Linch With A Leader

Steve is the former Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Chick-fil-A. He now serves as a counsel for leadership development and continues community involvement on behalf of the company. He began his career with Chick-fil-A as director of marketing, but went on to work his way all the way to chief marketing officer. In that position, he was responsible for overseeing marketing, advertising, brand development management, menu development, and hospitality strategies. Before joining Chick-fil-A, Steve served as the director of marketing for Six Flags Over Georgia. He also spent time at Texas Instruments in a marketing role. In this episode, Mike Linch talks with Steve Robinson about his life growing up, his career track, experiences at Chick-fil-A, and what the Lord has taught him at each stop of his journey.

Joan has spent her career changing the landscape of women’s athletics at the collegiate level. She spent a couple of decades as the Women’s Athletic Director at the University of Tennessee. Most notably, she was over the athletic department when Pat Summitt brought the Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team to the national stage due to their tremendous success. Joan is also known for serving on the First Tennessee Bank Advisory Board, a Trustee for the U.S. Sports Academy, and she is on the Board of Trustees at Carson-Newman College. She’s been named a Champion in Sports Business by Sports Business Journal. She was elected President of the National Association of College Directors of Athletics. She has also been inducted into the Louisiana State University Hall of Distinction, the College of Charleston Hall of Fame, the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, the Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ Hall of Champions. Today, Joan is a nationally recognized speaker and business consultant. In this episode, Mike Linch talks with Joan Cronan about what it’s like to spend so much of her career at the University of Tennessee, the difficulties of rising up the ranks in the athletic field, leadership lessons she has learned, what it’s like working with a dynamic leader, and how her faith has played such a pivotal role in her life.

Patrick is currently a fullback in the NFL for the Buffalo Bills. He grew up just outside Orlando, Florida in a town called Altamonte Springs where he starred at Lake Brantley High School. He went on to play collegiate football in the SEC at the University of South Carolina playing for the legendary Steve Spurrier. After a great career with the Gamecocks, Patrick was signed as an undrafted free agent by the San Diego Chargers in the NFL. He had stops in San Diego and Kansas City before breaking onto the scene as a fullback with the Atlanta Falcons. The 2015 season was a big one for DiMarco when he won the 2015 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award for the Falcons and was named to his first Pro Bowl and a second team All-Pro. In 2016, he was on the NFC championship team with the Falcons who made it all the way to the Super Bowl. In 2017, he signed a four-year contract to go play for the Buffalo Bills.In this episode, Mike Linch talks with Patrick DiMarco about his upbringing and the role sports played, what is was like playing for Steve Spurrier, some of the adversity the he’s dealt with in sports and life, and how his faith has grown through the years.

Andy has been working in the food service industry for over 40 years of his life. He has been in and out of restaurants his entire life. He owned several restaurants early on in his career, but was ready to take on the opportunity with a big company and joined Bennigan’s as an assistant manager. After six months he was promoted and placed in charge of the entire state of California where the company was struggling. He quickly turned things around and was honored with one of only four creative excellence awards in Pillsbury’s 60 year history. He has been climbing the ladder in the restaurant world ever since working at not only Bennigan’s, but has also been a part of the groups with Rain Forest Café and Harrah’s Worldwide.In this episode, Mike Linch talks with Andy Revella, about how his faith has played a role in his life and career, how he got his start in the restaurant industry, and some of the lessons that he has learned from the food business along the way.

Luke is the senior minister of the Westover Hills Church in Austin, Texas. On top of pastoring week in and week out, he is also an author and the host of his own podcast entitled Newsworthy with Norsworthy. In the podcast, Luke will discuss a variety of topics including, Spirituality, Christianity, and other news worthy events that occur. In October of 2018, he released his first book God over Good. In this episode, Mike Linch talks with Luke Norsworthy, about his life as a pastor and what he has learned, things he learned from his father growing up, the things that motivate him to keep growing, his journey to beginning the podcast and the lessons he’s learned from it, why he doesn’t enjoy reading leadership books, and some of the lessons that life has taught him through the years.

