James (Jim) Keyes, former CEO of 7-Eleven and Blockbuster has written a book titled “Education is Freedom”.
Jim passionately believes in the transformative power of education and its role in overcoming adversity and achieving success and candidly shares his own story about how education helped him rise out of poverty.
It’s a powerful book about why you need to learn as much as you can on this planet because nobody can take away what you learn, and what you understand.
Jim says, in many respects, knowledge is the only true wealth that we all have while on this earth. You can turn that knowledge into material benefits and enjoy a life of however you want it to go or help others however you want to help them. But the choice is yours.
The simple truth is that education provides more options. Everybody should have access to those choices and to the freedom that comes with it. No matter what stage of life you’re at, everybody has a chance to change it up and still get whatever is in their heart, with the right knowledge.
Jim’s life journey was surely not simple. As a kid he grew up poor in a factory town with no running water. His mom left his dad when he was five lured by another man who lived large in a trailer park. His dad who he adored, passed when he was 12 and he had to go live with his mom and her abusive boyfriend, who he literally feared would kill him when he was sleeping.It was a faraway visit one day to his uncle’s house that changed things for Jim. There he spotted what looked like a huge library of books that excited him. It was only a couple of shelves. But his uncle, a teacher, with running water who took trips to see the world, seemed to have it all – and those books symbolized success and sparked Jim’s lifelong love for learning.
Jim shared, “Literally, we grew up with no running water, right? And a pump outside the house and an outhouse and the whole thing. Kids have a hard time relating to that kind of poverty today. It’s very different and very challenging, but the common theme is that adversity of any type, whatever you grow up with, it’s a challenge. You can grow up in a very wealthy family with a totally dysfunctional environment and that adversity can actually make you stronger if you look at it that way and give you an advantage and cause you to turn to things like education as a way to escape your reality, whatever it is, poverty or abuse or whatever. Education can be that path to a better life.”
I was always amused that I had a friendship with a globally powerful guy like Jim Keyes that just kind of stuck all these years. I realized after reading his book, it was because of a crazy book thing I did myself. I held my ‘Working Mom on the Run’ book tour back a thousand years ago at 7-Elevens. Totally crazy idea I had that hey went for. I had important knowledge I wanted to share with the moms of America and I chose 7-Eleven as my vehicle.
7 Eleven was then pitching fresh food to busy Moms on the go for the very first time and I knew I’d find an audience for my book of busy moms running in and out of their stores. I was right. I got a kick out of the fact that Jim thought the book tour was a riot and was honored he personally congratulated me on its huge success. I guess I thought I must have just stuck out in his head for being out of the box. Over the years I’d occasionally reach out to say hello and he was always quick to connect back. I never realized until I read his book, that Jim was such a passionate education guy, was so much about knowledge, so much about books, so much about curiosity and taking shots. Obviously, I resonated with him because of that. And now I am thrilled to be able to help him promote his book, “Education Is Freedom”.
Getting people’s attention for an important subject, to educate them about anything is really Jim’s thing, and he’s taken great pains to share his story and I think his message is very loud.
The more you learn, the more you can do at pretty much every stage in life. Whatever your journey is, there’s more to it, as long as you keep feeding your mind and understanding that you can control the next act.
He said it so well…
‘I’ll quote Jefferson in saying that the fundamental basis of a working democracy is an educated populace. It’s a critical time right now, and my message to the world, to individuals first, is education is important. It’s your lifeblood. And to society, we’ve got to focus on education collectively and to help everyone succeed to make this world a better place.
“I’ve wanted to write this book forever. But right now, it’s so critically important. We’re hearing every time you turn on the news you hear you know teachers being you know challenged for what they’re teaching, and universities are under sort of attack right now. They’re right in the crosshairs of a lot of cultural war issues and for a whole host of reasons the concern with The United States is falling behind the rest of the world in college graduations. Our individuals in school are falling behind and not even graduating from high school. A shocking number of students don’t even graduate from high school. And where does that leave us if you dial forward 20 or 30 years? Where does that leave us individually if we’re one of those kids, or where does it leave society if we have so many people that are not equipped to go forward?
Jim thinks a big part of the answer is going to be technology. The ability to harness AI and be able to modify the way we teach to the way people learn. Today there’s really no excuse not to find a way to learn with the technology that’s available. And he wants corporations to step up.
Jim said, “My challenge to my peers in the corporate world is step up especially with the availability of technology to invest in the technologies that can be then brought to the education process and allow everyone to benefit from it. The ultimate beneficiary being the corporation with an educated workforce coming up. Their investment isn’t a gift, it’s not charity. I think they can look at it as a return on investment which is what I’m encouraging.”
Enjoy the podcast of this live warm conversation with Jim Keyes author of “Education is Freedom” on The Debbie Nigro Show. If you would rather read the transcript is below.
