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Building Business Relationships with Mario Ramirez
Episode 2556th December 2023 • Be EPIC Podcast • Brent Williams
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This week on the Be Epic podcast, host Brent Williams welcomes guest Mario Ramirez, President of M Ramirez Group and Chief Client Officer for Golden Rod Companies. They delve into the importance of relationships in business, with Mario emphasizing the value of conveying your principles and work ethic in every interaction. Mario shares his career journey, starting with architecture and moving into finance, which included a stint at Merrill Lynch and a 21-year tenure at TIAA. He discusses his diverse roles, from starting a Trust Company to leading the executive relations forum and the Hispanic market nationally. Furthermore, he shares his experience of shifting to entrepreneurship and the formation of his own consulting firm, M Ramirez Group. This episode offers invaluable insights into career transitions, the power of relationships, and the importance of adaptability in business.

Transcripts

Mario Ramirez:

When you meet somebody, try to convey your,

Mario Ramirez:

some of your values and principles of who you are. You

Mario Ramirez:

know, you're, you're, you're reliable, you're loyal. You're

Mario Ramirez:

your work ethic, and they get to know you. And all of a sudden

Mario Ramirez:

that becomes valuable at some point. But until that point

Mario Ramirez:

occurs, just keep the relationship going. And there's

Mario Ramirez:

value in every relationship.

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

Brent Williams:

today. Well, today I have with me Mario Ramirez. Mario is

Brent Williams:

President of the M Ramirez group, his own consulting firm,

Brent Williams:

and he's also the Chief Client Officer for Golden Rod

Brent Williams:

Companies. Mario, thanks for joining me today.

Mario Ramirez:

You're welcome, Brent, it's great to be here.

Mario Ramirez:

Thanks for having me.

Brent Williams:

Well, Mario, you're a great supporter of the

Brent Williams:

University of Arkansas Walton College and an alum of the

Brent Williams:

Walton College and your your relationships here, across

Brent Williams:

campus go pretty deep, don't they?

Mario Ramirez:

They really do. They do. And I'm, I'm a proud

Mario Ramirez:

alum, also proud dad of, of one alum, and two current students

Mario Ramirez:

one law student and in one, undergrad. So a lot of

Mario Ramirez:

relationships across the campus, for sure.

Brent Williams:

Well, where I want us to focus on today will

Brent Williams:

be sort of the power of relationships in business. But

Brent Williams:

but before that, maybe a little bit about your journey, your

Brent Williams:

career journey thus far. And then a little bit of, I think,

Brent Williams:

you know, mentioned, you have your own consulting firm, you're

Brent Williams:

also working in real estate with golden rod, and a few other

Brent Williams:

things. So I'd love to hear kind of your journey and what you're

Brent Williams:

up to now.

Mario Ramirez:

Sure. Thanks, Brent, you know, I told somebody

Mario Ramirez:

the other day that I that I studied architecture, in

Mario Ramirez:

college, and I did for a year, then I then I moved to finance.

Mario Ramirez:

And that's what I got my degree in. I had cold called with a

Mario Ramirez:

good friend and fraternity brother, Kenny Gibbs at Merrill

Mario Ramirez:

Lynch and had when I interviewed at Merrill Lynch, for my first

Mario Ramirez:

job, they hired me, I said, why'd you hire me? And they

Mario Ramirez:

said, well, Kenny Gibbs put a good word in for you. And when I

Mario Ramirez:

thanked Kenny, he said, no, just just pay it forward. Next time,

Mario Ramirez:

you will have an opportunity to do the same thing. And I've

Mario Ramirez:

never forgotten about that. My entire career. In my I think my

Mario Ramirez:

involvement in nonprofits or in helping students in in board

Mario Ramirez:

work kind of stems from that premise. But that said, I

Mario Ramirez:

started with Merrill Lynch, was there five years I left there, I

Mario Ramirez:

felt a little bit ethically challenged with one particular

Mario Ramirez:

main manager. So I left and I had, I wanted to leave

Mario Ramirez:

brokerage, I wanted to get more into other financial services

Mario Ramirez:

more broadly. And start to run out of money. And so I ended up

Mario Ramirez:

my dad was saying, Can I can I give you some money, some money

Mario Ramirez:

and I said no. I don't need any money, but I needed money. And

Mario Ramirez:

so we were married, and I asked my next door neighbor who ran

Mario Ramirez:

and ran a lawn service. I said, can I he put me on the crew. And

Mario Ramirez:

he said, okay, we'll put you on the crew. And so I'd go mow

Mario Ramirez:

20-25 lawns a day, come home, take a shower, put a suit on, go

Mario Ramirez:

to an interview. And so I found TIAA, transitioned over to TI.

