Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jim Keyes. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Jim thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
How I came up with the idea for my book:
The idea for Education is Freedom came from a chance encounter at Columbia University over 20 years ago. I had been invited to speak at a class at Columbia Business School. While walking across campus on a beautiful spring day I noticed a young man walking toward me with an arm full of books, sporting a T-shirt that said “Education Is Freedom”. It stopped me in my tracks. I shook his hand and said that’s me… Education Is Freedom… And everything about my success can be attributed to my ability to learn how to learn. It was a life-changing moment in many ways because I realized that my education wasn’t over, it was just beginning. I realized that my objective was not really to make money, but it instead was a pursuit of freedom. I shared this learning with the business school class I was on campus to speak to, and from that point forward I committed myself to a life of learning which advanced my career and has resulted in every day being a new adventure. After 20 years, I decided that it was time to share the roadmap with the world.
Jim, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My story starts as a young child who grew up in a small town in central Massachusetts in a family with too little money and too many children to feed. My father and grandfather built our family’s simple frame house on a humble plot of land. They didn’t get around to installing plumbing or central heat but hoped to afford it one day. There were no expectations of myself as a child beyond staying out of trouble or one day securing a job at the local factory. Many of my friends and family quit school, married early, and worked in the factory.
My father often said, “Get an education, son. It’s the only thing they can’t take away from you. Someone can take your money, your things, or your job, but they can’t take away what you know. With that knowledge, you can replace anything lost, you can be free to explore the world, and you will be beholden to no one. It is freedom, son, that you should seek, and the absolute key to freedom is to learn as much as you can, every day of your life.” And so, I did just that.
My mother brought a set of encyclopedias home from the grocery store one day. With the free bag of groceries you got one volume of encyclopedias. I poured myself into these books, because they contained knowledge. I became obsessed with reading, and embraced learning. Taking on music, art, languages, and even athletics filled me with a love of adventure.
This academic determination led to degrees from the College of the Holy Cross and the Columbia School of Business. In less than twenty years post-graduation, I had the privilege of leading two iconic brands. The first: as President and CEO of 7-Eleven, I oversaw a global public company with more than forty thousand stores. Then, I served as Chairman and CEO of Blockbuster.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
In my book I’ve coined the expression that change equals opportunity, which ironically is the acronym CEO. Throughout my career, I’ve learned that change is the only common denominator in business. It is the beginning and end of virtually all forms of commerce: The ability to respond to change. But sometimes that change can create chaos in unexpected ways. When that occurs, the ability to pivot is critical to one success and to the success of the enterprise. When I decided to join Blockbuster in the year 2007, the necessary change was obvious. The industry was facing a transformation to digital, streaming media, and Blockbuster would have to adapt. I joined the company to help this transformation, and immediately acquired the first streaming video company, movie link, an entity created by five of the six major motion picture studios. We renamed it Blockbuster On Demand. The acquisition provided a significant competitive advantage for Blockbuster. With access to over 3000 of the newest releases, Blockbuster was well positioned to compete with Netflix who had not yet acquired streaming content and were still shipping DVDs via mail. By the end of 2008, Blockbuster had doubled EBITDA, enhanced its total access program with Blockbuster On Demand, and were well positioned to transform the company into the future. Then in September 2008 the unthinkable happened. Lehman Brothers collapsed and the global financial markets virtually shut down. Blockbuster had $1 billion of debt on its balance sheet with 1/3 of that amount due in 2009. In my role as chairman and CEO, it was necessary to pivot from transforming the company to rescuing the company. We successfully restructured the balance sheet in 2010 and achieved the sale of Blockbuster to Dish Network, allowing the company to continue its transformation and live to see another day. Dish Network ultimately made the decision to shutter the stores and discontinued its streaming program, but they continue to own the Blockbuster brand and may bring it back some day.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
Social media is a critical form of communication in today’s marketplace. When launching my first book, in 2024, I had very little social media presence. Thankfully, I hired a young social media wiz kid who taught me the fundamentals and helped me build a strong following. Her idea was to introduce me to new, up-and-coming influencers who were able to help me gain traction. One of those successful partners was James Dumoulin who created the School Of Hard Knocks. Our brief interview went viral as I introduced the concept of change equals opportunity. Today the video has, I believe, over 50 million views worldwide. This exposure, along with the help of other strong influencers, helped me to build a strong social media following that will provide a platform for future opportunities.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jameswkeyes.com/
- Instagram: @jkeyesauthor
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-keyes-a0947215/
- Twitter: @jkeyeauthors
- Youtube: @jkeyeauthors