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About James (Jim) Keyes: Jim is a global business leader, philanthropist, educator, artist, musician, commercial pilot, and modern renaissance man. He is the former CEO of two internally recognized Fortune 500 companies, 7-Eleven, Inc, and Blockbuster, Inc. His other business interests cover a broad range of industries including retail, consumer products, technology, new space, energy, and advanced nuclear. He sits on several public company boards and serves as a board adviser to a venture capital firm and a number of start-up companies. Keyes’ philanthropic initiatives, have an equally broad focus, including serving on the Board of Governors for the American Red Cross, the former Chairman of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and serving on the board of directors for institutions such as UT Southwestern Medical School, The Cooper Institute, Dallas Performing Arts Center, SMU Cox School of Business, Columbia Business School, and his alma mater, College of the Holy Cross. He has had a lifelong commitment to education, serving as a founding director of the Dallas Education Foundation and is the founder of the Education is Freedom Foundation. A personification of the American Dream, Keyes came from his humble beginnings and was inducted in 2005 as a member of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.
AUDIO TRANSCRIPT:
0:00:00
And now, back to the Debbie Nigro Show.
2
0:00:03
You know, for so many people, it is the greatest time of the year and there are so many others who are struggling and have very, very little. Sometimes you don’t know who they are until they share many years later that they were one of those people. Hi everybody, I’m Debbie Nigro. I’m very excited to introduce you to my next guest who I really learned an awful lot about having read his book that I hope all of you take the time to read because the message is really for the world. His name is Jim Keyes. And as I mentioned earlier in the show, he’s the CEO or former CEO of 7-Eleven Blockbuster. I met Jim along the way. Just a really dynamic guy with an amazing constitution and a serious bunch of ethics there. He really wants everybody to understand how he got where he got in life. And it had everything to do with education right so he’s got a book out called education is freedom and I really am blown away by from whence he has come to walk the walk to be able to speak to that so hey Jim welcome to my show
1
0:01:31
hi Debbie I think you just remember the slurpy part of me that’s all I’ll just stretch that into the education part.
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0:01:41
Jim, I mentioned earlier why you and I, how in the world you and I would have a friendship that just kind of stuck all these years. And I realized today it was because of my book thing I did. I didn’t realize you were such an education guy, so much about knowledge, so much about books, so much about curiosity and taking shots. And when I held my book tour back a thousand years ago at 7-Elevens, you thought it was a riot and congratulated me and then I kind of stuck out in your head, but now I get it. Just getting people’s attention for an important subject, to educate them about anything is really your thing and you’ve taken great pains to share your story and I think your message is so loud. The more you learn, the more you can do and pretty much at every stage in life. Whatever your journey is, there’s more to it as long as you keep feeding your mind and understanding that you can control the next act. You said it so well in your book. Thank you for being on the show. I was blown away by your childhood and how you got to this point in life. You want to talk a little bit about that?
1
0:02:47
Sure. Sure, yeah, it’s actually pretty funny because today, you know, people look at me, I teach some, I have the privilege of going to some classrooms from time to time and trying to talk to the kids and, you know, they look at me and the first thing they say is, well, what kind of car do you drive?
5
0:03:03
You know, what’s that?
1
0:03:04
Right. Right. And, and, and it’s comical because when I tell them about how I grew up, they, they kind of laugh. They’re like, what do you think, you’re Abraham Lincoln or something? Literally, we grew up with no running water, right? And a pump outside the house and an outhouse and the whole thing. They have a hard time relating to that kind of poverty today. It’s very different and very challenging, but the common theme is that adversity of any type, whatever you grow up with, it’s a challenge. You can grow up in a very wealthy family with a totally dysfunctional environment and that adversity can actually make you stronger if you look at it that way and give you an advantage and cause you to turn to things like education as a way to escape your reality, whatever it is, poverty or abuse or whatever. Education can be that path to a better life.
2
0:04:11
I’ve so resonated with that one line. The story, when you went to your uncle’s house when you were a little boy and had kids look at the world differently, you thought he had this library of books you’d never seen. He had a bathroom, working water, bathtub, the whole thing, and you’re like, but look at this library of books. And later in life, you realize it was only a little shelf down by the basement with a couple of books. But that stuck in your head, and you thought you wanted to know more about that. And that started your love for books, right?
1
0:04:38
It did, you know. And somehow, kids are very impressionable. So I had no one in the family that had gone to college. And pretty much everyone, uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters, they all sort of had, we all had the same reality. And yet I had this uncle and he lived all the way up in North Adams, Mass. And we’d go visit him from time to time and he was a school teacher, a high school teacher. No big difference between him and my dad except that he had taken advantage of the GI Bill and went to college, got a degree. Now he had this incredible life and in my little kid brain, he lived in a mansion, you know? Yeah, I got that. But it really wasn’t. It was a simple frame home and that library that, as you said, in my head I equated success, his success, with books and learning and that
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0:05:44
library was a shelf above his washing machine and washer and dryer in his house and it wasn’t a library at all, but it
1
0:05:39
are what I’m trying to capture for others to be able to encourage them to seize the power of education the same way I did.
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0:05:46
And you did have an odds, defying journey. I know that was one of the lines in there, but it really was. I mean, your parents are divorced at five. Your father passed at 12. He was your best buddy, but he was the inspiration, I know. Your mother, you had to move in with an abusive boyfriend who you really thought was gonna kill you in the middle of the night. The point about adversity making you strong is so loud.