Mario Ramirez:

It's now called TIAA at the time, it was TI Cref. I spent 21

Mario Ramirez:

years there. And starting from an advisory role. Working with

Mario Ramirez:

the University of Arkansas actually actually played a big

Mario Ramirez:

part in this. They I was the the president of the local alumni

Mario Ramirez:

chapter in Dallas. And they needed somebody to come in and

Mario Ramirez:

work with the institutions across the state of Ark, of

Mario Ramirez:

Arkansas. And so they said, you're a perfect fit. So I did

Mario Ramirez:

that. That's where I started my career with TI CREF. And then,

Mario Ramirez:

you know, they wanted me to help them create a Trust Company,

Mario Ramirez:

which I did, I worked with, you know, beginning the Trust

Mario Ramirez:

Company. Then we started wealth management, started working with

Mario Ramirez:

our highest our wealthiest clients. And so I became one of

Mario Ramirez:

the first directors in wealth management than they asked me to

Mario Ramirez:

create something specifically for because the company focuses

Mario Ramirez:

on cost large universities, nonprofits around the country

Mario Ramirez:

it's a trillion dollar pension fund. They said we need, we need

Mario Ramirez:

you to create something for the very the decision makers, the

Mario Ramirez:

most influential leaders across the organizations that we serve.

Mario Ramirez:

So I stepped into that role created that and helped help

Mario Ramirez:

form, you know, Private Client Services. Then I eventually

Mario Ramirez:

worked with with our CEO Roger Ferguson, in leading the

Mario Ramirez:

executive relations forum, and also the Hispanic market

Mario Ramirez:

nationally. I left there, and I started my own consulting firm.

Mario Ramirez:

I remember, I wasn't sure what I was going to do, I knew that we

Mario Ramirez:

were having a downsizing in the company. And in a couple of

Mario Ramirez:

months, my position was going to be eliminated. I remember asking

Mario Ramirez:

a good friend of mine, a former governor, you know, what do you

Mario Ramirez:

think I should do? And he said, well, you have a pretty

Mario Ramirez:

incredible network. Why don't you? Why don't you use that

Mario Ramirez:

network and establish a consulting firm, opened doors

Mario Ramirez:

for families like ours, and others, and help help us build

Mario Ramirez:

our businesses. And so they and he said, I will be your first

Mario Ramirez:

client. And so that's how I started M Ramirez Group. And

Mario Ramirez:

then I put different components together around it, for example,

Mario Ramirez:

tax expertise, and also insurance. And basically

Mario Ramirez:

different parts of my group came together to serve the clients.

Mario Ramirez:

And since I was licensed leaving TIAA licensed, securities

Mario Ramirez:

license, I was able to represent companies that are raising

Mario Ramirez:

capital, for example, projects that are raising capital. And so

Mario Ramirez:

it was a it was a good fit all around in ways to, you know,

Mario Ramirez:

create in a way to serve the needs of ultra high net worth

Mario Ramirez:

families, influential families. Along the course of this

Mario Ramirez:

development of this business, I met Zach Wiegert. And Zach is a

Mario Ramirez:

former NFL player and started investing in real estate. And he

Mario Ramirez:

eventually created Golden Rod Companies, Golden Rod Funds,

Mario Ramirez:

about four and a half billion in assets, and properties. And he

Mario Ramirez:

asked me to be his Chief Client Officer, and working with some

Mario Ramirez:

of the same families that I've been working with and other

Mario Ramirez:

wealthy individuals, and we invest in large projects around

Mario Ramirez:

the center, central part of the country.

