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The 1911 Group | SMU Stories
SMU Stories features weekly conversations between Mitch Brown, co-founder of The 1911 Group, and accomplished SMU alumni who are building companies, leading institutions, and shaping the Dallas business community.
Each episode goes beyond the resume. Guests share how they got their start at SMU, the risks they took on their way to success, the career paths and lessons that shaped them, and their advice for the next generation of Mustangs. From founders of fast-growing consumer brands to university deans and investment leaders, every conversation offers an honest look at what it takes to build something that lasts.
New episodes release every week.
The 1911 Group is a members-only professional network for SMU alumni in Dallas. Learn more at the1911group.com.
Episodes
74 episodes
How an SMU Grad Built a Retail Brand and a Wealth Firm
This week on SMU Stories we sat down with Scott Boyles. Scott Boyles, CFP®, BBA ’00, is the founder of Vonera Wealth, a fee-only wealth management firm based in Austin. For more than two decades, Scott has worked with families, executives, and ...
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From KPMG Auditor to Leading the Largest Tribal Government in the US | Lacey Horn
Lacey Horn, BBA ’04, MSA ’05, is a globally recognized financial executive and entrepreneur whose career has focused on advancing the economic future of Indigenous peoples. A citizen of the Cherokee Nation, she is the Founder and CEO of Native ...
From Interior Design to Building Avenue 8 Cocktails
This week on SMU Stories, we sat down with Tiffany Jones, founder of Avenue 8 Cocktails and an SMU Cox School of Business MBA al...
Building a School from Scratch with Shelly Sender
This week on SMU Stories, we sat down with Shelly Sender, founding Head of School at The Compass School of Texas, to talk about 45 years in education and what it takes to build a school from scratch.Shelly Sender is the founding Head of ...
How Layne Tenenbaum Built Le Bloom in Dallas
This week on SMU Stories, we sat down with Layne Tenenbaum (’21), founder and creative director of Dallas’s go-to floral studio, coffee, and matcha concept, Le Bloom.An SMU Cox graduate with a background in marketing and digital content ...
Michael S. Harris | Dean, Simmons School of Education
This week on SMU Stories, we sat down with Michael Harris, Leon Simmons Endowed Dean of the Simmons School of Education and Human Development. Simmons offers graduate and undergraduate degree programs spanning education, sport management, appli...
The Brand Builder | Caroline Wright Turnipseed
This week on SMU Stories, we sat down with Caroline Turnipseed, Founder of CWT Consulting Group, a boutique marketing agency that partners with retail and lifestyle brands to create strategic marketing initiatives that drive measurable growth.<...
25 Years of Raising Capital: What's Changed | Michael Romo, ACORE Capital
This week on SMU Stories, we sat down with Mike Romo.Mike is Senior Managing Director and Global Head of Capital Raising and Investor Relations at ACORE Capital, where he oversees the firm's global investor relations and product developm...
Inside Texas Politics with Henry Bryan | State Advocacy & the Future of North Texas
This week on SMU Stories, we sat down with SMU alumnus Henry Bryan.As the North Texas Commission's Director of State Advocacy, Henry serves as liaison to our Government Affairs Committee, oversees the NTC’s statewide policy planning, dev...
From Cox to the Peace Corps: Brooke Donelson on Community Impact & Growth
This week on SMU Stories, host Bora Laci sits down with Brooke Donelson (’18) to discuss her dynamic journey from the Hilltop to international consulting and global community service.Brooke believes some of life’s best opportunities for ...
Real Estate Investing in the Southeast | Bruce Blackwood | SMU Stories
This week on SMU Stories, we sat down with Bruce Blackwood, Managing Partner of Woodson Company, a real estate investment firm focused on value-add multifamily acquisitions in the growing suburban markets of Georgia and the Carolinas.Be...
The Art of Building Brands and Communities
Morganne Stewart is a creative strategist, entrepreneur, and marketing leader with more than a decade of experience building brands, leading high-impact initiatives, and connecting business, creativity, and community. She is the founder of Morg...
