God's Purpose Revealed

0:00
In my spirit, I heard very clearly God

0:03
was saying,"I didn't bring you here for

0:05
a promotion. I brought you here for my

0:07
purpose."

Unexpected Realization

0:10
And it just it it stopped me kind of in

0:12
my tracks. Or as I sat there, I thought

0:14
and I didn't like that. Be honest with

0:15
you, I thought, you know, okay, we

0:18
didn't really catch that at the

0:19
beginning. But uh at the same time, the

0:21
creator of the universe, I truly believe

0:24
had a purpose for me.

Introducing Ricky Dixon

0:32
Today on the servant leadership podcast,

0:34
we welcome Ricky Dixon, the former CEO

0:37
and president of Bluebell cremaries.

0:40
For over 40 years, Ricky served in

0:42
various roles at Bluebell, starting as a

0:44
territory manager in Dallas and

0:46
finishing at the head of a 100-year-old

0:48
ice cream company.

Ricky's Book and Lessons

0:50
His book, One Scoop at a Time, talks

0:53
about his experiences leading one of the

0:54
most iconic ice cream companies, while

0:57
also sharing stories of faith, family,

0:59
and [music] success.

Podcast Invitation

1:01
Join us as Ricky shares what God taught

1:03
him in Oklahoma when the promotion never

1:05
came, what it [music] takes to own a

1:06
crisis instead of manage it, and find

1:08
out why he insists the business was

1:10
never really about ice cream.

Subscribe and Follow

1:13
Also, before we dive in, make sure to

1:15
give this episode a like and subscribe

1:17
or follow the show so you don't miss the

1:19
next conversation.

Ricky Joins the Podcast

1:21
Ricky, thank you for joining us on the

1:23
Servant Leadership Podcast.

Ricky's Journey Begins

1:26
Chris, it's great to be here and thank

1:27
you so much for the invitation. Looking

1:29
forward to to our conversation today.

1:32
This is going to be really fun. Uh, I

1:34
think people obviously have heard of

1:36
Blue Bell ice cream if they've ever been

1:37
in a grocery store um or ever eaten ice

1:40
cream, but talk about your journey to

1:42
finding out about Blue Bell because it

1:44
it was pretty interesting to me when I

1:47
read your story the first time.

High School and Baylor

1:49
Yeah, I tell people my journey with Blue

1:51
Bell actually started um long before

1:54
walking in and putting an application. I

1:56
I um actually in high school had a

1:59
girlfriend. I chased her to Baylor. she

2:01
wanted to go to Baylor and I just

2:02
thought, well, that's that's a great

2:03
school. I I'll go there, too. Mainly

2:05
because of her passion. My my passion

2:08
became the same. And as soon as we got

2:09
there, we break up, you know. So, I met

2:12
Baylor. I really am one of those that

2:14
really didn't have a career plan. Uh or

2:16
I didn't know I came from three

2:18
generations of dentist and I knew that

2:20
was not my path. [laughter]

Discovering Blue Bell

2:22
So uh you know you you you go through

2:25
all kinds of um you know thought

2:27
processes and in that uh I had a

2:30
marketing class I decided to be become a

2:32
business major and had a marketing class

2:34
that uh I was given the assignment to

2:37
follow a company for the full semester

2:39
and how they relate to the consumer. And

2:41
so I went back to the apartment called

2:43
my dad and said I've got this project

2:45
you have any idea I'm in Waco. Do you

2:47
know any local companies? and he goes,

2:49
"No, I don't know any local companies,

2:51
but I'm reading an article about this

2:52
little ice cream company in Brenham,

2:54
Texas, which is maybe a couple hours

2:56
away that uh is really kind of the upand

2:59
cominging. Uh they've been around a

3:00
while, but yet they they're really

3:02
starting to get traction. I think you'd

3:03
enjoy it." He read me the article and I

3:05
thought, "Wow, you know, I thought I had

3:08
paid dirt. I thought this is fantastic.

3:09
Yeah, I'm going to call him and just see

3:11
if if maybe they'll let me come." And so

3:13
from that I went down interviewed with

3:15
the vice president of the company sales

3:17
and marketing John Barnhill. And it was

3:19
really what I saw uh and ironically it

3:23
wasn't the ice cream because I didn't

3:24
eat any ice cream while I was there. I I

3:26
went back to Waco and got in the car

3:28
from there actually and drove down to

3:31
Temple and got my first half gallon uh

3:33
and put it in the seat with a friend. We

3:35
popped the lid and we ate it on the way

3:36
back and we knew then we were into

3:38
something special.

Blue Bell's Culture

3:39
[clears throat and cough]

3:40
Excuse me. Apologize. Um,

3:43
so it was really the culture though that

3:45
I I just felt like the people that were

3:47
there, yes, they were making ice cream,

3:50
but it just seemed genuine. It was

3:51
almost as if they were making uh a

3:53
product to take home to their family and

3:56
the pride that came from that and the

3:57
atmosphere that came from that. When it

3:59
did come time to put the application in,

4:02
u I thought I'm going to go back um you

4:04
know, I put a few applications

4:06
elsewhere, but I I wanted to see what

4:08
this was all about. And boy, fortunately

4:10
they offered me a position and I said

4:12
yes.

Ricky's Career Progression

4:13
And then that led to over four decades

4:16
of being at Blue Bell. Talk about your

4:18
journey throughout Bluebell that led to

4:20
CEO because it's quite the journey and a

4:22
lot of moves in there too.

Career Moves and Challenges

4:25
There were a lot of moves. Uh I was not

4:27
part of the just say no program. I was

4:29
part of [laughter] the just say yes

4:30
program. So but it was exciting. Uh like

4:33
I said when I started with Blue Bell, it

4:35
was in Dallas. Uh, Blue Bell started in

4:37
1907 actually as a butter company. Um,

4:41
but 1911 started making ice cream local

4:44
in Brennham and we didn't have

4:46
refrigerated trucks or home freezers,

4:48
but we made enough to take into the

4:50
community and and whoever wanted would

4:52
share it. U all the way up until the

4:55
1960 where we entered the Houston

4:57
market. So, Brennham, Texas is in

4:59
between Houston and Austin uh in kind of

5:02
the beautiful rolling hills, blue

5:04
bonnets, blue bells. Uh, it's a great

5:06
setting. And so, um, I started in

5:10
Dallas. We went into Dallas in 78, but

5:12
again, we're just a Texas company. Um,

5:15
from there in ' 84, went to San Antonio,

5:18
which is where I'm from, two miles from

5:20
where I grew up, mom and dad down the

5:22
street. [snorts] Uh, sister, two

5:24
brothers, all my, you know, relatives,

5:26
and just thought, this is I'm living the

5:28
dream. Um, and I got a phone call

5:30
saying, "We'd like for you to move to

5:32
Oklahoma. we're gonna we're going to go

5:34
outside the state for the first time.