Brent Williams:

Well, I can tell that it's been a lot of fun in

Brent Williams:

the journey, not not, including TIA, probably Merrill to some

Brent Williams:

degree, but certainly, since then, I can tell you, I've had a

Brent Williams:

lot of fun putting these things together.

Mario Ramirez:

Definitely.

Brent Williams:

You know, one part of your story I didn't

Brent Williams:

quite remember until just then, was that the, the opportunity at

Brent Williams:

TIAA came ultimately, because of your service on leading the

Brent Williams:

alumni group in Dallas.

Mario Ramirez:

It really did. Yeah.

Brent Williams:

So you know, talk a little bit about that,

Brent Williams:

because that's clearly an investment of time you made that

Brent Williams:

you didn't necessarily have an expectation of it paying off

Brent Williams:

that way.

Mario Ramirez:

It's interesting, you put it that way, because

Mario Ramirez:

I've had people ask me, why do you volunteer? Why do you get

Mario Ramirez:

involved, you know, on a, on a board? You know, I serve on your

Mario Ramirez:

board, and it's an honor to do so. And, and they say, you

Mario Ramirez:

don't, you don't get paid with that. And I said, you really do

Mario Ramirez:

that, because the relationships that you make, there and really

Mario Ramirez:

the the work that you're doing to help, you know, students in

Mario Ramirez:

the university that you love. So it was it was a natural fit for

Mario Ramirez:

TIAA to say, hey, why don't you come help us in the state of

Mario Ramirez:

Arkansas? It was it was a perfect fit. And, and it was, it

Mario Ramirez:

was interesting, going back to former professors, and working

Mario Ramirez:

with them, you know, on their, on their retirement planning on

Mario Ramirez:

their financial planning, and eventually working with, you

Mario Ramirez:

know, the leadership here, the university and the coaches and,

Mario Ramirez:

and eventually doing that nationally. But it did all start

Mario Ramirez:

with really the relationship with the University of Arkansas

Mario Ramirez:

and relationships that I have within that, within our school,

Mario Ramirez:

our university.

Brent Williams:

Yeah. What do you think it is? I mean,

Brent Williams:

clearly, you have a propensity to really invest in

Brent Williams:

relationships, not necessarily with an expectation of return.

Brent Williams:

But, but knowing more broadly, they will return. How do you

Brent Williams:

think maybe even going back to the to the way you grew up, how

Brent Williams:

did you learn that?

Mario Ramirez:

That's a good that's a good question. How I

Mario Ramirez:

learned that I'm not honestly, I'm not really sure how I

Mario Ramirez:

learned it. I I want to be able to I want to be care about the

Mario Ramirez:

relationship that I'm, that I'm involved with or that I, you

Mario Ramirez:

know, I guess, if I listen to my own advice, when I'm when I meet

Mario Ramirez:

with students, for example, you know, I'll tell them, I'll tell

Mario Ramirez:

them, hey, it's, has anybody heard, the idea of, it's who you

Mario Ramirez:

know, and you'll get a lot of hands raised. And I'll say,

Mario Ramirez:

okay, write that down. And, and then I'll say, okay, now rip

Mario Ramirez:

that sheet of paper out of your, out of your notebook and throw

Mario Ramirez:

it away. Because it's not who you know, because we all know a

Mario Ramirez:

lot of people, I tell them, it's kind of cheesy, but it's who

Mario Ramirez:

knows you. And what I tell students, and I guess I've

Mario Ramirez:

follow my own advice when you meet somebody. And it doesn't

Mario Ramirez:

have to be anyone note worthy, so to speak. When you meet

Mario Ramirez:

somebody, try to convey your, some of your values and

Mario Ramirez:

principles of who you are, you know, your, your you're

Mario Ramirez:

reliable, you're loyal, your, your work ethic, your you know,

Mario Ramirez:

what, what value you can bring to the relationship or what in

Mario Ramirez:

the work that you do. And they get to know you, somewhat. And

Mario Ramirez:

all of a sudden, that becomes valuable at some point. But

Mario Ramirez:

until that point occurs, just keep the relationship going. And

Mario Ramirez:

there's value in every relationship. And I don't know,

Mario Ramirez:

we don't know what it is sometimes upfront, it may be a

Mario Ramirez:

few years down the road, before you understand what that value

Mario Ramirez:

is, and how it fits into your overall kind of walk in life.

