
c-level execs, managers, and entrepreneur s make daily sales pitches. Whether you’re trying to motivate an employee, sell goods or services, obtain funding, or win an argument with family or friends, persuasion skills are essential. This article details another proven persuasion technique. Common decency and respect are disappearing virtues. You set yourself apart and are more persuasive when you have good manners, show respect, and do not take advantage of a position of power and wealth. Whenever you turn down a privilege due to your status and act like everyone else and the “common person,” and not somebody who thinks they are special, you gain the respect and admiration of others, which makes you a better leader and persuader.
If you ever have the misfortune of spending the night in Tulsa, Oklahoma, I recommend you dine at Jamil’s, a Lebanese steakhouse. In the 1950s and 1960s it was hands down the best restaurant in Tulsa. On weekend nights the line to get into Jamil’s would wrap around the block. The New York Yankees were in Tulsa for an exhibition game. Mickey Mantle, who was a top superstar player when baseball was a national pastime, was at the back of the line. Mantle was the Tom Brady and LeBron James of his day. Word spread quickly that Mantle was in line. The restaurant’s owner, Jamil, came outside and told Mantle he need not wait because Jamil had prepared a table for him. Mantle responded, “I’ll wait my time in line like everyone else.” How many sports stars and celebrities today would decline the chance to cut in front of a long line? How many of you reading this article would turn down that opportunity?
When you don’t take advantage of privilege, you earn the respect of others. A recent example, close to home, is Dak Prescott. In a 2016 game against Baltimore, Prescott was on the bench and finished drinking water out of a paper cup. He tossed the paper cup back toward the trash can. The cup missed the trash can and fell onto the turf. What did the adored, famous, and wealthy starting quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys do? Did he wait for the ubiquitous cleaning crew to pick up after his mess? No, he stood up, walked over to the cup, and placed it in the trash can. He did so despite the fact that the sideline was littered with literally hundreds of cups his teammates had discarded on the ground. The video of Prescott exhibiting good manners, rejecting his position of privilege, fame, and power went viral. Numerous sports and executive coaches commented in the days that followed about the tremendous leadership Dak exhibited by that small, yet powerful, act.
The takeaway: When you don’t “put on airs” and you eschew special treatment, you stand out as a leader who people want to follow.
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 and 2022 Dunn was included in D CEO Magazine’s 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 Thomson Reuters service) and a D Magazine Best Lawyer 12 times.
500 N. Akard Street, Suite 1900 Dallas, Texas 75201 214.888.5000 | info@roggedunngroup.com
khanh nguyen left a leadership role in software sales to start his own company in 2011 after mapping out the venture nearly four years prior. But when it came time to execute, the inspiration wasn’t there. “You can only do what you’re passionate about; you can’t force it,” Nguyen says. So, he changed course and began cooking. His passion and intuitive palate have since led him to launch two successful restaurant concepts, including Zalat Pizza, which has grown to 25 locations in the Dallas and Houston markets. He’s aiming to double the number of locations by the end of 2023 and, one day, take the company public.
Nguyen opened his fi rst restaurant in 2012, a Vietnamese concept named after his hometown of DaLat. He kept the spot open late and cut his teeth in the industry, chatting with cooks, servers, and bartenders who came in to eat after their shifts, sharing lessons learned. “Many of the things we do is from learning from my service industry patrons,” Nguyen says. In 2014, he took over the lease of what was previously a pizza place next door to DaLat. “I had never made a pizza before,” he says. His vision? To create the kind of pie someone staggering home after a fun night on the town in New York City would want. He spent six months perfecting the dough and another month getting lost in the sauce.
He focused on a thinner crust and quality ingredients, such as top-end cheeses and beef pepperoni. Once he felt he mastered the formula, he opened Zalat Pizza in 2015, targeting takeout and delivery customers. Soon after, he became an early tester for Uber Eats and decided to operate Zalat largely as a ghost kitchen.
Fueled by increased demand for takeout, the brand took offduring the pandemic, expanding from seven to 18 locations across DFW and opening seven more in Houston in the past 11 months. Nguyen has two more spots under contract in Austin, which he hopes to open before the end of Q1 2023. “I’d say we’re probably at 30 to 40 percent [of our scalability],” he says.
Zalat also inked an agreement with Kroger (which recently announced a deal to acquire Albertsons), enabling the brand to potentially open new locations inside some of the chain’s 2,500 stores—a move that “has a lot of interesting potential,” Nguyen says. He is also looking to start a crowdfund, aims to have at least 45 Zalat locations by 2024, and, in the longer term, hopes to take the company public.
We salute your leadership, care and commitment to moving the healthcare industry and our communities forward. As a champion for change, your tireless pursuit of diversity, equity and inclusion and your dedication to philanthropy has made a lasting impact on North Texas.
You are an inspiration to everyone at AMN Healthcare, and we are ever grateful for your innovative and compassionate leadership for the last three decades.
The Sidley litigator and management committee chair is one of the most sought-after lawyers in the country.
it isn’t easy to find time to sit across the table from Yvette Ostolaza. After scheduling conflicts led to multiple missed meals, she carved out a few moments to share a coffee at the Starbucks Reserve in Uptown. Ostolaza’s schedule has become even more crammed since she was named chair of Sidley’s management committee, the equivalent of the law firm’s CEO. As we talk, she takes sips of her go-to coffee—a skinny flat white.
Ostolaza joined Weil in 1991, making the switch to Sidley in the fall of 2013. Founded in Chicago in 1866, it’s one of the oldest law firms in the United States. Early on in her legal career, Ostolaza says she was introduced to a leadership approach she still uses today. “It’s based on a ‘marketplace of ideas,’” she says. “In other words, the best ideas should stand on their own, regardless of where they come from. This approach emphasizes the value of hard work, true consensus-building, and inclusive leadership.”
story by WILL MADDOX illustration by JAKE MEYERSOstolaza is a trailblazer on multiple levels: she is the first person in Texas to lead the firm (she runs Sidley from its Dallas office), the first woman to lead the 156-year-old company, and the first Hispanic woman to lead a top-seven firm in the country. She officially took the helm in May after spending a year as chair-elect, learning the ropes of leading a firm that will generate more than $3 billion in revenue this year, has 21 offices, and employs more than 2,000 lawyers around the world.
Law wasn’t Ostolaza’s first career choice. After college, she worked as a marketing professional in the airline industry. Through her work, she noticed the impact that lawyers had on the company. “They were involved with everything from helping the business team understand the law and answering questions to being a resource as my team made decisions on the best ways to reach potential customers,” Ostolaza says. “I became fascinated by business law and decided to attend law school.”
A lthough she switched careers, she says she still uses many of the core lessons she learned while working in marketing—especially listening to the needs of clients and putting them first.
Even while she runs her firm, the sought-after Ostolaza continues to represent big-name clients like Hunt Oil, MGM Resorts, Celanese, Neiman Marcus, and JPMorgan Chase. She also serves on the board of Lionsgate Entertainment.
Like many top execs, Ostolaza is focused on recruiting and retention. Along with paying top dollar for talent, Sidley has a program that lets fourth-year associates pursue MBA-level training at Northwestern or Columbia. “It’s an investment in our associates to reflect that they are managing other people and that we expect them to be leaders and business savvy attorneys to service our clients,” Ostolaza says.
The pandemic has caused many attorneys to rethink their priorities, which has worked in Sidley’s favor, she adds. “There has been a flight to quality,” she says. “There are only a handful of firms that hit the $3 billion mark, and we’re one of them.”
Ostolaza doesn’t dwell on the legal barriers she has broken but knows that representation matters. “Having different role models for attorneys and professionals we are recruiting is important,” she says. “I see it is one of our superpowers. Sidley is winning the talent war because we attract and retain individuals from different backgrounds while other firms have lagged behind.”
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the dallas bourbon club had just three members in 2017. now, there are roughly 140 bourbon bu ffs in the organization—and more than 3,000 on the waiting list. So, how did the fledgling group transform into the 2022 American Spirits Council of Tasters Whiskey Club of the Year and one of the most di fficult clubs to join in Dallas? It is simple: charity, relationships, a good party, and, of course, top -fl ight bourbon.
In 2017, Verdant Commercial Capital Chief Commercial Officer Brian Lowe was looking for a network of people who appreciate whiskey and bourbon. He Googled exactly that, stumbled upon the Dallas Bourbon Club, and sent an email to inquire about joining. Lowe soon realized the club needed some work and connected with John Bentley, who established the organization in 2013. In Lowe, Bentley found someone who could take the club to the next level.
Lowe, who now serves as president, helped reorganize the DBC as a nonprofit and developed leadership positions, events, and fundraisers. Growth was organic early on, with members asking friends to join. But during the pandemic, the club took off—as did alcohol sales (which increased 20 percent from March to September 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, according to a study by Columbia University).
For business leaders in the DBC, bourbon is more than an escape. “It’s an experience; a story; a feeling,” says Melissa Wilson, a group manager at Toyota North America. The organization has stayed small in order to allow each member to purchase a bottle from one of the bourbon barrels the club brings back from its distillery visits around the United States “The experience is unmatched,” says Dr. Umesh Oza, a radiologist.