,
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0:06:44
lifelong learning was your path to freedom despite all those obstacles and the challenges and that that is available to every single person who lives and breathes on this planet. you know my my books that I was fortunate to be able to have access to were a set of Encyclopedias my dad would take home from the grocery store with a bag of groceries, you know free with a bag of groceries You get volume one of an encyclopedia. And today in contrast, if you think about the power of the phone I have in my hand right now and the knowledge base that is available in that phone, you can tap into Wikipedia and learn about anything at all or go to Khan Academy and learn math and brush up on your math. It’s so powerful and yet it’s barely being tapped today. My message to everyone, it doesn’t matter what age, if you’re in school, there’s no excuse because you’ve got unlimited access to resources to learn. Even if you’re old fart like me, I can always learn something new by grabbing my phone and going to YouTube and finding out how to play a new sport or take on a new hobby. It’s amazing.
2
0:08:03
Yeah, and the more you learn, the more you can do. And I mean, you really took the time to talk about whether that requires vocational training or a professional career, that at different stages of life, whether you’re in the first third, the second two thirds, or, you know, everybody has a chance to change it up and still get whatever was in their heart, you know, with the right knowledge. How important is it that you’ve written this book now, at this time in history, do you think? And why did you write it now?
1
0:08:29
I think, Debbie, I’ve been blessed my whole life. It seems like everything that’s fallen in place happens for a reason. I, you know, sometimes I quote Paolo Coelho in the book, that if you want something bad enough, the universe will make it happen. And it seems like that happens because timing wise, I’ve wanted to write this book forever. But right now, it’s so critically important. We’re hearing every time you turn on the news you hear you know teachers being you know challenged for what they’re teaching and universities are under sort of attack right now. They’re right in the crosshairs of a lot of cultural war issues and for a whole host of reasons the concern with The United States is falling behind the rest of the world in college graduations. Our individuals in school are falling behind and not even graduating from high school. A shocking number of students don’t even graduate from high school. And where does that leave us if you dial forward 20 or 30 years? Where does that leave us individually if we’re one of those kids, or where does it leave society if we have so many people that are not equipped to go forward? One last thing, I’ll quote Jefferson in saying that the fundamental basis of a working democracy is an educated populace. It’s a critical time right now, and my message to the world, to individuals first, is education is important. It’s your lifeblood. The more you learn, the more you can do. And to society, we’ve got to focus on education collectively and to help everyone succeed to make this world a better place.
2
0:10:16
You did say the corporations are stepping up. I know you interviewed many of the teachers and people in the education system around the United States about like what’s wrong. They’re like everything. And you’re like, what’s right? And what’s right, it seemed that people are stepping up and putting money toward this, which you hope that’s the answer. But do you think that’s the answer?
1
0:10:34
It’s part of the answer. I think a big part of the answer is going to be technology. It is, you know, if you think about AI and the ability to harness AI and be able to modify the way we teach to the way people learn. We’ve been teaching the same way for 100 years because with books and teachers and blackboards, that’s what you had to do. But today we can modify the teaching and there’s really no excuse for anyone not to find a way to learn with the technology that’s available.
So my challenge to the corporate world is that, having run two Fortune 500 companies, we’re the demand for an educated workforce. So while corporations are the demand, the responsibility for building that workforce in the educated populace is left with state and local government.
My challenge to my peers in the corporate world is step up especially with the availability of technology to invest in the technologies that can be then brought to the education process and allow everyone to benefit from it. The ultimate beneficiary being the corporation with an educated workforce coming up. Their investment isn’t a gift, it’s not charity. I think they can look at it as a return on investment which is what I’m encouraging.
2
0:11:52
So here you are now at the stage of your life having come through this whole trajectory. How are you going to get attention for this big, big, big important subject obviously talking to people like me and getting the word out and writing the book But is there some crazy plan you have or do you need me to help you with a crazy plan?
1
0:12:09
I would love to have you You and I you and I are like-minded and the crazier the plan the bigger it is and the better it is I got one for you. I got one for you
2
0:12:18
But you really got my attention and everybody’s who’s gonna read this and I hope they do sometimes it sounds like a boring education. You know, this is a sexy book about why you need to learn as much as you can on this planet because nobody can take away what you learn, you said. Nobody can take away what you know and what you understand. And you said it is in many respects the only true wealth that we all have while on this earth. And you can turn that into material benefits and enjoy a life of however you want it to go, right? And help others however you want it to be. But the choice is yours. The simple truth is that education provides more options, more choices. Everybody should have access to those choices and to the freedom that comes with it. Jim, I want to talk to you more. Why don’t know him, which is that education is freedom, explores the transformative power of education and the ability to liberate individuals and societies from the constraints of ignorance, inequality and oppression. Beautiful job, Jim, and thanks for being so transparent in the book. He really says a lot about your character and that really anybody can make it from any start in life. Amazing. Thank you. Thank you so much for taking the time.
1
0:13:37
Thank you, Debbie. And education is freedom. I know.
Transcribed with Cockatoo
