Events | FeaturedOctober 09, 2025

Manby Tabbed as Keynote for CED Awards

Written By: Ian Silvester

Joel Manby will headline the event when awards are presented at the second Excellence in Family and Small Business Awards hosted by the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith’s Center for Economic Development.

The sold-out event will be from 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20, at the Bakery District in downtown Fort Smith. Manby has more than 25 years of experience as a CEO, running companies including SeaWorld, Herschend Enterprises—the operator of Silver Dollar City, Dollywood, and the Harlem Globetrotters—and SAAB North America. 

Once on the hit television show, “Undercover Boss,” Manby’s leadership style became an overnight sensation. He said it all comes down to loving your employees and following through with “Be Goals.” Despite a career highlighted by nearly three decades as a CEO, Manby comes from humble beginnings and believes in true humility. 

His keynote will precede the announcement of 10 awards given to small businesses and family-owned businesses from the River Valley. The evening will conclude with the presentation of the Business Advisor of the Year Award, which recognizes an individual who has demonstrated exceptional service in advising or supporting family-owned or small businesses.  

I recently sat down with Manby to learn about his leadership style and the advice he wants to share with all businesses. 

Q&A Below:

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Ian Silvester: Your episode of “Undercover Boss” was one of the most viewed. What was one thing that you took away from that experience that you would like to share with others?

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Joel Manby: Big picture, what I walked away with is the impact of loving on our employees and what it can do for them. One of the ladies who is not in the show had been homeless for six months, living out of a car with her one- and two-year-old. By giving her a job and the bonuses we gave her allowed her to get an apartment and get her feet on the ground. She left about three years later to chase her dreams of being a hairstylist, which was great. She ended up living her dream. But if we hadn't given her that opportunity, who knows what would have happened to her. Don’t underestimate what you, as an individual, can do to help other people. It could be through a word of encouragement, monetary assistance, or simply offering a helping hand. We're so busy racing through life that it's easy to miss those opportunities.

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IS: What inspired you to be a business leader?

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JM: The honest answer is that I grew up so poor. I did not want to have an environment like I grew up in, where all the fights were about money. My dad was a wonderful, loving human, but it was very tense because there just wasn't money to go around. I remember my mom bought real milk, not powdered milk, and how angry my dad got at her is still one of my big memories. I went into business, frankly, because I wanted to make sure I could make enough income, and that's not the right reason for anybody to do it. However, I was transformed by my experience working at Herschend Enterprises with Jack and Pete Herschend, where I learned to lead with love. I realized that I knew I could have a huge impact on people.

The other thing that pointed me to business was when I was in college. I was pre-law, and I had no idea what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a pro baseball player. I played college baseball and tried out for the (Detroit) Tigers. I made it to the final round, but then I faced the guys throwing 90-plus on the gun, and couldn't even foul off a pitch! So, I knew I was no longer going to be a baseball player.  I got a job working for a lawyer in Philadelphia because I got injured and I couldn't play football that fall. I worked for him for a whole semester, and I thought I did a great job. At the end, I said, ‘So do you think I should be a lawyer?’ and without any hesitation, he said, ‘No.’ It really hurt my feelings. He elaborated, ‘Look, you're a football player. Here's the analogy: Lawyers are referees. You are the quarterback. You're a born leader.’

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IS: As a leader, what makes leadership successful, and how can success be measured?

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JM: My answer, a lot of business leaders wouldn’t agree with, but to me, the ultimate job of a business is to have a positive impact on the employees, the customers, and the community around them while also making a profit. Wall Street measures success strictly on financial performance, as if the investors are the only constituency that matters. I don’t believe that is correct. In my heart, and in most well-run private companies, they view their constituencies as three circles: employees who require a great work environment; customers, who deserve an exceptional guest experience; and investors who require an excellent return. I was taught that in the intersection of those three circles, that's where great leadership is. All three circles can be measured. For instance, investors measure return on investment and profit growth. For employees, it's about their survey scores, whether they are engaged, their happiness, and the rate of turnover. For customers, it’s guest scores, such as whether or not they would use the product again. I would say any foolish leader can maximize one of those three circles. Anybody can come in and increase profitability. If you cut costs and lower wages, you will quickly increase prices for your customers, but in the long term, that'll drive you out of business. Anybody can make their employees happy by giving huge raises. Anybody can make the guests happy, just give away your services for free. The art of leadership, the hard part of leadership, is having all three of those circles moving in the right direction. To me, true great leadership maximizes all three of those, and if you're doing the guest and employee part right, you will also be helping the community, by default, around you.

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IS: We're going to be honoring our family-owned and small businesses. What are some of those similarities between larger companies and these smaller companies? What are the differences?

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JM: The similarities are the reason why I am excited about this. Herschend Enterprises started as a very small company. It was just a cave in Branson, Missouri, back in the 1950s, and the lines to the cave grew so long that they started building attractions around it, which eventually evolved into Silver Dollar City. But it has taken 60 years to get from one cave to what they have now. All big companies started as small businesses. The similarity is that Herschend was privately held, owned entirely by the family, just like most of the businesses I’ll talk to at the awards. Herschend has done a great job of transitioning from a family-owned and led company to a non-family-led one. That's a tough transition, and now they're on to their third non-family CEO, and they’ve done so very, very successfully. There are definitely ways to continue having that family culture as you grow, even if a non-family member is leading the business. The heart of my talk, really, is that all family-owned businesses, no matter their size, want to keep that family culture because it is meaningful to the owners and their employees.

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IS: In your opinion, what does it take to lead a company, no matter the size, and to lead it well?

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JM: It's important to realize it's really not about you. It's about those three circles I talked about. It's about the employees. If you treat the employees well, they'll treat the guests well. If employees are happy and guests are happy, then the financials will take care of themselves. That’s what I believe makes great leadership, regardless of the company’s size.

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IS: What are some tips for business owners to follow to be profitable and successful today and in the future?

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JM: I'd go back to the three circles and focus on your employees and your guests. Develop a culture where love, care, and respect exist, and then the numbers will take care of themselves. At some point, as a leader, we all get to the point when we realize it is not about you. When I was young and striving to reach a certain income level or just wanted to do well, I focused on my success. But when you get to be a leader of other people, especially a leader of an enterprise where, in our case, we had thousands of employees, it's not about you anymore. It's about making others successful, and it takes humility.

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IS: Bonus question: What was the first company you ever started?

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JM: The first true start-up I was involved in was an internet start-up in California, where we partnered with Amazon. Although it didn’t turn out the way I wanted, I learned so much about the value of cash flow and making wise decisions. In 2000, everybody was trying to grow quickly during the dot-com boom. There was so much money thrown at this new thing called the internet. Billions and billions of dollars from Silicon Valley were going into digital businesses, and all they cared about was growth. My instinct was that all of this was happening way too fast—we’re throwing money at too many ideas, we’re not even close to being profitable, and they just wanted us to get bigger, bigger, and bigger. Well, then, it all hit the fan, and the NASDAQ market dropped 50% in a week. All of a sudden, all these businesses were running out of money with no more cash to access, including ours. I learned to trust my gut because it told me this was all happening way too fast and was way too crazy; you have to build a business through fundamentals. If what’s happening doesn’t make sense fundamentally from a financial standpoint, then stay away from it. I learned a really, really valuable lesson. It wasn’t a great memory, but it was a memory that stuck with me for the rest of my life. I was a much better leader having gone through that difficult time.

• Tags:
• CED
• Excellence in Family and Small Business Awards