Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: How do we explain how a small town boy from Arkansas could take a cup of yogurt and build an empire of over 3000 stores in 60 countries?
Today you'll be hearing about the extraordinary journey of Frank Hickinbotham, founder of TCBY Yogurt. What a blessing it is to be in Little Rock, Arkansas with you, Mr. Frank Hickenbotham. What a blessing here in your office of 25 years. Your home away from home. Thank you so much for just taking the time to share part of your story today.
[00:00:31] Speaker B: Well, thank you for being here. I'm deeply honored to have you here and be a part of your ministry and to have the opportunity to visit with you.
[00:00:38] Speaker A: Well, thank you. And today's your birthday, so that's even more special.
[00:00:41] Speaker B: Happy birthday. Yes, I'm very grateful. Yes. Yes, it is.
[00:00:45] Speaker A: Well, I want to take us all the way back to 2. To your birth and McGee, Arkansas, a railroad town.
Your father worked there for, for decades. I know in your autobiography, It's a Wonderful Life and what a wonderful Autobiography, but you had seven siblings.
[00:01:03] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:01:04] Speaker A: And I know that two of them died in infancy and then your brother was in the military and disappeared.
[00:01:11] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:01:12] Speaker A: And. And then the rest of you continued on this, this journey. Talk a little bit about your, your family and your. Just your upbringing there in McGee.
[00:01:21] Speaker B: Well, McGee, small town down in the Arkansas Delta.
About 5,000 people live there and, and probably a few less live there today, but it's still there. It was a wonderful place to grow up, especially in the 40s and the 50s and a town of wonderful people.
I still stay connected to my hometown. I've been privileged and blessed to have an opportunity to help them from time to time on a few of their community projects and church project. So I've always kept my heart in McGee, even though I moved away from there 50 years ago, 60 years ago.
[00:02:06] Speaker A: And a lot of people don't do that. So I applaud you for doing that. You've remembered your roots and, and I know as I just read about your, your journey, I mean, just being self made, I mean, clearly the hand of God has been on your life, but I know there's also been just a lot of, a lot of hard work involved. And I know these principles that you've instilled within the people that you've invested in of just integrity and virtue and faith.
And it seems like that always developed with you in a young age. I mean, I know you were an avid reader. The Hardy Boys.
I know you played the clarinet, loved baseball.
[00:02:46] Speaker B: Right.
[00:02:46] Speaker A: And Played baseball.
But then to see, let's. Let's fast forward to where it all began with tcby. Because you didn't even like yogurt, correct?
[00:02:56] Speaker B: Oh, no, no. To me, yogurt was sour milk.
I never cared much about it. And it was my wife who introduced me to the frozen yogurt years and years ago when we were in Dallas. I owned a company, food processing company in Dallas. And from time to time, I would go down there for our meetings and. And while I was there, she would. At the company, she would go to her therapy shopping, and usually at Neiman Marcus in Dallas, and came across this frozen yogurt and kept telling me about how delicious it was.
And one day I happened to be with her while we were shopping, and while she was shopping, actually, and she just insisted I take a bite of the yogurt.
Remember, specifically, she was having a cup of yogurt in their little delicatessen that they had there, their fresh market.
And my exclamation was, this can't be yogurt.
And it was not like any yogurt I'd ever tasted, and it was more like ice cream.
So she hooked me into going by there from time to time, and we did that for a year or so.
And when I decided to sell my company in Dallas, I thought, I'm really going to retire. I'm do a little travel.
And I thought, well, I really need something to do in Little Rock. I need a place to go, and I need a reason to write off expenses and few things. And so anyway, I thought about bringing that yogurt to Little Rock. And that's how it all started, eventually bringing and opening a little store in Little Rock.
[00:04:45] Speaker A: So this can't. This can't be yogurt. TCBY was born, and this was 1981.
[00:04:50] Speaker B: 1981, yes.
[00:04:52] Speaker A: And so one of your sons, Heron, opened the first shop here.
[00:04:56] Speaker B: Yes, that's correct, yes. He had graduated from the University of Arkansas in the spring, and we actually opened September 23rd.
And so the summer, he was working with another company, going into the investment banking business. And as he was studying for his various licenses, he would come in and work at night, in the afternoon, and. And he just became the first manager and first employee. And that's some 43, four years ago.
[00:05:32] Speaker A: And I know you've said many times that the key to success were the people, was the people.
