Episode 268

full
Published on:

27th Mar 2024

Envisioning Progress Through Regional Cooperation with Nelson Peacock

This week on the Be Epic podcast, Brent sits down with Nelson Peacock, President and CEO of the Northwest Arkansas Council. They discuss the council's work in supporting entrepreneurs, recruiting businesses, and diversifying the regional economy. Nelson shares his diverse career path working in government, higher education and economic development and how he made his way back to Arkansas after growing up in Eastern Arkansas and attending the University of Arkansas. During the discussion Nelson shares his focus and the council's emphasis on prioritizing quality of life as Northwest Arkansas faces growth pressures. Brent and Nelson also explore the opportunities for Northwest Arkansas and the University of Arkansas to continue to fuel the entrepreneurial ecosystem and venture capital investment in the region.

Transcript
Nelson Peacock:

But at the same time we're at an inflection

Nelson Peacock:

point. And so we have to continue to do that we have to

Nelson Peacock:

continue to support entrepreneurs recruit companies,

Nelson Peacock:

diversify the and strengthen the economy. But we're also don't

Nelson Peacock:

want to lose quality of life.

Brent Williams:

Welcome to the be epic podcast, brought to you

Brent Williams:

by the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of

Brent Williams:

Arkansas. I'm your host, Brent Williams. Together, we'll

Brent Williams:

explore the dynamic landscape of business and uncover the

Brent Williams:

strategies, insights and stories that drive business today. Well,

Brent Williams:

today, I have with me Nelson Peacock. Nelson is President and

Brent Williams:

CEO of the Northwest Arkansas Council, and an alum of the

Brent Williams:

Walton College. So Nelson, thank you for being here today.

Nelson Peacock:

Thanks for having me.

Brent Williams:

Well, excited to have you on and talk about the

Brent Williams:

council, which we partner with heavily. That's really making a

Brent Williams:

big difference in our region, in our state. I want to talk some

Brent Williams:

about like, what are the areas you all are focused on. But

Brent Williams:

maybe before that I want, I want our audience to get to know you

Brent Williams:

a little bit. So native of Arkansas, and along with the

Brent Williams:

college. But tell us a little bit about your history.

Nelson Peacock:

when I was you know two, grew up in McCrory,

Nelson Peacock:

Arkansas, which is Woodruff County in Eastern Arkansas, came

Nelson Peacock:

back, went to Fayetteville came to the Business College, of

Nelson Peacock:

course, ended up staying here and going to law school. And

Nelson Peacock:

after that, you know, the region was a lot different back then

Nelson Peacock:

there weren't as many job opportunities back then. So I've

Nelson Peacock:

moved to Little Rock practiced law for about a year and a half.

Nelson Peacock:

And they told me I was going to be a business lawyer, but I was

Nelson Peacock:

a debt collector. So that was not the way I wanted to spend my

Nelson Peacock:

days. And ultimately, that kind of led me to moving to

Nelson Peacock:

Washington DC. And I found my way into the Department of

Nelson Peacock:

Justice for a few years, ended up on the Senate Judiciary

Nelson Peacock:

Committee following that. And then my Senate experience kind

Nelson Peacock:

of led me to when President Obama won I was in the Senate,

Nelson Peacock:

working for then vice or then Senator Joe Biden on his

Nelson Peacock:

judiciary staff. Through that, I met Janet Napolitano who was the

Nelson Peacock:

governor of Arizona, and she had been nominated for Homeland

Nelson Peacock:

Security Secretary, first woman homeland security secretary. And

Nelson Peacock:

they assigned me to help her get confirmed in the Senate

Nelson Peacock:

confirmation process. Did that we kind of hit it off. And she

Nelson Peacock:

hired me to run her Legislative Affairs for the Department of

Nelson Peacock:

Homeland Security. So that agency includes TSA includes,

Nelson Peacock:

you know, the Border Patrol, which is gets a lot of attention

Nelson Peacock:

now, ICE, FEMA, cybersecurity, it's the lead domestic agency

Nelson Peacock:

for cybersecurity, so a lot of activity, doing that work with

Nelson Peacock:

her. And it was a lot of fun and getting to see, you know, our

Nelson Peacock:

service members. And, you know, what they sacrifice on behalf of

Nelson Peacock:

the country really, I think, solidified my idea that I enjoy

Nelson Peacock:

public service. And, ultimately, she took the job as the

Nelson Peacock:

president of the University of California. And that oversees

Nelson Peacock:

all the UC campuses, UCLA, and Berkeley and all of them. And

Nelson Peacock:

she invited me to come out with her out to Oakland, California,

Nelson Peacock:

and did that and was there for about four years.

