By Cheval John | Vallano Media
This article was created with the assistance of artificial intelligence.
The final version was reviewed, edited and fact-checked by the author Graphics created with AI-assisted design tools.
Visual concepts, editorial direction, composition, and final creative decisions were developed by Vallano Media.
When Sam Houston State University officially joined Conference USA and the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) on July 1, 2023, it marked one of the most significant milestones in the university’s athletic history.
To some observers, the move may have appeared to happen quickly.
In reality, it was anything but.
Sam Houston’s transition from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) to the FBS came after roughly 15 years in which the university accumulated conference championships, national postseason appearances, two NCAA national championships and increased exposure through athletics.
That distinction matters.
It would be easy to look backward and say all of those accomplishments caused Sam Houston’s eventual move to Conference USA.
The available evidence doesn’t establish such a simple cause-and-effect relationship.
What the historical record does show is that when conference realignment accelerated in 2021, Sam Houston entered that changing landscape with years of demonstrated athletic success behind it.
And remarkably, years before many of those accomplishments occurred, university leadership was already talking about the relationship between athletic competition and institutional visibility.
A Vision Before the Victories
In the Fall 2008 edition of Sam Houston State’s Heritage magazine, then-university president Dr. James F. Gaertner, himself a Sam Houston alumnus, reflected on what competing against strong opponents could mean for the university:
“While we have not always fared as well as we would have liked in those contests, we have always competed well, earning the respect of our opponents and their fans. More importantly, when we compete against the best, it raises the visibility and, yes, the perception of our university.”
Gaertner also pointed to an accomplishment that showed Sam Houston’s athletic success already extended beyond one or two programs:
“Our university’s teams have won an unprecedented three consecutive Southland Conference Commissioner’s Cups, which is awarded to the best overall athletic program. Doing well in two or three sports will not win a cup. You must excel across the board.”
Those comments provide an important starting point for understanding what followed.
At the time, Sam Houston had not yet reached back-to-back FCS national championship games, captured its first NCAA Division I national championship in women’s bowling, won the NCAA Division I FCS Football National Championship, or begun its transition toward Conference USA and the FBS.
But the connection Gaertner described between athletic competition and university visibility would become increasingly apparent during the years ahead.
Football Takes Sam Houston to a Larger Audience
One of the biggest breakthroughs came in football.
Under head coach Willie Fritz, Sam Houston developed into one of the premier programs in the FCS.
In 2011, the Bearkats produced a 14–1 season and advanced to the NCAA Division I FCS National Championship Game.
The increased exposure wasn’t merely theoretical.
Sam Houston Athletics later noted that the 2011 season produced seven regional and national television appearances and brought nationwide media attention to the football program.
That provided a tangible example of the connection Gaertner had discussed three years earlier.
Competing successfully on a larger stage could introduce Sam Houston to audiences far beyond Huntsville.
And the Bearkats weren’t finished.
In 2012, Sam Houston returned to the FCS National Championship Game for a second consecutive season.
Although the Bearkats did not win either championship game, reaching the final in consecutive years demonstrated that 2011 had not been an isolated breakthrough.
Sam Houston had established itself as a recurring national contender at the FCS level.
Success Beyond Football
Football provided some of the university’s most visible moments, but the larger story was never exclusively about football.
Baseball became a consistent Southland Conference contender, competing for conference championships and NCAA postseason opportunities while developing players who would be selected in the Major League Baseball Draft.
Other programs contributed to Sam Houston’s conference success as well.
That matters when looking back at Gaertner’s 2008 comments.
His argument wasn’t that one successful football program would transform the university.
He specifically highlighted the importance of succeeding “across the board.”
The three consecutive Southland Commissioner’s Cups he referenced provided measurable evidence that Sam Houston had already begun establishing that type of all-sports success.
Success Survives a Coaching Change
Another important test arrived after the 2013 football season when Willie Fritz departed.
Sam Houston hired K.C. Keeler, who had previously led Delaware to an FCS national championship.
The coaching change could have marked the end of one successful era.
Instead, the Bearkats continued winning.
