Overcoming Adversity and Building Strength with Quentin Smith, Jr.
On this week’s episode, Matt sits down with Quentin Smith, Jr. Quentin has over 40 years of experience providing management service to publicly and privately held businesses and is Chairman of the Board of Banner Health, and President of Cadre Business Advisors, LLC, a consulting firm that focuses on strategic planning, performance improvement and crisis management. This episode begins with a detailed description on Quentin’s life growing up in Gary, Indiana and his path in getting to where he is today. He specifically talks about the connections that he made throughout his life that propelled him forward in his career, even personal connections from college that later influenced his career. Quentin also discusses what it takes to be a good board member for corporate boards, the Fleischer Scholars Program at the Walton College, and Mort Fleischer and his concept of the mental balance sheet.
Transcript
As a result, you know, he figured either I was
Quentin Smith:just going to fold completely, or it was going to make me like
Quentin Smith:tungsten steel because he knew that the environment that I was
Quentin Smith:going to have to live in was going to be tough. It was going
Quentin Smith:to be still prej-, you know, a lot of prejudice. And you got to
Quentin Smith:work harder than the next guy because of the color of your
Quentin Smith:skin.
Matt Waller:Excellence, professionalism, innovation and
Matt Waller:collegiality. These are the values the Sam M. Walton College
Matt Waller:of Business explores in education, business and the
Matt Waller:lives of people we meet every day, I'm Matt Waller, Dean of
Matt Waller:the Walton College and welcome to the be epic podcast. I have
Matt Waller:with me today, Quentin Smith, Jr, Chairman of the Board of
Matt Waller:Banner Health, and President of CADRE Business Advisors, LLC, a
Matt Waller:consulting firm that focuses on strategic planning, performance
Matt Waller:improvement and crisis management. Quentin has over 40
Matt Waller:years of experience providing management service to publicly
Matt Waller:and privately held businesses. And he is on the board of some
Matt Waller:very impressive companies, one of which I tend to be pretty
Matt Waller:familiar with. He's on the board of Store Capital, a publicly
Matt Waller:traded company, you might want to look up really interesting.
Matt Waller:There's, it was started by a fellow by the name of Mort
Matt Waller:Fleischer, who has been involved with the Walton College and the
Matt Waller:University of Arkansas. Mr. Smith is also on the board of
Matt Waller:Orion Group Holdings, Arizona public service, and many other
Matt Waller:entities as well. So Mr. Smith, thank you so much for joining us
Matt Waller:today. I really appreciate it.
Quentin Smith:It's my pleasure. Good to be here.
Matt Waller:You come from a really interesting background,
Matt Waller:as we talked about earlier. Your father was one of the Tuskegee
Matt Waller:Airmen, airmen, which is amazing to know someone whose father was
Matt Waller:one of the pilots for Tuskegee Airmen. And so you had an
Matt Waller:interesting father. And I know you had a wonderful mother as
Matt Waller:well, based on what you told me. And you've had an amazing
Matt Waller:career. So would you mind telling us a little bit about
Matt Waller:your background and your your career?
Quentin Smith:Sure. And I think it's good for context for what
Quentin Smith:I'm going to say in the questions I'm going to answer. I
Quentin Smith:didn't come from a family of wealth or anything like that. I
Quentin Smith:grew up in Gary, Indiana. And for those of you that don't know
Quentin Smith:about, Gary, it's not the best place on the face of the earth
Quentin Smith:to be raised it was when I was growing up as a kid. But it
Quentin Smith:turned rapidly into the kind of type of city that was retreating
Quentin Smith:rather than then going forward. And I had the opportunity to
Quentin Smith:just be like some of my friends who are still in the same
Quentin Smith:corner, you know, my age, no, no ambition, no, no career path.
Quentin Smith:But instead, because of both of my parents, I ended up on a
Quentin Smith:different track. My mother was a librarian. So I was a latchkey
Quentin Smith:kid before the phrase was formed. So when I got out of
Quentin Smith:school, I would wait for her at her library, and I'd read
Quentin Smith:everything in there. So I became a reader out of boredom, and
Quentin Smith:because of what she was doing, my father-
Matt Waller:That probably gave you a huge advantage I would
Matt Waller:think?