Brent Williams:

Okay.

Nelson Peacock:

And then I think.

Brent Williams:

Doing government affairs there?

Brent Williams:

Yeah, it seems like knowing you, you and your

Brent Williams:

family have just really kind of invested deeply into this

Brent Williams:

community. And in many, many ways.

Nelson Peacock:

Yeah, I mean, it's been great. It's the kind

Nelson Peacock:

of place where you can plug in, and it's still small enough,

Nelson Peacock:

where you can make a difference or feel you can make a

Nelson Peacock:

difference, even at some of those larger institutions. It

Nelson Peacock:

very senior levels where I worked. You knew you were having

Nelson Peacock:

an impact, but you didn't think that it was you personally able

Nelson Peacock:

to contribute in any way. And here feels like, whatever you're

Nelson Peacock:

interested in, you can find a way to plug in and it's it's

Nelson Peacock:

high enough to make a difference, but granular and low

Nelson Peacock:

enough where you feel like it's you personally making that

Nelson Peacock:

difference. So, so it's kind of a unique place right now, where

Nelson Peacock:

we are in Northwest Arkansas.

Brent Williams:

You know, thinking about Nelson, thinking

Brent Williams:

about the council historically. You know, it seems to me that

Brent Williams:

this, you know, the regional cooperation that's happened in

Brent Williams:

this area, particularly amongst cities, counties, and companies,

Brent Williams:

has really been key, I think, to the story of Northwest Arkansas,

Brent Williams:

I think the the council has played a pretty important role

Brent Williams:

in that, it seems.

Nelson Peacock:

Well that's been the role of the council since

Nelson Peacock:

the early 90s. You know, the story is, is that Sam Walton got

Nelson Peacock:

together with, with Don Tyson, and with JB Hunt, and Mark

Nelson Peacock:

Simmons. And really, basically, they all, you know, kind of

Nelson Peacock:

decided that, you know, the region, these smaller towns,

Nelson Peacock:

which and they were all small towns at the time, have to find

Nelson Peacock:

a way to work together better, we need some key things in this

Nelson Peacock:

region, as far as infrastructure to help our company so that that

Nelson Peacock:

we can grow together. And at the time, it was the airport, it was

Nelson Peacock:

getting I-49 completed and getting 412 out to Siloam

Nelson Peacock:

Springs completed. And those were the projects. Ultimately,

Nelson Peacock:

those happened and the council kind of stayed an institution,

Nelson Peacock:

following that following 1998, when I believe when the airport

Nelson Peacock:

was open, and kind of stayed focused on highways and roads

Nelson Peacock:

and bridges, the airport until around 2010. And that's when

Nelson Peacock:

they hired Mike. And they expanded to workforce

Nelson Peacock:

development, economic development of this kind of

Nelson Peacock:

quality of life bucket that we focused on. And we've kind of

Nelson Peacock:

grown and expanded to meet meet the needs of the region since

Nelson Peacock:

then. But the key thing that we do is we bring together the

Nelson Peacock:

mayors of Fayetteville and Bentonville, we actually had a

Nelson Peacock:

meeting just yesterday, with all the regional mayors to talk

Nelson Peacock:

about growth and how we're going to handle, you know, up to a

Nelson Peacock:

million people over the next 20 plus years. And so that's our

Nelson Peacock:

role that we play, making sure that companies are engaged, you

Nelson Peacock:

know, with their community and vice versa. So all to towards

Nelson Peacock:

whether it's recruiting a company or recruiting talent, or

Nelson Peacock:

a workforce development program. It's like how do you make this

Nelson Peacock:

the most economically viable place that we possibly can? Can

Nelson Peacock:

you recruit a business here? Can you scale your business here?

Nelson Peacock:

Can you have fortune one and get the talent that you need here?

