Unknown Speaker  0:00 

It’s natural that the longer you’re engaged in a fight, there’s frustrations and it’s hard to see an end to it. So people just want to live their life and express themselves and more normal way. But we’re going to get through this and we’re in a good position to win this fight.

Unknown Speaker  0:16 

Hey, it’s Nate Disarro and welcome to Titans of Industry, the podcast where I talk to industry leaders and innovators who are at the top of their game and leading the pack in their fields, uncovering some of the best stories in today’s business landscape. In this episode, I went to the Arkansas State Capitol and sat down with Governor Asa Hutchinson, the governor discusses juggling the unexpected demands of leading the state through the pandemic while working to still accomplish his goals, why he’s been inspired by Arkansans, and why perseverance is the theme of his life. We even covered some of his personal daily routines, including blues music, and his love of basketball. And now let’s get to the episode. But before we do, our team at Content Titan wants you to know We understand the challenges business leaders and marketers are facing right now with moving to a more virtual world. We are experts in taking human connections and turning them digital. From virtual Events and Video presentations to promotional content and advertising. We are here to help guide you through the process of staying in front of your audience and making your

Unknown Speaker  1:20 

life a little bit easier.

Unknown Speaker  1:22 

People tell us all the time that they are lost and don’t know what to say or do and we exist to help your business continue to move forward, virtually. So if you’re ready to take your business and content strategy virtual, our Titans are ready to help. Let’s get your business back to business. Now, here’s my conversation with Governor Asa Hutchinson.

Unknown Speaker  1:46 

So, Governor, I appreciate you jumping in here today. I want to start with a perhaps a unique question which is there’s been a couple of public sensations that have happened over this last several months. One of those is Tiger King and the other When is The Last Dance? Of course the documentary series about the Chicago Bulls. First of all, have you seen either one and secondly, specifically about the last dance? I know your basketball fan? Have you taken anything away from that? I did watch the last dance. And of course, you love it whenever there’s a good Arkansan like

Unknown Speaker  2:20 

Joe Kleine was in that Scottie Pippen, of course. So that but you know, what I took away from it is, whenever you are playing or living or wanting to excel at that level, the importance of excellence, and it had demanding it is and, you know, the leadership for Michael Jordan on the court, but Philip Jackson, I mean, he had he had to adjust you know, whenever you have real leaders on the court, you had to let them lead. And so so I loved is just is to me, it was the pursuit of excellence in basketball, but of course, you can apply those principles to anything in life. So I love my sports and I love watching it.

Unknown Speaker  3:03 

I love it. Yeah, I was a huge Chicago Bulls fan in the 90s. Of course, like most people, and I thought that documentary series did a fantastic job of pulling out a lot of the things that we just didn’t really see. And I love seeing our Kansans as well, I was a big Scottie Pippen fan, and Joe Klein’s just the nicest guy, but alright, so public service, you obviously chose a life of public service. Can you talk a little bit about why you decided to get into public service to begin with?

Unknown Speaker  3:29 

Well, public service was an avenue that allowed you to make a difference in your community, and in the affairs of life. And, you know, I, I’m a lawyer by profession, and so, you know, as a lawyer, you’re serving the system of justice, but you’re also involved in the community. And so that naturally led me and gave me some opportunities in politics, but what motivated me was just simply if you want to make a difference, Hear in this time, while you’re alive in the political arena, you impact public policy, you impact individual lives. And I saw that as an avenue to do that. And, of course, it wasn’t an easy path for me. And so, you know, I’d get knocked out of the saddle on a political race. And I’d go back to the private sector. And so while I’ve had a career in public service, I’ve also had a career in the on the private side. And I’ve enjoyed both of them. So very, very blessed to have both those unique opportunities.

Unknown Speaker  4:36 

And from a partisan standpoint, how is partisan politics changed from the time you entered public service, and where is it now? You know,

Unknown Speaker  4:44 

That’s, that’s a good question. And you look at the history of our country, and it’s always been partisan. And there always been tough, tough elections and campaigns that they’ve slugged at each other. So politics hasn’t changed that much. But what has changed is the is the participation in it. And so it’s not just the candidates now, but as the media that’s engaged in partisan partisanship, and then it is the public on social media. So you have got just a higher level of intensity in that partisanship. And it’s not just partisanship in terms of the political parties, but it’s partisanship in terms of just political divide in general. And so it is social media. It is the media is participation, which is helpful by the public, but it just, it takes it to a new level, and it is a challenge for our country and anybody who participates in it.