Brent Williams:

Yeah

Mario Ramirez:

You know, or in your career. And I guess I'm

Mario Ramirez:

just kind of thought about it that way.

Brent Williams:

Largely worked in financial services. And

Brent Williams:

that's started to broaden for you. But, you know, as you as

Brent Williams:

you work across industries now, and you know, interact across

Brent Williams:

those throughout your career, it seems to me that the power of

Brent Williams:

relationships, matters, no matter what area of business

Brent Williams:

that you're working in.

Mario Ramirez:

Yeah, no question, no question and

Mario Ramirez:

finances, it really matters because you're dealing with with

Mario Ramirez:

something very personal to these individuals, and they need to

Mario Ramirez:

know that, that they can trust you, that you're looking out for

Mario Ramirez:

their best interest. So you need to establish that trust. And

Mario Ramirez:

that's really the case in any business that you're working in.

Mario Ramirez:

And so I think that's maybe what I strive to do establish the

Mario Ramirez:

trust, and so that you can have honest conversations about how

Mario Ramirez:

we can collaborate, we can work together, you hear this

Mario Ramirez:

statement all the time. You know it's great to work with, you

Mario Ramirez:

know, with good people, great to put good people together. You

Mario Ramirez:

know, part of that is, is is knowing who those good people

Mario Ramirez:

know, knowing the good people that at, at a relationship

Mario Ramirez:

level, excuse me, the, building the relationship first. That's

Mario Ramirez:

what I'm trying to say, and then understanding where you can

Mario Ramirez:

insert yourself to help them.

Brent Williams:

Yep, you know, almost, I've got our students in

Brent Williams:

mind, and this doesn't, what we're going to talk about does

Brent Williams:

not just apply to students, it applies to me. But it applies to

Brent Williams:

probably just anybody out there building any kind of career. You

Brent Williams:

said something a moment ago, like when you when you meet

Brent Williams:

someone and you start building a relationship, you want to convey

Brent Williams:

your values in some way really early on. And and that is not

Brent Williams:

something you know, you don't I don't think you've ever walked

Brent Williams:

up to me and said, hey, Brent, here's my values, right? So you,

Brent Williams:

you demonstrate that through action, what are just some any

Brent Williams:

just like simple, like practical ways that you do that?

Mario Ramirez:

I know that families or individuals that I

Mario Ramirez:

work with, that are high net worth, ultra high net worth a

Mario Ramirez:

lot, they they're they're in demand. And so they get asked a

Mario Ramirez:

lot of them. So if you sit down with someone like this, to not

Mario Ramirez:

ask for something, except to understand who they are, and for

Mario Ramirez:

him for them to understand who you are, kind of where you're

Mario Ramirez:

from, what you're, what you're about, and what they're about,

Mario Ramirez:

listen to them. And not ask not ask anything of them at all, is

Mario Ramirez:

is one way. And that's that's usually pretty evident. It's in

Mario Ramirez:

the sense that they're so used to getting asked, you know, so

Mario Ramirez:

that's one way to do it, I think following up with whatever was

Mario Ramirez:

discussed, you know, and promised in a timely manner, in

Mario Ramirez:

the appropriate way, you know, is is another way to demonstrate

Mario Ramirez:

that and just just showing them that you're actually listening

Mario Ramirez:

to them as they're talking.

Brent Williams:

You know what I went out talk to our students,

Brent Williams:

when I get to give, you know, advice in this area, there's two

Brent Williams:

things you just said that I think are really key. One is the

Brent Williams:

ability to listen. Underrated skill, the the ability to

Brent Williams:

listen. But the other is follow up, that is very, very

Brent Williams:

important, right in terms of the, the relationship building

Brent Williams:

process.