Christy Wright is a Certified Business Coach, author, speaker, podcast host, and business owner. When Christy isn’t speaking to Fortune 500 companies or students at some of our nation’s greatest universities, she is working with many start-up business leaders as a Certified Business Coach. She is also the host of Dave Ramsey’s podcast, and contributes as a content writer for entreleadership.com. Her work with EntreLeadership extends to the Master and Performance Series as well, where she covers the area of personal development such as leadership, life balance, setting and reaching goals, creating boundaries, and time management. In this episode, Mike Linch talks with Christy Wright about her background and how she got to where she is and what she learned from her mother, the difficulties of balancing work and family, how her faith became a pivotal part of her life, her journey to joining the Dave Ramsey Team, lessons for leaders who need to dive into what God’s calling them to, the things she hates women say to themselves.

Ken Coleman is an acclaimed interviewer, broadcaster, author and host of The Ken Coleman Show as well as hosting the EntreLeadership Podcast. Ken joined the Ramsey Solutions team in 2014 and is a frequent guest host on The Dave Ramsey Show which is one of the most listened to shows in the United States. From there, he launched into his interviewing career which has led Ken into authoring a book entitled: One Question- Life Changing Answers from Today’s Leading Voices.In this episode, Mike Linch talks with Ken Coleman about what it was like to be one of the earliest podcasters out there, where he learned and built the passion for interviewing and asking questions, his experience at Liberty University and how it shaped him, Ken’s favorite aspects of leadership, and how his faith has impacted all that he does.

Aaron Niequist is a liturgist, writer, and pastor in the Chicago, Illinois area. He has led worship at large churches such as Mars Hill Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan and at Willow Creek in Barrington, Illinois. He went on to create a new set of modern worship recordings that are called A New Liturgy. Aaron has also gone on to author a book entitled: The Eternal Current: How a Practice-Based Faith Can Save Us from Drowning which is focused on a practice-based faith.In this episode, Mike Linch talks with Aaron Niequist about his background in leadership, the growth that he has found in his faith, relationships that changed him throughout his journey, practices that he uses to exercise his faith outside of church on Sunday’s, and what he hopes God does through his new book.

Pastor Terry Smith is the Lead Pastor of The Life Christian Church in West Orange and Paramus, New Jersey. He has been at TLCC for the past 27 years and has seen the church grow to over 3,000 people, but he is also heavily invested in his local community. He co-founded The New York City Leadership Center and is involved with the West Orange Government Reform Commission, West Orange Rotary Club, and Concerts of Prayer Greater New York. He has also authored an Amazon best seller titled, Live 10: Jumpstart the Best Version of Your Life. He is also set to release a brand new book, The Hospitable Leader, which is set to release in early October 2018.In this episode, Mike Linch talks with Pastor Terry Smith about his background and upbringing, the release of his new book, how Jesus served as a hospitable leader, the different aspects of being and becoming a hospitable leader, while also applying all of these principles to our own journeys.

Coach Curry was born and raised in College Park, Georgia. He starred on the football team at Georgia Tech under the iconic coach, Bobby Dodd. In 1965, he was drafted by the Green Bay Packers where he won his first of two Super Bowls under Vince Lombardi. Curry was in the NFL until 1974, playing not only for the Packers, but also for the New Orleans Saints, Baltimore Colts, Houston Oilers, and Los Angeles Rams. He then made the transition to the sidelines as an assistant coach at Georgia Tech in 1976. He moved to the NFL as an Offensive Line Coach for the Packers, but returned to Georgia Tech in 1980 as the head coach. He was named the ACC Coach of the Year in 1985, but then went on to become the head coach at the University of Alabama. His three-year tenure at Alabama gave him the highest winning percentage among coaches at the school since Bear Bryant. After Alabama, Bill Curry became the new head coach at the University of Kentucky for a few seasons. His last stop coaching came in 2010, when he was named the first ever head coach at Georgia State University to begin the football program at the school. In this episode, Mike Linch talks with Coach Curry about his upbringing in College Park, the role that men play in the family dynamic, the lessons he learned from legendary coaches like Bobby Dodd, Vince Lombardi and Don Shula, his transition from playing to coaching, the difficulties of the expectations that come from the public spotlight, and the reconciliation we can see in our country.