The Arise with Anita Podcast

From 7‑Eleven To Blockbuster: How James Keyes Leads With Heart, Grit, And Service

• Anita Karadalian-Girgis Mindset Transformation Coach & Breathwork Guide

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What if the fastest way to cut through fear, division, and doubt is to learn—on purpose, every day? That’s the heartbeat of our conversation with James Keyes, former CEO of 7‑Eleven and Blockbuster, bestselling author of Education Is Freedom, and founder of a nonprofit that’s helped raise nearly half a billion dollars for scholarships and student support. James takes us inside the rooms where hard calls get made and shows how character, clarity, and compassion turn turbulence into traction.

We start with joy and gratitude, then move into the practicality of formal education versus self-directed paths. James shares why education is a license to learn, how structure builds discipline and collaboration, and why your brand still matters when the stakes are high. We explore the human edge in an AI world: breadth of knowledge, curiosity, creativity, cultural literacy, and integrity. He explains how to lead people with a “pull” strategy—creating meaning and momentum—rather than pushing through fear and compliance.

James lays out his three C’s of resilient leadership—change, confidence, clarity—and brings them to life with unfiltered stories from 7‑Eleven’s turnaround and Blockbuster’s crisis years, including a timely nudge from Warren Buffett to get back to the plate and keep swinging. We also tackle pride, vulnerability, and the courage to ask for help, plus the truth about “having it all” through intentional career-life integration. Throughout, James champions social good as a strategic lever, not a side project, and makes a compelling case that knowledge paired with faith is the armor we need to move beyond fear into service and impact.

If you’re navigating rapid change, building a career moat beyond AI, or looking for a leadership framework that actually scales under pressure, this one’s for you. Listen, share with a friend who needs a confidence reset, and leave a quick review so more people can rise with us. Subscribe for new episodes that blend soul and strategy—and tell us: which “C” will you practice this week?

Connect with James Keyes:

Website: https://www.jameswkeyes.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jkeyesauthor/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jkeyesauthor 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Jkeyesauthor

Linkdln: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-keyes-a0947215/

X: https://x.com/jkeyesauthor

If you felt something shift inside you today… hold that. Honor it.

This is how we rise — one choice, one voice, one brave breath at a time.

If you’re ready to go deeper, download your free ARISE Activation Workbook at www.arisewithanita.com

And if this message landed in your soul, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a woman who’s done playing small.

Because we don’t just rise alone — we rise together.

I’ll see you in the next episode. And until then… stay rising.

SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to the Rise with Anita podcast, the space where soulmate strategy and dreams are no longer optional. I'm your host, Anita Carlin, a transformational mindset code, and the founder of the Hub Netflix. This note is the woman who knows too much for more. Feel the call to rise higher subtitles to talk about a home story, patterns, or circumstances. We don't just talk about growth, we embody it. We activate the water identity to do to create, to claim to next level. You'll hear a mix of poll episodes for me and interviews with school-driven leaders, the best in their field, who live what they teach and rise by example. Each conversation is a callus for your next breakthrough. You're not broken, you're breaking through. Let's go ahead and rise together.

SPEAKER_01:

Welcome back to the Rise with Anita podcast. On today's episode, I have the joy of welcoming a leader whose journey reminds us of what true success is, not just about title, but impact. James Keys rose from the humble beginnings in Grafton, Nassachus, to becoming the CEO of two Fortune 500 companies, 7-Eleven and Blockbusters. Yet what makes his story so extraordinary is not just the boardrooms he's led, but the way he has chosen to live a life of heart and service. Carrying his father's wisdom that the key to freedom is to learn as much as you can every day. Jim has embodied what the role a lifelong learner is. The commitment shines through not only his career, but also in his calling. Today he is a best-selling author of Education is Freedom. The future is in your hands, a book that's built a message of a movement reminding us that the education has the power to transform lives, preserve democracy, and unlock human potential. From CEO to author, from business leader to social change agent, Jim has shown that leadership at its highest level is about lifting others through his nonprofit education as freedom. He has helped raise nearly half a billion dollars for scholarships and student support, proving that success is sweetest when it's shared. So today, as we sit down with not just a corporate visionary, but a change maker, a wisdom keeper, and a leader who continues to serve with purpose, please join me in welcoming James Keyes. Welcome. I'm so honored to have you here.

SPEAKER_03:

Great to be with you. This is gonna be fun.

SPEAKER_01:

It is so before we dive in, I usually like to start off before we dive into like the resume of like what's just bringing you joy in this current season.

SPEAKER_03:

Bringing me joy. I know this sounds crazy, but everything brings me joy. Chocolate chip cookies bring me joy. Ice cream, vanilla ice cream brings me joy. Unfortunately, I have too much joy lately. No, I'll be serious for a second. I I what has been bringing me joy most recently is the privilege, and it really, really is a privilege of being able to share the message of the transformative power of learning all over the world. So I'm I'm in four continents in the last six weeks and talking about how powerful learning can be and how it really can change your your life and and how it is the ultimate answer. I know this sounds crazy, to peace on earth.

unknown:

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_03:

Because it takes away fear. So I'm having a blast. Gives me great joy to be able to spread this word.

SPEAKER_01:

I love that you bring it back to what you're doing, not just also finding joy in the little moments, because what I always advise my ladies on is not to look for like that big next thing, just to find it in the kind of minute areas of life, whether it's like smelling the flower, as you brought up, like the chocolate chip cooking. Yes. Um having those like little moments of like actually like taking the time to like enjoy the moment, be present with it. I think that's such a beautiful thing. And then on the other hand, being so enlightened with your purpose and your mission and your calling and how on a greater scale that really does impact the world and just the trajectory of like the understanding people can have.