Unknown Speaker  5:48 

And I assume, you know, one of the things that obviously, I don’t think you planned on when you were brought into this office, but this global pandemic we’re dealing with has obviously added to the partisan nature of The way people feel like it should be handled. But this wasn’t on your to do list, I would assume.

Unknown Speaker  6:04 

Oh, it wasn’t even on my imagination list. No, it wasn’t on my to do list at all. I was elected to be the jobs governor creating jobs in Arkansas, bringing industry here, lowering taxes, which we’ve done all of those things. But then this is a curveball that you didn’t expect. And it’s interesting that you mentioned that you know, there’s been a partisan taint to it almost or divide. And, you know, it didn’t start out that way. I remember in March or you know, where our country was united our country was, was really together in a concern for it and the actions that we we should take it then it became first divide on whether you ought to shut everything down shelter in place, and then it was divided about whether you open it up, back up or not. Then there’s a divide on The mask and and and it’s that’s frustrating that there is that kind of division. But it’s it’s natural that the longer you’re engaged in a fight, there’s frustrations with it, I really think some of that shifts reflecting frustration and it’s hard to see and into it. And so people just want to live their life and express themselves in a more normal way. And that makes it doubly challenging. But we’re going to get through this. America is a great country. Arkansas is great, got a great spirit, and we’re in a good position to win this fight.

Unknown Speaker  7:35 

I love that. And have you seen any successes that you’ve been proud of throughout this time? things that, you know, our Kansans have done? Well, things that the leadership team has done?

Unknown Speaker  7:44 

Well, sure. Absolutely. I mean, I think not shutting down the Arkansas economy was absolutely the right decision. Because you know, there’s a lot of pressure to do that. But the states that actually did that The the virus has come back just as strong as the states that didn’t. And so it’s, it’s, we would really hurt ourselves a lot of people would have lost their jobs and been unemployed had we shut down the economy to that extent, but also is just, you know, the spirit of our Kansans really listening to leadership has been inspiring to me, you know, words make a difference in what you say and how you say it. And you know, my daily, almost daily news conferences that talk about where we are, what we’re doing, meeting the challenges, I think that’s been a success story in terms of transparency and sharing as much information as we can with the public.

Unknown Speaker  8:45 

So even though it may look and feel like dealing with the pandemic is sort of taken on a full time role, like leaders in most organizations, you still have other jobs to do and jobs that you would prefer to do. So what does that look like? How have you been able to continue to be Do the things that you want to do.

Unknown Speaker  9:02 

Well, you’re right. There’s a lot of other things going on that are important for a governor to deal with today. You know, we’re looking at budget issues for next year. We’ve been looking at the legislative session, what economic agenda items we want to drive. What I enjoy is being on the phone talking to CEOs trying to get them to look at Arkansas. That’s been hampered a little bit because you can’t travel as much. But you know, I’ve been on the phone and that’s been a nice avenue of have other successes, but it’s also about the Computer Science Initiative that I started as governor that we’ve been really the number one state in terms of the first state to mandate Computer Science at every high school. And, and and really the pandemic and the necessity of whether it’s online education or whether it is doing telemedicine, all of that hinges upon good computer science skills, and software development. And so that’s been something that’s been a continued success, even with the pandemic.

Unknown Speaker  10:15 

And on a good day, being Governor’s a tough job, even if the pandemic wasn’t a part of your situation. So what’s something that you’ve done or you do personally to kind of stay motivated and keep your team motivated to move forward? Like you mentioned a minute ago, you know, a lot of people are frustrated, because we just don’t know how long this is going to go what the situation is going to be a month from now, six months from now?