That continuity became another important part of the story.
Sam Houston’s football success was no longer tied exclusively to one coach or one exceptional group of players.
The program had developed expectations and infrastructure capable of carrying success from one coaching era into another.
By the middle of the 2010s, Sam Houston had established itself as one of the Southland Conference’s most consistently successful all-sports programs, while football had become a recurring presence on the national FCS stage.
The foundation had been built.
Soon, Sam Houston would celebrate two NCAA national championships—the 2014 NCAA Division I Women’s Bowling National Championship, the first NCAA Division I national championship in school history, and the 2020 NCAA Division I FCS Football National Championship, played in the spring of 2021.
Those championships would become two of the defining milestones in Sam Houston’s remarkable athletic rise.
By the middle of the 2010s, years of conference success and national football appearances had already changed Sam Houston’s athletic profile.
Then the Bearkats began winning on an even bigger stage.
The Championship That Changed the University’s History
Before football reached the top of the FCS, another Bearkat program made university history.
In 2014, the Sam Houston State women’s bowling team defeated defending national champion Nebraska, 4–2, to capture the NCAA Division I Women’s Bowling National Championship.
It was more than another trophy.
It was the first NCAA Division I national championship in any sport in Sam Houston State history.
The achievement was even more remarkable considering how young the program was.
Women’s bowling was only in its fourth season, yet under head coach Brad Hagen, Sam Houston had already reached the pinnacle of NCAA competition in the sport.
The championship also provided another example of why Sam Houston’s athletic rise shouldn’t be told exclusively through football.
Six years earlier, Gaertner had emphasized that true all-sports success required excellence “across the board.”
Now a program outside football had delivered the university’s first NCAA Division I national championship.
Football Keeps Building
Meanwhile, K.C. Keeler continued building upon the football foundation he inherited.
Sam Houston remained a regular presence in the FCS postseason during much of the remainder of the decade, including deep playoff runs.
The standard had changed considerably from where the program had been years earlier.
Making the playoffs was no longer necessarily the defining accomplishment.
Sam Houston had already played for national championships.
Winning one remained the unfinished goal.
The Championship Gauntlet
Then came one of the most unusual seasons in college football history.
Because of the “COVID-19 pandemic”, the 2020 FCS season was played primarily during the spring of 2021.
Sam Houston finished its regular-season schedule 6–0.
Then came the playoffs.
And calling the path a gauntlet isn’t much of an exaggeration.
Sam Houston defeated Monmouth 21–15 in the opening round.
Next came North Dakota State, the dominant FCS program of the preceding decade.
Sam Houston defeated the Bison 24–20.
In the semifinals, the Bearkats faced No. 1 James Madison and survived another battle, 38–35.
That left No. 2 South Dakota State standing between Sam Houston and the championship it had pursued for years.
By the time the Bearkats reached the national championship game, they were 9–0.
One more victory would complete a perfect season.
Sixteen Seconds from History
The championship game delivered one final test.
Sam Houston trailed South Dakota State 21–17 late in the fourth quarter.
Quarterback Eric Schmid then directed a 16-play, 65-yard drive, keeping the season alive through two crucial fourth-down conversions.
With 16 seconds remaining, Schmid connected with Ife Adeyi for a 10-yard touchdown.
Sam Houston led 23–21.
The Bearkats held on.
Video Courtesy of NCAA YouTube Channel
After a 6–0 regular season and four consecutive playoff victories, Sam Houston finished 10–0 overall and captured the 2020 NCAA Division I FCS Football National Championship, played in spring 2021.
A decade earlier, the Bearkats had twice reached the championship game without winning it.
Now they had reached the summit.
A Résumé Built Over Time
By the end of that championship season, the progression was difficult to miss.
Sam Houston had reached the FCS National Championship Game in 2011 and 2012.
Women’s bowling had captured the university’s first NCAA Division I national championship in 2014.
Football had now completed an undefeated 10–0 national championship season.
Those accomplishments did more than fill trophy cases.
They gave Sam Houston a documented record of sustained athletic success.