The group’s charitable giving has earned it star treatment with top names in bourbon, including Blanton’s and Colonel E.H. Taylor. Over the years, the club has supported The Birthday Party Project, At Last!, Café Momentum, Bonton Farms, and UTSW. Last year, the DBC raised around $120,000 for nonprofits.
“The distilleries roll out the red carpet for DBC because of lives we’re impacting,” says member Pete Delkus, chief meteorologist at ABC affiliate WFAA-TV.
Getting into the club isn’t about having a big bank account or a prestigious title. “Helping someone get a job through a DBC member and providing business references have been super beneficial,” Lowe says. “Several business deals have been completed by members who met in the Dallas Bourbon Club.”
Why is the business of oil & gas production ever-changing?
Oil & gas is an industry that is ever changing because of commodity cycles, market forces, and simple supply and demand economics. The price swings and instability create incredible opportunities for anyone willing to capitalize on those swings. This is where my greatest gains have been made. The price instability, which is the only consistent component of the oil & gas industry, is actually what makes being in this business enjoyable. The ‘Wild West card game’ the oil & gas business has become is just plain fun for me.
What was the catalyst for founding PetroVista, and how is the business doing today?
I was born and raised in this business. Growing up in West Texas and a third-generation oil man, it is a part of my heritage. I founded PetroVista because I wanted to prove to myself and to my community that I could compete in the oil patch. I wanted to show everyone I could run with bulls. I was born in the right time and in the right place to do this. PetroVista has leased and bought minerals and royalty interests in excess of 300,000 acres in West Texas, and we have doubled our revenue every year since 2009.
Why is PetroVista self-funded?
PetrovVista has always been self-funded, which provides me the opportunity to set my own course for the company. I had to learn how to make money without money at firs. Once you have mastered that skill, anything is possible. One of our biggest strengths is the ability to stretch every dollar to maximize the return on capital.
As a business owner in such a competitive and always-changing industry, what are
some of your business practices that have made the company a success?
Our business approach is very simple; it is mostly about opportunism. The economies of the world need our product for the foreseeable future, and this is not changing in my lifetime.
What is your advice to business owners that may help them avoid taking on too much?
Hire talent and keep them incentivized and feeling like part of a team. Hire the best, pay them well, and let them do what they do best. Most of my hiring is contractual, which allows me to scale up or down at any given time. Also, choose the right partners. For me, it is instinctual, but overall, it involves observing who is making the big moves in your industry. You want to gravitate toward them, and you want them to gravitate toward you.
What is next for PetroVista?
My goal is to always lead with an opportunistic approach. Have an open mind and find value in assets where others don’t. My next steps include putting a team together and opening to outside investment, whether that be formal private equity or ‘country club money.’ This will allow PetroVista to generate greater economy of scale. Our focus will mostly be in the mineral and royalty space—a unique asset class that most outside investors simply don’t have access to. Our partners and relationships are what we value most. Transparency with our results and gaining the trust of those we work with are our highest priorities. PetroVista will remain headquartered in Midland and maintain a presence in Dallas. The best is yet to come. We have a formula for success and a track record to prove it.
Born and raised in Midland, Texas and the middle of three boys, Blake Robbins is a self-proclaimed risk taker. He graduated from Texas Tech University in 2005 and is a second-generation Red Raider and a third-generation oil man. He later worked as a contract landman before independently buying up drilling rights to sell to oil & gas operators—a successful turning point in Robbins’ career. He founded PetroVista—a combination of the words ‘petroleum’ and ‘vista’, as Robbins had a “petroleum vision for his future.” Robbins moved to Dallas in 2017 where he continues to lead the day-to-day operations of his company, which is based in Midland. Outside of running PetroVista, Robbins works in traditional real estate and surface real estate and is currently raising capital to generate economy of scale to produce much larger results or profit scenarios in the oil & gas industry
Photography by Wanthy Dimaren
Between FritoLay and Quaker, PepsiCo Foods has 42 brands that come in hundreds of variations.
story by CHRISTINE PEREZ portrait by SEAN BERRYBy all measures, Steven Williams has exceeded expectations since taking the helm of PepsiCo Foods North America in 2019. Here's how he's driving growth at the $21 billion enterprise.
During a tour there in early 2019, he got a call that would change his life. Two calls, actually. The firt came from Vivek Sankaran, then-CEO of Frito-Lay North America. Word had been going around that Sankaran intended to leave the company. “I’m not supposed to be calling you, but I just wanted to tell you to answer your phone,” Sankaran cryptically said. “You’re going to hear from Ramon.” Shortly thereafter, Williams’ phone rang a second time. Ramon Laguarta, a Spanish businessman who succeeded Indra Nooyi as PepsiCo’s global chair and CEO in 2018, was on the other end of the line. He was calling with an offerto name Williams CEO of PepsiCo Foods North America. The move would
Frito-Lay’s headquarters campus sits on about 300 acres within Legacy business park in Plano.
The company's "chipping potatoes" are developed and bred by agricultural researchers in northern Wisconsin.
put him in charge of North American operations of both Frito-Lay and Quaker Foods, a combined $21 billion+ operation.
“Yeah, so I got the call, and it was awesome,” Williams says with a big smile. “I was excited. What I’ll say is I knew about the opening and felt that I’d be able to compete. You know what your potential is, but timing is a factor, too. So, I didn’t know if I would get the job, but I knew I had a shot.”
Williams had certainly put in his time, holding 14 differentroles with the organization since firt joining to manage sales of the Quaker brand in Oklahoma and Arkansas in 1997. Richard Fisher, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, was on PepsiCo’s board of directors in 2019 and among those who endorsed Williams’ selection. Since then, “Steven has been a remarkable gift that keeps on giving to PepsiCo shareholders,” Fisher says. “He runs the most vital part of the enterprise. Without Frito-Lay, you wouldn’t have the kind of stock performance PepsiCo has had. The stock is performing at all-time highs at a time when the rest of the market is being creamed. Without Steven, that would not be possible.”
Fisher describes Williams as authentic, thoughtful, a good manager, a strategic thinker, one who is open to new ideas, enthusiastic, and someone who executes well. “Frito-Lay represents more than half of the enterprise value of PepsiCo, and Steven has run it brilliantly,” Fisher says. “He was also given one of the worst performers—Quaker Oats—which he has turned around and made very successful and very profitable.If he wishes, longer-term, I could see Steven one day running all of PepsiCo.”
The company’s Plano-based foods division currently has 42 brands, most of which come in myriad varieties. Six brands generate more than $1 billion in annual revenue each—Lay’s, Cheetos, Doritos, Tostitos, Rufflesand Quaker. Dozens more, including Fritos, rake in more than $500 million a year. As CEO, Williams oversees nearly 70,000 employees and is responsible for everything from “seed to shelf.” (See sidebar on p. 39.) “I am privileged to do this job, and I don’t take it for granted,” he says. “I also know I’m about the only person who could do this. It’s my moment now.”
BORN IN 1966 in Haskell, Oklahoma, Williams was the youngest of nine children, which made for interesting times growing up, he says. “Some say I was a surprise; others say a miracle,” he jokes. His closest brother, James, is nearly 13 years older. His oldest sister, Lillian, is 25 years his senior. Williams’ father was a Baptist pastor in nearby Okmulgee and had a side hustle selling burial and life insurance. His mother worked at a school cafeteria and also cleaned homes and took on other jobs. Williams’ status as the baby of the family did not earn him preferential treatment. “Dad was a good man, but he was strict when it came to behav-
Williams says he and his team think of the company's manufacturing facilities as kitchens. "We're making food for people," he says.
ior—he wouldn’t even allow nicknames,” Williams says. “My sisters would try to call me Stevie, and he would say, ‘The boy’s name is Steven.’ He would call me ‘the boy,’ but he insisted that everyone else called me Steven.” (Williams goes by the longer version of his name; he never shortened it to Steve.)
Until moving away, he says, he didn’t realize how little his family had. “I don’t like saying ‘poor’ because we were rich in a lot of things,” Williams says. “There was a lot of love, and we never missed a meal. Everyone worked hard and pitched in.”
His father ruled with a heavy hand but, despite the hardships he faced as a Black man in rural Oklahoma, was an eternal optimist. He would often tell Williams to remember that “attitude determines your altitude, and the sky’s the limit.” His mother was a giving, hopeful, compassionate woman of faith who also was a pragmatist. Due to his father’s flxible schedule, Williams spent most of his days tagging along with his dad, a talented storyteller and preacher. He attended countless weddings and funerals, seeing people at the start of their adult lives and at the end of them.
When he was 13 years old, Williams got a job stocking shelves at a small grocery store. During summers, his parents would send him to Tulsa to help his brother Richard with his air-conditioning and refrigeration business. As a high school graduation gift, he received luggage. “Our parents gave us three choices,” Williams says. “We could go to college, which was the preferred choice, join the military, or get a job. Whatever we did, we were expected to leave home.”
Williams chose school and went to the Universi-
ty of Oklahoma, where he met his wife of 29 years, Christy. He entered the workforce before graduating but ultimately earned a degree in economics from the University of Central Oklahoma. “I always knew I wanted to work in business, but I studied economics because I wanted to understand how the world worked,” Williams says. “Growing up in a small town, we never talked about those things. I wanted to learn about money and how the economy worked.”