SPEAKER_03:

You know, I I'm so glad you started with that question because I I, you know, a busy guy, I'm a typical corporate executive. I don't sit around and contemplate the power of gratitude and joy and all that. I mean, I don't, but as I wrote the book, I started to dig in and I and I started to ask questions like, why are people so upset? Because the average person is pretty, pretty grumpy these days. There's a lot of division, there's a lot of hatred in the world, and and there's a lot of anger and frustration and all that stuff. Just turn on the news or or flip through social media and you see a lot of that stuff. And I thought, well, what is what is it? And I have, in the course of studying everything from ancient philosophers to the Dalai Lama, come to the conclusion that that we're all capable, we're all capable of changing the way we look at life and channeling gratitude and channeling our ability to be happy. And gratitude's a big part of it. Just being thankful, wake up every day and think, wow, what new adventure am I going to have the opportunity to have today, even if it's a new flavor chocolate chip cookie, you know? But it's that that keeps us balanced. It's hard to be angry if you're grateful, right? Absolutely. It's the energy to anger, actually. It really is so often. And you know, so many of us, it's within our power to change our mindset, and yet we get caught up in all this stuff. So yeah, it's uh hey, and this is learning for me. I'm not trying to pretend I've been this like perfect human being running around filled with gratitude and joy my whole life. Um, but I do believe that that that is possible, and I'm working on that now. And I can honestly say, for me, every day is a new adventure.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely. You know, you touched on the news, and we're as we sit here recording this, we're a few weeks out from the Tori Kirk incident and a number of different incidents, but have got along with it this month. And I've been reflecting on how, while I haven't spoken on it publicly just yet, how majority of our entire systems, if we just had more education, more knowledge, more emotional intelligence, it would actually be in place of being able to come to at least an agree to disagree rather than take these violent actions. I'm not saying that we would have like a perfect harmonious world, but I do feel like we would see a lot less of what we are currently seeing.

SPEAKER_03:

We would. And you know, and I I am I'm going to, it's such a sensitive topic now because it's so fresh, and I don't know when this will air, but but it is a pretty fresh thing, and there are a lot of very, very hurt feelings about that incident. But I'm I'm going to take the challenge of taking on one of the things that Charlie did say, which I didn't agree with. I'll agree with so much of what he said, obviously. He said a lot of really good things, but one of the things that he did was to encourage people that they didn't really need a formal education. And he did this on college campuses, saying you're wasting your money, you're wasting your time in some cases. And I and I I I just I wish I had had the opportunity to know him because I would have had one of those prove me wrong sessions with him to be able to say, look, you know, yes, there is an abundance of information available. This is a portal to unlimited learning. And you technically can learn anything you need to learn without even going K through 12 or college. But most of us are human, and most of us really require structure and discipline in our life. That's what college brings. So many people are saying, it's, you know, all these crazy subjects. I don't care if you're studying basket weaving. You're getting the structure and the discipline to be able to really be good at basket weaving, and probably in the course of that experience, to have collaborative interaction with others, which is critical, to be able to have a deadline, which is critical, responsibilities, which is critical. And all of that comes with that formal education. K through 12, post-secondary, more important now than ever before because it is the antidote to fear and anger and all that stuff. The more breadth of knowledge you can have, and the formal education gives you the discipline to support that, gives you the framework needed for most of us anyway, the more you can have, then the less fear you have to experience. And hopefully the more joy you can have in your life.

SPEAKER_01:

Beautiful. So I actually wanted to ask you the right about that as well, because for me, now I personally left college midway. However, in its place, what I have done is a lot of non-formal training. So I've taken a life coaching certification, I've been in and out of the insurance industry. So I've had different modalities of training that still provide that discipline and that training. So for me, what it was when I heard your story was kind of like that. The variant of being like just college educated versus a lifelong learner.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. Yeah. I'm an advocate for both. I am uh here's the way I look at my college degree and my graduate degree. They were a license to learn. What they helped me with is the methodology behind learning. Because I don't think I could have had the discipline needed to dig deep and to research the way I can research today without that formal, more formalized training. So, yeah, it's A number one, it's about learning. I don't care how you learn, learn. Lifelong. A number one important. But here's the practical side. And this is where I like, oh, it just kills me because I mean, keep in mind, I've had as many as a million people in the course of my career directly or indirectly reporting to me between all these big companies, global corporations. And at the end of the day, people are like products. We're like consumer products. It sounds harsh, right? But we are. Each of us has a brand. And that brand is pretty darn important. And what I tell, especially young people, don't be suckered into thinking that you can learn everything you need to learn on your own. Because that brand, where you had whatever formal education you had, is going to be with you for the rest of your life. And when people interact with you, or whether it's raising money for your entrepreneurial effort, I need to go raise$2 million for this company. The very first thing the bankers, the lenders are going to look at is your resume. And they're going to say, Where'd you go to school? It's as simple as that. And it may not be fair, but this is the practical reality for at least the next probably 20, 30 years until someday, in fact, one of the things I'm advocating now is an education operating system that will track our learning from the time we are born, basically. All of our transcripts, all of our grades, all of the certifications, all of the experiences that we're able to log will be able to be captured. And there will be a time, 20 years from now, at some point in the future, when your brand will reflect the cumulative learning that you've been able to have. If you level up in the system, then we'll be able to record that. Until that happens, the practical reality is that the first question someone's going to say is, Where'd you go to school? And we should be sensitive to that and not throw it away because it's going to be pretty important for a period of time. That that was my challenge. That was my challenge. I mean, there's a lot of people. Elon Musk, Peter Teal, they're all going, ah, you don't need to go to school. Just go learn coding. Now think about it. AI, 10 years. I'm going to go learn coding now, and that's all I know. That job may be gone 10 years. Thanks, Elon. Sorry. You're fine. Work for you.

SPEAKER_01:

Literally.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, I think so. The breadth of knowledge is so critically important.

SPEAKER_01:

I personally, AI is becoming a bigger thing. Have been thinking about that. Like, how can you make yourself irreplaceable from an AI about? Where we always are going to want to up level that skill, but at the same time, we cannot be soul dependent on the AI.