When conference realignment accelerated in 2021, the Bearkats entered that changing landscape with back-to-back FCS championship game appearances, an NCAA women’s bowling national championship, an undefeated FCS football national championship season, and years of conference success behind them.
We don’t need to claim those achievements caused what happened next.
The chronology is compelling enough on its own.
The next chapter had arrived.
From FCS Champion to the Football Bowl Subdivision
In November 2021, Conference USA announced the addition of Sam Houston along with Jacksonville State, Liberty and New Mexico State.
For Sam Houston, the announcement represented another major change in an athletic journey that had already produced conference championships, national postseason runs and two NCAA national championships.
It is tempting to connect those dots too neatly and say all that winning earned Sam Houston its Conference USA invitation.
The public evidence doesn’t allow us to make that causal claim with certainty.
What we can say is more concrete.
When Conference USA added Sam Houston, the university brought with it a documented record of conference and national athletic success.
On July 1, 2023, Sam Houston officially became a Conference USA member.
The Bearkats were entering the Football Bowl Subdivision.
A Different Kind of Challenge
Moving from the FCS to the FBS meant more than changing the opponents on a football schedule.
The transition brought different scholarship requirements, greater financial demands, expanded travel and recruiting challenges, and competition against programs accustomed to operating at the FBS level.
Success at the previous level guaranteed nothing.
Sam Houston would have to build again.
That is an important part of this story because organizational growth rarely follows a straight line.
Reaching a larger stage doesn’t mean the work that got you there suddenly becomes unnecessary.
Usually, it means the opposite.
The expectations become greater.
The Bigger Story Was Always More Than Football
Football inevitably dominates much of the conversation surrounding an FBS transition.
But looking at Sam Houston’s previous 15 years exclusively through football would miss one of the most interesting parts of the story.
The evidence of athletic success existed across the department.
The Southland Commissioner’s Cups cited by Gaertner in 2008 reflected all-sports performance.
Baseball built its own record of conference and postseason success.
Women’s bowling delivered the university’s first NCAA Division I national championship.
Football reached two national championship games before eventually winning one.
Different programs contributed different pieces to the same institutional story.
That makes Gaertner’s 2008 observation particularly interesting in hindsight.
“You must excel across the board.”
More than a decade later, Sam Houston entered a new athletic era with evidence that it had done exactly that at various points along the way.
The Business Lesson: Build Before You Need the Opportunity
This is where Sam Houston’s story becomes useful beyond college sports.
Businesses often think about growth in terms of the opportunity itself.
Landing the major client.
Entering the new market.
Getting the big partnership.
Moving onto the larger platform.
But those moments usually expose what an organization has already built.
Sam Houston’s history provides a useful case study in preparation.
Long before Conference USA announced the Bearkats as a future member, Sam Houston had been building programs, hiring coaches, competing for championships, appearing on television and developing an athletic identity.
None of that guarantees a particular future opportunity.
That’s an important distinction.
But it does mean that when circumstances change, an organization with a strong foundation is in a very different position from one trying to build everything after the opportunity arrives.
That is the business lesson worth taking from Sam Houston.
Preparation doesn’t guarantee opportunity. It creates readiness for opportunity.
Final Thoughts
Sam Houston’s rise wasn’t one breakthrough.
It was a series of them.
Some happened on football fields.
One happened on bowling lanes.
Others happened quietly through conference championships, recruiting, coaching, administration and the daily work required to sustain athletic programs over many years.
That’s why the move to the FBS makes more sense when viewed through the previous decade and a half rather than through 2021 alone.
The national football championship was an extraordinary moment.
But it wasn’t the whole story.
Neither was the bowling championship.
Neither were the 2011 and 2012 football teams.
Together, however, those accomplishments document an athletic department that kept building, competing and finding ways to succeed as college athletics changed around it.
And that leaves a business lesson considerably stronger than simply saying winning leads to bigger opportunities.
It doesn’t always.
Preparation doesn’t guarantee that the door will open.
But when it does, years of preparation can determine whether you’re ready to walk through it.