Faith and Leadership

5:37
And so, [sighs and gasps]

5:38
you know, part of that was we think it

5:40
could potentially be a new region and if

5:43
things go well that you could, you know,

5:45
be able to maybe oversee the entire

5:47
region. And so,

5:49
I prayed hard, you know, do you stay

5:51
where you're comfortable? Do you stay

5:52
where everything is just fantastic? Or

5:54
do you you walk by step of faith with

5:56
the caveat that there could be a

5:57
promotion with it. Um, and I and I felt

6:00
like that was where God was leading me.

6:02
Um I will say then at that point uh I

6:06
was waiting for the phone call for that

6:08
that big news and uh the news didn't

6:11
come you know the first week or month or

6:13
year in fact and it got kind of quiet

6:15
and I thought well I've packed

6:17
everything up I moved to a state I know

6:19
no one other than my family. Uh and then

6:21
I got a call and said we're gonna we'd

6:23
like to meet with you after a big dinner

6:25
at a meeting we were having with all the

6:26
management. And I thought this is it.

6:29
This is great. So, I go [laughter] I go

6:31
into the room and I could tell

6:33
immediately this this isn't the kind of

6:34
meeting that, you know, there weren't

6:36
smiles or wasn't a band. There wasn't

6:38
confetti. I'm kidding when I say that,

6:40
but it just you could tell something was

6:42
off. And and really what it came down to

6:44
is about a 45minute conversation of

6:47
things that my s my my my boss I would

6:50
say supervisor and the vice president of

6:53
the company sat me down and said these

6:55
are the things we're not seeing that we

6:57
used to see and these are the things

6:59
that we were hoping to see we're still

7:01
not seeing. It's about a page and a half

7:03
handwritten single space yellow notepad

7:06
and you know it took the wind out of me.

7:08
I didn't argue thankfully uh but I was

7:10
stunned. I mean, I thought I was still

7:12
doing the things um that were that led

7:15
me to the to the request even me to go

7:17
to Oklahoma.

Reflecting on God's Plan

7:19
And I went back to the hotel room, sat

7:21
at the end of the bed, and really had

7:22
that hard conversation with God. God, I

7:24
thought you brought me here. I thought

7:26
this is your plan. I thought, you know,

7:28
um I was obedient to what your your

7:30
calling would be. And and I noticed in

7:33
my conversation, I thought I thought and

7:36
um I thought there was a promotion. And

7:38
as as those those thoughts were

7:40
developing in my head, in my spirit, I

7:42
heard very clearly, God was saying, "I

7:46
didn't bring you here for a promotion. I

7:48
brought you here for my purpose."

Embracing God's Purpose

7:52
And it just it it stopped me kind of in

7:54
my tracks. Or as I sat there, I thought,

7:55
and I didn't like that, [laughter] be

7:57
honest with you. I thought, you know,

7:58
okay, we didn't really catch that at the

8:01
beginning. But uh at the same time, the

8:03
creator of the universe, I truly believe

8:06
had a purpose for me. And I thought,

8:08
well, if that's the case, and whatever

8:10
that is, God, I want to be faithful in

8:13
that. My only request is just smother me

8:16
with passion and whatever that purpose

8:18
is. Whatever position you want to put me

8:19
in, just give me the passion to do it

8:22
the best that I can do for your glory.

8:24
Because I mean, it was it was a real um

8:27
single moment in my life that was

8:29
pivotal. I could have left. I could have

8:31
said, "No, I'm not doing this. I'm going

8:33
to go back to Texas. I'll start over

8:35
with another company." or I can listen

8:37
to what I truly believed in my heart was

8:39
God saying, "Trust me, I have a plan."

Promotion and Leadership

8:43
Well, years passed actually, and the

8:45
next thing I know, I'm I'm running our

8:46
plant in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, when

8:49
that promotion finally came and was

8:51
given to somebody else. And so, I was

8:54
still having the time of my life. It was

8:55
really when I shifted gears to go to the

8:58
production side of things. Um, all of a

9:01
sudden now I'm I'm supposed to be

9:02
overseeing how the ice cream uh is is

9:05
going into the carton, which I knew

9:06
don't touch anything. [laughter]

9:08
Let let the people that know how to make

9:10
it make it and just steer the ship the

9:12
best you can. But now, fast forward 20

9:15
years later, I'm sitting in the

9:17
boardroom and when Paul Cruzie announced

9:19
that he was retiring, they looked to the

9:22
other end of the boardroom table and I

9:23
sat and they said, "We we would like to

9:25
put you in that position. You literally

9:27
could have pushed me over. it was not on

9:29
my radar. Uh I love the Bubba Watson

9:32
quote when he won the Masters. He said,

9:33
"What's it feel like to win the

9:35
Masters?" And he said, "I don't know. I

9:36
never got this far in my dreams." And I

9:39
can honestly tell you, not being from

9:41
the Cruising family, which had run the

9:42
company for almost a hundred years. Uh

9:45
but I I also thought, you know, if it

9:47
wasn't for those years of running the

9:48
manufacturing plant and seeing that side

9:51
of the company,

God's Plan Unfolds

9:53
I didn't have the full picture to be

9:55
able to step in actually running the

9:57
company. And so I do it was a God

9:59
moment. I knew that this now was

10:01
something that God had been planning and

10:02
working on. Um the providence of his

10:05
plan being faithful to that led to the

10:09
openings that came. Um were they all

10:12
exciting happy days? No. As I'd like to

10:14
say, there were some rocky road moments.

10:17
No question. But uh I so thankful. So I

10:22
gave you a real long answer to a great

10:23
question. But we ended up spending a lot

10:25
of time in Texas and Oklahoma. Kansas

10:27
City, back to Oklahoma, and then back to

10:29
Texas. So, uh, love love the journey,

10:32
and I wouldn't trade any of it for the

10:34
world.

Learning from Experience

10:35
Wow. Well, obviously being there for

10:38
four decades, you you learned a lot and

10:40
saw a lot behind the scenes. Your your

10:42
knowledge of Blue Bell was probably

10:43
better than anyone else at the company

10:45
from all the different vantage points

10:46
you vantage points you had. Uh, one of

10:50
the things that happened that led to you

10:53
becoming CEO was a crisis. talk about

10:56
the crisis for our audience and what

10:59
happened and how you kind of stepped

11:00
into that because uh you you had some

11:03
really tough decisions to make before

11:05
becoming CEO and I think that's what

11:07
people looked at you and saw he's

11:08
willing to make tough calls and uh in

11:11
and brought you into the CEO role.

Crisis and Leadership

11:14
Well, yes, 2015 luckily we're getting

11:17
further away from it at the same time.