Quentin Smith:It did because I couldn't talk to my friends
Quentin Smith:about some of the things I read, because they didn't know any of
Quentin Smith:these books or authors. But as I got older, you know, having that
Quentin Smith:depth of experience, the reading has paid off in some regards and
Quentin Smith:made me- I think, more well rounded. But my dad was a school
Quentin Smith:administrator started off as a Latin and English teacher. So he
Quentin Smith:was very insistent upon me understanding and being able to
Quentin Smith:speak the King's English. He thought that was very important.
Quentin Smith:And when we would miss miss-speak, at dinner he would
Quentin Smith:correct us. So I learned how to make sure I spoke well. And just
Quentin Smith:a little fine point, because I know he's listening to this,
Quentin Smith:even though he passed away a few years ago. He was one of the
Quentin Smith:original Tuskegee Airmen. There's a big difference between
Quentin Smith:the first 101 and the rest of the guys so I was gonna make
Quentin Smith:that point. But anyway, so so he taught me that education was the
Quentin Smith:most important thing I could have because once you have it,
Quentin Smith:no one can take it from you. And if you get the right kind of
Quentin Smith:education, it can bode well for you for the rest of your life.
Quentin Smith:So I grew up in that kind of environment. But along the way,
Quentin Smith:my friends that I was hanging out with junior high school
Quentin Smith:weren't the best characters in my father's mind. So he sent me
Quentin Smith:to military school. So I spent high school in military school,
Quentin Smith:a place called Howe Military just east of Notre Dame in
Quentin Smith:Indiana. And that helped me become a stronger person because
Quentin Smith:out of 450 kids at that military school, there were eight that
Quentin Smith:were black, and I was the only one black in my class. And as a
Quentin Smith:result of my the way my father raised me when I graduated, I
Quentin Smith:was president of the class, I was a top commanding officer, in
Quentin Smith:terms of awards. I was in the varsity club, was the editor of
Quentin Smith:the paper. It was, as my father would say, to A Boy Named Sue
Quentin Smith:kind of situation for your students, they won't know what
Quentin Smith:Boy Named Sue means, but tell them look it up and find that
Quentin Smith:that that song, and they'll know what I mean. So he made sure
Quentin Smith:that I was tough as nails. And it's helped me in my career. So
Quentin Smith:that's that's the background. And I went to Purdue because it
Quentin Smith:was right down to the I-65. Highway close by. And it was
Quentin Smith:cheap it was $500 a year to go to Purdue in 1968. And it's not
Quentin Smith:that anymore. And I started off in electrical engineering. But
Quentin Smith:7:30am calculus classes made me think twice about that. So the
Quentin Smith:counselor said, I'll give you a hint, the engineers work for the
Quentin Smith:business guys. So I switched to the Krannert School of Business,
Quentin Smith:and graduated a double major industrial management computer
Quentin Smith:science, and was recruited for my first job to Southern
Quentin Smith:California Edison in Santa Monica, California. So I went
Quentin Smith:from West Lafayette to Santa Monica in about six days. And
Quentin Smith:the rest of it is pretty lengthy. But I ended up working
Quentin Smith:in industry for about eight years, figured out I'd be a
Quentin Smith:pretty good management consultant. I like the diversity
Quentin Smith:of problems, you know pretty quick study. So I moved from
Quentin Smith:Southern California Edison to Hughes Aircraft, to Universal
Quentin Smith:Studios, to Great Western savings to get a broad spectrum
Quentin Smith:of different industries. So I understood those. And then I
Quentin Smith:started my own company in 1983. And was started with a
Quentin Smith:consulting firm and then bought a company for about 35 million
Quentin Smith:and tagged that on to that it was a data center processing
Quentin Smith:company for banks. So that in 92, tried to retire, didn't
Quentin Smith:work. And we moved from LA to to Scottsdale in 92, as well. So
Quentin Smith:I've been here in Scottsdale since 92. been involved in a lot
Quentin Smith:of different things done some turnarounds of companies that
Quentin Smith:are in bad shape been on public boards, taken two or three
Quentin Smith:companies public. Just a very fortunate set of circumstances
Quentin Smith:for me personally and professionally. And I've met
Quentin Smith:some great people along the way, one of them being the person
Quentin Smith:that we have common denominator in Mort Fleischer. So that's to,
Quentin Smith:you can say that's my story. And I'm sticking to it.