SPEAKER_03:

Thank you for answering. I've got the I've got the thank you for asking. I think I have the answer. I mean, let me think here's my opinion. Here's my opinion. AI is gonna go super deep on any given subject. And I'll give you a great example. I mean, I'm a pilot. You see my office, I'm surrounded by airplane stuff and pilot stuff. I love to fly. And if I didn't have a degree and I didn't have the corporate trajectory I had, I would have loved to be a pilot. But today, if I was to say, I'm 19 years old, I'm gonna go be a pilot, and I don't have a degree, and I don't have anything else that I know how to do, in 20 years, by the time I'm 40, pretty good chance my job is going to be replaced by an autonomous aircraft, or at a minimum, one pilot per cockpit. Because my plane today, I can fly at 41,000 feet single pilot. This was unheard of 20 years ago, 30 years ago. Now I can do it today. So this is coming. So my recommendation to everybody, especially somebody early in their career, is the breadth of knowledge is critically important so you can pivot. And the whole world's pushing you to specialize. You should go decide by eighth grade what you want to be. How the heck do you know what eighth grade? No one else is what I wanted to be, right? I mean, I don't want, I wouldn't want my kids to specialize that early. I want them to have breadth of knowledge. So that's one. There's a second thing that I think is critically important. I call it the meta skills. So you might say, okay, what are meta skills? It's a fancy name for soft skills, right? Because this is what makes us human. It's things like curiosity. Will AI be curious like a person? I don't know. Maybe not. Yeah, we'll be very smart, but smart isn't necessarily that native curiosity, like, I wonder what makes this work, or I wonder who this person is, what they're really like. So curiosity, creativity. Is creativity something that you'll really be able to harness the emotion inside, the expression inside a piece of art? I don't know. We'll see. But I think it's an important human aspect, humility, gratitude, things we talked about, integrity. Will I ever trust a machine versus trusting a human? And so all of these things I call the meta-skills, which are basically the humanities. They're the things that the ancient philosophers all studied and taught. And yet we've kind of pushed those aside in favor of science, math, and engineering, which are equally important. But in an AI world, I believe breadth of knowledge and those very human subjects and human traits, meta-skills, if you will, are going to be more important than ever before. It will be what distinguishes us as humans with heart, with compassion, with caring from a machine.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely. And we are humans of creep from as humans, we have the need for connection. And personally, for me, I don't think you'll ever want to connect with just an AI bot for the rest of your life. I mean, there's probably people who would. Yeah, no, no, no, yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

I've got a few friends there with it. You'll be happy never to talk to a human again. They'll just be just just give me my bot.

SPEAKER_01:

Switching gears, you often talk about how your father's wisdom shaped your life. That freedom comes through learning. Looking back, what would you say were some of the hardest lessons you had to heal through as a leader in order to fully step into your purpose?

SPEAKER_03:

Probably the hardest lessons come down to the need to overcome my natural human instinct of hurt feelings, fear, guilt, victimhood, all that. And and it's look, I'm human, so I'm I'm normal. I I you know something bad happens and I go, oh, woe was me. The difference is I try to catch that. If I catch myself becoming a victim, I go, okay, wake up. If something in the universe happens to you and I can't control it, I'm not a victim. I need to find, I need to learn from it, and if I learn from it, I move on. And I'll be better for it. But if I allow if I allow something externally to affect me, the universe wins. Yeah. Right? Yeah. And I'm not controlling my own destiny at that point.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, absolutely. And just that acknowledgement of the need to have the whatever the circumstance is like identified and how you're feeling. I think that that's where a good pattern interrupt ends up happening because you're actually like, oh, I can choose now to give it a different meaning or rewire what it means for me.

SPEAKER_03:

Exactly. Exactly. And and it takes sadly, it takes many of us our whole lifetime to realize that there's not a darn thing we can do about what happens externally, but we there's everything we can do about our reaction to it and our response to it. Whatever the problem is, it's in our control to be able to respond to it in the most favorable way possible. So it's so critically important. It's such a big part of waking up every day with gratitude and with happiness and joy. Uh, because you'll never be able to do that if you're the victim and you feel like it's somebody else doing something to you. It's their fault.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm amazing. So you actually went from small town beginning to leading to Fortune 500 company. What part of your personal story would you say most people tend to overlook that created your success today?

SPEAKER_03:

Probably a single, I mean, the the single biggest thing I mentioned overcoming fear and not being able, not having to take things personally. I I tell the story about from the time you're a kid, and I was one of those kids, I know, teacher, I know, I know, call on me, call on me. And you can imagine what happens, right? The spitballs in the back of the head, you know, the the the hazing after school, hey, you you know, you're this or that. And I mean, because other people will pick on you for things. Anytime someone stands out, the Australians call it the tall poppy syndrome. I've never heard that before I went to Australia. Yeah, apparently the tall poppy is the one that gets lopped off because they keep the fields at an even height or something. And and and that happens to humans when one person tries to excel, often they're standing out, and there's a lot of pressure to them for them to conform. Well, that's in effect someone else trying to determine your identity, trying to put an identity on you. And I refuse to let that happen from the time I was a kid. And I don't know how and I don't know why, other than I I I was thankfully, I saw it. And I and maybe it was a little hunger because I said, Well, you know, these kids all live in comfortable homes with heat and you know, air conditioning and food.

SPEAKER_01:

The basics.

SPEAKER_03:

The basics, and I don't have any of that, so I I I I'm on my own here. I don't care what you say. You know, tease me as you will, I've got to succeed. Yes, teacher, I've got the answer. And and that that that same scenario will follow you through your life, whether it's on the job, whether it's in the community. There are people that will try to establish who you are and what you are. And it's so important that you have your own identity and nourish it and your own brand, because your brand, as I mentioned before, ultimately that's that's why people want to deal with you. They're gonna look at you and they judge your packaging. Right or wrong, they're gonna judge your packaging, they're gonna look at you and and make a determination. And that's not always fair, but it's real. And and then they're gonna most importantly decide what's inside, just like a product. That's really what counts.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely. I think what's interesting about your answer though is it comes back to being authentic.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And just knowing your authenticity and what what actually makes you happy versus what others around you are trying to enforce.

SPEAKER_03:

Not enforce, but more so impose on you.