Nelson Peacock:

It's all of those types of things that the Council works

Nelson Peacock:

on. But the main role that we play is kind of the center of

Nelson Peacock:

the wheel getting all the right players at the table.

Brent Williams:

Yeah it's kind of a unique spot that you all

Nelson Peacock:

Well it has been it's been the calling card of

Nelson Peacock:

sit in, in this in this ecosystem. And I know I know

Nelson Peacock:

this region for for the longest time. You know, come here you

Nelson Peacock:

you've done you do traditional what we call economic

Nelson Peacock:

can afford a house if you're moving from the coast. Come here

Nelson Peacock:

development work, but it is interesting to see how how

Nelson Peacock:

involved you all are in the quality of life and seems like

Nelson Peacock:

those two things I'm sure have to balance one another and they

Nelson Peacock:

mixed together I also assume.

Nelson Peacock:

you won't have a ton of traffic. You know you'll have good

Nelson Peacock:

You know, one of the areas at least where I feel the most

Nelson Peacock:

education for your for your kids to go to school. And so that's

Nelson Peacock:

been kind of the calling card for Northwest Arkansas and you

Nelson Peacock:

know is clearly it's worked. You know, there are deficiencies

Nelson Peacock:

with that kind of less urban environment. And you know, we'll

Nelson Peacock:

probably talk around some of that around entrepreneurship and

Nelson Peacock:

venture capital, and things like that. But that is what we've

Nelson Peacock:

always hung our hat on. And I think there's a lot of people

Nelson Peacock:

here that people that move here, and also the people that live

Nelson Peacock:

here, don't want to lose that as we grow and make sure that we

Nelson Peacock:

have an economy that will work for everyone and have an economy

Nelson Peacock:

that will withstand any issues and you know, with any of our

Nelson Peacock:

large industries, and that includes the University of

Nelson Peacock:

Arkansas, you know, what happens, if, if something

Nelson Peacock:

happens in any of these large companies that we rely on along

Nelson Peacock:

so long, not that there will, but we need to have economic

Nelson Peacock:

resilience. And that is really a goal of the council. And it

Nelson Peacock:

helps those companies attract talent, if there's multiple

Nelson Peacock:

opportunities. There is a thought around you know, kind of

Nelson Peacock:

this dinette dynamism, you know, of a place where people can go

Nelson Peacock:

and have a great career have a great quality of life. And we

Nelson Peacock:

try to balance those things out and the things that we focus on.

Nelson Peacock:

connected to what you are doing, it's probably one area where

Nelson Peacock:

we've partnered the most is, is on entrepreneurship. So would

Nelson Peacock:

love to just hear your perspective, because you do sit

Nelson Peacock:

in a unique chair of since you've been here since 2017.

Nelson Peacock:

What are you seeing happening in that ecosystem?

Nelson Peacock:

Well, a lot when I came here, from, from UC, I got to see what

Nelson Peacock:

had happened with some of those institutions, and the impact of,

Nelson Peacock:

of an institution of higher education, working with the

Nelson Peacock:

business community inspiring entrepreneurs, you know, either

Nelson Peacock:

from Berkeley in the Bay Area, or what happened at UC San Diego

Nelson Peacock:

with the biotech industry, and really how those institutions

Nelson Peacock:

engaged with the public. And one of the the main things,

Nelson Peacock:

obviously, the attraction of talent here in providing that

Nelson Peacock:

center, but it was the inspiration of students, and

Nelson Peacock:

faculty that think that they could go out and change the

Nelson Peacock:

world, they're going to get their degree in, whatever, but

Nelson Peacock:

they're going to go change the world. And we saw that across

Nelson Peacock:

the board. And, and, you know, and so when we got here, it was

Nelson Peacock:

really interesting, I knew that the university was going to be

Nelson Peacock:

one of these pillars that we needed to rely upon. And when I

Nelson Peacock:

came in, it was around the same time, that Ross Devol came and

Nelson Peacock:

started Heartland Forward, he had a background in Arkansas in

Nelson Peacock:

the role of innovation and entrepreneurship, and, you know,

Nelson Peacock:

institutions of higher education in that role. And so, you know,

Nelson Peacock:

we really wanted to focus our members on that, and, you know,

Nelson Peacock:

the the university really stood up, and really, you already had

Nelson Peacock:

programs, and each of those have really grown them and developed

Nelson Peacock:

them over the last five years. And I think it's important, not

Nelson Peacock:

only for the institution, and the type of students you want to

Nelson Peacock:

get here, and can get here, but also for the region, the type of

Nelson Peacock:

region that we want to create with this kind of resilience

Nelson Peacock:

economically. So, you know, I think both of those things are

Nelson Peacock:

really important, you know, and the kind of faculty member that

Nelson Peacock:

wants to do research that wants to commercialize, I think that

Nelson Peacock:

creates, in my view, kind of a well rounded institution, a well

Nelson Peacock:

rounded region, well rounded state. And I think and hope that

Nelson Peacock:

we're going to continue to grow those programs, strengthen those

Nelson Peacock:

relationships between the university and the business

Nelson Peacock:

community, and continue to, to do our part, I think, to help

Nelson Peacock:

ensure that, that the University of Arkansas can be the best that

Nelson Peacock:

it can be. And then that turns around and makes the state the

Nelson Peacock:

best that it can be.

Brent Williams:

I couldn't agree more, you know, when I think

Brent Williams:

about our our students, some almost 9,000 of them currently,

Brent Williams:

you know, I think what what our objective really is in the

Brent Williams:

Walton College is to input or develop maybe is the is the

Brent Williams:

better term, an entrepreneurial, innovative mindset, you know,

Brent Williams:

and then those students, right, there's going to be in our

Brent Williams:

region in our state, and companies everywhere, you know,

Brent Williams:

some are going to start companies immediately, some are

Brent Williams:

going to spend their whole career in large enterprises. But

Brent Williams:

when they do that, you know, they can cause those enterprises

Brent Williams:

to grow and morph and be resilient of their own. Some

Brent Williams:

will start in those enterprises and then come out and and start

Brent Williams:

their own businesses. So, but it's this, it's this group of

Brent Williams:

students that I think that really are going to be fuel for

Brent Williams:

the future.

Brent Williams:

Not too long ago, I got to attend a lunch

Nelson Peacock:

Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, for

Nelson Peacock:

the college when you look at what you've done in supply chain

Nelson Peacock:

that the Council put on that was really focused on trying to get

Nelson Peacock:

over the years, I mean, those are problems that these large

Nelson Peacock:

enterprises and small are facing every single day. And to have a

Nelson Peacock:

set of students with that skill set and an innovative mindset is

Nelson Peacock:

really is a significant value add of these companies to start

Nelson Peacock:

ups, you know, across the board.

Nelson Peacock:

trying to get, I guess, venture capital, private equity firms to

Nelson Peacock:

the region and investing in firms that are starting to grow

Nelson Peacock:

here. Can you talk a little bit about how you see the capital

Nelson Peacock:

landscape evolving, and maybe even your role in it?

Nelson Peacock:

Sure, you know, as you know, and I don't know if

Nelson Peacock:

the listeners know, but over the last, I don't know, five years,

Nelson Peacock:

there have been a lot of there's been a lot of focus on

Nelson Peacock:

accelerators and incubators. And coming out of the university,

Nelson Peacock:

the Walton Family Foundation has played an instrumental part in

Nelson Peacock:

setting up these programs to help the formation of young

Nelson Peacock:

companies. And we need that that's a priority. But we've

Nelson Peacock:

also found at the same time that that, you know, if they don't

Nelson Peacock:

get that very early stage capital, you know, after they've

Nelson Peacock:

been to friends and family, but kind of the seed round, you

Nelson Peacock:

know, those companies are either going to fall off and they're

Nelson Peacock:

these individuals are going to go work somewhere else, or

Nelson Peacock:

they're going to take their company, wherever that funder

Nelson Peacock:

is, or asks them to go. And so that'd be the worst case

Nelson Peacock:

scenario for us is to spend time and effort, incubating

Nelson Peacock:

entrepreneurs here, getting their ideas out starting a

Nelson Peacock:

company, and then having to go somewhere else. And so we all

Nelson Peacock:

know that outside of a couple places on the coast venture

Nelson Peacock:

capital, especially early stage is difficult to come by. And so

Nelson Peacock:

what we've started at the council, we're not investors,

Nelson Peacock:

obviously. But we have been trying to and have started to

Nelson Peacock:

focus on firms in and around the heartland, primarily because

Nelson Peacock:

there is a coastal bias on what those types of venture

Nelson Peacock:

capitalists see is happening in Arkansas, or other states. So

Nelson Peacock:

places like Tulsa, places like Houston, Dallas Fort Worth,

Nelson Peacock:

Austin, St. Louis, there's a lot of venture capital firms there.