Matt Waller:Well, what a great story and you know, in, in
Matt Waller:starting your own company in 1983. So 39 years ago, almost 40
Matt Waller:years ago.
Quentin Smith:Yea, 20, 32 [years].
Matt Waller:So, and then you eventually bought a company that
Matt Waller:was a data center processing company for banks. And but what
Matt Waller:what made you- How did you find that deal that opportunity?
Quentin Smith:Well, two things that were important to do in
Quentin Smith:that deal. The first one was there's a there was a guy his
Quentin Smith:name is Reginald Lewis. He wrote a book entitled "Why Should
Quentin Smith:White Guys Have All the Fun?". Reginald was the first black
Quentin Smith:entrepreneur to do a leveraged buyout in the 80s he bought
Quentin Smith:Beatrice Foods for a billion dollars. He was one of my
Quentin Smith:fraternity brothers. I had a chance to meet him and he said,
Quentin Smith:Quentin you- at some point you need to own something, not just
Quentin Smith:work for somebody, you need to own something. So he introduced
Quentin Smith:me to his banker who did that deal. And so put a pin in that
Quentin Smith:as one resource. The other resource is one of the companies
Quentin Smith:that co-own, this data center company that I bought was one of
Quentin Smith:my clients in LA is called Coast Savings Bank. And I made an
Quentin Smith:offer to them to buy that data center company from him and the
Quentin Smith:other banks that owned it. And Reginald introduce me to his
Quentin Smith:bankers, Drexel Burnham, they did the financing, and we bought
Quentin Smith:it for 35 million. That's how it- that's how it was done.
Matt Waller:Well, I remember back, you know, when I was a
Matt Waller:young, I was an undergraduate student in business when
Matt Waller:Reginald made that deal with Beatrice-
Quentin Smith:Right.
Matt Waller:Which was really- and so it made the news I I was
Matt Waller:just newly reading the Wall Street Journal back then. And I
Matt Waller:remember reading that, and if I remember correctly, he died at a
Matt Waller:fairly young age, didn't he?
Quentin Smith:Yeah, he had brain cancer. He died at 50, I
Quentin Smith:believe. But but he was able to touch a lot of people like me
Quentin Smith:along the way, and one of the people that that I've met along
Quentin Smith:about the same time as Reggie was Vernon Jordan. Vernon was an
Quentin Smith:attorney but he was a deal maker, rainmaker guy ended up
Quentin Smith:becoming Bill Clinton's number one outside guy, and Vernon told
Quentin Smith:me, you need to figure out how to get on corporate boards,
Quentin Smith:because that's where the real power is. So between Vernon and
Quentin Smith:Reggie, they were the like, the keys for me to get at a young
Quentin Smith:age an understanding of what is out there if you're willing to
Quentin Smith:apply yourself. So on one track, I started preparing myself to be
Quentin Smith:a worthy board candidate for a corporate board. And I've been
Quentin Smith:on six public company boards as a result of that, and a couple
Quentin Smith:of private boards, and then with Reggie to be able to have enough
Quentin Smith:sense about what to pick as a target to buy, and being able to
Quentin Smith:put the financing together to buy it.
Matt Waller:Well, you know, it shows you how it's not, it's not
Matt Waller:enough to just know people. But if you've got the capabilities,
Matt Waller:and you're willing to work hard, knowing people can make a big
Matt Waller:difference, and-
Quentin Smith:Exactly.
Matt Waller:You know. And it's funny, you know, of course, you
Matt Waller:said it was your he was your fraternity brother. That that's
Matt Waller:something people don't often realize that when you're in
Matt Waller:college, a lot of the people that are your friends, there's a
Matt Waller:certain number of them that are going to really do quite well
Matt Waller:and possibly help you in business later. You don't
Matt Waller:realize it when you're rubbing shoulders with them, but but it
Matt Waller:happens.