SPEAKER_01:

Impose. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. A friend of mine, Stedman Graham, tells the story really well. Stedman wrote the the uh the uh forward for my book, and I love the way Stedman describes it. He's like a six foot five-inch African-American male. So when he was growing up, he was a basketball player. That's what people said. Okay, you're a basketball player. And that kind of became his identity for a while. And he was like, wait a minute, no, I'm uh I I'm good at a lot of things. I can play basketball, yeah. But that's not who I am. I'm not gonna let those people out there tell me what they think I am based on their perception of me. I'm gonna create my own identity. And now he goes all over the world. He's written 12 books, and he speaks. It's a beautiful thing to hear him walk into an auditorium with 500 young people and say, don't let anybody tell you who you should be or who you are. Your identity is yours, it's uniquely yours, and it's up to you to nourish that and to always, always preserve that identity of who you are. It's a beautiful thing. Beautiful.

SPEAKER_01:

So, in your experience, what separate leaders who are simply managing companies from those who truly actually inspire their employees?

SPEAKER_03:

And well, I I I'll I'll quote Peter Drucker. Peter Drucker, some of your audience may know him or not. He was like management guru for many, many, many years. And Peter Drucker had this wonderful saying, he said, difference between management and leadership. Management is doing things right. Leadership is doing the right thing. Big difference. And so a lot of times we get caught up in doing things right, and that may be, you know, enforcement of this or that, KPIs and blah blah blah, and we get we lose sight of the bigger picture. And leadership is doing the right thing, and the right thing often is leading through inspiration, not through, you know, trying to force an issue, trying to force an organization to move. You can usually in the short term have a lot of success by fear and intimidation. It works, let's face it. People can be sheep. You scare them, you bully them, and you can move them. But the long-term sustainable value that you want to create in an organization is through inspiring your people to come together and collaborate and work with you, not for you.

SPEAKER_01:

That is actually so beautifully cut because I think a good leader actually makes people pulled to work for them and to actually be a part of the mission versus being told or having people who are there just solely for the paycheck.

SPEAKER_03:

Exactly. You know, I'll I'll I'll put it I'll put it in consumer product terms. I can't help, but I'm an old retailer. I'll go back to consumer product terms. In in retail, we have two ways of of of moving products on the shelf, right? There's push, you know, two for one, discount 20% off. Buy one, get one free. I mean, those are push tactics. Advertising in some ways is a push tactic. Buy this, buy this, buy this. A pull tactic, I like to use Starbucks. They didn't advertise. They don't do buy one, get one free. And I've never seen that at a Starbucks. Pull tactic is I'm gonna create the environment, the experience, and the quality of product that makes you want that product, makes you want to come to Starbucks. Not feel like you should because it's cheap or it's discounted or there's a promo. I want the experience. Because of the experience and the quality of what's inside, brand, right?

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely. That is so beautifully put. And actually, that kind of pads us into our next question, which was if you could distill one or two principles of leadership that every aspiring leader should embody daily, what would you think they should be?

SPEAKER_03:

I have three that I have been, I put them in my book as really the foundation of all leadership. And uh and and I'll and I'll share them. I call it, I call this my gift. If I have a gift, if you say, How did you get from a three-room shack to leading two Fortune 500 companies? It's my gift. And my gift I characterize is three things. One, change, because I saw my growing up in tough circumstances as my superpower. Adversity that I faced gave me the ability to deal with change so much better than people who grew up with everything kind of easy. So I can deal with change. Perspective gave me a different perspective, and it gave me a level of dealing of resilience, dealing with change that that's hard for a lot of people. So I can deal with change. Now, if you think about it, all commerce begins and ends with change.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

It's something happens, something changes, and you go, okay, I'm going to satisfy that need, and and you're compensated. But what happens as soon as you're successful? Uh uh, I'm not gonna change anymore. And you and inertia creeps in. So change, number one. Number two, if you don't have confidence, you can't do anything about the change. You'll roll up into a ball. And say, you know, I don't like this. So even if you acknowledge change and say, I'll accept it, if you don't have the confidence to do anything about it, to take positive action or to learn from it, if it's a bad situation, then you'll, again, you'll fail. And then the third is clarity. Because even if you accept change, even if you have confidence to deal with it, if you're not carefully listening, you don't have inbound clarity. So you really understand what's going on. And external, outbound clarity in the way you communicate, you can have the best plan in the world to deal with that change and have all the confidence in the world that we can do this. But if you can't articulate it, no one can execute it and you'll fail again. So three things. It's a pretty simple formula. Deal with change, recognize nothing you can do about external change, everything you can do about your response. Have the confidence then to do something about it. And confidence isn't something you're born with. You can learn confidence. You can learn to be prepared to deal with this stuff. And then third is clarity, that simplification, so that you're not befuddled by all the complexity around you. Cut through all that, simplify clarity of communication. You got this.

SPEAKER_01:

I love that. And actually, it reminds me of another C word. Because I know you're back on your three C, but conviction.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. Conviction is very important. It's a it's a it's in and I mean I could go on with other C's. Commitment. Commitment, uh, critical thinking, curiosity, creativity. You want some more? Expanding the Captain. I I I I actually tried to in in in my effort to simplify and clarify, I used nine C's in my book of what to learn, how to learn, and why. And the what to learn, of course, change, confidence, clarity, the how to learn, uh, critical thinking, curiosity, creativity, and the why. The why is even the most important. It's collaboration, something that many of us really struggle with. Cultural literacy, because the reality is to collaborate, you're gonna have to work with people who aren't like you, and you have to understand them and have truly cultural literacy, understanding their differences and their culture. And then the third is that brand issue I talked about, character. What's inside? Integrity, humility.

SPEAKER_01:

Beautiful. So I kind of just want to acknowledge one thing, and that is the fact that you always bring it back to the integrity and the character. Because I think without character, excuse me, without integrity, we don't have a foundation to walk on.