And Heron, I think, embodied that. I know those first 33 days, he opened and closed that first store.
[00:05:44] Speaker B: Correct.
[00:05:45] Speaker A: And then by the end of the first year, how Many stores had you opened, because it starts to expand, and.
[00:05:50] Speaker B: I know it does. Actually, we opened the first store in September, and Heron was the manager. And his brother Todd had just finished high school and was not too interested in going to college. And so we were going to thought about opening a second and maybe even a third store. And so my wife's brother, I asked him, he'd consider becoming the manager of our second store.
And then we decided that we'd college town about 30 miles out of Little Rock, and we'd open a third store there, and Todd would be the manager there.
So we had those three stores covered with my relatives, and I said that's all I could do because I had run out of relatives and never really intended to do more than those three stores. But it just took off. And by the end of that year, we started. Decided in the spring of 82 that we would franchise the concept and went through that. And by the end of the year, we had that first year we had about 18 stores open.
[00:07:03] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:07:04] Speaker B: So it was off and running.
[00:07:06] Speaker A: That is rapid growth.
[00:07:07] Speaker B: It was rapid.
[00:07:08] Speaker A: And so then it went public on the stock exchange, and that was within.
[00:07:12] Speaker B: Three years, actually 84. We went public on the NASDAQ, and we did that to find capital to buy the manufacturing company for the yogurt and also capital for expansion.
And then 1986, we were listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and we stayed on that until we sold the company in the year 2000.
[00:07:39] Speaker A: Well, I know even early on, not long after going public, you guys were listed as one of the top 100 companies, most successful companies on the NASDAQ.
[00:07:49] Speaker B: Yeah, it zoomed. It just really took off. And we were soon all across the country and even national television. Johnny Carson was one of our real big sponsor events and advertising places.
But we then went international, and when we ended up, we sold the company in 2000.
We had over 3000 locations around the world and over 60 countries.
[00:08:22] Speaker A: 3000 locations in 60 countries.
[00:08:26] Speaker B: God blessed us beyond our comprehension.
[00:08:29] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness.
Well, you know, I know. Let's back it up to the college experience, because I know you graduated high school, you went to Ouachita Baptist University, and for three semesters, and then you had to drop out.
[00:08:44] Speaker B: Didn't have any money. I had to go. We didn't have a lot of government support.
There wasn't anything such as a student loan, and there wasn't any grants.
I had all the scholarships I could get, and I was able to stay there about three semesters and transferred to another university closer to McGee, to my hometown where I could commute to school and I finished up, graduated there.
But Warsaw always had a special place for me.
[00:09:17] Speaker A: And once again you did not forget your roots because in 2006, so decades later, and I know this has been a main principle just within your work ethic and just your philosophy of life and work, and that is to always give back.
And so in 2006, this school, Ouachita Baptist University, where you were only able to attend for three semesters, you decided it's time to give back.
And so you made it possible for there to be the Hickinbotham School of Business there, this remarkable building that I have actually been in and gave a lecture with your son Heron and Gene Wizenhunt to these really bright business students, these future leaders, and also spoken chapel and what a tremendous gift that was.
[00:10:08] Speaker B: But I was joined by multitude of other students, former students, graduates who pulled that program together. And today it's stellar, it's just so superior, excellent.
Turning out multitudes of God loving businessmen and women who are going into the business place, the business world and making a difference. And they're in companies and they are in professions all around the world and it's a steady stream every year of a whole new group of God loving students going into the business world.
[00:10:48] Speaker A: And I think it's what a tremendous honor and blessing to know that, that your family has been so engaged, but not just with, with monetary resources, but with your time that y' all have chosen to mentor students that have gone through the program and even to help them with your vast network to place them in places that would be a good fit to where they could go, be leaders in these places.
[00:11:12] Speaker B: We have seen many of those go and do well. We sure have.
[00:11:16] Speaker A: And every time God closes a door or doors, there's always another open one.
And oftentimes in business, unfortunately, especially for those that you know, achieve different levels of success, they tend to compartmentalize their faith. But for you, that has not been the case at all. Let's talk about that, just about how faith, the role that faith has played just in your career and your vocation all of these decades.
[00:11:43] Speaker B: Well, I have seen exactly what you're talking about. I have been in companies, I've worked for companies.
As I was going through my business development experiences where God was not honored, was not even wanted.
Business principles were not consistent with the Christian teachings of integrity, of respect, of concern and care for customers.