11:19
you um you want to learn through any bad

11:21
situation and obviously in the history

11:23
of the company being well over 100 years

11:25
old. This was monumental in in the fact

11:29
that we had lististeria make make its

11:31
way into the product. At that time I was

11:33
vice president of sales and marketing

11:35
and um you know surrounded with some

11:38
great people uh going through a very

11:41
very tough situation. So, um, you you

11:45
know, you don't just

11:47
we woke up into it at the same time. It

11:49
was devastating. It broke. Gosh, it not

11:51
only broke our hearts, but just we felt

11:53
like we were let letting people down.

11:55
Ice cream is supposed to be fun. Ice

11:57
cream also is a very lowrisk product to

12:00
have such a pathogen make its way into

12:03
it. You take a minus 20 degree product

12:06
and you pasteurize it, you freeze it,

12:07
and um you know, it shouldn't have an

12:10
issue, but it did. And so, uh, I think

12:13
that some of the takeaways were staying

12:15
true to who you were, put your head

12:17
down, own it to me is number one. You

12:20
got a problem, you have to own it. And

12:22
so those those that were around me

12:24
during those early stages and then when

12:26
I took over, just continuing almost

12:28
taking the baton and saying, "We're

12:30
going to continue to do everything we

12:32
possibly can to be the best that we can

12:33
be beyond anything we could even

12:35
comprehend." We brought in

12:37
microbiologists. We brought in the FDA,

12:39
the state of um all the different state

12:42
organizations. Uh we talked to anybody

12:45
that knew anything about that little

12:48
pathogen and we were going to change the

12:50
way we did things. And so we ripped out

12:51
the floor. We took all the machinery

12:53
out, took took the walls down, ceiling,

12:56
changed air flow, the way air comes in

12:58
and out of the room. And um you know, we

13:00
we really um are very proud today. it

13:04
was very costly to make those changes.

13:05
But

Commitment to Quality

13:06
again, when you eat a sit down and eat a

13:08
bowl of blue bell, you want to think,

13:10
man, this is my flavor and not about

13:12
something that could be. So,

13:14
um, just staying true, own it, and pray

13:17
hard and and keep learning through that

13:20
process. And we did just that.

Leadership Reflections

13:22
Yeah. Well, you talked about earlier in

13:24
your career in Oklahoma realizing that

13:27
uh you were there for God's purpose and

13:30
to find your purpose. What's something

13:32
that you feel like now 30 plus years

13:34
later, 40 years later where you look

13:37
back and you think, "Boy, I thought this

13:39
about leadership and I was just plain

13:40
wrong."

Lessons from Experience

13:43
It's almost it's a great question. U

13:45
because it's almost like the

13:47
relationship

13:48
the the relationship you have with your

13:50
parent when they're telling you to do

13:52
something and you think you know better.

13:54
You think you already have all the

13:55
answers and yet you look back. Um,

13:58
[snorts] I think we have a dish towel

14:00
that's in our kitchen and it says, "Mom,

14:02
I get it now. Thank you." [laughter] You

14:04
know, or something similar is I finally

14:06
get it. I understand it. And and I think

14:08
it's almost as if through your career,

14:10
you're working a puzzle and you think

14:12
you can get ahead of it. The problem is

14:14
as a leader, there's times that you

14:16
don't have all the pieces and or the

14:18
picture. You have the pieces, but you

14:19
may not have the picture on the box to

14:21
help you guide through it. Uh so looking

14:23
back I would say uh the experiences uh

14:27
if you're going through anything learn

14:29
from it. God put you in situations and

14:32
is teaching you every day. A lot of

14:35
times we miss what he's doing. But um to

14:38
build that foundation uh is is what then

14:42
gets you through the hard times when

14:44
they do u when they do come and you're

14:46
in that role that you're having to make

14:48
the tough decision at the end of the

14:49
day. So, um, yeah, it's it's very

14:53
similar when I was young. Thought that,

14:54
you know, I got all the answers. I

14:56
didn't have any answers at all. Still

14:58
don't, but uh uh you you got to keep

15:00
learning.

Servant Leadership Insights

15:01
Well, this is a podcast on servant

15:03
leadership and I've heard you talk about

15:04
servant leadership in some other

15:06
interviews you've done. How do you think

15:08
about servant leadership as you think

15:10
about your career and as you've seen

15:12
other great servant leaders?

Embracing Servant Leadership

15:15
It's my style and more importantly I

15:18
think it's it's a it's so important. Um

15:21
I I truly believe and I I had a saying

15:24
to stay humble but go confident. Uh

15:27
truly believe in what you do and stay

15:29
confident in it but stay humble at the

15:32
same process. And so walk with instead

15:34
of walk over. I loved walking the plant.

15:38
I love walking in the room and having

15:39
anybody that wanted to come up and ask a

15:41
question. If it was a question that

15:43
really didn't necessarily need to come

15:45
to me, I would always try to listen to

15:48
it and then get them navigated to the

15:50
right person. But the fact that they had

15:52
the freedom, I had people who said,

15:53
"Well, they shouldn't be bothering you."

15:54
They're not bothering me. I mean, I want

15:57
to walk with you. I want to learn what

15:59
you do well enough to be able to help

16:00
you do what you do the very best you can

16:03
do it.

Learning and Supporting

16:04
So, I had a goal. I wanted to be able to

16:06
from start to finish make homemade

16:07
vanilla. That was my goal from receiving

16:10
the milk to the lab to you know produce

16:13
producing the mix to all the way to the

16:16
uh I learned pretty fast that I I need

16:18
to let them do that but I can sure learn

16:21
how and why and what and then try to

16:24
support the best I can. And so that

16:26
combination um I think that servant

16:28
leadership makes it to where we're going

16:31
at this together and not we're we're up

16:34
here and you're down there. I I just

16:36
couldn't stand that type of management

16:37
style. Um and if we win, we win together

16:41
and if we lose and let's get back up and

16:43
and figure out a way to start winning

16:44
again. And so I try to, you know, the

16:48
golden rule, treat people like you want

16:49
to be treated. I had some incredible I

16:52
want to say bosses, I hate that word,

16:53
but I had some incredible leaders that

16:56
showed me how to to to ask questions in

16:00
a way that drove a message and or a

16:02
point home without you know

16:06
tearing somebody's um you know ability

16:09
apart or their their motivation. Ask it

16:12
in a way that gets them to think and

16:14
then they come back with a solution and

16:16
work together. So servant leadership is

16:18
critical to me. Well, part of your

16:21
journey, you talked through those great

16:22
leaders, part of that uh led into you

16:25
writing a book, right? And as you were

16:28
leaving Blue Bell, um it was almost like

16:32
uh to me reading through the timeline,

16:34
it was almost like a parting gift uh

16:37
because it was like, hey, this is just

16:40
your story and what God has done through

16:42
Blue Bell, through you, and what he's up

16:44
to today. talk about how the book came

16:46
to be and uh and what you really hoped

16:49
people would get out of it.