Nelson Peacock:

And we're trying to shine a spotlight on what's happening in

Nelson Peacock:

Northwest Arkansas, at the University and beyond. And so,

Nelson Peacock:

and just basically curating visits for them. And this was

Nelson Peacock:

part of the luncheon that you went to, let's make it as easy

Nelson Peacock:

as possible for these firms to come here experience Northwest

Nelson Peacock:

Arkansas, and meet companies that we think are investable,

Nelson Peacock:

and you know, if they meet their thesis, you know, that's going

Nelson Peacock:

to be great. Let's get them coming back, it may not happen

Nelson Peacock:

after one trip or two. But we're going to try to do that

Nelson Peacock:

quarterly, where we kind of curate these visits from these

Nelson Peacock:

investors. And so far, we've done two. And they've been blown

Nelson Peacock:

away with not only the region and the way it's developing and

Nelson Peacock:

growing and the vision for the future, but also the quality of

Nelson Peacock:

startups that are here. And for them, they can get this at a

Nelson Peacock:

discount of what the same company would be if it were

Nelson Peacock:

located in the Bay Area. So that's exciting for us. We're

Nelson Peacock:

looking for some of these relationships to bear fruit. The

Nelson Peacock:

university is obviously been key to that. When you combine that

Nelson Peacock:

with all the programming that you all do, you know, I think

Nelson Peacock:

we're really going to see a lot of growth in this space over the

Nelson Peacock:

next couple of years.

Brent Williams:

Yeah, you can feel it. And just at least at

Brent Williams:

that one meeting, you could feel the the excitement, the

Brent Williams:

exuberance about the region, some that had never been here

Brent Williams:

before that just were totally blown away.

Nelson Peacock:

Yeah. Yeah.

Brent Williams:

Well, as you as you start to look forward for

Brent Williams:

the council working with with all of your members, what are

Brent Williams:

some of the things that that you're working on as you're

Brent Williams:

going into the future? And then, you know, some of the things

Brent Williams:

you're excited about for the region?

Nelson Peacock:

Yeah, I think you know, what we've been doing.

Nelson Peacock:

And we talked about this two years ago, when we released our

Nelson Peacock:

strategic plan, basically said, we're kind of at this inflection

Nelson Peacock:

point for the region for the last, let's say, 20 years of the

Nelson Peacock:

council's existence is been, whatever, what can we do to

Nelson Peacock:

grow, grow, grow, grow, let's get the road built, let's get

Nelson Peacock:

the airport built. Let's get the workforce programs, let's keep

Nelson Peacock:

continue to grow as fast as we can. And that is, by and large

Nelson Peacock:

worked. We are one of the fastest growing regions in the

Nelson Peacock:

country. And we're going to continue to be as we talked

Nelson Peacock:

about the population projections. But at the same

Nelson Peacock:

time, we're at an inflection point. And so we have to

Nelson Peacock:

continue to do that. We have to continue to support

Nelson Peacock:

entrepreneurs, recruit companies, diversify the

Nelson Peacock:

strengthen the economy, but we're also don't want to lose

Nelson Peacock:

quality of life. We don't want to have what happened to some

Nelson Peacock:

other places. Let's take an Austin for example. A lot of

Nelson Peacock:

people there feel like Austin lost it's character that people

Nelson Peacock:

loved about it, you know, 20 years ago along the way now,

Nelson Peacock:

it's a different place and a lot of people love it, others not so

Nelson Peacock:

much. I think for us, it's like how do we preserve what people

Nelson Peacock:

like about it now? And of course, it's going to change.

Nelson Peacock:

But what people like about it now is, it's easy to get around.