Graphics created with AI-assisted design tools.
Visual concepts, editorial direction, composition, and final creative decisions were developed by Vallano Media.
Cheval John serves as Managing Director of Vallano Media, LLC, where he oversees company's editorial strategy, business development and digital media operations.
Operating at the intersection of social media management and sports, Vallano Media is building a dual-pillar brand that does two things: deliver real growth for businesses and translate the sports strategies into practical business lessons.
Cheval hosted "What's The Word?" a podcast about finding out what inspires people to choose their respective careers and how social media impacted their lives and business from 2013 to 2017.
He has spoken at Social Media Week Lima in Ohio and at Social Media Day Houston 2017.
He was named a Houston Top 25 Social Media Power Influencer (2016 and 2017) and Twitter (Now X)Top 50 Influencer by Onalytica in 2018.
How Fifteen Years of Winning Prepared Sam Houston for the Biggest Leap in School History
By Cheval John | Vallano Media
This article was created with the assistance of artificial intelligence.
The final version was reviewed, edited and fact-checked by the author
Graphics created with AI-assisted design tools.
Visual concepts, editorial direction, composition, and final creative decisions were developed by Vallano Media.
When Sam Houston State University officially joined Conference USA and the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) on July 1, 2023, it marked one of the most significant milestones in the university’s athletic history.
To some observers, the move may have appeared to happen quickly.
In reality, it was anything but.
Sam Houston’s transition from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) to the FBS came after roughly 15 years in which the university accumulated conference championships, national postseason appearances, two NCAA national championships and increased exposure through athletics.
That distinction matters.
It would be easy to look backward and say all of those accomplishments caused Sam Houston’s eventual move to Conference USA.
The available evidence doesn’t establish such a simple cause-and-effect relationship.
What the historical record does show is that when conference realignment accelerated in 2021, Sam Houston entered that changing landscape with years of demonstrated athletic success behind it.
And remarkably, years before many of those accomplishments occurred, university leadership was already talking about the relationship between athletic competition and institutional visibility.
A Vision Before the Victories
In the Fall 2008 edition of Sam Houston State’s Heritage magazine, then-university president Dr. James F. Gaertner, himself a Sam Houston alumnus, reflected on what competing against strong opponents could mean for the university:
“While we have not always fared as well as we would have liked in those contests, we have always competed well, earning the respect of our opponents and their fans. More importantly, when we compete against the best, it raises the visibility and, yes, the perception of our university.”
Gaertner also pointed to an accomplishment that showed Sam Houston’s athletic success already extended beyond one or two programs:
“Our university’s teams have won an unprecedented three consecutive Southland Conference Commissioner’s Cups, which is awarded to the best overall athletic program. Doing well in two or three sports will not win a cup. You must excel across the board.”
Those comments provide an important starting point for understanding what followed.
At the time, Sam Houston had not yet reached back-to-back FCS national championship games, captured its first NCAA Division I national championship in women’s bowling, won the NCAA Division I FCS Football National Championship, or begun its transition toward Conference USA and the FBS.
But the connection Gaertner described between athletic competition and university visibility would become increasingly apparent during the years ahead.
Football Takes Sam Houston to a Larger Audience
One of the biggest breakthroughs came in football.
Under head coach Willie Fritz, Sam Houston developed into one of the premier programs in the FCS.
In 2011, the Bearkats produced a 14–1 season and advanced to the NCAA Division I FCS National Championship Game.
The increased exposure wasn’t merely theoretical.
Sam Houston Athletics later noted that the 2011 season produced seven regional and national television appearances and brought nationwide media attention to the football program.
That provided a tangible example of the connection Gaertner had discussed three years earlier.
Competing successfully on a larger stage could introduce Sam Houston to audiences far beyond Huntsville.
And the Bearkats weren’t finished.
In 2012, Sam Houston returned to the FCS National Championship Game for a second consecutive season.
Although the Bearkats did not win either championship game, reaching the final in consecutive years demonstrated that 2011 had not been an isolated breakthrough.
Sam Houston had established itself as a recurring national contender at the FCS level.