Unknown Speaker  10:35 

Well, at the very beginning,

Unknown Speaker  10:39 

in March 11, when we had our first case, I remember Dr. Nate Smith, called me aside and says, this could go on for seven months. And that just stunned me and I said, Well, don’t tell anybody that if, and in fact, it has gone on. And, and so that’s been challenging, and so with that, knowledge that we’re in this for the long haul, I asked my staff, make sure you take some time off. Make sure you get some time to yourself and because you’re going to burn out on this otherwise, and I, one of my favorite authors, Henry Van Dyck has a book the importance of a day off. And so that’s something that I believe in, you got to go fishing, you’ve got to do whatever relaxes you. Because this has really been stressful for my team, and really, particularly the medical professionals that are out there.

Unknown Speaker  11:37 

So what are some of the things you do to unwind to de stress? I know, like I said, I think your basketball fan like to play basketball a little bit.

Unknown Speaker  11:45 

Yeah, you I know people think, well, you’re too old play basketball, but I never stopped. And so I had a group that we played full court basketball, up until the pandemic started. And so we played every week, and that’s In my point of relaxation, now, what have I done since then, while we’ve had this, we haven’t been able to play full court, competition, basketball. And so I’ve got a basketball goal at that residence and I go out there and shoot just about every evening. And it’s just shooting, but it’s so relaxing to me. Nothing beats the squish of the net. And so do that that also actually increased my exercise routine just because I had to have it. If I don’t have that, as I start the day, then I have a hard time making it through the day. So relief in times of stress, you find yourself becoming a little bit more disciplined on things that help you to be stronger. I love that.

Unknown Speaker  12:46 

So as a leader, every leader is faced with a balance of leading with expertise and authority, being confident in what you’re leading towards. But then also with empathy and compassion and ensuring that the people you’re leading don’t get run over by the process, do you naturally lean one way or the other? And then how do you kind of maintain a balance between the two?

Unknown Speaker  13:06 

Well, it is an important balance. And you have to identify with as a leader with the emotions with the stress that people are going through, you have to recognize it. And and so that’s the reason that we recognize our, our nurses and our healthcare workers that have been on the front lines for so long. You know, recognizing the stress to the unemployed and the efforts to get unemployment compensation or, or pandemic unemployment assistance to them. But as you as you look at this for so many months, emotion only takes you so far. And really what the people of Arkansas and everyone responds to are simply the facts. They don’t need to always be preached to they don’t need to, you know, have all of the emotions They just need to have the facts and information so they can make good judgments. Now, that’s the balance you have to have. But, you know, I have to remind myself that there’s a lot of people that are hurting out there, and that are stressed out there. And, you know, whenever you look at starting school this year, teachers are worried I understand that identify with that. And you’ve got to make sure you never lose sight of, of what people are going through in these difficult times and identify with it. And that’s the balance you have to try to work through.

Unknown Speaker  14:38 

What’s one of the hardest things that you try to communicate to our Arkansas business leaders that maybe they don’t understand? This is really what what we’re after this is what we’re trying to accomplish?

Unknown Speaker  14:50 

Well, what is so difficult is that everything we’re going through and asking people to do almost seems unAmerican. I mean, I didn’t run for governor and get elected or I didn’t get involved in politics to put restrictions on businesses. You know, it’s not my philosophy didn’t come natural to me to use government action. You know, I’m a conservative republican and I resist government authority. And that’s, and that’s uniquely American, and it’s Arkansas. And so you’re telling people, you’re going to be issuing a mandate, you have to wear a mask. I mean, that hurts, and but it’s necessary and so but it’s difficult to communicate exactly why this is important. People understand it, but they, they education always works a little bit better, but sometimes you have to do that government action. And so that’s part of it. But it’s also about businesses. I mean, whenever you look at with barber shops and salons, it had to be closed and restaurants had to be put restrictions on and, and it felt so good whenever we’re able to lift some of those inside. Get back in business, you know, we want to support you. And you know, and now, you know, we’ve had our cases go up some. So now the pressure says, Well, you got to go back you got to turn back the tide and put some of those restrictions back in place. I’m saying no, you can’t do that. You just got to resist that we got to live through this. You got to work through this and and navigate our wells way through this. So this is hard because it’s, it’s not what we think about when we think about the freedoms that we enjoy.