SPEAKER_03:

So true. So true. And it and it's so easy to get short-term wins without integrity. You can lie your way into anything. You can fake your way into anything. It works, sadly. You can scare your way into anything. And then at the end of the day, someone's gonna call you out, and someone with that integrity is gonna prevail. Because no one wants to deal with someone they can't trust, rely on, count on. So for sustainable, and this is probably the essence of it, you want a quick win, go ahead. Cheat and lie. It it can work. I mean, some people get away with that for a long time. You want sustainable, reliable, put it in the bank kind of success, that integrity is critical. That character is critical.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely. And then I think there's also that karma that follows you.

SPEAKER_03:

So whether it's right.

SPEAKER_01:

From what you put out, you get back to you.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Maybe not in this right instance, but eventually it comes back. So I do think that integrity is one of the key foundational pillars for anything that you do, both as a person and especially in business.

SPEAKER_03:

Absolutely. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01:

So leadership isn't just about vision, it's about how you respond when storms hit.

SPEAKER_03:

Yep.

SPEAKER_01:

Looking back across your career, when was some of them what were some of the most difficult times that you faced as a leader and what inner qualities helped you move through it yourself, but also guide others through it while you were the senior in it?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, I've got a couple I could mention. Um, I had this thing called Blockbuster that I took on. But you know, people don't understand the similarities between Blockbuster and 7-Eleven, but the reason I had the confidence to take on the challenge of Blockbuster is that 7-Eleven went through almost the same stuff. Too much debt, financial crisis, lost sight of the business model, and bankruptcy.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

And I'm a young guy at the time. And remember what I said about growing up with all that adversity. It was like, you know, I kind of been here before. What are they gonna do? Take my house? They already did.

unknown:

Correct.

SPEAKER_03:

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01:

Try me.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, bring it on. I've been there before. So I, you know, it during that experience of 7-Eleven, everybody had their head down and frustrated, and there's a lot of you can imagine the corporate politics and the anger and the victimhood in a in a situation where people spend their whole career with a company and all of a sudden it's bankrupt, all their equity's gone. It's it's a very frustrating and very sad time for many companies. But I had the belief that we'll we'll get through this. And I had my head up and kept working harder, not, not finding excuses not to work, which many, many people did. And I stayed the course. And when we came through, I was rewarded for it. And the company was rewarded for it because it forced us to change, to adapt. And it gave us the confidence, yeah, we can come out on the other side, we can do this. So Blockbuster really was just another bite at the apple of an apple that I was quite familiar with, with what happened at 7-Eleven. Now, the only difference is that I didn't have time at Blockbuster to see it through. I arrived in 07, the financial markets collapsed in 08, my timing could have been better. But again, I could have blamed the universe and quit, or hung in there, stayed to see it through, which we did, got it restructured, got it sold to Dish Network, and it was Dish Network that ultimately decided they were going to take a different direction and close down the stores and put the blockbuster brand on the shelf. But I get to look in the mirror and say, I did the right thing. I saw it through. We were successfully able to restructure the company, didn't have the outcome I wish, because had I had another couple of years, then I think we would have had a very, very different result. Trajectory. Trajectory, yep. But again, nothing I can do about that external force. You know, the 2008 financial crisis wasn't something I caused, something that I had to respond to and respond to it in the best way I possibly could.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely. Actually, going back to that flockbuster story, I wanted to hit on when we had first met, you brought up the story of when you met Warren Bubba and the piece of advice he had given you. So could you touch on that and actually kind of reach your story for our listeners who don't know?

SPEAKER_03:

Sure. It was it was actually kind of a funny story because I, you know, here I am. I'm talking about confidence change, all this stuff, right? Well, you know, I'm also human, and and and so by the year 2008, we had really had some great results at Blockbuster. And the we had bought a streaming video company from the studios. We had a huge competitive advantage to Netflix. But when the market collapsed, all of a sudden I went from the hero, because literally third quarter of 2008, Carl Icon is singing my praises as one of my directors, and you know, the street is going, This is great, man, they've really turned this thing around. And then 2008 financial crisis hits, and all of a sudden, I'm the goat. I'm the guy that not the goat in a good way, the goat in a bad way. It's workage. So like, oh, he screwed it up. Yeah, it's like I didn't screw it up. I didn't bring on a billion dollars of debt, but it's the reality. So I was telling the street I wasn't gonna file for bankruptcy, and yet, because I didn't believe we would have to, and yet the rumor was being planted in the street on the street that Blockbuster is gonna file. Perhaps planted by some who would want the Blockbuster to file for bankruptcy because they could profit from it. Bottom line is I'm out saying we're not going to. The rumor on the street is we are, and the New York Post prints a half-page photograph of me with a giant Pinocchio nose like that long. And and and that it yeah, it hurt my feelings. And it was full color, wasn't pretty. All my buddies from New York are calling saying, hey, nice picture, you know, teasing me about it. The headline was blockbusted. And so right around that time, I I was invited to a uh an event at Bill Gates' house, and it was called the CEO Summit. So Bezos was there and Gates and all these CEOs. And I was there, and I was getting some food, and Warren Buffett was there at the uh at the food table, and he shook my hand. I reintroduced myself. He he remembered who I was, and I I started apologizing. I started saying, I am that blockbuster now, I'm getting the crap beat out of me. You know, I I probably ought to leave. I didn't start this this mess, and you know, it's it's embarrassing, and blah, blah, blah. And he and Warren, and you can almost hear him say it, right? In that calm, mature voice of his, he said, Well, Jim, would you rather be sitting on the bench or at the plate? That was exactly, exactly what I needed. Because I said, No, I'd rather be at the plate. He said, Well, get back up there, dust yourself off, and take another swing. You'll be fine. It's not personal. It's like, oh, oh, it's not personal. It's business. I'm doing the best I can. I'm using the best information I have to do the best things I can possibly do. And at the end of the day, if it doesn't work, it's really not personal. I'm giving it my best shot. That intervention caused me to stay and see the company through, avoid liquidation, et cetera, et cetera, and get the company restructured and sold. So we all need, every once in a while, we all need that little, that little nudge, someone, little angel to come along, say you've got this.

