This Week In Business History

“But what we all can take the opportunity to do is to learn from & celebrate the legacy that Tony Shay has left behind. An enormous legacy that will impact the global business community for decades to come. An even bigger personality that never put himself on a pedestal, always brightened every room & consistently made people feel good about their contributions & taught them to value their point of view.” -Scott Luton, Host, This Week in Business History   In this special episode of This Week in Business History, host Scott W. Luton dives into the back story of Tony Hsieh, the late founder & transformational CEO of Zappos. Gone way too soon at age 46, Hsieh leaves behind an enormous legacy, in a number of respects. “Your personal core values define who you are, and a company’s core values ultimately define the company’s character and brand. For individuals, character is destiny. For organizations, culture is destiny.” -Tony Hsieh

“Grace Hopper once said quote: “People have an enormous tendency to resist change. They love to say: we’ve always don’t it this way. I try to fight that.” End quote. Job well done Grace Hopper. And your endless fight inspires and uplifts armies and armies of change agents today.” -Scott Luton, Host, This Week in Business History   In this episode of This Week in Business History, Scott W. Luton explores the tremendous impact and legacy that Grace Hopper had on the computer science & technology world. Beyond becoming one of the world’s first computer programmers, “Amazing Grace” built the world’s first compiler and was one of the earliest pioneers in the tech democratization movement. Scott also welcomes a special guest to the studio in this episode: Brantley “Bannie Jones” Luton

“In 1944, on what would be his last airplane ride in a Lockheed Constellation piloted by Howard Hughes and TWA president Jack Frye, Orville quipped that the Constellation’s wingspan was longer than his entire first flight.” Gary Smith, Guest Host, This Week in Business History   This episode of “This Week in Business History” discusses one of the really seminal moments from the last century – The Wright Brothers and the Dawn of Modern Aviation. Filling in for Scott W. Luton, special guest host Gary Smith will describe how the brothers first became interested in flight, studied and developed their theories of flight, and turned those theories into the first practical powered aircraft. This invention was a game-changer that ranks in importance with the invention of the printing press, the steam engine and the automobile. It changed the world as we know it, creating three industries – the aircraft manufacturing industry, the air cargo industry, and the passenger airline industry, as well as the study of aeronautical and aerospace engineering.

“In 2009, Mary Barra would become Vice President of Global Human Resources. This would be one of her favorite leadership roles, as she was quoted as saying: “I loved that time, because you’re dealing with people. Sometimes people do the craziest things. You see everything in HR. But you also see the goodness of people and how to really help them achieve their goals.”” -Scott Luton, Host, This Week in Business History   On this episode of This Week in Business History, host Scott W. Luton dives into the story of the rise of Mary Barra, Chairman and CEO of General Motors. She has worked at GM since she was 18 & now leads one of the largest companies in the world. Join us to find out some of her key leadership philosophies & experiences. Special thanks to Deb Couey for research for this episode.

“Stan Lee didn’t want to be like all of the rest. He wanted to stand out – – and be himself, letting his pioneering talent shine. In a pivotal career decision, at the urging of his wife, he wrote a comic like he himself wanted to read, bringing the characters to life, making superheroes relatable with their human emotions and weaknesses.” -Scott Luton, Host, This Week in Business History   In this episode of This Week in Business History, host Scott W. Luton explores the origin story of one Stanley Martin Lieber, better known to the world as Stan Lee. From modest beginnings in New York City to successfully revolutionizing the comic book industry on a number of fronts, “Smilin’ Stan” offers quite a story, driven by following his passion in life. And doing things his way.

“But more than mere marketing slogans were the elements of the Gibbs School culture: “Stand above the crowd”; “Excellence in all you do” & “Hold to your purpose”. All were the standards set by Katharine Gibbs and her institution.” “In 1978, Fred Gregory applied for and was chosen as a member of the first class of Space Shuttle astronauts – – and he served in launch support for the first two Shuttle missions. Gregory became the first African-American to pilot a space craft, the orbiter Challenger on mission STS-51B in 1985.” -Scott Luton, Host, This Week in Business History   In this episode of This Week in Business History, host Scott W. Luton offers a double feature, as he shares the story behind Katharine Ryan Gibbs, who founded one of the most successful educational institutions in the U.S. during the early 20th Century. Scott also discusses a space pioneer in Fred Gregory, a member of the Astronaut Hall of Fame and member of a family that has more than made its mark in service to our country & global community.

“According to the beforementioned Brad Stone, who wrote the book “The Everything Store”, in 1997 Jeff Bezos was asked to speak to a Harvard graduate school business class about his early stage online store Amazon. It’s been said that the Harvard students weren’t paying a lot of attention to Bezos as he was sharing his story & point of view. And at one particularly entertaining moments: one of the high-falootin’ Harvard students told Jeff Bezos quote “You seem like a really nice guy, so don’t take this the wrong way. But you need to sell to Barnes & Noble and get out now.” -Scott Luton, Host   In this episode of This Week in Business History, host Scott W. Luton shares ten things about Jeff Bezos that he bets many don’t know. Where is Jeff Bezos from and what was he like growing up? What was the humbling lesson learned at age 10? What advice did the Princeton alum get from Harvard grad students? Tune in to learn the answers to each of these & more.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”   “Those thoughts would be accumulated and later published as ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’. The main sentiment Dr. King was expressing – – through about 7,000 words – – was a response to group of local clergy whom didn’t support the Birmingham Campaign. In the letter, Dr. King would state quote ‘For years now, I have heard the word WAIT. This WAIT has almost always meant NEVER.’ end quote” -Scott Luton, Host, This Week in Business History   In this edition of This Week in Business History, host Scott W. Luton tracks Dr. Martin Luther King Jr through 7 key cities that shaped his journey & legacy. Dr. King impacted industry, our country & the world like few have. His story will give you hope & strength, even in these challenging times.