Success Beyond Football
Football provided some of the university’s most visible moments, but the larger story was never exclusively about football.
Baseball became a consistent Southland Conference contender, competing for conference championships and NCAA postseason opportunities while developing players who would be selected in the Major League Baseball Draft.
Other programs contributed to Sam Houston’s conference success as well.
That matters when looking back at Gaertner’s 2008 comments.
His argument wasn’t that one successful football program would transform the university.
He specifically highlighted the importance of succeeding “across the board.”
The three consecutive Southland Commissioner’s Cups he referenced provided measurable evidence that Sam Houston had already begun establishing that type of all-sports success.
Success Survives a Coaching Change
Another important test arrived after the 2013 football season when Willie Fritz departed.
Sam Houston hired K.C. Keeler, who had previously led Delaware to an FCS national championship.
The coaching change could have marked the end of one successful era.
Instead, the Bearkats continued winning.
That continuity became another important part of the story.
Sam Houston’s football success was no longer tied exclusively to one coach or one exceptional group of players.
The program had developed expectations and infrastructure capable of carrying success from one coaching era into another.
By the middle of the 2010s, Sam Houston had established itself as one of the Southland Conference’s most consistently successful all-sports programs, while football had become a recurring presence on the national FCS stage.
The foundation had been built.
Soon, Sam Houston would celebrate two NCAA national championships—the 2014 NCAA Division I Women’s Bowling National Championship, the first NCAA Division I national championship in school history, and the 2020 NCAA Division I FCS Football National Championship, played in the spring of 2021.
Those championships would become two of the defining milestones in Sam Houston’s remarkable athletic rise.
By the middle of the 2010s, years of conference success and national football appearances had already changed Sam Houston’s athletic profile.
Then the Bearkats began winning on an even bigger stage.
The Championship That Changed the University’s History
Before football reached the top of the FCS, another Bearkat program made university history.
In 2014, the Sam Houston State women’s bowling team defeated defending national champion Nebraska, 4–2, to capture the NCAA Division I Women’s Bowling National Championship.
It was more than another trophy.
It was the first NCAA Division I national championship in any sport in Sam Houston State history.
The achievement was even more remarkable considering how young the program was.
Women’s bowling was only in its fourth season, yet under head coach Brad Hagen, Sam Houston had already reached the pinnacle of NCAA competition in the sport.
The championship also provided another example of why Sam Houston’s athletic rise shouldn’t be told exclusively through football.
Six years earlier, Gaertner had emphasized that true all-sports success required excellence “across the board.”
Now a program outside football had delivered the university’s first NCAA Division I national championship.
Football Keeps Building
Meanwhile, K.C. Keeler continued building upon the football foundation he inherited.
Sam Houston remained a regular presence in the FCS postseason during much of the remainder of the decade, including deep playoff runs.
The standard had changed considerably from where the program had been years earlier.
Making the playoffs was no longer necessarily the defining accomplishment.
Sam Houston had already played for national championships.
Winning one remained the unfinished goal.
The Championship Gauntlet
Then came one of the most unusual seasons in college football history.
Because of the “COVID-19 pandemic”, the 2020 FCS season was played primarily during the spring of 2021.
Sam Houston finished its regular-season schedule 6–0.
Then came the playoffs.
And calling the path a gauntlet isn’t much of an exaggeration.
Sam Houston defeated Monmouth 21–15 in the opening round.
Next came North Dakota State, the dominant FCS program of the preceding decade.
Sam Houston defeated the Bison 24–20.
In the semifinals, the Bearkats faced No. 1 James Madison and survived another battle, 38–35.
That left No. 2 South Dakota State standing between Sam Houston and the championship it had pursued for years.
By the time the Bearkats reached the national championship game, they were 9–0.
One more victory would complete a perfect season.
Sixteen Seconds from History
The championship game delivered one final test.
Sam Houston trailed South Dakota State 21–17 late in the fourth quarter.
Quarterback Eric Schmid then directed a 16-play, 65-yard drive, keeping the season alive through two crucial fourth-down conversions.