Nelson Peacock:

It's a slower pace of life in it that you don't have a lot of

Nelson Peacock:

hassle factor, you know, you can get to pick up your children

Nelson Peacock:

from school, or you can, you know, get from Bentonville to

Nelson Peacock:

Fayetteville in 15, 20 minutes. How can we maintain that? How

Nelson Peacock:

can our nurses our firefighters our teachers, can they live in

Nelson Peacock:

the community where they serve, and if you go to, like, we lived

Nelson Peacock:

in the Bay Area, teachers would have to commute two hours to get

Nelson Peacock:

to their job. And that's just really the way I think about it,

Nelson Peacock:

there's just really no way you would want to live your life.

Nelson Peacock:

And it's not what we want, here. And so how do we handle the

Nelson Peacock:

growth actually continue to stimulate that growth, but also

Nelson Peacock:

handle the infrastructure needs, the housing needs, that will

Nelson Peacock:

help preserve the character of Northwest Arkansas?

Brent Williams:

Well, it is a wonderful place to live. And,

Brent Williams:

you know, one thing I get to do, I get to meet a lot of

Brent Williams:

prospective students and their families and, you know, get to

Brent Williams:

tell them about not only what's great about the Walton College

Brent Williams:

and University, but what a place to live for these four years and

Brent Williams:

start your career. And, you know, just the overall set of

Brent Williams:

opportunities for our students, both quality of life while

Brent Williams:

they're here, career opportunities is like I just

Brent Williams:

maybe couldn't even imagine when I was first time I was here in

Brent Williams:

2004.

Nelson Peacock:

Yeah, yeah. Well, when I left in 98, or

Nelson Peacock:

whatever it was, there weren't really that many opportunities

Nelson Peacock:

here in the same way. And that's what we want is a region and as

Nelson Peacock:

a state and when you attract students here, in state out of

Nelson Peacock:

state, whatever, we need to keep them here,

Brent Williams:

That's right.

Nelson Peacock:

And that is a function of, I think, their

Nelson Peacock:

experience here and what they grow to love here, but also the

Nelson Peacock:

opportunities that they have, and we have to do both.

Brent Williams:

That's right. Well, you've had a kind of

Brent Williams:

switching back to a maybe almost where we started. So we started

Brent Williams:

with your background. And it's it's quite very, you know, you

Brent Williams:

know, you spent time in DC, around the political ecosystem,

Brent Williams:

you've been in higher ed, you're now in economic development, you

Brent Williams:

know, so I might get you to think about our students, you

Brent Williams:

know, that are beginning, you know, the next phase of their

Brent Williams:

life, kind of what have you, what have you learned by moving

Brent Williams:

throughout your career, and any just lessons learned that you

Brent Williams:

would share with them?

Nelson Peacock:

Well, I would say, you know, I am a jack of

Nelson Peacock:

all trades and master of none really, you know, when I look at

Nelson Peacock:

our different work streams, whether it's housing or health

Nelson Peacock:

care, or economic development, I'm not I'm not an expert in any

Nelson Peacock:

of those. But I think what I've learned to do over my career,

Nelson Peacock:

and I think this is the lesson for anyone is, you know, I was

Nelson Peacock:

very lucky growing up, or I did, I learned to be a very, pretty

Nelson Peacock:

good writer. So I can communicate with people I

Nelson Peacock:

learned over time, how to be comfortable with who I am, and

Nelson Peacock:

not try to be someone else. If I'm not an expert. And I know

Nelson Peacock:

this is really, really hard for me when I was young and moved to

Nelson Peacock:

DC. How do you admit what you don't know? So you can seek that

Nelson Peacock:

knowledge and get it in for yourself without just pretending

Nelson Peacock:

that you don't and, you know, when Joe Biden was a senator and

Nelson Peacock:

I worked for him, he taught me a lesson about people's positions.

Nelson Peacock:

And like, you know, there is a and this is particularly

Nelson Peacock:

instructive now, is like, you know, if someone takes a

Nelson Peacock:

position, whether it's political or whatever, that's opposite of

Nelson Peacock:

yours, you should never assume bad intent on their part.