Writing the Book

16:52
Well, I um and thank you for the

16:55
question. I I received a phone call

16:57
about oh six months before I was

17:00
actually going to officially retire. We

17:02
were putting that together. Uh but um I

17:06
had already relocated my family uh my

17:08
wife to Oklahoma where four of our

17:10
grandkids lived. and I always and their

17:12
parents. [laughter] I like to put that

17:15
little caveat in. We love them all. We

17:17
have four that live in Dallas Fort

17:18
Worth, but they were already in their

17:20
mid to late teenage years. And so uh we

17:23
thought that um this this was the place

17:25
to be and I can now support my wife and

17:27
her ministry, which is the grandkids.

17:29
But um I got this phone call from a lady

17:33
in Austin who worked for a publishing

17:34
company and she said, "Have you ever

17:35
thought about writing a book?" And you

17:37
know, I could we all talk about writing

17:39
a book. Sure. maybe write a song and

17:41
become a professional golfer. I mean, I

17:43
say that kind of jokingly, but I I had

17:45
thought about it. I I love to write. I I

17:48
started my career by writing a paper on

17:50
Blue Bell. And it hit me, well, why not

17:52
finish by writing a book in the from

17:54
from the beginning stages all the way

17:57
through the end. Uh she said, "Well, you

18:00
need to start." And I and I said, "Well,

18:02
probably when I retire." And I never

18:04
will forget. She said, "You don't

18:05
understand you. when you when you

18:07
retire, you're going to become

18:08
irrelevant.

Book Writing Motivation

18:10
[laughter]

18:12
Well, that's wonderful to know. I took

18:14
that as a as a charge, be honest with

18:16
you. I thought, no. Uh I will be

18:18
relevant of whatever God has planned. I

18:20
felt like there's still a little gas in

18:22
the gas tank. Uh even though I can

18:24
retire, as God, is that what you want me

18:26
to do? Uh is this at the time you put me

18:29
here, so is this the time to step out of

18:31
this position? And if so, what what's

18:33
your plan? and I had a tremendous piece

18:35
said yeah let's let's uh put a book

18:37
together and um just tell tell your

18:40
story and so I immediately started

18:41
writing by the end of the year we had

18:43
finished it um titled one scoop at a

18:46
time or in this case how God moved in my

18:49
life one step at a time and the

18:51
providence of that and so we've been

18:53
busy over the last couple years um

18:56
traveling all over I mean we've gone

18:57
from Washington DC all the way out to

18:59
Denver and u just sharing what God has

19:02
done uh to being faithful, being to hear

19:05
his voice and then staying faithful to

19:07
it.

Book's Impact and Ice Cream

19:08
I love that. And it's it's such a fun

19:12
book. I think we're going to link to it

19:14
where listeners can uh can go buy on

19:16
Amazon. Um but it's a fun book. You even

19:19
talk through the process in a fun way of

19:21
making ice cream, choosing flavors. Like

19:23
there's a lot of fun stuff. Talk a

19:26
little bit about that process of how is

19:28
ice cream made and how in the world do

19:31
you choose the flavors you're choosing?

Flavor Selection Process

19:33
Oh, we do a lot of arm wrestling.

19:35
[laughter]

19:37
No, I'm kidding. [gasps] It's a great

19:39
process, you know, and again, it's a fun

19:41
product. So, uh to to get a phone call

19:44
and say, you know, from the lab, hey,

19:45
we've got a new flavor we're trying. You

19:47
want to come back and give it a test?

19:48
And okay, [laughter] you know, I don't

19:52
have any days I had to call my wife at

19:54
home and just say, yeah, go easy on

19:55
dinner tonight. I've been sampling. And

19:58
u we did a lot of walking early in the

20:01
morning to to kind of keep that balance.

20:03
But uh ice cream's fun. You can make ice

20:05
cream in probably a hundred different

20:07
ways if you really break it down. By law

20:10
uh it has to be 10% butter fat is one of

20:13
the two major things about ice cream.

20:15
And then you incorporate what they call

20:17
overrun. Uh and that's air incorporated

20:20
into the mix to give it its body or its

20:23
texture. uh very little overrun and very

20:25
high butter fat give you a very dense

20:28
heavy product. Uh we call that a super

20:30
premium. And then you go the other way

20:32
and and hit just the 10% mark uh on the

20:36
low end and then go 100% there which is

20:38
by law the most you can go and you have

20:40
a a more affordable product. But if you

20:43
if you let them both sit out overnight,

20:45
you're going to see the difference. uh

20:47
uh one's still pretty much the full uh

20:50
container. The other one's either being

20:52
held together with stabilizers and

20:54
emulsifiers or it's just the air that

20:56
you would get maybe from the top of a

20:58
milkshake. So, we try to hit the sweet

21:00
spot uh back in the 60s when we really

21:03
started concentrating on ice cream. We

21:05
stopped making butter 1958.

Ice Cream Evolution

21:08
Uh but uh Howard Cruzie uh kind of the

21:10
mastermind behind a lot of the flavors

21:12
that today we enjoy. The homemade

21:14
vanilla cookies and cream, Dutch

21:16
chocolate milk. I could go on and on. Um

21:19
he had a passion to be able to sit down

21:22
and to get a bowl of ice cream, enjoy

21:24
it, and if you want a little bit more,

21:26
okay, go back and get a little bit more.

21:28
Uh whereas uh if you do a real super

21:31
premium, usually you don't get a full,

21:33
you know, bowl of ice cream. It it's

21:35
just eaten in a different way. So, I'm

21:37
breaking down a lot of different paths

21:39
that you talk about when it comes to ice

21:41
cream. Some people eat a full pint one

21:44
setting. Some people eat a full half

21:45
gallon in one setting. Others uh eat one

21:49
one spoon and they'll come back and eat

21:51
a second spoon. But um so I gave you a

21:54
long description of ice cream but uh we

21:57
would take recommendations from anybody

21:59
and everybody whether it be the general

22:00
public or employees mainly compromise uh

22:04
compiling that list

Flavor Development

22:07
and then turning it over to the R&D

22:08
department and they're already trying to

22:10
come up with new flavors on their own.