His brother James taught him to hunt and fish and other role models helped guide him, too. Williams was also profoundly inspired by Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. He admired the way they drove major action but did it in a way that brought people together. “They didn’t push people apart,” Williams says. “I’ve always admired that style—probably because it was close to the way my dad operated. I learned that—man, you can move mountains and you don’t have to be divisive. I also think about big bets—the moon shot and JFK—and how history favors the bold. It’s about the actions you take. I think my leadership style has been informed by all these things.”
Williams keeps a stash of one of his favorite snacks, Ruffles A Dressed, which are only available in Canada.
Agricultural operations are foundational for FritoLay. Everything starts by cultivating each snack’s core ingredient. Here’s the company’s recipe for creating the perfect potato chip.
STEP 1: Agricultural researchers in Rhinelander in northern Wisconsin develop various breeds of potatoes. Those used for chipping are round in shape, similar in size to a baseball, with skins that are thin and easily removed. They’re also engineered to not retain much moisture, as solid vegetables produce better yields.
STEP 2:
Frito-Lay contracts with farmers and sells them proprietary seeds that are ideal for their specifi geographical regions. There are many varietals, which allow the potatoes to be grown everywhere from Arizona to Wisconsin.
STEP 3:
The farmers plant and tend their crops, overseen by FritoLay. All U.S. farms are 100 percent sustainably sourced. At harvest, the company buys the potatoes from the farmers and sends them to one of its more than 40 manufacturing sites around the country.
STEP 4: The potatoes are washed, peeled, sliced, baked or fried, seasoned, and “turned into something delicious,” Williams says. The snacks are then packaged in bags and boxes and sent to a distribution center or store.
WILLIAMS BEGAN HIS career in 1991 in Oklahoma City as a buyer for grocery wholesaler Fleming Cos. His boss, a division president named Jim Costello, could be “mean as a snake” but took a genuine interest in Williams’ career development. Once, while sitting in a conference room, Costello told his young protégé to get the emotions out of it and stick to the facts. (“He didn’t say it quite that nicely,” Williams says.) It is advice that he carries with him to this day.
In 1997, Williams shifted over to Quaker Foods and Gatorade. When the two brands were acquired by PepsiCo in 2001, he and his colleagues weren’t thrilled. “Quaker was called ‘Quaker nice,’” he says. “And we were like, ‘This is not going to be good. What are we going to do once we get into the PepsiCo machine?’” Despite the fears, Williams says he found PepsiCo to be “a completely differentanimal” that provided plenty of opportunities for growth.
Al Carey—whose various posts had him leading the North American operations of Quaker Foods, Frito-Lay, PepsiCo Beverages, and, ultimately, all of PepsiCo—is among those who took early notice of Williams. “I could tell he was going to be a winner,” Carey says. “His results were fantastic, and he had a collaborative management style. Customers knew they could trust him—his people did, too. He holds them to a high standard but with compassion. He makes people want to perform at a high level, and he understands that the old ‘command-and-control’ leadership style is no longer going to cut it.”
Carey identifiedWilliams as a “high-potential leader,” a PepsiCo term for people targeted for corporate advancement. “We always made sure to map out careers of those on the high-potential list,” he says. “Steven was always on my list, and as we moved him into differentjobs, I knew he was going to be a very high-level executive at some point if we gave him the critical experiences he needed.”
Williams’ consistently strong performance led to opportunities that took him back and forth between Los Angeles, Chicago, Bentonville, Arkansas, and Dallas-Fort Worth. He moved to North Texas in March of 2016 to lead Frito-Lay’s East Division. Two steps up the career ladder later, he was in the corner offic
Even after leaving PepsiCo, Carey continued to check in on Williams. “I remember my firt year at Frito-Lay; it’s challenging when you don’t have anyone to talk with,” Carey says. “It can cause you to question some of your decisions. I wanted to be there for Steven. What’s interesting is I don’t think he needed me at all. He hit the ground running and accelerated growth. Steven has exceeded everyone’s expectations.”
Frito-Lay’s Off the Eaten Path snacks, made of black beans, rice, and chickpeas, come in compostable bags.
The pandemic changed everything. PepsiCo Foods CEO Steven Williams says these shifts in consumer behavior are here to stay.
“During the heart of COVID, people didn’t want to venture far from home. They’ve since expanded to a broader repertoire of shopping, visiting three or four places every week, between local markets, convenience stores, natural stores, and clubs.”
“The pandemic accelerated e-commerce for food by about four or fie years. Picking up orders and home delivery of items bought digitally is approaching a large number—double digits for us today.”
“Given the economic outlook, value is still super important to consumers. It shows up in different ways—not just absolute price points but trading down to less-expensive items and stocking up at places like Costco and Sam’s Club.”
“During COVID, people stopped pouring things into bowls, and multipacks took off. They offer convenience, portability, and portion control. Our multipacks are doing well on every channel.”
FRITO-LAY’S headquarters, which also houses a number of PepsiCo Foods associates, sits on nearly 300 acres in Plano’s Legacy business park, surrounded by green space and soothing water features. A second facility, separated from the main building by a grove of trees, is where snacks of the future are dreamed up. About 300 scientists, chefs, and researchers work in the company’s global R&D center of excellence. They’re informed by exceptionally deep data on consumer behavior and demographic trends—such as Gen Z’s penchant for tangy flvors.
The company’s portfolio extends back to 1932, when C.E. Doolin began selling Fritos corn chips and Herman Lay started a snack food delivery company, later buying out the manufacturer. The two companies merged about 30 years later to create Frito-Lay. The trademark for Quaker’s star product, Quaker Oats, goes back even farther—to 1877.
Williams often uses the word “ubiquitous” when talking about PepsiCo Foods brands, which can be found in 94 percent of U.S. households. “The value of our company is our brands,” he often says. Through the years, the R&D team has exponentially broadened the portfolio by creating new iterations of foundational brands—such as the Simply and Baked lines, as well as new flvors, like the super successful “Flaming Hot” products.
PepsiCo Foods is also the biggest dip company in the country, with quesos, salsas, and other dips under the Tostitos, Fritos, and Lay’s brands.
One of Williams’ favorite new products is Tostitos Blue Corn, which was introduced about three years ago. “Set them out at a party, and they’ll soon be gone,” he says. Other newcomers include Flaming Hot Doritos, which builds on the success of Flaming Hot Cheetos, and a couple of varieties of Doritos 3D. Lay’s Poppables, potato puffsthat come in differentflvors, have done well, as has the Offthe Eaten Path line, snacks made with rice, black beans, and chickpeas. Williams says consumers also love limited-time-offermashups, such as Wavy Lay’s with Funyun flvors and a Cheetos
About 300 scientists, chefs, and researchers dream up new products in the company’s global R&D facility in Plano.
line of macaroni and cheese, which leveraged the pasta capabilities of Quaker Foods.
“The barrier to entry in our category is super-duper high,” he says. “Potatoes are readily available, and corn is readily available, but we can do things at scale, we do it with good science behind it, and we have these amazing brands. It’s hard to introduce a completely new snack to the world.”
Along with developing new products, Williams has made one acquisition since being named CEO, buying the company behind the PopCorners brand of popped-corn crisps in a deal that closed on March 1, 2020. He also upped PepsiCo Foods’ marketing game. In May, a partnership with the Netflixhit Stranger Things let Doritos 3D buyers scan a QR code and get access to a “Live from the Upside Down” virtual concert. The following month, Frito-Lay inked a deal to sponsor FIFA’s 2022 World Cup in Qatar. It’s also having conversations about the 2023 Women’s World Cup in New Zealand and expects to have discussions about the 2026 World Cup in North America, too.
The word “ubiquitous” applies not just to the company’s products but where they are found. They’re sold via mass retailers like Walmart, Target, and other big-box chains, traditional grocery stores, and convenience stores, both chains like 7-Eleven and small mom-and-pops. The snacks are also sold via Amazon and countless retailer e-commerce sites, a business that accounts for a double-digit percentage of sales and is growing. For several years, the company had been thinking about establishing a digital B2C platform of its own. The pandemic accelerated those plans, with snacks.com going live in May 2020. Along with being a “nice little business” of its own, Williams says, the site allows the company to collect firt-party data and foster deeper relationships with customers. It’s also a way to test limited-time products, such as ketchup- and mustard-flvored Doritos, sell custom-order multipacks (which are now packaged in boxes versus bags), and offera few surprises, such as holiday gift items and a limited-edition Cheetos onesie. (Williams is still a little salty that the onesies sold out before he could get one for himself.)
The pandemic also drove home the importance of PepsiCo Foods’ impeccable record for safety and the trust the company has established with consumers. “We think of our manufacturing facilities as kitchens— we’re making food for people,” Williams says. “I feel great about every bag and every box; I never lose any sleep thinking about this.”
WHEN HE BEGAN his CEO journey, Williams had plenty of options in deciding where to focus his attention; his company controls the value chain all the way through. Today, three years into his post, when talking specificsabout everything from product innovation, marketing, and electrifiction to consumer trends, technology, and employee upskilling, he shows a deep and detailed understanding of the broad-ranging operations he oversees—knowledge no doubt gleaned through the varied roles he has held in his 25-year run with the company.
