What I Learned from 100 Episodes of the Be EPIC Podcast
By: Matthew Alan Waller
Tags: Podcasting, Leadership Skills, Management And Leadership, Podcast, Leadership

(Originally published as a LinkedIn article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-i-learned-from-100-episodes-epic-podcast-matt-waller/)

One of my favorite things about my role as dean of the Sam M. Walton College of Business is that it opens the doors to so many new and interesting relationships. On the downside, however, I often wish I could go much, much deeper with the people I get a chance to meet.

That’s why hosting a podcast has been such a wonderful experience.

The Walton College has thousands of students, hundreds of employees, and tens of thousands of alumni, so I can’t get to know them all. But hosting a podcast has allowed me to learn and share the stories and insights of all sorts of fascinating people.

When I took the helm of the Walton College in 2015, hosting a podcast never crossed my mind, but I’ve long been a fan of the format because I can listen while I bike, run, walk, or drive. I remember regularly listening to “EconTalk with Russ Roberts” back in 2009, and I still listen to it periodically. My playlist has expanded over the years, and now I enjoy topics like economics, leadership, high performance, marketing, and well-being.

In 2018, after weighing the pros and cons, I began hosting the BeEPIC podcast and I now know it was a great decision. I pointed out in an article about a year ago that my team has created such a good process that hosting the podcast doesn’t take up that much of my time. As I wrote in that article, “In many cases, it substitutes for the time that I would have used for a meeting with the person. The effort that goes into a podcast is substantial, but all I have to do is pick the interviewee and record the podcast. Our team does the rest.”

The benefits of doing the podcast are enormous. Not only do I get to spend time interviewing alumni, faculty, staff, students, and other interesting people, but I get to share what I’m learning with listeners — many of them Walton College students.

Many of my guests are people I would be meeting with for other reasons, but I’m convinced that a podcast interview has a much different effect on how I relate to the interviewees. I spend more time preparing for the interviews than I would for a typical meeting, and a podcast interview is an opportunity to focus strictly on the guest and his or her story. So, I learn much more about the person in a podcast interview than I would in a typical meeting.

For instance, Gerald Alley is the founder and CEO of Con-Real, LP, one of the nation’s largest minority-owned businesses. I knew the basics of his story because he is a Walton College alumnus and a member of the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame. But I learned so much more about the ups and downs that led to his success by asking a few questions on the podcast and listening to his insightful answers.

I was fascinated to learn how his parents had challenged him in different ways when he was in college. His mother challenged him to attend the University of Arkansas because she believed he needed to push himself harder academically. And his father challenged him to succeed after a somewhat mediocre first semester on campus — “Do not muss up my money,” as his father put it.

Perhaps my favorite story from Alley was how he challenged, respectfully but with tough, logical, business-focused questions, the CEO of a Dallas department store chain who was speaking to one of his classes. There’s no doubt the CEO felt the heat, but the discussion also earned Alley the CEO’s respect — and an invitation to apply for a job!

I also have learned a great deal from faculty members about their research and teaching, from students about the organizations they are involved in and what is motivating their engagement, and from alumni about their unique leadership techniques, intriguing business strategies, and memorable experiences from their time in college. And I’ve interviewed several authors. In the process, I’ve learned more than I learned from reading their books.

What I have learned has helped me in my role as dean, but it also has provided inspiration and practical wisdom to the listeners. For instance, Walton College MBA alumnus Jonathan Thompson realized at a young age that he wanted to be a CEO. So, as he shared on the podcast, he periodically took lateral moves while his peers were taking promotions. He wanted to make sure he received broad experiences that would help him run a business. And it worked. He is now the CEO of Nielson-Massey Vanillas.

Listening to guests like Alley and Thompson share their stories provides great value to listeners, especially to our students and young alumni who are early on in their careers. They learn the methods and the mindsets it takes to transform their lives into something better.

I’ve now recorded more than 100 podcast episodes and my only regret is that I didn’t start these interviews sooner. I’ll never be able to interview everyone who has a story worth sharing, but each episode is a step in the right direction.

Here is a link to the Be EPIC podcast: https://walton.uark.edu/be-epic-podcast/

(Originally published as a LinkedIn article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-i-learned-from-100-episodes-epic-podcast-matt-waller/)