Inside the Growing Ceramics Scene in Dallas | Marcello Andres Ceramics
This week on SMU Stories, we sat down with SMU alum Marcello Andres Ortega, founder of Marcello Andres Ceramics and a Dallas-based ceramic artist redefining functional design.After earning his degree in economics and finance from SMU, M...
Building Legacies That Last: Inside Boswell PLLC | Aubrey Boswell
This week on SMU Stories we sat down with Aubrey Boswell (’06, ’09), an alumnus of Southern Methodist University Cox School of Business and Dedman School of Law, and Founder of Boswell PLLC, to talk about estate planning, probate, and high leve...
Inside Shug’s Bagels: Building a Dallas Staple | Justin Shugrue
This week on SMU Stories we sat down with Justin Shugrue (’17), an SMU Cox School of Business alumnus and Founder of Shug’s Bagels, to discuss his transition from finance to establishing a Dallas staple.Originally from Westchester, New Y...
SMU Alum Ryan Ball (’08) on Buying and Transforming Rockwall Services
This week on SMU Stories we sat down with Ryan Ball (’08), an SMU Lyle School of Engineering alumnus and CEO of Rockwall Services, to talk about his path from engineering to entrepreneurship.Ryan shares how his mechanical engineering deg...
Pioneering a Real Estate Career in Dallas with Torrey Littlejohn
This week on SMU Stories, we sat down with Torrey Littlejohn, Senior Managing Director and North Texas Broker Lead at JLL, to discuss her career in tenant representation and strategic real estate advisory.A graduate of the University of ...
From Bud Light & Frito Lay to Marketing Director: Charlotte Hatterick’s Playbook
This week on SMU Stories, we sat down with Charlotte Hatterick, the Marketing Director at EIGHT Elite Light Beer. She is a proud SMU alum of the Meadows School of the Arts and the Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences.In this episod...
The Power of Continuity: Scaling Security National Bank in North Texas
This week on SMU Stories, we sat down with James Landen Jr., SMU alumnus (Class of 2010) and Chief Revenue Officer & Market President at Security National Bank of Texas, a proud sponsor of the 1911 Group.James shares his family’s mul...
Douglas Newby on Preserving Dallas Through Architecture
This week on SMU Stories, we sat down with Douglas Newby (BS ’74, MPA ’80), past president of the SMU Town and Gown Club and founder of Architecturally Sig...
From NASA Intern to Investment Banking to Custom Homebuilding: Benjamin Lavine ('98)
From NASA intern to investment banking to custom homebuilding.In this episode of SMU Stories, we interview Benjamin Lavine (BBA ’98, Cox School of Business), owner of Stone Acorn Builders, a Texas-based custom homebuilding firm.<...
Career Change, Education, and Wealth Management: A Conversation with Kyle Manley (MBA ’10)
This week on SMU Stories, we spoke with Kyle Manley (MBA ’10), Partner and Client Advisor at Brown Advisory in Dallas.Kyle discusses his unconventional path from education and mathematics into finance, and how his time at SMU Cox positi...
Doyle Glass: Insights from a Career Spanning Law, Art, and Historical Narratives
This week on SMU Stories, we had the privilege of sitting down with Doyle Glass (SMU ’84, ’88), an SMU alumnus whose career reflects intellectual discipline, creative ambition, and a profound commitment to public service.Doyle Glass, a ...
Sam Sawyer on Building Pinnacle Realty: A New Brokerage Era
This week on SMU Stories, we sat down with Sam Sawyer — CEO of Pinnacle Realty Advisors and proud SMU alum from the Class of 2009. Since 2020, he has led Pinnacle from Austin, developing a cloud-based brokerage platform that enables real-estate...
Ra Kazadi on Building Nostalgia and Noise: A Creative Agency
This week on SMU Stories, we sat down with Ra Kazadi, SMU football alumnus, Dallas-based artist, and cofounder of Nostalgia and Noise, a creative agency merging art, music, and culture. Ra’s path began on the field at Southern Methodist Univers...