22:13
that all together we'll come out with oh

22:16
it it varies but maybe break the list

22:18
down to about 40 possibilities and then

22:21
get that down to about 15 and from 15 we

22:24
turn it over to R&D and say see what you

22:26
can do with these 15 and we're already

22:28
working about a year year and a half out

22:30
so for instance we're

Planning New Flavors

23:32
in the middle of

23:34
the summer right now we've already

23:36
determined what we're making next year

23:37
in the way of new flavors so we're

23:40
working now for the next year type uh

23:42
because it takes that long not just to

23:43
be able to make a flavor that sounds

23:45
creative, but can you can you make a

23:48
mass quantity of that flavor? There's

23:49
some great flavors. You just can't get

23:52
the ingredients to make, you know,

23:54
hundreds of thousands of half gallons,

23:58
or is it a flavor uh that um can can

24:00
actually withstand

Challenges in Flavor Production

24:02
going through the process? Um we we've

24:04
made some flavors that in a small little

24:06
batch they're wonderful but when you try

24:10
to increase the the recipe per se um the

24:12
quality and or the taste gets

24:14
compromised. And so a lot of different

24:15
factors, a lot of different things come

24:19
and we finally vote um uh on a panel and

24:22
and from all around and say okay these

24:25
are the ones that we want for next year

24:27
and the year after in this case and they

24:28
go after it. Then they start looking for

24:31
the ingredients and go from there. So,

24:33
it's a lot of fun. I got to admit,

24:34
[laughter]

Taste Testing Fun

24:34
I bet the taste testing alone would be

24:36
fun.

24:37
Yes, absolutely.

Ice Cream Industry Insights

24:38
I I'm interested because there's a lot

24:40
of different ice cream companies out

24:42
there. Maybe not as tasty, but there's a

24:44
lot of good ones out there. Um, and you

24:46
see a lot of them diversify out of ice

24:49
cream. And [snorts] for you guys, you

24:51
went from butter to ice cream. Uh, and

24:53
there was a lot of innovation in the ice

24:56
cream space. Why did you not go more

25:00
than ice cream as far as some of these

25:02
other companies have gone? Was there a

25:04
method to the madness? Was it because it

25:06
was a craft? Was it just not the goal?

25:08
Or is that the goal long term? Well, and

25:11
it's another great question, and I think

25:13
if you look back over time, you'll see

25:15
that we did uh we introduced frozen

25:18
yogurt in a package way back in the 70s,

25:21
and it did have a life. I can't remember

25:23
when we uh discontinued it, but it was a

25:26
it was a long period of time where we

25:27
had a lot of different flavors of frozen

25:29
yogurt. We had a what we called a cream

25:32
to carb. It was low carb during the low

25:34
carb.

Commitment to Quality

25:35
We had a cream supreme that was more

25:37
like what you're seeing now. Kind of

25:39
more of a um it's not ice cream because

25:42
it doesn't have the the butter fat that

25:45
ice cream should have. But the pillar

25:47
and that's the main thing the pillar of

25:49
when you eat blue bell and you've heard

25:51
of blue bell you want you want to be

25:54
wowed. I mean if you I'll be honest when

25:57
I first started I wrote the paper at

25:59
Baylor and I took friends up to Dallas

26:03
and I said you got to try this vanilla.

26:04
It's incredible. We went into a parlor

26:07
and we tried vanilla, but it wasn't the

26:09
vanilla that I It wasn't the same. And I

26:11
was like, I'm missing something. So, I

26:12
called and said, "What am I missing?"

26:14
And they said, "Well, you had what we

26:15
called," it was more of a country

26:17
vanilla used for milkshakes or a good

26:19
topping, but it wasn't that that

26:21
homemade taste that I was expecting. And

26:24
um so what you don't want not that the

26:26
other was not good the country of

26:28
another some people loved it but uh you

26:32
there's a a phrase that we said that

26:34
kind of a mission statement is to

26:36
consistently meet the expectation that

26:39
drives the passion. So every time you

26:42
pick up a pralines and cream or a butter

26:46
pecan if you've had it you have an

26:48
expectation of what it's going to taste

26:50
like. If you've never had it, but you've

26:52
heard kind of like that movie, you got

26:53
to go see or that restaurant, man, this

26:56
restaurant knocks it out of the park,

26:58
you have an expectation. And so if

27:01
you're making products that are not in

27:04
that category where ice cream is still

27:06
pretty consistent, uh they're niches or

27:09
they're they're you know, right now we

27:11
have a great product called Pro. It's a

27:13
high protein. um but but they fill a um

27:18
certain categories desire andor um what

27:21
you know what you're including in your

27:24
diet. But ice cream is still the staple.

27:26
Ice cream is still the mainstay. And uh

27:30
you know consistently meeting that

27:32
expectation that drives the passion is

27:34
what's made us successful.

Learning to Say No

27:35
And so we we'll have other things uh or

27:38
other products. I shouldn't say things.

27:40
It sounded bad. Uh but u it still comes

27:43
back to ice cream. Obviously,

27:45
you learned a lot along the way. One of

27:47
the things that I think stands out to me

27:50
is now your ability to just say no to

27:53
things and the learning over that. How

27:56
did you move from maybe the just say yes

27:59
to now just saying no process and and

28:02
explain to people why you feel like

28:04
that's important for uh for them to also

28:08
maybe adapt to.

28:10
Yeah, I think that um and and I love it

28:13
if we look at it internally. Uh we never

28:15
moved for instance anybody that if we if

28:18
we had an open in a new market, we saw

28:20
someone, we'd really like for you to go

28:22
to this market and open it up similar to

28:23
what they asked me to do and they would

28:25
say, "No, it just isn't the right time."

28:28
We we honored that and we respected

28:30
that. We thought, you know, if it's not

28:32
good for your family, if it's not good

28:33
for you where you're at, there's nothing

28:35
worse than move someone that doesn't

28:37
necessarily want to be there. more

28:39
importantly, they may want to be there,

28:40
but their family may not want to be

28:42
there. Uh, and so to respect that, I

28:45
think, is is critical because again, I

28:48
go back to we're all family. This is all

28:49
part of it. Um, that didn't happen a

28:52
whole lot, but at the same time, when it

28:54
it did, it didn't necessarily push it

28:56
down, well, they'll never ask me again.

28:58
No, in fact, you're still right where

28:59
you were on that list, but we're going

29:01
to respect the fact that you know better

29:03
than what we would even know that it's

29:06
this is where you need to stay and need

29:08
to be. Um, I go back to my faith, too.

29:12
If this is something that, you know, God

29:13
is saying don't go. Uh, and you can

29:16
definitely sense through your prayer

29:17
life. This isn't something that's u just

29:20
because it's a a promotion or a title.

29:23
You know, I I truly believe it's not

29:26
about success or a title of a position.

29:28
It's about being obedient.