Mario Ramirez:

It is, it really is and, and follow up not only

Mario Ramirez:

on specific items that were requested, or that were, that

Mario Ramirez:

were discussed, let's say, but also just follow up, you know,

Mario Ramirez:

if you're, you know, we all do, we all travel in our careers,

Mario Ramirez:

and even personally, and you know, who's in that city that

Mario Ramirez:

you're going where you're going to, you know, you have your

Mario Ramirez:

agenda, your schedule, your itinerary for that time that

Mario Ramirez:

you're there, but, you know, is there anybody you need to follow

Mario Ramirez:

up with, you know, and just catch up with, and, and staying

Mario Ramirez:

relevant with people, and, you know, business aside, just kind

Mario Ramirez:

of caring about those, those people as as how they, how they

Mario Ramirez:

do in life, you know, and just staying in touch is, is a good

Mario Ramirez:

thing, you know, relationships and friendships there, they,

Mario Ramirez:

they become more and more valuable, I think the older you

Mario Ramirez:

become just, you know, you start really emphasizing that.

Brent Williams:

Yeah and the value you get out of those

Brent Williams:

relationships often sort of evolves over time, I would say,

Brent Williams:

you know, and but you said something that made me think

Brent Williams:

about, you know, say, truly caring, right, and I think

Brent Williams:

that's really where where it starts with relationships is

Brent Williams:

truly just caring about the well being of the people around you.

Mario Ramirez:

Regardless of the position of somebody, you know,

Mario Ramirez:

an executive or it doesn't, doesn't matter, any, any level,

Mario Ramirez:

you know, professionally, caring about that individual, you know,

Mario Ramirez:

who they are, where they are in life and is there anything you

Mario Ramirez:

can do to to help, you know, sincerely, is, I think, I think,

Mario Ramirez:

I think people will understand and feel the sincerity in your,

Mario Ramirez:

in your discussion in your voice, and, but it's really

Mario Ramirez:

identifying in a business setting and identifying what the

Mario Ramirez:

needs are, and approaching it in a very consultative way, you

Mario Ramirez:

know, here's how, a couple of different ways that we could, we

Mario Ramirez:

could help and, and then get the best resources possible to

Mario Ramirez:

address those particular, you know, pain points or challenges.

Brent Williams:

You know, one thing that, that I wanted to

Brent Williams:

bring up that I observed in, in getting to be around you, you

Brent Williams:

and I are around each other quite a bit. Even though we live

Brent Williams:

in, in different places, you know, innovation is often

Brent Williams:

putting, not always just creation, right? It's often

Brent Williams:

about putting unique things together. Sometimes that's

Brent Williams:

relationships. You know, and, and I see, I see you do that a

Brent Williams:

lot like you think about like, oh, how does this relationship

Brent Williams:

fit with this? And how do I bring those people together? And

Brent Williams:

it's kind of allowed you to get into lots of really fun and

Brent Williams:

unique projects.

Mario Ramirez:

Yeah, you know, the going back to caring about

Mario Ramirez:

people understanding where they are in life. Part of that is

Mario Ramirez:

understanding what they're doing, what their priorities

Mario Ramirez:

are, I used to walk into, into when I was at TI Cref, I'd walk

Mario Ramirez:

into the president's office and, and one of the questions I would

Mario Ramirez:

always ask is, what do you think about first thing, you walk in

Mario Ramirez:

the door here in the morning? And what's the last thing on

Mario Ramirez:

your mind when you leave? When you close that door? What's on

Mario Ramirez:

your mind on the way out the door? And those are the things I

Mario Ramirez:

want to try to help you with. And it could be any number of

Mario Ramirez:

things. I remember one president said, well, okay, we need to

Mario Ramirez:

build a pedestrian bridge on the south end of campus, and I need

Mario Ramirez:

to get it done. But I need some political help to navigate that

Mario Ramirez:

and, and get the funding for it. And this, you know, and we were

Mario Ramirez:

able to put together the right individuals to help in that

Mario Ramirez:

situation. But opportunities, I see a lot of opportunities, I

Mario Ramirez:

see a lot of deals, I see a lot of projects, and in companies

Mario Ramirez:

that are raising capital or growing. You know, I had one the

Mario Ramirez:

other day. And they they they're building a factory in one part

Mario Ramirez:

of the country. And I said, well, what if you put the

Mario Ramirez:

factory in a different part of the country, we could get the

Mario Ramirez:

right investors involved here. We could get the right political

Mario Ramirez:

capital involved. We could get the university involved. We

Mario Ramirez:

could we could allow the university to provide jobs into

Mario Ramirez:

this and it itself this project is going to create 1,000 new

Mario Ramirez:

jobs so but coordinating all the different pieces meant that I

Mario Ramirez:

needed to know what each component who the the point

Mario Ramirez:

person would be on each component part of that. And I

Mario Ramirez:

think just getting to know, people developing relationships

Mario Ramirez:

gives me the kind of the bank of, of priorities for each

Mario Ramirez:

individual and how to match that up. Does that make sense?

Brent Williams:

That totally make sense. That's, that's

Brent Williams:

exactly right. I don't think I've ever until I'm sitting

Brent Williams:

here, I don't know that I've ever thought about innovation in

Brent Williams:

that way. I've always thought about innovation as putting

Brent Williams:

unique things together that may not have ever been put together,

Brent Williams:

that's innovation. But it also works with relationships, too.

Brent Williams:

And I guess that's often key to getting something new and unique

Brent Williams:

and different done.

Mario Ramirez:

Yeah. Yeah, it really is, you know and when you

Mario Ramirez:

have those relationships you know, I think it's, yeah, I

Mario Ramirez:

think it's important when you have a board, for example, to

Mario Ramirez:

understand, to get to know, each board member, each board member

Mario Ramirez:

is then re giving their time, there are some very important

Mario Ramirez:

business things that are usually going on that day, but they're

Mario Ramirez:

here, you know, and each one has something to give. So developing

Mario Ramirez:

the relationship and understanding where their heart

Mario Ramirez:

is, what, what they what they can provide, what kind of, you

Mario Ramirez:

know, intelligent, or business intuition or business insight

Brent Williams:

Agreed. Well, you know, Mario, you've after, I

Brent Williams:

they might have, that they could help, in this case, the Walton

Brent Williams:

College, you know, with what, and then and then kind of

Brent Williams:

know, you're still involved in the finance industry in some

Brent Williams:

storing that away and knowing, well, I really like this person

Brent Williams:

and gotten to know them over the past couple of years. And I know

Brent Williams:

way. But but your career has evolved into you're more and

Brent Williams:

that they have a company that that specializes in this, and

Brent Williams:

maybe in a couple of years, we'll develop something in that

Brent Williams:

more involved in real estate, with Golden Rod as an example,

Brent Williams:

space. You know, so you understand how to match that up

Brent Williams:

at the right moment.

Brent Williams:

you've also been involved in with large construction

Brent Williams:

companies. So how's that transition been? And, you know,

Brent Williams:

into into that realm?

Mario Ramirez:

Yeah, it's funny, it's all very symbiotic let me

Mario Ramirez:

say it that way. Everything's related to to the other. You

Mario Ramirez:

know, as I look at my role with Golden Rod, it's, it's as Chief

Mario Ramirez:

Client Officer, we're doing some really cool projects, we're

Mario Ramirez:

building, you know, a $500 million hotel and condo, you

Mario Ramirez:

know, what, together with the Atlanta Braves at the, at the

Mario Ramirez:

Battery, in Atlanta overlooking the stadium, that's a neat

Mario Ramirez:

project, you know, but if you look at the fund, itself, that

Mario Ramirez:

this project is coming out of, it's very investor friendly. So

Mario Ramirez:

I work with a lot of investors I work with, you know, high net

Mario Ramirez:

worth families that are that are looking to, for for investments

Mario Ramirez:

that have value to them, that are set up the right way. And,

Mario Ramirez:

for instance, in that particular case, the fund is very investor

Mario Ramirez:

friendly. So it's easy to to, to discuss and bring up and it can

Mario Ramirez:

be, you know, I, I wouldn't be involved with it if I didn't

Mario Ramirez:

think it was a good match for some of the individuals that I

Mario Ramirez:

work with. So the work that we're doing there is meaningful

Mario Ramirez:

and really designed for the clientele that I've been working

Mario Ramirez:

with. One of the families that I've been working with over the

Mario Ramirez:

past several years, they do have a very large infrastructure

Mario Ramirez:

company, Southland Holdings. And they decided to go public in the

Mario Ramirez:

past year, and they invited me to join the board, which has

Mario Ramirez:

been really exciting. You know, we went up to New York to ring

Mario Ramirez:

the bell, and to see this company that that started, you

Mario Ramirez:

know, in the last generation, and to see it start from from,

Mario Ramirez:

you know, immigrants from Italy, starting the construction

Mario Ramirez:

company that has acquired, you know, has grown on their own

Mario Ramirez:

grown through acquisition now owns American Bridge, for

Mario Ramirez:

example, the company that built the Empire State Building,

Brent Williams:

Yeah,

Mario Ramirez:

It's just really, really a neat American story.

Brent Williams:

Absolutely. Some iconic projects I've gotten to

Brent Williams:

visit Southland with you.

Mario Ramirez:

Yeah

Brent Williams:

The headquarters. And to walk along

Brent Williams:

and see the iconic projects throughout this country's

Brent Williams:

history that they've been involved in is actually truly

Brent Williams:

tremendous.

Mario Ramirez:

It really is. It really is seeing, seeing the

Mario Ramirez:

Astrodome and the Oakland Bay Bridge and the Tappan Zee Bridge

Mario Ramirez:

up in New York. And of course, you know, even aircraft carriers

Mario Ramirez:

and battleships during World War II. Seeing the things that that

Mario Ramirez:

we've built as a company over the, over the decades. And

Mario Ramirez:

they're really part of American history.

Brent Williams:

Yeah.

Mario Ramirez:

It's neat.

Brent Williams:

You know, Mario, you've heard me say this many

Brent Williams:

times, I think I think one of the Walton College's most

Brent Williams:

important competitive advantages, you will, if you

Brent Williams:

will, is our connectivity, connectivity to companies and

Brent Williams:

our alumni. It seems to me that, you know, the U of A and the

Brent Williams:

Walton College has really been a big part of your story. I mean,

Brent Williams:

going back, I guess, to, you know, getting you in the door in

Brent Williams:

some way in TIAA, but it's really continue, you've really,

Brent Williams:

you've really continued to invest in this set of

Brent Williams:

relationships. And it's, it's, I don't know that I would say it's

Brent Williams:

the absolute core, but it certainly has been important

Brent Williams:

throughout that journey.

Mario Ramirez:

Well it's been important to me, you know, that

Mario Ramirez:

Walton College and the University. You know, I've

Mario Ramirez:

gotten so much out of it, relationships, you know, from my

Mario Ramirez:

family, my wife, you know, we met here, we met in front of the

Mario Ramirez:

Walton College, actually, right in front of it. And, you know,

Mario Ramirez:

now having my kids go to school here, having lifelong

Mario Ramirez:

friendships here, so it means a lot to me. And so to be able to

Mario Ramirez:

serve on the board, and give back in a variety of ways, is

Mario Ramirez:

something as it's a priority, you know, frankly, but, you

Mario Ramirez:

know, the Walton College makes it in the connectivity that

Mario Ramirez:

you're referred to, I think that what makes it easy, what makes

Mario Ramirez:

that flourish, and you're right, it does here, it really does,

Mario Ramirez:

among our students, our alumni, our board, the leadership of the

Mario Ramirez:

college, I think it's, it's the same quality that I see that I

Mario Ramirez:

was place as my number one quality for leaders, for good

Mario Ramirez:

leaders, if somebody were to ask me, what's the number one

Mario Ramirez:

quality in a good leader? I'd say humility. And I see that

Mario Ramirez:

here. And humility in the sense that regardless of position, CEO

Mario Ramirez:

of any company, you know, that we all know of any any company

Mario Ramirez:

or, you know, a wealthy family or individual doesn't matter.

Mario Ramirez:

They're open to hearing what the students have to say,

Brent Williams:

Yeah,

Mario Ramirez:

They're open to hearing what the leadership has

Mario Ramirez:

to say about the college.