SPEAKER_01:

Actually, and actually, it kind of ties back to your point about identity, because in that season it seemed like you were already identifying with the business and how the business was doing as part of how you were performing on a personal level.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. I was letting the external world impose an identity on me that wasn't true. And I was letting that happen. But it was a conscious decision for me to fall into the victimhood trap that we all do. And again, I'm just a human. I'm just a regular guy. So I'm I'm vulnerable to the same kind of insecurities that anybody is. Except except at least I've got a little higher level of awareness when it does happen. I can hopefully pull myself out of that ditch and say, that's stupid. You're really in control of your own of your own destiny.

SPEAKER_01:

That's a beautiful message.

SPEAKER_03:

Thanks. Well, in fact, the subtitle of my book is more important than the title of my book. The title, yeah, education is freedom. People like, uh, yeah, yeah, probably. That's that's a good title. But the subtitle, The Future is in your hands, is so powerful. Yes, yes, it's what we all forget. We are in control of our own destiny.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely. Every second that we have a choice we're making, the decisions we make from who we are with to the conversations that we're speaking and reading about, they all play a part of what our conscious level of identity is. And I think that that reminder of that conversation you had where with Warren was so interesting because it's like it shows the power of also having a powerful mentor or someone to speak life into you in the moment that you need it.

SPEAKER_03:

Exactly. Exactly. But it's also so important not to let that external world tell you who you are. Because here's what, here's the difference. Someone, I heard this one time and it was so, so true that it's easy to judge based on the choices or based on the decisions someone made. But what we don't know looking on the outside in are the choices that person had. Think about the power of that. It's so true. Very easy to judge someone's decisions. What decisions did they make? We don't know what choices they faced. They may have that may have been the best choice that they had of all the choices that were available to them at that given time.

SPEAKER_01:

Beautiful. And actually, that's something I often encourage people to think about, especially when it comes to like their parents or on pathogenization. Again, I work with a lot of women, so it's like we all have that story, right? Um what we think they should have done or could have done to have a better result. And I'm always like, well, they did the best they could at the time with the knowledge that they had.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And so it's a beautiful reminder. And speaking of decisions though, at what point did you start to think about that conversation with Warren and how you could have potentially stewed it differently?

SPEAKER_03:

Well, I will probably work. I mean, I will probably take to my grave. Why didn't I just go, Warren? Why don't you write the check? You know? Come on, you want to play? Tell me to get back, get the plate. Why don't you why don't you be my uh my coach here? Get in the game. No, I didn't. I didn't. And I and I've had people say, well, why didn't you just ask Warren to, you know, come in and give you some support? And I'm like, pride? I don't know. And and and seriously, that's what it was. It was, I'm too proud to ask for help. But he might have he might have been intrigued by the business model. I'm sure he would have at least given me an audience to say, come tell me what you're doing. But I didn't even go there. It was like, no, I I'll do this on my own. I'm not gonna ask for help. It's okay to ask for help. I know that now.

SPEAKER_01:

That's a beautiful reminder. And I think for me, the first time I heard you say that, I was just like, oh wow. Not in a bad way, because how often do we out of ego or pride or just fear to your point, stop ourselves from asking for what we want in the moment that we have it? So for me, it's about taking that conscious action to try to be as bold as possible and get myself out of my own way.

SPEAKER_03:

Exactly. Exactly. It's so true. And you know what's crazy about this? We're so oblivious to it in the moment. I I honestly I I can't remember where we were when when that question was posed. Well, why didn't you just ask Warren? And and I I don't know if you recall the look on my face, but that may have been that may have been the first time anyone even asked that. And I was like, oh shit. I don't I don't know. I should have. And and since then, now I'm like, why didn't I? But but when you're in the moment, it it was just, and it was probably pride that kept me from or maybe fear, but uh there was something that said this is not appropriate to ask for help. Why not? You know?

SPEAKER_01:

And so do you think that was from your conditioning, perhaps from how you grew up, or what we just I I just think it's human.

SPEAKER_03:

I I think it's human. Many of us are just uncomfortable, you know, asking for the help that we might get. I mean, think about so many people that are struggling. And and and this is trivial stuff. This is like at the end of the day, it's not life or death, but think of the people that are really struggling and won't ask for help. And it's there. And so many people would help them if they would just reach out. And yet many of us as humans keep it all inside and and and don't want to expose our because that that's what asking for help does is exposes you.

SPEAKER_01:

It I think maybe a fear of vulnerability to an extent.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, what if they say no? So what?

SPEAKER_01:

But what if they say yes?

SPEAKER_03:

Exactly. It's exactly right. It's exactly right. But but you're right. And and I I I am like I said, I am a human, so I have to acknowledge my own human frailties, and that's one of them. I won't ask for help. You know, and and and and honestly, this happens all the time. Philanthropic stuff, right? I can't tell you how many philanthropic organizations I support to write the chat, volunteer my time, do all this stuff, because I love giving. But I hate asking. Yeah. And that's crazy because as much as I give, I have every right in the world to go back to people that have asked me and say, hey, now would you mind helping to support this effort that I'm doing over here? I won't do it. Why? Same thing.

SPEAKER_01:

So would you say you have a difficult relationship with receiving?

SPEAKER_03:

No. I'm fine with receiving. I just have a difficult relationship with asking. And it's it's I'm sure it's a it is a uh sort of vulnerability that I've been so fiercely independent for so long, had to rely on no one, that the very idea that I have to ask for help in anything is something I really struggle with. And and I it's a shame because I I I should, but you know, there are a lot of I think benefits that go with the adversity that I that I call now my superpower because it gives me a fierce sense of independence, but it's almost too fierce.

SPEAKER_01:

I can relate to this. And in fact, interestingly enough, this is something I was walking through in this current season of my life, where I had someone ask me, Well, why don't you just speak up and let me know what's going on? And I was just like, Well, I can handle it. And I think part of it is I grew up an only child. So you kind of get this I will find the answer, I will find the resource, and I will deal with it.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

It's a beautiful thing, but then it I think to your point becomes your own detriment.