Among his greatest responsibilities is overseeing the company’s massive, nearly 70,000-member
workforce. “We’re the biggest blue-chip company that is also blue-collar,” Williams says. “We have high-tech, R&D, and sophisticated consumer insights personnel, but about 65,000 of our employees either make, move, or sell our products.” Along with paying above-average wages, talent engagement, development, and retention initiatives fall into three buckets: worker, work, and workplace.
With 13 quarters behind him, Williams continues to look ahead. He’s focused on removing bottlenecks in manufacturing, making infrastructure investments to support growth (including a major investment in the company’s Irving plant), sustainability, automation, and digitization. “Growth is oxygen for any business,” he says. “It gives you the ability to do things you otherwise wouldn’t be able to do. It’s helping us build a better company and double down on tech to drive growth using fewer resources.”
Williams also is fiercelycommitted to giving back to the community. He serves as both board chair and 2024-25 fundraising chair for the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, with which PepsiCo Foods has been involved for 50 years. He’s a driving force behind Southern Dallas Thrives, a partnership between the PepsiCo Foundation, Frito-Lay, and the United Way. About 25 percent of the company’s employees either live or work in the southern sector. He also has recruited leaders at AT&T, Comerica, and other big corporate citizens to get involved.
A self-described “tough-minded optimist,” Williams says he can’t imagine a future that isn’t bright. “I think we’re operating on the cusp of something truly special,” he says. “We are winning, and we’re going to keep winning.”
Some North Texas companies are embracing the brave new world of these alternative assets, even in the midst of an industry-shifting crash.
story by BEN SWANGER AND KELSEY J. VANDERSCHOOT
work? (Pro tip: A sidebar on the next page has definitions for words highlighted in blue.)
Many tie cryptocurrency’s launch to Satoshi Nakamoto—an individual or several developers, the specifics are unknown—who unveiled a white paper detailing plans for a digital currency that could be traced in an ecosystem: the BLOCKCHAIN . The launch corresponded with the chaos in financial markets during 2008, when trust in banks wavered.
Since then, the crypto space has evolved to include roughly 20,000 digital currencies and become an investment play across industries and demographics. Sectors including art, sports, retail, financial services, and more have developed entry points into cryptocurrency for consumers. But the recent failure of the former cryptocurrency exchange giant FTX has disrupted the entire industry.
But as alternative assets become increasingly relevant during inflation and the crypto market hits another extended period of record lows, more individuals and companies are embracing the nebulous technology and trying to make crypto less cryptic.
North Texas is home to industry leaders in the global multitrillion-dollar crypto space, including Fort Worth-based Coinsource, the largest Bitcoin ATM operator in the world, and startups like Blockmetrix, the CRYPTO MINING company that has raised $50 million in funding. Even some energy players are entering the arena, including Taylor Billingsley, grandson of Tri Global Energy Founder John Billingsley. Former Dallas Cowboy turned commercial real estate exec Darren Woodson has also joined the fray via NON-FUNGIBLE TOKENS .
“The ledger transparency, the simplification of payment flows, and the tech that comes with it is creating a lot of opportunity,” says Alex Holmes, CEO of North Texas-based MoneyGram International. But what exactly is CRYPTOCURRENCY , and how does it
At its peak this past January, FTX was valued at $32 billion—now, the company is bankrupt, and its former CEO is in serious legal trouble. Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, was allegedly using the capital of company creditors to transfer into his hedge fund, Alameda Research. Crypto publication CoinDesk reported that Alameda's balance sheet was stuffed with FTT—FTX's native crypto token. As a result, Binance, a top exchange competitor of FTX, engendered a crypto bank run after its own investigation into mishandled funds and, in early November, liquidated approximately $500 million worth of FTT tokens offthe platform. Consumers followed suit, eviscerating the token. FTX found itself in a multibillion-dollar hole just three days after the sell-off egan.
The value of top cryptos Bitcoin and Ethereum fell 20 percent in wake of the FTX collapse. Cave-ins are nothing new, though; in fact, Bitcoin has been pronounced “dead” some 200 times since 2017, according to BitStacker. But the recent crumble speaks more to poor business leadership than it does to the tech, crypto-truthers say. And for DFW companies, many leaders in the space are still bullish.
On the leading edge of the technology is money transfer giant MoneyGram International. Founded more than 80 years ago as Travelers Express, the company built its brand by providing non-bank financial transaction services, including international transfers. Now, through partnerships with crypto companies Coinme, Stellar, and G-Coin, it allows its cusomers to
Since the
of
2009, cryptocurrency has been an easily escapable
for those who find the new concept cloudy and the investment far too volatile.
buy, sell, and trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin with its mobile app. It has also established an online crypto wallet and it offers a crypto-to-cash conversion tool, which allows customers to instantly convert their crypto to government-issued currency across 20,000 corridors in more than 200 countries.
“There’s an in fi nite amount of regulatory questions,” Holmes admits. “But crypto and blockchain technology are here to stay. And we want to push innovation and new ideas into the marketplace.”
Even a few traditional financial institutions are embracing crypto. Dallas-based First Foundation Bank recently partnered with fintech giant Fiserv and Bitcoin company Nydig allowing its customers to buy and sell Bitcoin as well as view their Bitcoin holdings on their digital platform.
“We didn’t want to be left behind,” says Lindsay Lawrence, First Foundation's COO. “Research shows that 81 percent of clients would be interested in purchasing Bitcoin through their financial institution.”
The partnerships with Fiserv and Nydig were essential as many banks won’t store crypto—it’s not an FDIC-insured asset. Customers can see a Bitcoin balance statement via First Foundation’s platform, but Nydig is the keeper of their crypto wallets. When customers want to buy, sell, or cash out of their crypto position, cash can be deposited or withdrawn from a
ALEX HOLMES MoneyGram InternationalFirst Foundation account to complete the transaction with Nydig. “There’s that little loop, that cul-de-sac, that’s happening there,” Lawrence says.
New York-based investment platform Republic helped lead the way for companies hoping to fundraise via token sales that comply with SEC regulations. The company launched a blockchain division in 2017, pioneering the first legally compliant token sale through their platform. “We are probably in the top tier of crypto projects out there,” says Pialy Aditya, senior advisor and board member for Republic.
These kinds of relationships allow companies and investors to interact with the uncharted landscape that is the blockchain—an integration many say will be further ironed out soon. “I think you’re going to see centralized banks have cryptocurrencies,” says Travis McElroy, co-founder and CEO of Dallas-based startup Tronic. “I think you’ll see a Wells Fargo crypto. I think you’ll see Chase Bank crypto. I think you’ll see Nike and other big brands have it.”
As retail investors become more accepting of crypto, companies are feeling pressure. Business leaders are beginning to include crypto assets in calculating their company’s net worth. A few early adopters
The terminology around cryptocurrency and NFTs can be nebulous. Here are some key definitions o know before you start diving in.
An alternative asset represented by digital units, typically coins or tokens. The units are verified though transactions on a decentralized system.
The digital space where cryptocurrency ownership is tracked and movements across numerous computers through a peer-to-peer network are recorded.
The competitive process of how cryptocurrency is sourced. Essentially, developers figue out a code that represents one working coin of a given cryptocurrency.
The third iteration of the internet, following Web1 and Web2. In this vision of the future, digital decentralization and complete ownership are the focus of web use.
A digital representation, via code, of fractional ownership in a priceless item, including art, music, and more widely backed by the crypto coin Ethereum.
"There’s an infinite number of regulatory questions. But crypto and blockchain technology are here to stay."
even offer employees the option to receive wages or invest in cryptocurrency through their 401(k) plans. “I don’t think brands see all the benefits and all of the money they can save by moving to a crypto and digital ledger,” McElroy says.
Even nonprofits are capitalizing on the trend, accepting donations and launching fundraising campaigns in crypto. For example, contributions to nonprofits using The Giving Block platform saw a 66 percent increase in average giving in 2021, from $44,000 in crypto donations in 2020 to $69,644 in 2021.
“Brands accept cash and credit cards, but why aren’t they asking the question, ‘Why don’t we accept Bitcoin and Ethereum?’” McElroy says. “I think we will see everything from capital raising and stock ownership in the form of NFTs in the future.”
The movement to greater endorsement of cryptocurrencies is primarily spurred by the idea for a new iteration of the World Wide Web, known as WEB3 , and a push for decentralized ownership of content within digital spaces. One of the most significant elements of this shift involves non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, a unique code that can be purchased for ownership of a one-of-a-kind digital item. (Think trading cards, only online.) Typically, these codes cannot be traded like stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.
Republic is helping expand the adoption of NFTs across industries, with a project that uses NFTs to track fractional ownership of art, working with appraisal and digital registration companies to provide a digital record of ownership. “I’m excited about future applications of this in the luxury goods space,” Aditya says. “You’ll see more and more caring about the secondary market and having true ownership— being able to say what’s authentic and leveraging the blockchain for authentication purposes.”
McElroy’s Tronic specializes in building decentralized platforms for businesses and NFT creators by leveraging the technology of Web3 and its NFT marketplace. Some of its clients include Dallas-based footwear brand Hari Mari and 200-yearold firearm and ammunition manufacturer Remington Arms Co.