Quentin Smith:Right. And while you're there, you're just trying
Quentin Smith:to get get out of there in four years, and get your get your
Quentin Smith:your graduation over with. And that's all you're really focused
Quentin Smith:on, or maybe partying a little too hard, depending on what
Quentin Smith:school you went to. But what, you know, the whole objective is
Quentin Smith:to get that I graduated from a college, which gives you the
Quentin Smith:ability to be credible to get a real job. So that that's where I
Quentin Smith:was focused. But then after you get out, you realize networking
Quentin Smith:is extremely important. If you looked at my personal balance
Quentin Smith:sheet, this is what Mark talks about your personal balance
Quentin Smith:sheet, the biggest number on that balance sheet isn't the
Quentin Smith:money I have in the bank. It's the network of people that I
Quentin Smith:know. And that trust me, and I trust them. And that I can use I
Quentin Smith:use don't mean that in a negative way, but use to
Quentin Smith:leverage certain outcomes, either for myself or for others,
Quentin Smith:like they have done for me.
Matt Waller:You're right, Mort talks about that a lot. A great
Matt Waller:concept. And he also talks about, you know, thinking of
Matt Waller:yourself as a missile-
Quentin Smith:Right, a guided missile right.
Matt Waller:A guided missile. And so you have to make course
Matt Waller:corrections as you're as you're going. But you're going
Matt Waller:somewhere.
Quentin Smith:Yea you have to hit a target. Otherwise, there's
Quentin Smith:what's the point, right? But even though you have a target,
Quentin Smith:as you were saying sometimes the wind blows a little differently
Quentin Smith:or, you know, some something goes wrong with one of the
Quentin Smith:engines isn't firing, right? And you have to make those course
Quentin Smith:corrections. So it's yeah, that those are two really good
Quentin Smith:analogies that Mort has come up with
Matt Waller:He has and of course, he shares that with a
Matt Waller:lot of young people. Especially through the Fleischer Scholars
Matt Waller:Program, which I know you're a board member of. Is that
Matt Waller:correct? Trustee?
Quentin Smith:Yes. I enjoy that relationship immensely.
Matt Waller:Then you're also on the board of Store Capital,
Matt Waller:which is an amazing company. Would you mind talking about
Matt Waller:Store Capital just a bit?
Quentin Smith:Sure. Store Capital is the third is kind of
Quentin Smith:3.0 for Mort, he started with a company called FFCA, franchise,
Quentin Smith:Finance Corporation of America, which was doing all the real
Quentin Smith:estate, and land, buildings and land financing for people that
Quentin Smith:bought franchises. So he would be the underwriter of that he
Quentin Smith:would own the land and the buildings and rent them back or
Quentin Smith:lease them back to the person that owns the McDonald's or the
Quentin Smith:KFC or whatever. He sold that company to GE Capital 2001. He
Quentin Smith:did another 2.0 of FFCA. After that, with some partners that as
Quentin Smith:Mort would say - that don't do well with partners. And this was
Quentin Smith:a case where it sounded good on paper, but it didn't work out.
Quentin Smith:And he moved on from that. And then in 2014, established Store
Quentin Smith:Capital to do fundamentally the same thing sale leaseback of
Quentin Smith:corporate properties, but this time is bigger properties. So
Quentin Smith:companies that are middle market have big manufacturing buildings
Quentin Smith:or distribution centers, we would- those those companies
Quentin Smith:have those buildings that they paid for, and the value of those
Quentin Smith:buildings just sit on their balance sheet as a number, that
Quentin Smith:cash is just a representation of the value. But for them to
Quentin Smith:expand, you have two choices, you can go to the bank and get
Quentin Smith:more debt. Or you can do what we do for them at store, which is
Quentin Smith:we'll buy that building from you, pay you cash for it, and
Quentin Smith:you become a tenant of your own building, you pay us rent. So
Quentin Smith:you get that cashed up to expand your business, you stay put, you
Quentin Smith:don't have to move. Business as usual from the day before you do
Quentin Smith:the deal with us to the day after. And you have the ability
Quentin Smith:to expand without incurring that kind of debt. So store was in is
Quentin Smith:in that business, we have about 3000 properties that are across
Quentin Smith:the United States. As I said, we took Store public in 2014. And,
Quentin Smith:and most recently, because of its success, it's become a
Quentin Smith:acquisition target. And the company has an offer pending to
Quentin Smith:buy it for $14 billion.