SPEAKER_03:

It does. It can, it can, it can. It can't. And and that's you know, when I when I talk about collaboration in the book as one of the seasons why it's important that we learn, that's one of the things that I'm probably not as good at. Um I I'm I'm willing to collaborate if others come to me, but I won't go seeking collaboration. And that's one of one of my one of my weaknesses. But I at least I know it and I I recognize it now.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, thank you for your vulnerability. So after leading companies through incredible change and disruption, what would you say is one piece of wisdom you would advise today readers who are navigating uncertainty and the rapid innovation that's kind of coming up?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, I think those those I'm gonna give you two. I'm gonna give you the professional and then I'm gonna give you the personal. The professional change, confidence, clarity, more important than ever in a fast-changing world because the more quickly things change, the more fear and resistance you're gonna find. It's to a large extent right now. I'll give you a global example. There's a trend toward nationalism, you know, build big walls and borders and pull everything back. We don't need any other countries, and and that's not just the United States. Many, many countries are doing this nationalist thing. And and a step back from this and use perspective now, not perception. Because the perception is, yeah, we need to bring everything in. Look at it with perspective. With technology today, and as rapidly as technology is advancing, Apple just came out with a new version, or they haven't launched yet, but a new version of the earbuds. Yeah, the earpods that will do simultaneous translation. And, you know, right now we can get on a Zoom with anybody anywhere in the world and communicate and work together. We're not going to put this genie back in the bottle. You know, the world is shrinking. So this whole trend for nationalism is an example of fear. It's like, oh my gosh, well, they're different. They're taking my business, they're doing this, they're doing that. We better hunker down and pull back. I I think what's causing all of this is a reaction to how rapidly the world is shrinking. But the reality is the world is shrinking, and that means more opportunity to collaborate, to work with others, to exercise our cultural literacy, not less. So, but that that's a typical, very typical reaction that's caused by fear. So change, confidence, clarity, more important professionally than ever before. You ready for the personal one?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_03:

All right. All right. Well, personally, you want vulnerability or you want me to like do the no, go for it.

SPEAKER_01:

I love for you, Zucher. What's on your heart?

SPEAKER_03:

You said most of your audience is female, so that you know the dudes in the audience would be going, all right. So here's here's the the the reality on the personal side. I am an example of someone who got too caught up in career, success, progress, got to keep working, gotta keep working. And the one thing that I blew right by was the importance of family for too long. So I don't have any children. Could have, would have, should have, don't, because it was too much of a commitment on career success, et cetera, et cetera. And then, you know, guys have a biological clock too. Well, maybe I don't, but I but I got I got married and ran into a biological clock issue, and you know, it was too late. But it's it's not too late for everybody. So that balance, my point is that balance between success, career, and life is a pretty pretty critical balance.

SPEAKER_01:

That's such a beautiful answer. I think that's something a lot of women today are facing as they're now in this role of being the career person, having their businesses or corporate careers, whatever it is. And I know myself, I've been a little guilty of being so focused on well, career and like the next milestone, the next movement, where you can't forget, like, okay, maybe I should look for a partner, maybe I should actually settle down. Granted, I'm still 30, so we've got time, but as someone who is 30, I do hear it now quite a bit.

SPEAKER_03:

Of like you can have it all. You really can have it all. There are so many examples of very successful professional women with families. You can have it all. Many of us tend to think it has to be one or the other. In fact, there's integration. Yeah, yeah. I'm not one of these guys that says you should stay home and make babies. What's the matter with you? You're a woman, you should do this. I no, that's not me. I I I think I think the world needs more professional women, not less. And and I I mean, it's the only thing that's going to keep guys under control. In the grand scheme of the global, global uh issues, but but I I say that tongue in cheek, but uh, but I do believe that you can have both. And just like a woman, you know, uh a guy has a a practical limitation on, you know, you just get to the age that you say, oh geez, I probably should have had kids, you know, 10 years ago or something. But it's easy to get caught up in in today and not think about family and the the bigger things in life. In fact, one one last thing I'll share. I I'm asked all the time, people go, what's the matter with these kids today? You know, the Gen Zs and everything, oh, they're a mess. They don't have the same values we had. They're not they don't care about work and they want work-life balance. And I'm like, duh, yeah, maybe they're smarter than us. You know, because what happened, I think, during the pandemic, I think a lot of people did stop, take a breath, pause, and say, hey, you know, maybe there's more to life than just work. And and I actually think that's a healthy thing. I don't see that as bad at all.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely. I think for me, that was when I was finding my purpose during that pause. But also it was the first time I remember that stillness created this point of like, hmm. If I don't have to commute every day, and it starts planting these seeds of what else you can use your time for, how else you can spend your time. And so I think that you made a beautiful point in like our generation with the concern of just wanting that integration and wanting that I hate the word balance, but bringing sort of that balanced mentality of you can have it all is such a beautiful point. And before we wrap up with the last couple of questions, I just want to acknowledge you for just everything you've been doing. I really want to commend the fact that you have such a big heart. For me, I believe that when I bring on a person, my whole perspective is soul meet strategy. And there is no point in doing what we are doing if we're not doing it to serve others at a very high level. So I really want to acknowledge you just for how incredible the work you have done beyond being a CEO is.

SPEAKER_03:

Thank you. Thanks. I I appreciate it. I I you know you never feel like you do enough, but I mean, I can't I can't emphasize enough, and I was really blessed to learn this at a really young age in my corporate career that that's so. Social good and shareholder value are not mutually exclusive. You can actually do both. And too many companies today, they're getting criticized for doing good things socially and culturally. And that's it's very sad to see because corporations, I think, have a responsibility for the communities that they're in and the and the communities they serve. That as CEO, I saw my job as a responsibility, really, because I I had a giant megaphone. And to be able to do good from that position of responsibility, I just saw that as an incredible privilege. And I think a lot of CEOs really do. They do see that that role as a privilege, and they try to do their best to do it. It's not that, you know, perception that people often have of CEOs. There are some Absolutely. There are some like that, but I think most of them have really good hearts.