Nelson Peacock:

Because you don't you don't know where they're coming from. And

Nelson Peacock:

he tells a story. I forget, I think I was some senator from

Nelson Peacock:

North Carolina, maybe. But at some point, when Senator Biden

Nelson Peacock:

was a young senator, they wanted to pass the Americans with

Nelson Peacock:

Disabilities Act at the time. So this was, I don't know, early

Nelson Peacock:

80s, late 70s. He had just gotten there. And there was a

Nelson Peacock:

powerful senator from North Carolina that wanted that

Nelson Peacock:

opposed it and was blocking it. So Senator Biden then ascribed

Nelson Peacock:

all this, ill intent toward that he doesn't know he doesn't care

Nelson Peacock:

where, the other senator was just saying, hey, you know, I

Nelson Peacock:

don't believe the federal government should be doing this

Nelson Peacock:

thing. So turns to find out that that senator has a disabled

Nelson Peacock:

child that is in a wheelchair. And so it was totally his view

Nelson Peacock:

was not about empathy for someone with this disability or

Nelson Peacock:

condition. It was about the role of government as he saw it. And

Nelson Peacock:

so that said, you know, he taught him a lesson about trying

Nelson Peacock:

to work through issues and meeting people where they are.

Nelson Peacock:

And he says that really helped him over time have all the

Nelson Peacock:

legislative successes that he did have, because he tried to,

Nelson Peacock:

tries to do that in every situation. So I would just say

Nelson Peacock:

that story just as a way of, for your students, if they're facing

Nelson Peacock:

a problem or challenge, like, don't take everything at

Nelson Peacock:

superficial value, like dig in and figure out why someone is,

Nelson Peacock:

you know, doing what they're doing or proposing what they're

Nelson Peacock:

proposing, it's probably a really good reason that you

Nelson Peacock:

need, whether you agree or not, it's different, but there's

Nelson Peacock:

probably a really good reason why they are taking the position

Nelson Peacock:

that they are. So I think that's really important, especially as

Nelson Peacock:

you grow, and you get on a career path. You know, it's a

Nelson Peacock:

small world, and the way you treat people in any situation is

Nelson Peacock:

going to follow you, no matter what. I mean, I'm still working

Nelson Peacock:

with people I met in Washington. You know, I met some in Boston

Nelson Peacock:

the other day, and I needed I needed help from them. And

Nelson Peacock:

because I, they always saw me someone that I treated them

Nelson Peacock:

fairly, I was actually above them in the org chart. And now I

Nelson Peacock:

need their help. Because I treated them the right way.

Nelson Peacock:

They're willing to help.

Brent Williams:

Yeah, what some good lessons one, treat people

Brent Williams:

around you well,

Nelson Peacock:

Yeah.

Brent Williams:

But then two that first, the first thing you

Brent Williams:

said, I think is really important as well, particularly,

Brent Williams:

you're right, particularly when you're early career, you know,

Brent Williams:

you feel this need to prove yourself, but sometimes proving

Brent Williams:

yourself is, you know, being willing to say what you don't

Brent Williams:

know, but that you are wanting and willing to learn. And that

Brent Williams:

learning mindset is something that is important for all of us

Brent Williams:

in a future that is going to require learning more than ever

Brent Williams:

before.

Nelson Peacock:

Yeah. And if you have a mentor at your work, or

Nelson Peacock:

wherever that person wants to help me or they wouldn't be in

Nelson Peacock:

that role. So you know, be willing to ask.

Brent Williams:

Well, Nelson, thanks for the work that you're

Brent Williams:

doing in Northwest Arkansas and in our state and, and for the

Brent Williams:

partnership with the University of Arkansas and the Walton

Brent Williams:

College. I deeply appreciate it.

Nelson Peacock:

Thanks for having me.

Brent Williams:

On behalf of the Walton College thank you for

Brent Williams:

joining us for this captivating conversation. To stay connected

Brent Williams:

and never miss an episode. Simply search for be epic on

Brent Williams:

your preferred podcast service.

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About the Podcast

Be EPIC Podcast
Welcome to the Be Epic Podcast featuring Brent Williams, interim dean of the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas. In each episode, you will hear from guests that will inspire you to be epic. As experts in their field, they will emphasize strategy, leadership, and entrepreneurship. This programming will highlight innovation and cutting-edge information that will leave you wanting more. Be sure to connect with Brent Williams on LinkedIn to join the conversation, access show notes and discover fantastic bonus content.