Unknown Speaker  16:32 

Is there anything you want to say to business owners and leaders of businesses that would maybe help them think a different way or so that restrictions don’t have to be put back on things

Unknown Speaker  16:42 

actually, the businesses have, by and large, just about every one of them. they fully understand what we have to do for safety. The most important thing to them is their customers and to keep their customers safe and confidence and coming in whether it’s a restaurant or whether it’s it’s a club Thing store. And so what we’re doing is helping them. And actually, if we do put in a we did put in a mandate to wear mask, businesses, thank me saying that makes our life easier because we don’t have to be telling them because, you know, it’s something that everybody has to do. So businesses, by and large, have been very, very supportive and understanding of that. It is difficult when you’ve got a customer that comes in and say, I don’t want to do that and you can’t make me. You know, you just sort of have to live with those circumstances. It’s unfair. But businesses have been very, very supportive. So my word to them is Thank you. You understand it and you’ve worked very hard to protect your place of business and your customers.

Unknown Speaker  17:47 

And speaking of masks, anybody that watches the press conferences, sees that you have almost a different mask every day. Do you have a favorite? Is there a theme that you like to go with on the masks

Unknown Speaker  17:57 

typically me I lost my favorite mass Go but no i today I wore the mule riders mass from Southern Arkansas university so that was cool. I like to wear the sports one. I actually have a basketball mass that’s that made it looks like a basketball and so the day that I spoke on sports, nobody picked up the clues but I had a basketball mask on and I had basketball cufflinks so I was sending a signal Hey, let’s let’s look at doing sports this year.

Unknown Speaker  18:31 

I love it. Well speaking of sports, that’s a big issue people you know miss all the things that we get to go do as a you know, community. What should people know if they haven’t heard elsewhere about sports coming back this fall?

Unknown Speaker  18:45 

One how important sports is to our high school students. I just met with so many coaches, administrators and teachers and they say, you know if if you don’t have sports This year, we’re going to be losing students. They’ll be dropping out of school. And so it motivates them. It gives them the challenge and discipline in life that they need. It’s a safe environment for them. Even though it’s a risky environment with that adult supervision, it can be a safe environment. So you have to understand how important it is. Secondly, you have to understand that there’s going to be positive cases, they would be positive cases among teenagers, whether you had sports or not, because they go to the lake, they go to the swimming pool, they go to a friend’s party, they hang out. And so there’s going to be cases. It’s just now you have they’re engaged in the sports world. And so we’ve got to understand that perspective. But it is important, it’s going to be challenging for us, unimaginably challenging. But as one student athlete says, if we don’t try, we don’t have a chance. And so we’re trying.

Unknown Speaker  19:53 

That’s great. What do you feel like is one of your greatest accomplishments so far in office and what do you what goal Do you still have left undone.

Unknown Speaker  20:01 

We’ve accomplished a lot in the last six years. And whenever you look at the fact that we’ve lowered our income tax rate, which is probably one of the great accomplishments, because that’s so hard to do, lowering the individual income tax rate, next year down to 5.9%, leading the country in a comprehensive Computer Science program that will change lives for so long. You know, the fact that we have done a lot in our child welfare system protecting the most vulnerable. Those are things that give me a lot of joy in what we’ve done. There’s a lot more to accomplish a lot more to do. And one of them is in November, we want to pass a historic highway funding plan for Arkansas to help build our infrastructure to continue the growth. And actually during this pandemic, it is even more important than ever that we have that continued investment in our infrastructure and an economic growth that creates jobs. I think that we can obviously do more in terms of strength in our economy. We have a lot of growth in Northwest Arkansas but I like to see those industries that are coming to south and east Arkansas as well. We’ll be able to work on those things. So a lot left to do in my time as governor.

Unknown Speaker  21:21 

The name of the podcast is titans of industry. So obviously, you know, your leadership and the ability that you’ve shown the state of how you lead doesn’t come from doing it all by yourself. So who are some of the people who are some of the Titans in your own life that you kind of look to or get advice from or have always looked up to in your world?

Unknown Speaker  21:38 

Well, I know everybody cites Sam Walton, but we learned so much from from his leadership, and you know, his style of leadership and management by walking around and go into the store and listening to the customer. That’s ground truth and and his enthusiasm the hands so he’s been just a mentor in terms of business. And leadership style. You know, and then, you know in terms of politics, of course, I think of Ronald Reagan, that he was a consistent conservative whether he won or lost and he lost a few races. But he stuck with his principles. And He always was an optimist. He put a had a smile on his face, he could work with anybody. And he believed the best days of America were ahead. Those are two guiding lights for me as I think about

Unknown Speaker  22:30 

people who have mentored me.