Brent Williams:

Yeah.

Mario Ramirez:

And where it's going,

Brent Williams:

You you hit on something there, that's really

Brent Williams:

important. It is kind of who we are. Right, you know. And you

Brent Williams:

and I were just a, you know, at a luncheon, where I observed,

Brent Williams:

you know, one of our students get a chance to tell these

Brent Williams:

really successful people, they were asked they, they wanted to

Brent Williams:

know what she thought, right? They wanted to learn from her.

Brent Williams:

And, you know, and she was able to voice, you know, that

Brent Williams:

actually, what was really important to her was being able

Brent Williams:

to make an impact through her internships and her career. And

Brent Williams:

I was walking, I was looking around that room and watching

Brent Williams:

people glued to her. And these are very successful people.

Brent Williams:

They're running big companies, they've got busy lives. But it

Brent Williams:

does take humility to do that. And, and I think that, that

Brent Williams:

it's, it's a part of who we are.

Mario Ramirez:

It really is, you know, we, we talked about how so

Mario Ramirez:

many universities now, you may get admitted to the university,

Mario Ramirez:

but that doesn't mean that you're necessarily a part of

Mario Ramirez:

that business school. You know, you need to apply again for

Mario Ramirez:

that. In not in every case, you don't get in, in every case.

Mario Ramirez:

Right. So, but here, we do we allow that. And I don't think we

Mario Ramirez:

as a college, as you know, the Walton College. We're not we,

Mario Ramirez:

although we're an elite school of business, we don't presume

Mario Ramirez:

ourselves to be elitist. You know, we're not, we're not. We

Mario Ramirez:

we're humble enough to be in that room and be open with these

Mario Ramirez:

students. Make them feel comfortable. You know, because

Mario Ramirez:

they're stressing over the past week. We got to go present

Mario Ramirez:

before the board. They probably told their parents, I have this

Mario Ramirez:

tomorrow. I'm really stressed about it. But yeah, hopefully

Mario Ramirez:

they got in there and they felt comfortable. And they actually

Mario Ramirez:

had good conversations and, you know, some of the board members

Mario Ramirez:

are asking them can, can we ask them advice of you? You know,

Mario Ramirez:

which is great.

Brent Williams:

You know, one thing I love about this state

Brent Williams:

is, is just that, you know, hard work is still valued, ingenuity

Brent Williams:

is still valued, humble. Humility is still valued. And

Brent Williams:

it's really, really fun to get to see people like you and

Brent Williams:

others on the Dean's Executive Advisory Board model that for

Brent Williams:

those students that were in the room And, you know, you probably

Brent Williams:

really don't know the kind of impact that ultimately makes.

Brent Williams:

But it does make a difference.

Mario Ramirez:

Well, I hope it does, I think it does. And if

Mario Ramirez:

that if we can convey that value to our students, in how we

Mario Ramirez:

design our curriculum, and how we teach our students and how

Mario Ramirez:

we, you know, carry ourselves, you know, in the public eye on,

Mario Ramirez:

you know, even within the walls of the Walton College, I think

Mario Ramirez:

that's, that's a homerun, you know, that's a, that's a value

Mario Ramirez:

that you can't really, it's hard to teach in a class, you have to

Mario Ramirez:

demonstrate it, I think it's sort of an intangible. It's,

Mario Ramirez:

it's sort of an innate ability, that can be maybe trained

Mario Ramirez:

through demonstration, as opposed to maybe being taught in

Mario Ramirez:

a book. And it's so so important.

Brent Williams:

What you said couldn't be more right. Like,

Brent Williams:

you know, like getting things in business done, often is about

Brent Williams:

again, we'll go back to that the power of relationships and

Brent Williams:

Mario, I'll say thank you for investing in the relationship

Brent Williams:

with the Walton College and investing in our students and,

Brent Williams:

and helping us by using, you know, that that network of

Brent Williams:

relationships that you've created on our behalf, so thank

Brent Williams:

you.

Mario Ramirez:

You're welcome. It's my pleasure, Brent, thank

Mario Ramirez:

you for your leadership.

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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