Be EPIC Podcast

This week on the podcast, Brent sits down with Laura Merling, Chief Transformation and Operations Officer at Arvest Bank. They start the discussion with a review of Laura's background leading transformations at companies like Ford, AT&T and Google. Laura then goes on to share the multi-year process underway to transform Arvest Bank into a technology-enabled community bank of the future. Laura outlines her 90-day framework for transformation, focusing on understanding customers, assessing technology and defining metrics. She highlights successes like the me at Arvest program and cloud migration. Gain insight into Arvest's new Centers of Excellence and how customer-centric innovation is driving momentum in the evolving financial services industry.

This week on the Be Epic podcast, Brent sits down with Simon Miles, Vice President of Global Omnichannel at The Coca-Cola Company. They discuss the omni-channel retail space and innovations including those in retail media, AI, and e-commerce. Simon shares his global perspective gained from working with his team that operates in 206 countries and the important role of collaboration across functions and with retailers. Simon also offers guidance for students entering CPG and retail marketing, emphasizing the value of curiosity, action-orientation, and resilience in building a career.

This week on the podcast, Brent sits down with Wendy Jean Bennett, vice president of retail commerce leadership at Tyson Foods. They discuss Wendy Jean's career in the food industry spanning over 30 years, mostly at Tyson. Wendy Jean shares her passion for food and desire to influence the company to make it better each day. They also discuss the evolving food industry landscape including trends towards convenience, sustainability and global cuisines, and how Tyson is navigating the omni-channel retail transformation. Finally, Wendy Jean reflects on the value of mentors, exposure, networking and saying yes to new challenges throughout her career journey.

For his last episode as host of the podcast before transitioning the hosting duties, Matt sits down with incoming interim dean of the Sam M. Walton College of Business, Brent Williams, to discuss the future of the Walton College and Brent's experience that has prepared him for this role. They begin the episode with Brent discussing his broad range of experiences at the Walton College and Matt and Brent's relationship for 20+ years that began with Brent as a Walton College student. They then move into a discussion around the future of the Walton College and what Brent's focus will be. Brent hopes to instill in students at the College a mindset of solving business problems at the intersection of technology, data, people and processes to prepare them for the future. Brent also shares details of the Walton College's strategic plan that was recently revised with an emphasis on developing the student experience, growing graduate programs, and increasing research impact. He also discusses the College's connectivity throughout the state of Arkansas, our unique connection with industry and how the optimism in Northwest Arkansas acts as a tailwind for the College.

This week on the podcast, we turn the mic to Matt as he is interviewed by incoming interim dean and new podcast host, Brent Williams. They reflect on Matt's transformative 8-year tenure as dean and how they initially met when Brent was a student of Matt's. They discuss key highlights during Matt's time as dean and then look to the future. Looking ahead, Matt shares his plans to return to research and teaching, while also supporting entrepreneurs across Northwest Arkansas. Stay tuned for next week's episode where Matt will interview Brent about the future of the Walton College in his final episode as host.

This week on the podcast, Matt talks to Chad Clinehens, President and CEO of Zweig Group. They begin the episode by discussing Chad's background as a two time graduate of the University of Arkansas in engineering and business. Chad was able to leverage his engineering and MBA background to elevate his work in the AEC (architecture, engineering and construction) industry through strategic planning, M&A, consulting, and more. Later in the episode Chad provides insights on implementing strategic plans, engaging employees, confronting weaknesses, and driving growth. He also shares how Zweig Group leverages decades of data and case studies to help firms grow, and stresses the importance of intersecting business with other disciplines.

This week on the podcast Matt sits down with Becky Lumly, Chief Financial Officer at Front Range Capital Partners in Denver. During the episode they discuss Front Range Capital Partners and their funding model along with Becky’s background and an overview of how she pivoted from the world of public accounting into hospitality and then to her current role. Front Range is a real estate private equity firm specializing in growth capital and property investments in partnership with other real estate operating partners. They have committed over $1 billion of equity capital to investments across the US since being founded in 2010.

This week on the podcast Matt sits down with Josh Smith, CEO and Jonathan Sasse, Chief Strategy Officer of Metova Strategies. During the episode they discuss their roles at Metova and how the company has pivoted through the years since the initial founding in Franklin, Tennessee. They then dive into how empathy and effective listening to customers gives Metova a competitive advantage. They focus on understanding what customers actually need, not just building technologically capable products. They finish with a discussion around the importance of mobile-first design, the Internet of Things and other technology shifts like generative AI.

This week on the podcast Matt sits down with Josh Pack, co-CEO of Fortress, a global asset management firm. They discuss how Fortress invests in an unconventional way in debts and assets by lending against intellectual property, patents, trademarks, legal claims and more to generate high returns. Josh shares his unlikely career path to joining Fortress, the people-focused culture that encourages input from all levels, along with Fortress' investments in supply chains and logistics. Gain insight into the world of alternative investing and how Fortress finds value where traditional investors cannot.

This week on the podcast, Matt sits down with Zach Wiegert, Managing Principal and Founder at Goldenrod Capital Advisors. The episode begins with Matt and Zach diving into Zach’s journey from professional football player to commercial real estate to leading acquisition developments as Managing Principal and Founder at Goldenrod Capital Advisors. Zach shares how lessons from his football career have translated to business and how he helps his team solve problems on a daily basis. They then discuss some of the projects Zach has worked on over the years and what he has learned from them. The episode concludes with Zach offering advice for graduating college students.