SPEAKER_01:

So with everything you've accomplished in business, art, aviation, philanthropy, what do you truly hope your legacy is? And what do you want people to remember about your leadership?

SPEAKER_03:

I hope that this message of knowledge and and I balance it with faith, and I'm going to say this in a non-religious way. I can use my book, I use Paolo Coelho. If you want something badly enough, the universe will conspire to make it happen. Alternatively, if you know, depending on your religion, if you pray hard enough, the universe will conspire to make it happen, and your faith will come through. And the reason I I talk about a balance between knowledge and faith is that that knowledge to me is the antidote for fear. I mean, I I can learn how to do anything. I learn out of my way out of any problem as long as there's an answer. I can find the answer. But then there's some things that you don't know, some things that you just can't get the answer to. And that's where relying on your inner strength, your own faith, your own belief will help you overcome those tough times. So that combination of faith and knowledge is like a double set of armor. There's absolutely nothing to fear. And if we can overcome fear, then we can overcome that natural human instinct toward anger, hatred, and violence. So, what is my legacy? Hopefully, people will say he's the guy that reminded humanity to use combination of knowledge and faith to bring peace on this planet.

SPEAKER_01:

That is so beautiful. Thank you. So finally, I have a quick fire round for you. Just simple little answers as much as you can.

SPEAKER_03:

Let's go. I'm ready.

SPEAKER_01:

So a book that changed your life, not including yours.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, darn. The Alchemist. I love The Alchemist. That's actually one of my favorite. Yeah, it's a quirky little book. It's uh it's silly, but but but it it really did. That powerful, that powerful concept. If you want something badly enough, the world will conspire to make it, the universe will conspire to make it happen. It stayed with me since I read the book in college, I think.

SPEAKER_01:

That is amazing. Talk about actually a book that literally changed your line.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. Um and I use it today. I quoted Paolo Coelho in my in my own book. You phone? But the reason I like it is it's it's it's it's it's a non-denominational, it's universal. It's like I can go to I I gave a talk in Kuwait and I used the alchemist, and I used Yoda. Because Yoda says the same thing when he's teaching you must have knowledge to be a Jedi, but may the force be with you. Right? Same thing. Yeah, a daily non-negotiable ice cream, vanilla. Sorry.

SPEAKER_01:

Hold it, bring me around.

SPEAKER_03:

No, I gotta bring my ice cream. I gotta have my ice cream. It's non-negotiable.

SPEAKER_01:

A word that describes your current season.

SPEAKER_03:

My current what?

SPEAKER_01:

Season.

SPEAKER_03:

Season? As in the four seasons?

SPEAKER_01:

No. Kind of like a metaphor for what your year or what your life is looking like right now.

SPEAKER_03:

I know, I'm always in the spring.

SPEAKER_01:

Are you kidding me? Okay. No, I'm always in the very literal.

SPEAKER_03:

Always in spring. Yeah, everything's always blooming.

SPEAKER_01:

A song that instantly looks your mood.

SPEAKER_03:

Rebirth.

SPEAKER_01:

Rebirth. I like that one. I'm actually just coming out of that season. A song that instantly lifts your mood.

SPEAKER_03:

Leonard Collins, hallelujah.

SPEAKER_01:

Beautiful. One lesson you wish you learned sooner.

SPEAKER_03:

Do not take anything personally.

SPEAKER_01:

Beautiful. And honestly, fame. That's advice you've received in one sentence.

SPEAKER_03:

Learn as much as you can because your education, your knowledge is one thing no one can ever take from you.

SPEAKER_01:

What is your superpower?

SPEAKER_03:

Resilience, the ability to uh deal with change in a very positive fashion. I call it relentless positivity.

SPEAKER_01:

And lastly, one thing you want women to stop apologizing for.

SPEAKER_03:

Their physical appearance. Beautiful. Because it comes down to what's inside. Again, it's for all of us.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you. And what is the best place do you want people to connect with you?

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, I've got a website, jameswkeys.com. It's K-E-Y-E-S.

SPEAKER_01:

And uh linking it below.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, good. And um out there on social media. If you want a good laugh, I have a 24-year-old social media manager who makes me do silly things. I caught I I stopped short at chicken banana, chicken banana. I didn't I didn't be wrong. Yes. Not doing that one.

SPEAKER_01:

You like I reviews.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, yeah, but I've got some other pretty goofy things out there. It's at JK's author, K-E-Y-E-S, J Key's author, on TikTok and Instagram, and and I'm up there on LinkedIn.

SPEAKER_01:

Beautiful. Well, Jim, thank you so much for sharing your wisdom, your stories, and your heart with us today. What stood out the most is your journey isn't just about leading companies, it's about leading yourself with curiosity and courage from your father's words on education freedom to your experience at the highest levels of success. You remind us that we are all lifelong learners. You've shown up that shown at that true leadership is about service, resilience, and vision. For those of you listening, I hope you're walking away with not just strategies, but with soul shifts. To heal your setbacks, embody the leader you're becoming, and rise into the freedom that's already weakly. Jim, it's been an absolute honor. Thank you for inspiring us to learn, to grow, and to lead with heart.

SPEAKER_03:

Thank you, Anita. I appreciate it. And I'll I'll leave you with this that uh since you mentioned it, uh, as you know, I'm a pilot, and one of the things I like to encourage people to do is learn to fly. First, lead yourself, right? Isn't that great?

SPEAKER_01:

That's amazing, and absolutely actually fun fact. That's on my bucket list of like things I want to do is learn to fly.

SPEAKER_03:

And it's creaming first lead yourself.

SPEAKER_01:

First lead yourself. Love that again. Thank you so much for those of you who are listening. Please like, subscribe, and message us on Instagram or Facebook. Let us know how you like this episode and how it best served you. And until the next one, bye bye for now.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you for rising with me today. If this episode moved you, share it, tag me at Arise with Anita, and make sure to subscribe so you never miss a future activation. And if you feel cold, leave a quick review. It helps more women find the space and rise into their power. Your next level is already waiting. Now go claim it. I'll see you in the next episode.