Less than a year old, Tronic is in the middle of a $7.5 million seed funding round. The most recently released NFT collection on its marketplace—one of 14 active collections—is called Chill Cowboy Country Club. It gives NFT owners access to exclusive merchandise, free concert tickets, backstage access, unreleased music, and more from country music artists. Former Dallas Cowboy Darren Woodson,
for
estate firm Cesa, is all in on NFTs as the chairman and co-founder of counterfeit takedown company CounterFind, which has removed thousands of fake NFTs valued at as much as $4 million off the inernet. Alongside co-founders Rachel Aronson and Jamie Gerson, Woodson and company work with
clients such as AnheuserBusch, the United States Marine Corps, and Sesame Workshop (the producer of Sesame Street). For businesses across sectors, NFTs grow brand reach, interaction, and loyalty. “Just like when the dotcom era arose, there are doubters about this tech,” Aronson says. “But the early adopters will benefit from incorporating a digital wallet now.” Woodson agrees that business-
es should utilize NFTs delivering the promise of real-world utility. “There might be economic downturns, but I don't see the NFT market moving,” he says. Gerson continues, "Consumers want exclusivity; they crave a VIP experience that no one else can get, unless you possess one specific NF. It is the perfect opportunity to grow your brand." In 2021, the global art market recorded an estimated $65.1 billion in sales, per a study by Art Basel and UBS. In May 2022, global NFT sales were racing toward an annual pace of $111 billion. By all appearances, the digital shift is already here.
co-founder and chairman of counterfeit NFT takedown company Counter find, says the value of NFTs is found in real-world utility. “It’s about experiences and how companies can give consumers a unique experience—whether it be a crypto that allows you to get on an exclusive yacht or something else,” he says.
Ac cording to a report from Chainalysis, as of May 2022, total global sales in the NFT market reached $37 billion, extending across industries and incorporating digital assets and NFT ownership into marketing opportunities. For example, the Dallas Mavericks became the fi rst NBA team to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment for merchandise and game tickets in 2019. In 2021, Mark Cuban named Voyager Digital, one of the fastest-growing, publicly traded cryptocurrency platforms in the United States, an official partner.
More recently, North Texas convenience store giant 7-Eleven partnered with tech fi rm Allink to launch the world’s fi rst real-time in-store NFT membership service in South Korea. Customers who own a 7-Eleven NFT are rewarded with crypto coins when they pay with the 7-Eleven app. And in April, Yum! Brands fi led NFT trademarks for KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell. The trademark includes operating a virtual restaurant featuring actual and virtual goods and home delivery. Also in April, the Dallas Cowboys became the fi rst NFL team to secure a cryptocurrency partnership, inking a deal with Blockchain.com and signaling mainstream crypto exposure to a broader audience.
“I’ve talked to the NFL, the other major sports leagues, and the Dallas Cowboys, and they are not budging and will continue to move forward investing in this disruptive market,” Woodson says. “The sky is the limit for every industry to utilize this technology.”
Regulation remains the unknown variable. Currently, each type of cryptocurrency is governed by its own set of protocols developed by those using the tech-
nology, and there is no overarching entity controlling trades, investments, or growth. Lack of regulation is leading to a failure in mainstream adoption. The cryptocurrency ecosystem and government agencies will need to unite to establish a standard usage for these alternative assets.
“All the various blockchain networks and all the various cryptocurrencies don’t work well together,” Holmes says. “And that is ironic because if there were one blockchain, then suddenly, you’d have a simplified global process, but how those interoperate is not nearly as seamless as you think.
“If we apply the same rules that we use with government-backed currency today, in terms of information about the customers and information about the digital Know Your Customer (KYC) of the coins, and we blend those, we can think about a very compliant way to invite consumers into the crypto space and create this bridge between these two different worlds.”
For now, banks and businesses continue building out their interactions with cryptocurrency as it becomes more readily available, accepted, and democratized. NFTs also hold power to become representations of digital smart contracts, college diplomas, music albums, keepsake tickets to sporting events and concerts, and even pay slips. Until then, the bricks building Web3 will shape the foundation of society’s digital future.
“Many people thought the fi rst iteration of the internet was just a fad,” McElroy says. “When the fi rst [50 million] users hit Facebook, and there were no advertisers, think of what business leaders would have done di fferently knowing the future reach.”
Even as volatility continues to be a concern, innovators keep pushing the envelope; The youngest generations may grow up in a world in which digital wallets may be just as common, if not more so, as leather ones. The crypto clouds will part with time as clarity around the assets and regulatory actions develop. Until then, McElroy says, “Large brands will continue to invest. Over the next three to five years, we will begin to see mass adoption.”
"I’ve talked to the NFL and the other major sports leagues... They are not budging and will continue to invest in this disruptive market."
OOVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS, EMPLOYERS FROM ALL industries have been grappling with The Great Resignation, as workers at every level pulled back on their careers or left their jobs altogether. In healthcare, these challenges have been especially acute. The industry was already dealing with a worker shortage and an aging workforce when the pandemic came along and created a full-blown crisis. At a time when they were needed most, caregivers faced incredibly difficult working conditions. Healthcare executives had to findways to keep and recruit frontline workers. And soon, nurses and others realized they had the upper hand in deciding when and how they worked.
From the end of 2021 through the beginning of 2022, the demand for travel nurses was fiveto seven times higher than normal, says Susan Salka, who until retiring last month served as CEO of AMN Healthcare, the nation’s largest healthcare staffincompany. As much as 15 percent of the nursing workforce retired, took other jobs within healthcare, or left the industry.
An AMN survey found that the pandemic left 63 percent of nurses feeling emotionally drained and 56 percent feeling burned out most days. In addition, a study of 2,500 physicians by the American Medical Association, Mayo Clinic, Stanford University, and the University of Colorado found that 62.8 percent of physicians had at least one sign of burnout in 2022, compared with 38.2 percent in 2020.
There are several culprits, from conflits with hospital leadership to challenges with reimbursement rates, but staffshortages are a compounding factor, and the issue will most likely worsen before it gets better. The Association of American Medical Colleges predicts a national shortage of between 37,800 and 124,000 physicians during the next 12 years.
The outlook for nurses is just as bleak. The Texas Department of Health and Human Services found that the demand is already outpacing Texas’s supply of nurses, and the gap is expected to widen in the years ahead. Texas currently has 11.5 percent of unmet demand. By 2032, the shortfall is expected to be 16.3 percent. A recent report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that there are 2.7 available healthcare jobs for every healthcare role that gets filled
Due to these trends, healthcare workers have the upper hand when it comes to compensation and deciding when, where, and how they will work. Healthcare executives have had to get creative to attract and hang on to employees. Salaries can be raised, but hospitals will never be able to compete with travel nursing agencies regarding compensation. But there are other things that can be done.
“A lot of things are going to have to change,” Salka says. “I don’t know who’s going to pay for it, but it’s going to have to happen because wait times are going up, and patient care is declining. We can’t keep burning out the precious workforce that we have.”
Industry experts say the most successful strategies for recruiting and retention fall into three categories: improved career pathways, meaningful interactions with leadership, and mental health benefits
Healthcare employers are looking to support their professionals in a variety of ways. Medical City Healthcare, for example, is hiring more licensed vocational nurses and patient care technicians to take on additional responsibilities to support care teams higher up the chain. It’s also training ER medical technicians to step up in emergency departments. Additionally, the health system has an extern program that gives nursing students expanded responsibilities. This helps keep the staffin pipeline full and relieves existing workers, which extends longevity among personnel.
Medical City has gone a step further by opening its own Galen College of Nursing. HCA, the health system’s parent company, is partial owner of the Kentucky-based school, which is opening a campus in Richardson in 2023. A 2019 survey found that 80,000 qualifiednursing students were turned away from undergraduate and graduate nursing programs because of a lack of qualifiedprofessors, who can make much more by working for a health system than teaching. Nursing instructors usually make between $70,000 and $90,000 per year, while a nurse practitioner typically makes $120,000.
Medical City is offeringemployees $5,000 in tuition reimbursement and providing loan repayment benefits for graduates. It also fully funds an employee’s education from an associate’s degree through nursing school. Although not every Galen graduate will end up working at Medical City, the school’s firt class has 40 students. With four graduations a year and room to grow, this strategy could have a major impact on shortages.
The ability to impact one’s working conditions and provide more access to leadership are additional strategies that healthcare employers are using. Dr. Glenn Ledbetter is the regional chief medical officefor the DFW central region at Baylor Scott & White Health and runs the Physician Well-Being Program for the hospital system. He has written about physician burnout and addressing employee wellbeing in healthcare and speaks nationally on the topics. The Baylor program includes training on coping strategies for stress and other mental health measures (see sidebar on this page) and takes a unique focus by giving frontline providers access to leadership.
BSW also hosts a “wellbeing grand rounds platform.” “We had honest conversations with our team and listened to what they were telling us about these complications of burnout and made sure that they got the help they needed in the moment,” Ledbetter says. “Maybe it’s a behavior health referral, a work schedule that needed to be adjusted, or some different domain of work to make, make it a better situation for them. We tried to be nimble enough to hear what our employees were saying and respond to that.”
Baylor Scott & White Health uses a variety of initiatives and strategies to help combat employee stress.