Matt Waller:Impressive. So you've been on the boards of
Matt Waller:quite a few firms. What does it take to be a successful board
Matt Waller:member to really make a positive contribution?
Quentin Smith:Well, the first thing is having some expertise
Quentin Smith:that if you are added to that board will help the company be a
Quentin Smith:better strategic thinker. And develop a strategic outlook and
Quentin Smith:execute on that and help the management team to be able to
Quentin Smith:define that strategy and to help them execute. But you have to as
Quentin Smith:a board member, you have to understand the fine line between
Quentin Smith:governance, which is oversight. That's what boards do, and
Quentin Smith:crossing the line into operations trying to tell the
Quentin Smith:CEO well, you need to do this. So you have to manage that fine
Quentin Smith:line, you can be helpful and instructive, and provide
Quentin Smith:oversight, but you have to be careful not to try to run the
Quentin Smith:business. So experts- a certain expertise that's added value,
Quentin Smith:knowing where that line is. And making sure you understand what
Quentin Smith:the rules are about governance and what your responsibility-
Quentin Smith:your fiduciary responsibilities are so that you fulfill those
Quentin Smith:and you don't run a file of the Securities and Exchange
Quentin Smith:Commission or any other regulators.
Matt Waller:If you wouldn't mind that would I'd like to go
Matt Waller:back to the Fleischer Scholars Program.
Quentin Smith:Sure.
Matt Waller:I really. I mean, I remember the first time Mort was
Matt Waller:telling me about it. I'm like, yeah, he was telling me you
Matt Waller:know, your brains like a servo mechanism
Quentin Smith:Right-
Matt Waller:and all this kind of stuff. What are you talking
Matt Waller:about? The more he explained that, the more I really liked
Matt Waller:it. And I thought what a great thing for students to learn,
Matt Waller:especially, you know, when they're young, preferably before
Matt Waller:they get into college even. And I remember when he told me about
Matt Waller:the mental- what did he call it, the mental balance sheet. We
Matt Waller:mentioned that early- earlier. And he says and it's funny
Matt Waller:because Mort thinks in terms of finance and economics so much
Matt Waller:doesn't he?
Quentin Smith:Right, right.
Matt Waller:I remember, I think one of the first times I talked
Matt Waller:to him about the store capital. I said, how did you know this
Matt Waller:was an opportunity and he said, at a high level, there was a, a
Matt Waller:market gap, there was, there was a need that wasn't being met,
Matt Waller:there was a problem in the market. And I won't go into all
Matt Waller:that. But he said, we solved a problem in the market.
Quentin Smith:That's absolutely right.
Matt Waller:You know, and he's so good at explaining things
Matt Waller:like that. But I remember, when he was talking to me, and I
Matt Waller:thought, a mental balance sheet. So I thought, okay, a balance
Matt Waller:sheet has assets, liabilities, those are very clear, and your,
Matt Waller:your net worth. And he said, here's how I think about it. And
Matt Waller:you mentioned earlier, you know, there's this empirical knowledge
Matt Waller:you have, that it's the sum of all of your experiences, and
Matt Waller:your connections, your people you're connected to. And then
Matt Waller:you've got your intellectual capital, which has to do with
Matt Waller:your academic and life experiences, you've got your
Matt Waller:liabilities. And liabilities, things like things you don't
Matt Waller:know, connections, you don't have and things that are
Matt Waller:missing, and then your moral compass. You know, he said,
Matt Waller:those four things together, make up your mental balance sheet.