So I've had firsthand experiences in my business career, young business career, of just what some companies and how they approach religion, if you would, of Christianity especially, and any type of faith presence in their companies.
And I learned from that. I learned that's what I did not want to be a part of. And I knew that if I ever did have my own companies, it would be entirely different to that attitude and philosophy. So through the years, I've always had a close relationship as a partner with God. I've always considered him to be my guide, my trusted board member, the one I could counsel with and ask for wisdom and inspiration and leadership.
And I have a whole lifetime of miracle steps that have come about because of different relationships and different times and different experiences, and watching him put his footprint heavily on what we were trying to accomplish and opening doors for us that, looking back, were impossible to believe could have happened. So there's always been a challenge, and it still is today. And it's worse today. It's harder to be a Christian in the business world and stand for what you believe than perhaps anytime in my lifetime.
And that's one of the things that inspire me to continue to be a strong supporter of the school of business in college, to see those Christian men and women going into the business world because they can't go with a halo, they can't go with wings of an angel. They go as men and women who have to stand with their faith in such a way that it attracts. Yes, that it inspires, that it even causes a question mark or why are you different?
And I have known of friends of students who have taken their faith into the business community, have become strong leaders within their companies, certainly within their faith in their communities. It's real. It happens. It happens every day. But it's not easy, right? It's a challenge today. And you can only do it with prayer. You can only do it with constant reassurance from God that you're right and you're in the right place and he's there with you and whatever the obstacle is in his time, he'll take care of it. So it's not a smooth journey. It's not even an even journey that we travel, but it's one that you can feel power from as you feel his presence in your journey.
[00:15:19] Speaker A: Well, that is well said.
And with, I think about the scripture, with God, all things are possible, and you have been living proof of that.
[00:15:28] Speaker B: I didn't have a lot to begin with, but he gave me certain gifts. He gave me some talents, and through the years, he inspired me to use them.
But I realized the entire source of my Goodness.
And the blessings for my family and for others that we have been associated with are entirely directly from a loving God.
[00:15:57] Speaker A: And I know the scriptures also speak about to whom much is given, much is required. And you've obviously received many blessings over the decades, and yet you've remembered the source of those blessings, and you've always given back.
And I know for many years with tcby, you gave to the Cerebral Palsy Society. You were very supportive there. You've given to other ministries and invested. And you would identify that as kingdom work. Is that how you would describe it?
[00:16:28] Speaker B: Absolutely. It's helping God reach his mission.
I believe in stewardship, and I believe that we are stewards, and I believe we are even a very small way. We're just a trustee of what he has given us, and we're accountable for the use of those benefits.
When you think about it, and I have many times, when my wife found that cup of yogurt in Dallas, I look back on it and say, kind of amuses me that God wanted to be in the yogurt business and he chose me to be the storekeeper.
But he decided he wanted to be in the yogurt business and gave us a cup of yogurt and said, now go use it for my kingdom.
And so through those many years now, we have seen the blessings of God's work through that cup of yogurt and through other things that have come from that and have added to that.
But. But it's a miracle of amazement to just watch God at work in our lives every day.
[00:17:41] Speaker A: Even though there are a business school with your name on it and other institutions and things that have your stamp of giving back, it sounds like what's most important is passing on the spiritual legacy to your family and those that have known you, but also the treasures in heaven. I know in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus talks about, don't store treasures here on earth where the rust can destroy and the moth can eat. And that before your treasures in heaven. And that clearly seems to be the principle by which you have lived your life and worked all these years.
[00:18:17] Speaker B: Well, it's the ultimate, final objective of my life is the faith legacy transferred to my children. If I miss that, nothing else is of any value.
My own family, my own children and grandchildren. And I'm grateful to God that He has provided his son's life and salvation into each of those members of my family.
[00:18:45] Speaker A: There's no greater gift than that.
[00:18:46] Speaker B: No, none whatsoever.
[00:18:49] Speaker A: Well, I have no doubt that one day which each of us will die and stand before the Lord that he is going to look at you, Frank Hickinbotham, and say, well done, my good and faithful servant. So I just want to thank you so much for just the life you've lived and continue to live of putting God first, not forgetting your roots and just staying true to who you are as a child of God and who's committed to not separate your faith in your work, but to live that for all of us. To know what is possible with God.
[00:19:21] Speaker B: It's always exciting to get up and say, well, God, what are you going to do today?
Because he's always working for good and for our benefit.