Balancing Work and Family

29:30
And if you can stay obedient to what God

29:33
is doing in your life in those steps

29:35
that you're taking when you look back,

29:38
uh you're going to see that that that's

29:40
what it's all about. Being faithful to

29:41
what he's asking and staying true to

29:43
that is huge. So, I think we get caught

29:46
up in the latter. We get caught up in

29:48
wanting to have the title or the

29:50
business card or whatever. Uh, and I

29:52
think you'll also hear from leaders

29:53
across the country that when you get

29:56
there, it's not what you think it's

29:57
going to be. Not that there's not great

29:59
things from it. Um, but at the same

30:02
time, um, it's not quite the same in in

30:05
the looking back to say how many, you

30:08
know, softball games did I miss or

30:11
child's plays or whatever it might be.

30:14
And you've got to have that balance.

30:15
You've got to be able to to keep work

30:17
where it's supposed to be and to keep

30:19
home life where it's supposed to be. And

30:21
um you know I think there's seasons in

30:23
both when things are crazy. 2015 we were

30:25
all hands on deck

30:27
all day all night. But then there's also

30:30
been seasons where hey take a break. You

30:32
need to take a break and get away and

30:34
spend time with your family. And the two

30:35
if they can if they can merge together

30:38
can make it very successful.

Balancing Company and Family

30:40
Yeah. Well, it's interesting because I

30:42
know you talk [clears throat] about this

30:43
in the book, too, but and you've talked

30:45
about this publicly, but it is really

30:47
hard to run a really successful company

30:50
and have a really successful family

30:53
marriage like doing both at the same

30:56
time is a superpower, you know, in

30:58
[laughter] some respect.

30:59
I think you're right. talk about how uh

31:03
times you balanced family and marriage

31:05
well and times where you didn't and how

31:08
you would advise people to be thinking

31:11
about doing both well from your

31:13
learnings.

31:15
Well, I go back to uh um [clears throat]

31:17
the previous comments and that is in

31:19
those seasons where you're called upon

31:21
and things are really tough um the

31:24
family usually is right there and will

31:26
stand behind you. At the same time,

31:28
don't let your job become your marriage.

31:30
Don't let your job become the most

31:32
important thing. Even if you're in that

31:34
position, uh Paul Cruzy, the gentleman

31:37
that I took his place when he retired,

31:40
he he would always get there to work

31:42
before. I mean, you just couldn't you

31:43
didn't even try to beat him to work. At

31:45
the same time, he had breakfast on the

31:47
table for his family before he left

31:49
early in the morning and at 5:00 p.m. he

31:52
left. You could you could guarantee at

31:54
5:00. In fact, if you walked in his

31:56
office at 4:45, he gave you this look

31:59
like this better be I hope you're having

32:01
a great day. You better not hit me with

32:03
anything unless it's critical because

32:05
I'm getting ready to walk out. And so

32:07
there was that respect. Uh and so he was

32:09
a great teacher example of being able to

32:11
balance both of those. Um but um I I

32:15
just think that your family life is just

32:17
every

32:19
bit as important in its in its silo in

32:22
its way. And if you can support that,

32:25
whether I I I mentioned the move or if

32:27
hey, um my my son's playing at a three

32:30
o'clock tournament this Friday anyway, I

32:32
could sneak over and watch that. These

32:33
are moments in time that you can't get

32:35
back. And so looking back for me, I

32:37
probably missed some great opportunities

32:39
to just be there, just be part of that

32:42
that I probably, you know, I'm more

32:44
critical on myself on that, but I I wish

32:46
I'd have taken that break and gone over

32:48
instead of saying, "No, I got to be

32:50
here." because you if you if you

32:52
delegated right and you've trained your

32:53
employees correctly, the best thing you

32:56
can do is go to just sneak away and go

32:58
to that because now they can operate

33:00
without you being there and they can

33:02
show you we got this. And so I I think

33:05
that uh you want to be uh visible when

33:08
you're supposed to be visible, but at

33:10
the same time that mutual respect.

Importance of Patience

33:12
Some positions you can't do that. If

33:13
you're making ice cream and you work the

33:15
production line, you've got to be there

33:16
because ice cream's coming out. But you

33:18
also have to learn to b be able to

33:19
balance that and listen. I have a saying

33:22
that they hear you when they see you,

33:24
not necessarily when you talk. So when

33:26
you walk in the room, just the fact

33:28
you've walked into the room, they're

33:31
that's saying something to them and it

33:33
shows that you actually do care if you

33:35
walk depending upon how you walk in. Uh,

33:38
and so, um, I found that to be such an

33:41
important part of what I did as

33:42
president is to to just be able to

33:45
listen and to continually

33:48
learn what's today, what are we what are

33:50
we doing today and how can we learn from

33:51
what we're doing today. Um, and so, and

33:54
then we just keep building from that.

33:56
But hopefully that answered your

33:57
question because it's a great question.

33:59
Yeah. Well, over the last couple years,

34:01
I know you've been on the road speaking

34:03
a lot. Um, talk about the biggest thing

34:06
that you're hoping young leaders take

34:09
away from your decades of experience as

34:13
well as just in this day and age, it

34:15
feels like it is leading it leading

34:18
might be a little bit different than it

34:20
was when you [clears throat] first

34:21
started out. What are you hoping that

34:23
they learn from you?

34:24
I I think that what I am seeing more

34:27
today is the u the word that popped in

34:31
my mind is just the lack of patience.

34:33
Uh, I want it, but I want it now. I want

34:35
what you what what you had, but I want

34:37
it today. I had an employee way back in

34:40
the early 80s. I'll never forget on his

34:42
application, it says, "Where do you see

34:44
yourself in 20 years?" And they said, "I

34:46
want to be a hot shot at Blue Bell." I

34:48
just thought that was a great line. I

34:50
don't know what it meant, but when I

34:51
asked him about it, he said, "I in 20

34:53
years, I see I see myself where you're

34:55
at. What I see today is next year or

34:59
maybe two years from now, I see where

35:00
you're at." Uh and so my my words to

35:03
them is you know

35:06
God is molding, shaping and making you

35:08
for what he has planned for you. You

35:11
know the steps that we have our own

35:13
steps. Uh we can make our own plans I

35:15
think but it says but the Lord uh

35:18
determines the steps that we're going to

35:19
take. I kind of butchered that but it's

35:21
a proverbs that in our mind we see

35:24
things but God is shaping molding and

35:26
making and if we can get patience in

35:28
that to know I don't have all the answer

35:31
today I need to be learning this today

35:33
uh I was bad in college I wanted to get

35:35
through just I just wanted to get

35:36
through and I think back at some of

35:37
those classes especially accounting when

35:39
I'm now running a company and I hated

35:41
accounting [laughter] and I'm sitting in

35:43
a a boardroom and we're looking at all

35:45
the numbers with a bunch of CPAs those

35:47
were the moments I thought you know I

35:49
should have paid a little bit more

35:50
attention uh instead of wanting to

35:52
hurry. Um but uh be patient, be

35:55
multiple, uh go the extra mile. Uh show

35:58
up, we've laughed about this. You show

36:01
up five minutes before you're supposed

36:03
to and stay all day and work, you're

36:04
already way ahead of most people.