Unknown Speaker  22:32 

Alright, I want to move into some rapid fire questions just real quick off the cuff answers. Best or latest book that you’ve read.

Unknown Speaker  22:41 

I really enjoy reading books and that’s a respite for me. I love history books. Of course the book on Ulysses Grant by Ron turnoff I enjoyed but the latest one and you’re gonna make fun of me a little bit but I just picked it up when I was getting away, up and down. peda gene, and it’s a book on Julius Caesar. And I’ve never read in that period of history. And one thing, you know, that you see in there is that they made a mistake because they voted everybody free grain, free bread. And once you do that, you can’t ever get it back. But that’s a book I’ve enjoyed as well.

Unknown Speaker  23:22 

Most important part of your daily routine.

Unknown Speaker  23:25 

Well, I mentioned getting up getting an exercise, but it’s also having a time of quietness and reflection and prayer. You know, if you don’t have that you don’t have the right perspective as he goes through the day. But it’s the exercise. It’s a it’s a personal time. And then I’m speaking of and I tell you, my wife, we just celebrated our 47th wedding anniversary and we go for a walk every morning. So that’s part of our routine as well and kick them off together.

Unknown Speaker  23:55 

That’s great. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received or given

Unknown Speaker  24:00 

You know, it was just come from my dad. And it was not just a phrase, but it was just what he taught me is and Don’t get cocky, we’re all the same. And he believed in my mom believe you treat people the same no matter their title, no matter their position, no matter their wealth, we’re all the same and that that sense of calmness is important for me as I go through life,

Unknown Speaker  24:27 

if you ever write a book, what would the title be or the subject

Unknown Speaker  24:31 

of the book be? I’d have to be perseverance. Anybody who looks at my political life, most people would have given up poker most people would not have run the second time for governor after losing the the first time around after having lost more than one statewide race. So it’s perseverance. And that would be the title I think of the book that I would write as sort of a theme of my My life and and hopefully as an encouragement to others

Unknown Speaker  25:05 

when we get to have concerts again, who are you going to go see who’s your favorite musician or artist?

Unknown Speaker  25:10 

You know I love and I’ve really grown to appreciate the blues music going to hell in a Blues Festival and of course so I like Levon Helm. I can’t go hear him because he’s passed away. I like the folksy music that comes from people like Joe. Rosanna cash, Johnny Cash, his daughter that sings bland folksy blues, so those are some of my special ones. But you give me some of those 60 rockers I’ll go if they’re still around that that’d be a good wake up concert as well.

Unknown Speaker  25:51 

And you have a favorite food or restaurant, something you’re always in the mood for.

Unknown Speaker  25:55 

You know, I like the all American restaurant You know, the the comfort food, you know, you give me a good chicken but a bunch of Black Eyed Peas and turnip greens and corn on the cob and fresh sliced tomatoes. That’s a meal you can live for. So those kind of restaurants I like. And finally, Netflix or the news, news. I do like to watch the movies. Well, we found a little biography section that we can watch biographical movies that we’ve really enjoyed. But I’ve got to watch the news. I like to see what’s going on. But it’s the broadcast news. It’s not, not quite the partisanship. You see later in the evening. I like that broadcast news at 530.

Unknown Speaker  26:45 

I love it. Well, Governor, are there any last words anything else you got open mic, anything you want to say to anybody out there? Well

Unknown Speaker  26:51 

seize the moment. Everybody’s got opportunity. And I’ve been blessed and and seek your opportunity as well. And I appreciate All of the opportunities that people Arkansas have given me in my life.

Unknown Speaker  27:04 

Thank you so much for the opportunity to do this. Great to be with you. Thank you.

Unknown Speaker  27:09 

If you liked this episode of titans of industry, head to content Titan dot CEO slash podcast for more episodes or subscribe on your favorite podcasting app. And if you know of an industry Titan that’s doing amazing things. Let us know on social media or through our website so we can tell their story. Thanks for listening

Transcribed by https://otter.ai