REFRESH, REFOCUS, AND RESTORE:
A half-day program focusing on coping and communication skills to mitigate burnout.
LUNCH & LEARNS
Monthly conversations led by clinical leaders on wellness and worklife balance.
A call-in service that provides two-minute and fie-minute meditation sessions.
A series of videos about supporting at-risk co-workers.
Full-day self-care meetings for clinicians.
Studies that connect employee wellbeing and hospital safety.
The wellbeing program also includes mentoring sessions that connect younger professionals with more experienced colleagues and a year-long program to develop leadership skills among physicians and prepare them for management roles.
Having access to executives is key to helping employees feel like they’re part of the decision-making process, which in turn deepens their investment in what is happening at the workplace, says Zach Mueller, chief nursing executive at Medical City. The organization developed a shared leadership model where nurses participate in councils that make decisions about patient care. The councils, which also include hospital executives, allow employees on the ground who are dealing with patients directly influencestrategies and procedures that impact working conditions.
This could include making changes to schedules, protocol improvements, and shifting responsibilities to improve efficiey and care. Giving employees who deal with these issues on a day-to-day basis an opportunity to have input about how the business operates can be fruitful on multiple levels. At Medical City, for example, the councils led to giving more duties to those in tech positions, allowing nurses to spend more time with patients. This, in turn, improved patient interactions and nursing satisfaction; it also gave medical technicians more responsibility, which makes them more marketable as they pursue career growth.
Giving voice to employees at all levels not only improves operations it also has a positive impact on culture and loyalty. Employees want to work somewhere where they feel like they are part of the decision-making process and contributing to outcomes. They are more likely to bring their best to work and stick around if they are given a chance to have an impact.
“Nurses make up the largest portion of our workforce, so we want to make sure they have a voice in the decisions that affet them and patients,” Mueller says. “We want to hear from them.”
For some healthcare employees, the strain has become too great to bear. A survey from Mental Health America found that 93 percent of health workers reported being stressed out or stretched too thin, 82 percent were emotionally and physically exhausted, and 45 percent of nurses said they were not receiving enough emotional support. Given these conditions, employers are responding with innovative strategies that would have been unthinkable in the past.
In a post-COVID world, where so many jobs have moved into a remote or hybrid schedule, most healthcare workers were left behind, as their jobs were not as conducive to that sort of flxibility. But with recruiting and retention becoming so tricky, provider leadership must rethink the healthcare worker scheduling paradigm.
Ledbetter says Baylor Scott & White Health is embracing virtual care and allowing more flxible schedules. For employees who typically work fivedays a week in the officfrom 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., the system is looking at offeringfour 10-hour shifts or three 12-hour shifts instead. For others balancing childcare with a spouse, maybe noon to 8 p.m. works better than the traditional eight-hour day.
Another frustrating aspect of the clinicians’ job is dealing with electronic health records. Although it might not seem like a mental health issue, it can be a significantstressor for providers. A 2018 Journal of American Medical Informatics Association study found that among users of the electronic health record, 70 percent reported stress connected to health IT, with primary care specialties being among those most affeted. Health systems are striving to attack this problem head-on by pairing design teams with physicians to help the EHR work for the providers and flow btter with what the caregivers need.
Other mental health benefitsinvolve letting caregivers see patients from home using virtual care, allowing them to do paperwork and appointment notes remotely and at differenttimes. That type of freedom and flxibility has been slow to arrive in the healthcare space, but shortages are forcing employers to consider getting on board.
“We’ve had to be creative because the last few years exposed the vulnerability of being rigid about how we think,” Ledbetter says. “You have to be able to adjust to what the workforce needs. Not only to fit their life but, frankly, to give them some life back and some balance with their lives so that they can be effetive, safe clinicians.”
Worker-friendly schedules and other enhancements can improve the mental health of employees, but more traditional benefitshave also become more common. Medical City North Hills, for example, just opened a designated serenity room, a tranquil area equipped with artwork, music, aromatherapy, and massage chairs for staffto take some time for themselves. And it’s getting used. “We findit full all the time,” Mueller says.
Employee engagement and retention are top of mind for all healthcare employers. For many, the challenges are easy to identify but difficult to overcome, Ledbetter says. “How do you configurea workforce that avoids burnout, that is going to be fulfilledas a personal mission, that is adequately compensated, and that is made of people who feel like they belong where they work?”
OUTSTANDING HEALTH SYSTEM
Medical City Healthcare
Baylor Scott & White Health; JPS Health Network; Methodist Health System; Southwestern Health Resources
ACHIEVEMENT IN HEALTHCARE INNOVATION
Sadiant Health
IntelliCentrics; Nomi Health; Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation
ACHIEVEMENT IN HOSPITAL INNOVATION
Children’s Health
JPS Health Network; Scottish Rite for Children; Texas Health Resources /Texas Health Breeze Urgent Care
ACHIEVEMENT IN MEDICAL RESEARCH
UNT Health Science Center at Fort Worth
Baylor Scott & White Health; Scottish Rite for Children; UT Southwestern Medical Center
ACHIEVEMENT IN WELLNESS PROGRAMS
Baylor Scott & White Health
JPS Health Network; Texas Health Resources; UT Southwestern Medical Center
OUTSTANDING HEALTHCARE COLLABORATION
American Cancer Society and UT Southwestern Medical Center
Baylor Scott & White Health and regional medical schools; UNT Health Science Center at Fort Worth, JPS Health Network, CPAN, and TCHATT; Medical City Healthcare, Tarrant County College, and Collin College; Texas Health Resources, Sanger Independent School District, and First Refuge Ministries
ACHIEVEMENT IN COMMUNITY OUTREACH
Texas Health Resources
Baylor Scott & White Health; Galderma; Medical City Healthcare; Methodist Richardson Medical Center
OUTSTANDING MEDICAL REAL ESTATE PROJECT
Methodist MansfieldMedical Center
Methodist Charlton Medical Center; Texas Health Harris Methodist Fort Worth
OUTSTANDING MERGER OR ACQUISITION
CVS Health acquires Signify Health
Prism Health North Texas acquires Community Dental Care of Texas; Access TeleCare
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Susan Salka, AMN Healthcare
OUTSTANDING HEALTHCARE EXECUTIVE
Awstin Gregg, Connections Wellness Group
David Hassinger, Direct Orthopedic Care; Luke Hejl, TimelyMD; Paul Singh, U.S. Dermatology Partners
OUTSTANDING HOSPITAL EXECUTIVE
Karen Duncan, JPS Health Network
Christopher Durovich, Children’s Health; Peter McCanna, Baylor Scott & White Health; Pamela Stoyanoff, Methodist Health System
OUTSTANDING HEALTHCARE INNOVATOR
Steve Miff, Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation
Sumeet Asrani, Baylor Scott & White Health; Janet Miles, JPS Health Network; John Robertson, Cook Children’s
OUTSTANDING HEALTHCARE PRACTITIONER
Nagaraj Kikkeri, North Texas Team Care Surgery Center
Cori Grantham, Direct Orthopedic Care; William Brinkman, HealthTexas Provider Network; Jay Wofford, U.S. Dermatology Partners
OUTSTANDING HOSPITAL PRACTITIONER
Brian Lima, Medical City Healthcare
Carla Garcia Carreno, Children’s Health; Sandip Mehta, Texas Health Physicians Group; Karen Roush, Methodist Health System; Joel Hunt, JPS Health Network
OUTSTANDING HEALTHCARE ADVOCATE
Sattie Nyachwaya, Prism Health North Texas
Daniel Casey, JPS Health Network; Crystee Cooper, Methodist Health System; Tyler Cooper, Cooper Aerobics & Cooper Clinic
OUTSTANDING VOLUNTEER
Janice Fannin, Methodist Dallas Health System
Janice Jackson, Texas Health Resources /Texas Health Allen; Cindy Merren, Methodist MansfieldMedical Center; Pat Norman, Baylor Scott & White Health
Lawrence Schwartz, Co-Founder and CEO TRIVIE
“in late 1999, i was the founder of a company that was planning to go public. it was a frothy time and there was a lot of excitement around high-tech startups like mine. But the dot-com bubble burst in March 2000, and we never did an IPO. To save the company, I had to lay offhalf the sta ff, totaling more than 100 employees. These were incredibly smart and loyal individuals, which made it particularly difficult—especially as I had no formal training in managing this challenge. That experience toughened me up and made me a stronger leader. It also taught me to always be transparent with my sta ff—then and ever since. To this day, transparency is something that I believe is imperative to leadership. You must have a clear vision of where you are going, how you will get there, and what success will look like. All the motivation in the world will fail to bring you to your goal if your goal is not clearly defined. Diluted focus yields diluted results.” — as told to Ben Swanger
As investors turn to alternatives in anticipation of an upcoming recession, leaders are optimistic for innovation and hopeful for economic stability.
story by KELSEY J. VANDERSCHOOT
some are calling it “the most telegraphed recession of all time,” but it is difficult to predict the depth of what most believe is a looming economic downturn. “I think we’re at a super interesting point in history right now,” says Rob Langley, co-founder and managing partner of Dallas-based middle market firm Align Capital Partners. With stocks crashing—$9 trillion was lost in the market through the first three quarters of 2022—many are contemplating non-stock investments to help diversify. “You continue to
see big pools of capital and investors increase their allocation to alternatives,” Langley says.