Advice for Young Leaders

36:07
It's just that's how crazy it seems like

36:09
it has become. Um, and so bouncing from

36:12
job, not that that's bad, but you just

36:15
see that so much more than what maybe

36:17
way back u, you know, when I rode my

36:20
horse to work. I'm [laughter] kidding.

36:22
You just, you know, and and I don't and

36:25
I tell employees that I, you know, that

36:26
we hired, some of you are going to be

36:28
here for a life and others, this is for

36:30
a season.

36:31
And so I I believe there is a difference

36:33
between the two. And so if God has you

36:35
here for the season, then learn,

36:37
embrace, absorb. and he's because he's

36:39
preparing you for the next wherever that

36:41
uh next season will be. Fortunately for

36:44
me, it was all with the same company and

36:47
I'm so thankful for that.

Rapid Fire Questions

36:49
Wow, that's so good. Um Okay, Ricky, I

36:53
want to finish with 10 rapid fire

36:55
questions.

36:55
Okay. [laughter]

36:56
And you just say the first thing that

36:58
comes to mind, no wrong answer.

36:59
Oh, I'm in trouble. Homemade vanilla.

37:01
Okay, [laughter]

37:03
that might be one of the answers.

37:04
Yeah.

37:06
Okay. Who's the first person you think

37:08
of when I say servant leadership?

37:12
First person that immediately comes to

37:13
my mind would have been my immediate

37:15
boss and or supervisor Melvin

37:17
Ziggenbine. Uh he interviewed me. He

37:19
hired me from the beginning. He would

37:21
always show you how to do things and

37:24
then let you do them. If you had a truck

37:27
breakdown in a suit or in an overcoat,

37:30
he was out there helping swap that truck

37:32
out. He wanted to help you in any way.

37:34
He he always said, "I'm an underdog."

37:36
wanting to be the best I can be. He

37:37
believed in what he called the underdog

37:39
and it showed me that it was so much

37:41
more than a title that it's it's being a

37:43
servant leader. And so, yeah,

37:44
absolutely.

Book Recommendations

37:45
Wow. Uh book or author you would

37:48
recommend people check out other than

37:50
yourself?

37:51
No, [laughter]

37:52
I can't do that. Oh my goodness. You

37:55
know, there's so many u that that I

37:57
enjoy reading. Um Steve CVY, John

38:00
Maxwell. Um I have what I call my

38:04
self-help books, you know, to to to

38:06
continue to to continue to improve. Then

38:09
I have the books that I try to do deep

38:11
sty sorry to do deep dive studies in

38:15
scripture.

38:16
And then I have uh my fun authors that u

38:19
I'm a Ted Deckard fan and a Leech child

38:22
fan. So those are the two. One's more on

38:25
the Christian side, non-fiction, but or

38:27
fiction, I should say, but

38:31
those are the two.

Favorite Authors

38:32
All right. Favorite.

38:33
Oh, wait, wait. I got one more. I got

38:35
one more. And I believe the my most

38:38
important one. I can't believe I did

38:39
this. Uh Mark Batterson, who's a good

38:41
friend who I've been inspired

38:43
tremendously by.

38:44
Uh Mark um through his book early on

38:48
before I ever even met him. Uh there's

38:50
some life quotes in his books that I

38:53
pretty much include in almost every talk

38:54
that I give. Uh and so yeah, he's a

38:57
pastor out of uh Washington DC and

39:00
tremendous writer. He has nuggets

39:02
throughout his book that just

39:05
so I don't my mind drifted but it came

39:08
back just in time.

39:10
Well, Mark is one of my favorite

39:11
authors. We've had him on the podcast

39:13
and he I I quote him probably more than

39:17
any other author. Uh he has so many good

39:20
lines that he's got a gift. Um him

39:24
question and it's so clear. I mean you

39:26
read a sentence and you go wow that that

39:29
was so clear. Uh the day you stop the

39:32
day you start dying is the day you stop

39:33
dreaming. The day you start living is

39:35
the day you find a dream we're dying

39:37
for.

39:37
Boom. Just things like that. So anyway,

39:40
I I I left but I'm back.

Favorite Foods

39:43
Favorite food that's not ice cream?

39:45
Uh Mexican food. I I have to go

39:48
immediately to that's not that's not a

39:51
dessert either, I guess you should say,

39:53
but

39:54
Mexican food.

39:55
Favorite thing to do in your free time?

39:58
Uh, well, I love to play golf. I love to

40:01
hunt. I love to be in the outdoors. I've

40:04
gotten where I'm not so angry at the

40:06
animals anymore, but just to be able to

40:08
spend time in the it's what I just just

40:10
to let go and and take in what God's

40:13
doing is just tremendous. But in

40:15
reading, spending time with my wife.

40:18
[laughter]

40:19
No question.

40:20
I better say that to her. She may.

40:22.
And the grandkids.

40:24
And the Well, yeah. And the grandkids.

40:25
Absolutely. Yeah. And the grandkids.

Surprising Facts

40:27
What's a surprising fact about you?

40:31
[sighs]

40:31
Oh man. That I don't that the surprising

40:34
fact. Um I used to weigh 130 pounds in

40:37
high school and ran the mile.

40:40
Wow.

40:40
I don't know.

40:42
Ice cream will change your life and it

40:43
will also change your physique.

40:45
[laughter] But yeah, I I love track all

40:48
the way up until the time I guess when I

40:49
did start putting on weight. But uh I I

40:52
was not ever that fast. I think my

40:54
fastest mile was about 4 minutes and 35

40:57
seconds, which didn't get did not get me

40:59
out of district. So,

41:00
hey, that's pretty fast, [snorts]

41:01
though.

41:01
Well, it's it's fun to talk about to

41:03
your grandkids because they don't know

41:04
any better. [laughter]

Favorite Ice Cream Flavors

41:06
Favorite flavor of ice cream.

41:09
Well, I I mentioned homemade vanilla.

41:10
That's what I call my hall of fame

41:12
flavor. Uh we made a flavor called

41:14
salted caramel brownie

41:16
a couple years ago. I've warned them if

41:18
they don't bring it back, I'm going to

41:19
have to come back down there. But

41:21
[laughter]

41:21
uh Oh, it was so good. Salted caramel

41:24
ice cream with that chewy brownie in it.

41:26
But

Strangest Ice Cream Flavors

41:27
what do you think is the most strange

41:29
flavor of ice cream you've ever tasted?

41:32
Strangest? Uh well the one the strangest

41:35
that we made that I did not taste was

41:38
pickles and cream or pickles and vanilla

41:40
ice cream. Made it in the 40s. Um more

41:43
of a kind of a gimmicky type of thing.