Matt Waller:And so, you know, we had the students and these, by the way,
Matt Waller:for those listening that don't know, the Fleischer Scholars
Matt Waller:Program is like a bridge program
Quentin Smith:Mhm
Matt Waller:For students that they go to before they go to
Matt Waller:college. And the students start thinking through these things,
Matt Waller:what, what, what is my life experience? What do I want it to
Matt Waller:be? Those kinds of things. And he talks about this thing called
Matt Waller:a three legged stool. And, again, this was another thing
Matt Waller:where I'm like, what, what's a three legged stool have to do
Matt Waller:with this? but but one of them has to do again, it ties back to
Matt Waller:some degree to the, to the balance sheet, the mental
Matt Waller:balance sheet, but, you know, you've got to the empiricism,
Matt Waller:you're the sum of all your personal experiences, meaning,
Matt Waller:empirical. So as you go through time, you collect all of these
Matt Waller:experiences and connections, and they empirically affect what
Matt Waller:you're prepared to do and your assets, kind of your, like your
Matt Waller:assets. And, but your brain, he said, is like a servo mechanism.
Matt Waller:And so you know, that you you're, it's kind of like a heat
Matt Waller:seeking missile, but you got to know what your goals are.
Quentin Smith:Right.
Matt Waller:And then you're a missile. And you've got to seek
Matt Waller:out this target. And, but, you know, and so you use all of this
Matt Waller:to create a mental roadmap, where you treat your brain like
Matt Waller:a computer, and you know that everything you're doing is
Matt Waller:programming. And so one thing I really liked about that is, and
Matt Waller:I really believe this, like, when you were young, Quentin,
Matt Waller:and you were, and your mom was a librarian, and you were reading
Matt Waller:all these, these books, you were affecting your brain, you were
Matt Waller:programming at some degree, with a wide variety of knowledge. And
Matt Waller:really just the ability to read well, I mean, reading well,
Matt Waller:helps you write well, and writing well, is very helpful in
Matt Waller:life. But, but, you know, Mort's come up with these really
Matt Waller:interesting metaphors that instead of using fancy, you
Matt Waller:know, psychological terms, he uses these simple metaphors that
Matt Waller:anybody can understand. So that's what I really liked about
Matt Waller:it.
Quentin Smith:Well, yeah, I mean, you're actually right,
Quentin Smith:Mort knows how to crystallize things. And, for me, you know,
Quentin Smith:it was different because there was no doubt I was going to
Quentin Smith:college from the time I was born, I was gonna go to college,
Quentin Smith:there was my father probably would have, you know, taken me
Quentin Smith:out to a dessert just dropped me if I said I wasn't gonna go to
Quentin Smith:college. So that was a foregone conclusion. But the targets of
Quentin Smith:the Fleischer scholars are primarily those kids, where
Quentin Smith:their parents have never been to college. No one in their family
Quentin Smith:has been to college, they might be the first generation to go to
Quentin Smith:college. So you got two things, you've got to deal with. One,
Quentin Smith:you've got to orient them to the fact that going to college is a
Quentin Smith:worthwhile endeavor, and that it will pay off if you subject
Quentin Smith:yourself to going to college. And then once you get a young
Quentin Smith:person to understand that, the next thing that comes to the
Quentin Smith:parents, and the question is okay, that's great. You've now
Quentin Smith:convinced my son or daughter, they should go to college, well,
Quentin Smith:how am I going to pay for that? So it's a tree that falls in the
Quentin Smith:woods with nobody around, it doesn't make a sound, because
Quentin Smith:you've got to have the two of those linked together to be able
Quentin Smith:to get the parent and the kid to just decide this is worthwhile,
Quentin Smith:and Fleischer Scholars is that glue that helps parents and the
Quentin Smith:kids understand both sides of those equations. So one of the
Quentin Smith:elements about Fleischer that makes it even more different
Quentin Smith:than it already is, in terms of getting a young person to
Quentin Smith:understand the mental balance sheet metaphor is that we have
Quentin Smith:another tool that helps crystallize all of the
Quentin Smith:scholarship money that's floating around in the air, how
Quentin Smith:to find something for them. So they can finance going to school
Quentin Smith:and have even more than just tuition and books. And, and
Quentin Smith:residence fees, but money leftover to be able to put some
Quentin Smith:on the kitchen table for their for their their family. So those
Quentin Smith:things combined makes Fleischer very unique, very powerful. And
Quentin Smith:for people that get it, it's paid off considerably. Some,
Quentin Smith:some don't get it, and then the parents don't get it. But for
Quentin Smith:the ones that have and there have been quite a number. It's
Quentin Smith:been very effective.