Some have turned to commodities, with global currencies taking a tumble. The dollar rose to a 20-year high over six major currencies this spring, and by September, Bloomberg reported the dollar up “against every single major currency.” “It’s all going to be a commodity currency situation for probably the next five years,” says Kelly Ann Winget, founder of Alternative Wealth Partners, a Flower Mound-based private equity firm focused on assets not tied to traditional markets.
Winget explains that supply chains are still fettered with challenges and demand for items such as oil, coffee, precious metals, is rising, so owners of these commodities can significantly mark up prices. Luxury coffee, Winget says, is an early example of this as U.S. and Chinese buyers are beginning to compete with a market traditionally occupied heavily by the Japanese. “It’s going to be expensive for coffee,” she says, adding that a coffee company her firm invested in less than a year ago already has a few interested buyers.
She cites a similar supply squeeze in ammunition, where panic buying, new legislation, drops in U.S. ammunition imports, and a shortage in primer—a component of bullets that ignites propellent powder—drove the prices of some calibers up by as much as 400 percent in 2021. Winget believes this phenomenon will bleed into other products over the next few years. “Our strategy is to own as many types of things as possible, because when everybody has all this money, they’ll pay anything for it,” she says, referencing the funds investors pulled from falling markets and are looking to reinvest.
Some of those dollars will go toward funding new companies via venture capital. Dallas investors are on pace to top $3.1 billion in venture capital funding in 2022—a record high, says Samantha Colletti, managing director of Silicon Valley Bank’s Dallas office. “To put that in perspective, the last high we had was around $2.8 billion,” she says. “That area of the market is still very healthy.” The region’s record activity comes at a time when the dollars deployed by VC firms nationally is down 22 percent year over year.
Colletti says current conditions are spurring investors to take stock of the situation, pausing new activity to evaluate their next moves. Things vary by industry, but most are experiencing some sort of headwinds. Fintech has been hit hard this year, she notes, and real estate may also be in for a tough ride, but enterprise software has barely slowed. “We’re forecasting the tech sector [in North Texas] to continue to do very well,” Colletti says. She adds that innovation in the startup community may even take offduring. “If anything, it’s going to accelerate in these hard times as these super creative entrepreneurs think about ways to solve challenges and the struggles that people are having right now,” she says.
Langley echoes Colletti’s sentiments about opportunities in crisis and believes private equity will see an influx of investments, too. “You’re going to continue to see capital flow to the private equity firms and into alternative vehicles; good operators think a lot of disruption creates opportunity,” he says. But deal volume may take a hit.
Carryover from a record year in 2021 helped fuel continued closings in the first half of 2022, but now, Langley, whose firm manages more than $1.4 billion in committed capital between its offices in Cleveland and Dallas, says deal flow is softening. “You’ve seen a dramatic slowing of private equity transaction volume that started mid-year and is continuing today,” he says.
Langley blames rising interest rates, which mean higher borrowing costs for companies, and losses at large investment banks. “We’re seeing more lenders—big banks as well as private debt funds—just step back from the market right now,” he says. Investors in those funds, he adds, are shifting to public debt, which is trading at a discount, among other avenues. “We’re at a moment in time where there’s some dislocation in the market,” he says.
Langley adds that the dislocation and decline in deal volume is what the Federal Reserve hopes to see in its mission to slow inflation.
A stabilization of interest rates will end the slump in deal volume—and Langley is hopeful that will happen in 2023. “Next year will be a tough year,” he says. “I think the debate is, is it a soft landing or not a soft landing? Either way, it’s some sort of landing.”
North Texas is having a record year for venture capital investments, but the overall U.S. market is not doing as well. Here are some key Q3 metrics across fundraising, investments, and deal volume that help reveal the state of the national market:
Investors placed $37.9 billion with VC firms in Q3 nationally, an 11 percent increase over the previous year.
VC firms deplyed 22 percent less capital year over year in Q3, totaling $63.6 billion.
Nationally, VC-backed mergers and acquisitions were down 36 percent, with 254 deals in the third quarter.
VC-backed tech IPOs nearly halved in volume compared to 2021, dropping 96 percent year over year.
Median late-stage valuations are level with what they were in 2021, holding fast at $100 million.
“I think the esports industry could do a better job of supporting mental health and looking after the creators who face toxicity and harassment online. Creators strive to build safe, welcoming communities, but they still receive grief from critics. Paired with the grind culture and alwayson nature of their careers, the racism, misogyny, and hate takes an immense toll. If I could change one thing, I would improve accountability online and deepen effots to police digital harassment in any form.”
edited by BEN SWANGER“The architecture industry has been a bit slow to embrace technology—like 3D modeling— and innovations in the design and construction industry, but the pace of change is accelerating. I think some big disruptions are coming to our industry—such as virtual reality on job sites and linked to geolocations—in the near future, and we have an exciting opportunity at GFF to invest in technology and embrace change faster than many of our competitors.”
“I wish there was a greater understanding about how critical it is for everyone to fully participate in this digital world. We have moved beyond the old rotary telephone to a more transformative communications company, working to solve the demands of this new online era. Unfortunately, not everyone has access to online resources, and this disproportionally impacts communities of color and those living in rural areas. We must make sure no one is left behind.”
If you could change one thing about your industry, what would it be, and why?CEO
Children’s HealthSM congratulates all the D CEO Magazine Excellence in Healthcare finalists, including our very own team members. Thank you for pushing the boundaries of incredible care for children.
OUTSTANDING HOSPITAL EXECUTIVE Christopher J. Durovich President and Chief Executive Officer Children’s Health
OUTSTANDING HOSPITAL PRACTITIONER Carla Garcia Carreno, M.D. Infectious Disease Specialist and International Adoption Medicine Children’s Health
The Heart Center at Children’s Health
Learn more at childrens.com
WHAT I DO:
“I’m a celebrity makeup artist and the owner of Daniela Bell Beauty and Makeup Studio, where we provide permanent makeup, special occasion hair and makeup services, makeup lessons, and a luxury lash line.”
STYLE ICON:
“Olivier Rousteing has revolutionized the way fashion is marketed and personalized; his business strategies, as well as his passion, have been very inspiring to me. His style is also unique.”
ON THE JOB:
“The beauty industry is very glam, so I try to keep up with fashion trends and add my own spin. When I work, I like to be comfortable. I will sometimes combine chic sneakers with a nice blazer for a casual-cool look.”
FASHION INSPIRATION: “Dressing up is fun, and it motivates me on the days when I’m not feeling too glamorous. I’ll pop on a pair of lashes to feel more daring and put together.”
STYLE DEFINED:
“Eclectic. I love dressing in monochromatic athleisure as much as I love wearing more fited bodycon dresses. I also love a flwy dress with sneakers.”
FASHION ESSENTIALS: “My favorite Chanel lipgloss, a fragrance from Diptyque and, of course, my lashes in the travel case, just in case.”
GO-TO LOOK:
“Anything chic athleisure, with a fun blazer and open-heeled sandals.”
HOW I ACCESSORIZE: “I’m a handbag and shoe lover, so those are always a big part of my outfit”
WEEKEND LOOK:
“When I dress up more, I’ll add a pop of color in my heels and lips.”
FAVORITE STORES: “I love Neiman Marcus for important events. For athleisure, I love Aritzia and Zara, and I can always count on Nordstrom.”
Area leaders tell us the one book they think everyone should read—and why.
“The Interaction Field by Erich Joachimsthaler is similar to my thesis by discussing the new paradigm for businesses of the 21st century where business innovation is threat and an ally. It amplifies how some leading companie create value through the ‘Interaction Field’ model where successful businesses are helping solve challenges for many direct and indirect stakeholders and parts of the value chain.”
“The 12 Week Year is a gamechanger to help individuals focus on what is important, build a structured approach to goals, and become more productive. His approach can be applied to many facets of one’s professional and personal life.”
“Leaders Eat Last is one of my favorite books. The author, Simon Sinek, illustrates how the world’s best leaders achieve servant leadership, including how to motivate others by creating an honest, trusting environment with a service orientation.”
“Thinking, Fast and Slow helped me better understand my process for making decisions and to reflect on how my biases influene me. You need to know when to trust your instincts and when to challenge your spontaneous thoughts.”
“Being Mortal by Atul Gawande stimulates deep thought and emotions, bringing to light many subjects about being mortal that people tend to ignore. It’s important to understand the people we aim to serve as well as ourselves.”
ADRIENNE FAULKNER Faulkner Design Group
“In The Color of Water, James McBride writes about his relationship with his mother during a difficult time in history. His mother is White and married a Black man in 1942. It is a very powerful story. I have a copy that is falling apart at the seams.”
“The Boys in the Boat is a powerful story about personal endurance, team building, and how to win. While navigating through a turbulent world and personal circumstances, it is very important to not give up and to continuously grow.”
Dr. Philip Huang has met many of his lifelong friends through music involvement.
Dallas County Director and Health Authority Dr. Philip Huang is used to having an overbooked schedule.
For the last couple of years, he has guided Dallas through an unprecedented pandemic. Still, even before COVID-19, he was used to filling his time with his tru passion: the trumpet.