41:46
Um we've tried all kinds. I I'll tell

41:49
you this. We made a flavor that I

41:50
actually thought tasted very good. Uh

41:53
but just and we came out with it. It was

41:56
through that process we talked about

41:57
earlier. Uh it was one of the last

41:59
samples that we tried. It was called

42:01
peanut butter and jelly. And it was a

42:03
peanut butter bl based ice cream with a

42:05
kind of a I want to say it was a

42:07
strawberry variegate that was rippled

42:09
through the ice cream. But you know,

42:11
people would call and say, "Well, did

42:12
you cut the crust off before you put it

42:14
in?" I mean, it just [laughter]

42:17
it it did not go over very well. So, I

42:20
guess that would have to be it.

42:21
Although, it ate very well. Just wrong

42:23
name on that one.

Top Selling Flavors

42:24
Yeah. What What were the top two or

42:26
three flavors that you guys sold? Most

42:29
popular?

42:30
Well, homemade vanilla for sure. Uh,

42:32
cookies [clears throat] and cream would

42:33
be right behind it. Uh, then Dutch Dutch

42:35
chocolate. Those are the top three.

42:37
I always laugh because in the top five

42:39
you had Great Divide and that's homemade

42:41
vanilla and Dutch chocolate in the same

42:43
carton. So, I don't know if you call

42:44
that its own flavor, but uh um you just

42:48
can't get away. You vanilla you can use

42:49
pretty much on anything. So, any kind of

42:52
dessert you want to add a a vanilla to

42:54
and it it by far our number one seller.

Best Advice Received

42:58
uh best advice you've ever received.

43:02
Oh, I've been given a lot of great

43:04
advice. That's a great question. Um

43:07
I think just just listening to the voice

43:09
of God and and following where he leads.

43:12
It would have to be um you cannot

43:15
recognize his voice without spending

43:17
time with him. And so I think it's

43:19
crucial that you start your day uh in in

43:23
God's word his love letters to us. But

43:26
more importantly just just uh when I

43:28
when I walk there are times I I just say

43:31
God talk to me and put on my heart

43:33
whatever it is that you want to lay upon

43:35
me that I want to hear that you want me

43:37
to hear. And uh so listening to the

43:39
voice of God and being able to recognize

43:41
it because that's sometimes hard in the

43:43
tough times.

Importance of Servant Leadership

43:44
That's great advice. All right. And

43:46
finally, a podcast on servant

43:48
leadership. Why do you think people

43:50
listening should care about becoming

43:52
better servant leaders?

43:55
Well, immediately my thought is to make

43:57
this world better. Uh we we are out of

44:00
whack. I don't know to say it. Uh I

44:04
never dreamed that we would be talking

44:05
about some of the topics that our

44:07
country in our world is talking about

44:09
today. uh if we were to to have taken a

44:12
snapshot of the headlines of today and

44:15
gone back 40 years ago, you would say

44:17
that you wouldn't believe it. It just it

44:19
would not be believable. And yet um um

44:22
it it's still true and it's still our

44:25
world is getting darker. And so serving

44:27
leadership in itself

44:29
uh staying true to what God has planned,

44:32
staying true to his word, loving your

44:34
neighbor, genuinely loving your neighbor

44:36
and uh trying to improve uh is critical.

44:39
And we've lost sight of that. The mei

44:41
syndrome is become such it's more about

44:44
self and I than others. And so um starts

44:49
independently, it starts at home, starts

44:51
at church, starts in the community,

44:53
starts in your state, of course our

44:54
country. But um if we don't do something

44:57
fast, we're deteriorating pretty

44:59
rapidly.

Closing Thoughts

45:00
Wow.

45:01
Hey, on that kind of a note. [laughter]

45:02
No, that's that's great.

45:04
Let's go back to homemade vanilla.

45:06
That's that's great. I love it. Ricky,

45:08
[snorts] this has been a pleasure. I'm

45:10
excited for people to check out the book

45:11
that haven't and we're going to put it

45:12
in the link uh a link in the

45:14
description. And I I just want to say

45:17
thank you for being on it and for being

45:19
in all of our homes over the last

45:20
[laughter] so many decades uh and and

45:23
giving so much joy and memories. Uh, I

45:25
guess one last thing, one thing that I

45:27
love that you talked about, uh, is, and

45:31
I know you talked about this when you

45:33
went to Blue Bell, but also one thing

45:36
that I loved a long time ago, uh, I had

45:39
Gary Ridge on the podcast who ran WD40

45:41
for 40 years, and his whole thing about,

45:45
uh, WD40 was,

45:49
you could think of it like a product,

45:50
but they would be out of business

45:52
immediately. It was about the memories

45:54
you make with WD40.

45:56
Absolutely.

Importance of Memories

45:56
And talk about real quick, and I I know

45:59
we're over on time, but talk about uh

46:03
the memories and the importance of

46:05
memories in making what Blue Bell was

46:07
what it was.

46:08
Well, I I'd love to say that we didn't

46:10
make ice cream, that we did just that.

46:13
Our business was centered around making

46:16
memories. Something about ice cream

46:18
takes you somewhere. Uh it's a product

46:20
that uh will make your day brighter if

46:23
you've had a bad day or it actually will

46:26
finish off a tremendous good day. So no

46:28
matter what kind of day you've had, it's

46:30
a friend waiting for you when you get

46:32
home uh to to celebrate and toward to

46:35
lift you back up. I had a ransom note

46:37
from a little a 12-year-old girl that

46:39
wrote me and said uh I loved it. It was

46:42
an actual ransom note with the letters

46:43
cut out that said, "We got your cows.

46:45
Bring back cantaloupe and cream or

46:47
else." had a picture of a hamburger at

46:49
the bottom, had a picture of the cow at

46:50
the top. Uh, she took her ice cream

46:52
serious. U, but um, we also got letters

46:56
from people that, you know, it's been

46:57
part of so many celebrations of life at

46:00
the end of someone's life. We've had

46:02
families show up uh, by the droves to

46:04
honor uh, a patriot that was in their

46:07
family that love the product. Uh, and I

46:09
share some of these stories in the book,

46:11
but um, that's why I felt like it's so

46:14
critical. It's It's not ice cream. It is

46:16
memories.

46:17
And if we can do our part to be the best

46:19
we can be in that process and brighten

46:22
someone's day, then we've done our job.

46:25
Wow. Well, Ricky, thank you for being on

46:27
the podcast

Closing Remarks

47:29
and I'm excited for people

47:30
to learn more about everything that

47:32
you're still doing today.

Gratitude and Farewell

47:34
Well, thank you so much, Chris. I really

47:36
do appreciate it. It's been a been a

47:37
blast.

Podcast Outro

47:38
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47:41
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47:43
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47:45
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47:49
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