Matt Waller:Well, Quentin, thank you so much for pouring
Matt Waller:into the Fleischer Scholars Program and for serving as a
Matt Waller:trustee to advance it, I personally have witnessed the
Matt Waller:effects of it on students. And our results have been really
Matt Waller:good in terms of, you know, the number of students that go to
Matt Waller:school and then finish. So I'm very grateful for what you're
Matt Waller:doing. With that. It's, it's really making a positive
Matt Waller:difference. And I know that, you know, someone like you, you
Matt Waller:could do anything you want. You don't have to do this. And same
Matt Waller:with Mort, he could just go off and do whatever he wants. But
Matt Waller:he's electing to serve mankind, if you will, through through
Matt Waller:something like this.
Quentin Smith:And on top of that a lot of people are like
Quentin Smith:Mort, that want to do good things. But they want other
Quentin Smith:people's money Mort has put his money where his mouth is,
Quentin Smith:literally. And I admire him for being that dedicated. And it
Quentin Smith:will survive financially. It- through his estate. And his
Quentin Smith:estate has only one benefactor. And that's Fleischer Scholars.
Quentin Smith:So it's you know, he's an exceptional man. I've been like
Quentin Smith:I said, the biggest thing about balance sheet are people that I
Quentin Smith:know and Mort's in the top three, other than other my
Quentin Smith:parents. He's in the top three.
Matt Waller:Wow.
Quentin Smith:I enjoyed working with him. And when it was time,
Quentin Smith:when he asked me to to get involved with Fleischer
Quentin Smith:scholars, it wasn't, it wasn't there was no option. It was yes,
Quentin Smith:sir. I'll do whatever you want me to.
Matt Waller:Well, tell him I said hello. I really miss
Matt Waller:spending time with him. I haven't seen him for a while.
Matt Waller:But-
Quentin Smith:Yeah, yeah he's enjoying life. And he and Donna
Quentin Smith:are you know, traveling. He's my father would do something else
Quentin Smith:that was really, really good. He, this was back when he only
Quentin Smith:had an answering machine, right? And he would call me knowing
Quentin Smith:that I was not going to be home to answer the phone and he would
Quentin Smith:leave a single message, which was a question. When was the
Quentin Smith:last time you smelled the roses? That's it. That was his way of
Quentin Smith:saying I know you're a hard worker. I know you get really
Quentin Smith:into what you're doing. But you got to take the time out. Smell
Quentin Smith:the Roses, whatever, you're-
Matt Waller:That is good advice.
Quentin Smith:Yep.
Matt Waller:That is so good. You know, one time this was a
Matt Waller:quite a few years ago. One- I think it was- so I've been here
Matt Waller:at the University of Arkansas for 28 years. And I've been Dean
Matt Waller:for 8. But I remember one day I was- and I was a very hard
Matt Waller:working professor. You know, I tried to I wanted to be the best
Matt Waller:teacher. I wanted to be the best researcher. I was really
Matt Waller:ambitious. And I realized one day I looked out my window I
Matt Waller:thought this is a beautiful campus here in the Ozarks, and I
Matt Waller:never think about it. I walk across it, and my head's always
Matt Waller:on work, you know?
Quentin Smith:You're like this- the tunnel you just you know,
Quentin Smith:like you don't see all of that right?
Matt Waller:So I got up and I took some time and I walked out
Matt Waller:on campus and I really enjoyed it ever since then I, I do that
Matt Waller:periodically. It's- but to your father's advice is so good. It's
Matt Waller:good for your mental health and just being able to enjoy life.