Huang discovered his love for music while in school in Lake Highlands, where Eddie Green was the director of bands between 1962 and 1976 before directing college bands for more than 20 years. In middle school, Huang remembers being captivated by the high school band’s performance of Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring.”
“They were one of the firt high school bands ever to do something like that,” Huang says. “Lake Highlands band was transformational for me.”
As Huang pursued a medical career that would take him to Rice University, UT Southwestern Medical Center, and Harvard University, he never put down the trumpet. He put together a Christmas brass choir in college, playing
carols around campus. Later, he formed and played in a Dixieland band during medical school and residency, entertaining his peers before exams.
When he was medical director for the city of Austin, he again formed a holiday brass choir, playing in the Children’s Hospital and even Austin City Hall. He also participated in numerous other ensembles and bands, including the Central Texas Medical Orchestra and the Austin Symphonic Band. These endeavors were great ways for him to bring his love of music and medicine together while serving the community.
The pandemic paused his performances, but he has since reconnected with the Lake Highlands band as a booster. He has also been in touch with former bandmates, many of whom have kept up with music throughout their lives.
More recently, he has been looking to expand beyond the orchestral numbers to try jazz improvisation. He has sat back down at the piano and even bought a ukelele. In the chaotic world of
public health, where you may never know what will come next, Huang says something about jazz improvisation makes sense.
During the pandemic, music has always had a dual purpose for Huang. It has allowed him to get through the stressful and
heartbreaking news of reporting COVID-19 deaths but also brought about a vitality of its own. “It is an escape and a way to get away from all the other stuff,” he says. “Music also has its own way of healing. It’s amazing how music can generate so many emotions.”
EisnerAmper has a long track record of helping clients successfully transform their companies, build capital, innovate their processes, mitigate risk and connect with professionals who can help take their businesses to the next level.
Solutions are tailored to your industry, size and geography. So, whether you’re a manufacturer, a professional services firm, a nonprofit, a tech company, or any growth-oriented business, let EisnerAmper be part of your solution.
JPS Health Network is proud to have served Tarrant County for nearly 150 years. We are always ready to care for any patient that walks through our doors and will be here for you for years to come.
Outstanding Health System
Achievement in Wellness Programs
Achievement in Hospital Innovation – Opioid project
Outstanding Healthcare Collaboration – UNT Health Science Center at Fort Worth, JPS Health Network, CPAN, and TCHATT
Outstanding Hospital Practitioner – Joel Hunt, PA
Outstanding Healthcare Innovator – Dr. Janet Miles
Outstanding Hospital Executive – Dr. Karen Duncan
Outstanding Healthcare Advocate – Dr. Daniel Casey
EisnerAmper.com/SOLUTION
This mountainous nature, wildlife, and adventure haven is where PR leader Mari Woodlief has a second home.
story by KELSEY J. VANDERSCHOOT
i hadn’t realized how much i missed the mountains until I was hiking the trails in Grand Teton National Park outside Jackson, Wyoming. The 310,000-acre national park offers ample options for treks to experience flora, fauna, and breathtaking bodies of water. The mostly flat, 6.5-mile loop around Phelps Lake is a must—so is a plunge offthe roughly 20foot jumping rock into the glacial lake, with Grand Teton peak as a backdrop. Choose the Bradley-Taggart loop for a shorter jaunt with more elevation and double the water features. Wildlife often abounds on any of these adventures, so bring your camera and bear spray.
Once you’ve had enough outdoors, return to one of the area’s luxury resorts for a well-deserved reprieve. Amangani is situated in the Grand Teton’s foothills—a secluded but convenient spot to move about the region. Don’t miss a soak in the resort’s infinity pool, overlooking the Snake River Valley—especially under the stars. Another option is the Four Seasons Resort and Residences Jackson Hole, located inside Teton Village against one of Jackson Hole’s most sought-after ski runs. The slopes become mountain bike trails in the summer, perfect for an afternoon of fast-paced adventure. Also nearby is a tram that climbs a 10,450-ft peak in the Teton Mountains to Corbet’s Cabin, named after Corbet’s Couloir. This challenging ski chute attracts crowds in winter. Inside, a café serving Irish coffee and comforting wa ffles awaits.
Both resorts boast impressive wildlife tour offerings led by highly knowledgeable guides. Ask for Drew at Amangani, who adventured with us throughout the park to witness big horn sheep, elk, bison, moose, prong-horned deer, and much more. We even went on a short hike to an unmatched view of the park and peaks, and he educated us about the brain-eating fungi living in some of the area’s hot springs. At Four Seasons, request Seth from Jackson Hole Wildlife Safaris. He guided us to follow several elk at a distance, and we even heard a male bugle to several females. We also saw mule deer, bears, moose, prairie deer, and bald eagles and sampled huckleberries and choke cherries. I would recommend the former berry unless you’re prepared to brave through bitterness.
Dining options are plentiful at both resorts and in the town of Jackson. Standouts include breakfast at Amangani, looking out over the foothills. For lunch, the Handle Bar Restaurant & Pub at Four Seasons offers scrumptious shareable bites and salads. I’d recommend the poke and the Watermelon Greek Salad with salmon. Also, a stop at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar in town for a game of pool and a drink is a must. I chose to sit on one of the many saddles, which serve as bar stools, and sip a Dark and Stormy.
For dinner in town, The Bistro, a new Parisian-inspired eatery, is a great spot to watch the sun set over the mountains. I started with one of their daily specials, then chose the venison steak. Westbank Grill at Four Seasons also provides a great end to the day. Opt for the Heirloom Tomato Salad to start and the Bison Tenderloin for your main. The Cowboy Cookie (warm chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream) is an essentia l finish.
Close your travels with a 100-minute Turquoise Sage Body Ritual at the Four Seasons’ Spa. The treatment starts with an exfoliating salt scrub, moves into a massage with healing chamomile and arnica, and finishes with a willow bark wrap and foot massage—everything you need to get back on the trails again.
Mari Woodlief, president of Allyn Media, never gets tired of looking at Grand Teton peak, the star of Jackson Hole’s incredible landscape. The firt time she visited, she knew immediately that she wanted to one day have a home there. Now, the public relations leader retreats to her condo near Teton Village in Jackson Hole multiple times a year with her partner and son to enjoy skiing and nature and to escape the Texas heat. One of her favorite pastimes is snacking on baked goods while people-watching at Persephone Bakery, a local café. “I’m in love with its pastries,” Woodlief says. She especially loves the kouign amman. “It’s a croissant that’s jammed into a muffin tin and bed,” she says. “It becomes crispy on the bottom, but it’s flay and buttery in the middle.”
WEDDING BELLS Luque and his wife firt hit it off t a soccer match. So, naturally, their wedding was soccer themed.
FAMILY TRADE
Luque grew up the oldest of three kids in Costa Rica. All of his siblings went into marketing, too.
YOUNG LEADER
Luque was class president at his high school and helped put together a show his junior year.
President AVOCADOS FROM MEXICO
alvaro luque grew up hearing about family law each day from his dad, who was a practicing attorney in Costa Rica. But he knew early on that the legal route wasn’t for him. After studying business and marketing at Universidad de Costa Rica, Luque launched his career at Scott Paper Co. then segued into the food and beverage industry, eventually joining tortilla giant Gruma in 1999. Various roles took him to Venezuela and Mexico and, in 2010, Texas. Four years later, he took the helm of produce marketing nonprofit Avocados From Mexico. Here, Luque shares why moving to America has been key for his career, and how its easy to blend two cultures in Texas.
“I’ve always been a marketer. Ever since I was in high school, I was very outspoken. I always tried
to lead people and think of themes and things. I was always a big fan of American culture and the U.S., so when I got the opportunity to move here, it was a dream come true. I knew that for the marketing I wanted to learn and implement in my career, this would be the country in which to do it. I was very excited from the beginning. It was not hard for me to understand how the country works or how the culture works—especially in Texas. In Texas, you can cross over very easily; you can be very Hispanic one day and very American the next day, and it works out. We’ve been able to grow, become Americans and have our American life, but still get super Hispanic when we want to. That idea of having the best of both worlds was unique and good for us.”
Pearl carina anderson was born in winn parish, louisiana, to a mixed-race mother who was a midwife and a White physician father. She was raised by her grandmother, Nellie Stringer, and worked on the family’s cotton and peanut farm as a child. With no school for Black children in her hometown, she practiced her alphabet in the dirt until the Rosenwald Foundation opened a school she could attend. Anderson went on to be a teacher in Arkansas and Louisiana before moving to Texas and opening a grocery store in South Dallas. The venture was an immediate success. She married a prominent physician named John Wesley Anderson, who had been her doctor during a sickness. When he passed away, she was left with several properties and committed her life to philanthropy, using her wealth to establish a preschool, fund scholarships at Bishop College, UNT, and SMU, and benefit may other causes. Later, a middle school in South Dallas was named after her. In 1961, Anderson was named to the Governor’s Committee for the White House Conference on Aging. She also was the firt woman to be named an honorary lifetime member of the board of directors of the American Red Cross. In a speech refleting on her life, Anderson said, “Helping people becomes a habit and a very satisfying one. Giving of one’s self can be a very rewarding way of life.”
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