Quentin Smith:Yeah, another thing I told him I said, the
Quentin Smith:older I get the smarter he gets. Because, because I, you know, I,
Quentin Smith:he and I were would do this when he was forming me, you know,
Quentin Smith:because it was it was pretty brutal given I'll give you all
Quentin Smith:the examples if you got a minute. So I was probably about
Quentin Smith:eight, nine years old, and I was down at the local YMCA and there
Quentin Smith:was a flyer that says learn how to swim for $15. So I come home
Quentin Smith:with the flyer and I said, dad, I need 15 dollars, I'm going to
Quentin Smith:learn how to swim. And he goes, you know, you don't need $15 I
Quentin Smith:said what was that it's not free. He said, get your swim
Quentin Smith:shorts on- get your swim shorts, come with me. So Gary, if you
Quentin Smith:know geography Gary's right at the bottom of Lake Michigan. Our
Quentin Smith:house was probably eight miles as the crow flies from Lake
Quentin Smith:Michigan. Okay, so he piles me in the car takes me out to the
Quentin Smith:beach and Lake Michigan has me going a little restroom change
Quentin Smith:clothes. Now my dad- can't tell by looking at me- My mother was
Quentin Smith:5' 1" my father's 6' 3" to 4". Okay, so I'm right in the
Quentin Smith:middle. So he picks me up over his head, walks all the way out
Quentin Smith:into Lake Michigan up to here and throws me and walks back.
Matt Waller:Oh my goodness.
Quentin Smith:So he goes back and he's sitting, reading a
Quentin Smith:book. And about it felt like an hour later, but a few minutes.
Quentin Smith:I'm here I am- I'm back on the beach. And he goes, so how did
Quentin Smith:you get here? I said I guess I swam. He said I told you you
Quentin Smith:didn't need that 15 dollars.
Matt Waller:Oh, my goodness.
Quentin Smith:That's the way he raised me. Okay. Fortunately, I
Quentin Smith:was able to withstand that approach. Because he I mean, I
Quentin Smith:all the things I did at the military school. Just top of
Quentin Smith:everything. I'm given the president speech as a graduating
Quentin Smith:class, I look in the audience. I see my mother, my aunt, my
Quentin Smith:brother and an empty seat. I figure oh my father's out having
Quentin Smith:a smoke or something. I finished, we graduate- graduate.
Quentin Smith:I asked, where's Dad, he didn't come. So two hours from Military
Quentin Smith:School back to Gary, I'm just steamed coming out of my- I get
Quentin Smith:in the house. And I'm all in his face. And he says, when you do
Quentin Smith:something worth me showing up, let me know. That's the way I
Quentin Smith:got raised.
Matt Waller:Whoa-
Quentin Smith:Yeah
Matt Waller:High standards.
Quentin Smith:I mean, he and as a result, you know, he figured
Quentin Smith:either, I was just gonna fold completely, or it was gonna make
Quentin Smith:me like tungsten steel, because he knew that the environment
Quentin Smith:that I was going to have to live in, was going to be tough. It
Quentin Smith:was going to be still preJ-, you know, a lot of prejudice. And
Quentin Smith:you've got to work harder than the next guy, because of the
Quentin Smith:color of your skin. And he would not let me leave the nest unless
Quentin Smith:I had that tungsten steel coating first. And it ser- it
Quentin Smith:has served me well. He raised my brother the same way. He didn't
Quentin Smith:he didn't make it, he- it broke him. But for me that that's what
Quentin Smith:keeps you know, the- Dracula away. I mean, that's, that's
Quentin Smith:that's the skin I have around me from what he built around me to
Quentin Smith:be able to, to give me that tungsten. So very, very
Quentin Smith:interesting background.
Matt Waller:Well, Quentin, congratulations on your
Matt Waller:tremendous career success. And thank you again for what you're
Matt Waller:doing with Mort and and the Fleischer Scholars Program. It's
Matt Waller:needed and making a positive difference in society. So thank
Matt Waller:you.
Quentin Smith:Well, in fact, even just one kid, we've done it
Quentin Smith:done a lot, but we were doing it but by the hundreds and
Quentin Smith:hopefully get to the 1000s. And, and it's a bit it's one of the
Quentin Smith:best things I'm involved in as well as the hospital system. So
Quentin Smith:I thank you for the opportunity to talk and to make your
Quentin Smith:acquaintance. I'm sure we will probably talk again and maybe
Quentin Smith:make a trip down with Mort to to the university and in the
Quentin Smith:future.
Matt Waller:I would love that.
Quentin Smith:Okay, take care. Have a great week.
Matt Waller:On behalf of the Sam M. Walton College of
Matt Waller:Business, I want to thank everyone for spending time with
Matt Waller:us for another engaging conversation. You can subscribe
Matt Waller:by going to your favorite podcast service and searching.