With 16 seconds remaining, Schmid connected with Ife Adeyi for a 10-yard touchdown.
Sam Houston led 23–21.
The Bearkats held on.
Video Courtesy of NCAA YouTube Channel
After a 6–0 regular season and four consecutive playoff victories, Sam Houston finished 10–0 overall and captured the 2020 NCAA Division I FCS Football National Championship, played in spring 2021.
A decade earlier, the Bearkats had twice reached the championship game without winning it.
Now they had reached the summit.
A Résumé Built Over Time
By the end of that championship season, the progression was difficult to miss.
Sam Houston had reached the FCS National Championship Game in 2011 and 2012.
Women’s bowling had captured the university’s first NCAA Division I national championship in 2014.
Football had now completed an undefeated 10–0 national championship season.
Those accomplishments did more than fill trophy cases.
They gave Sam Houston a documented record of sustained athletic success.
When conference realignment accelerated in 2021, the Bearkats entered that changing landscape with back-to-back FCS championship game appearances, an NCAA women’s bowling national championship, an undefeated FCS football national championship season, and years of conference success behind them.
We don’t need to claim those achievements caused what happened next.
The chronology is compelling enough on its own.
The next chapter had arrived.
From FCS Champion to the Football Bowl Subdivision
In November 2021, Conference USA announced the addition of Sam Houston along with Jacksonville State, Liberty and New Mexico State.
For Sam Houston, the announcement represented another major change in an athletic journey that had already produced conference championships, national postseason runs and two NCAA national championships.
It is tempting to connect those dots too neatly and say all that winning earned Sam Houston its Conference USA invitation.
The public evidence doesn’t allow us to make that causal claim with certainty.
What we can say is more concrete.
When Conference USA added Sam Houston, the university brought with it a documented record of conference and national athletic success.
On July 1, 2023, Sam Houston officially became a Conference USA member.
The Bearkats were entering the Football Bowl Subdivision.
A Different Kind of Challenge
Moving from the FCS to the FBS meant more than changing the opponents on a football schedule.
The transition brought different scholarship requirements, greater financial demands, expanded travel and recruiting challenges, and competition against programs accustomed to operating at the FBS level.
Success at the previous level guaranteed nothing.
Sam Houston would have to build again.
That is an important part of this story because organizational growth rarely follows a straight line.
Reaching a larger stage doesn’t mean the work that got you there suddenly becomes unnecessary.
Usually, it means the opposite.
The expectations become greater.
The Bigger Story Was Always More Than Football
Football inevitably dominates much of the conversation surrounding an FBS transition.
But looking at Sam Houston’s previous 15 years exclusively through football would miss one of the most interesting parts of the story.
The evidence of athletic success existed across the department.
The Southland Commissioner’s Cups cited by Gaertner in 2008 reflected all-sports performance.
Baseball built its own record of conference and postseason success.
Women’s bowling delivered the university’s first NCAA Division I national championship.
Football reached two national championship games before eventually winning one.
Different programs contributed different pieces to the same institutional story.
That makes Gaertner’s 2008 observation particularly interesting in hindsight.
“You must excel across the board.”
More than a decade later, Sam Houston entered a new athletic era with evidence that it had done exactly that at various points along the way.
The Business Lesson: Build Before You Need the Opportunity
This is where Sam Houston’s story becomes useful beyond college sports.
Businesses often think about growth in terms of the opportunity itself.
Landing the major client.
Entering the new market.
Getting the big partnership.
Moving onto the larger platform.
But those moments usually expose what an organization has already built.
Sam Houston’s history provides a useful case study in preparation.
Long before Conference USA announced the Bearkats as a future member, Sam Houston had been building programs, hiring coaches, competing for championships, appearing on television and developing an athletic identity.
None of that guarantees a particular future opportunity.
That’s an important distinction.
But it does mean that when circumstances change, an organization with a strong foundation is in a very different position from one trying to build everything after the opportunity arrives.
That is the business lesson worth taking from Sam Houston.
Preparation doesn’t guarantee opportunity. It creates readiness for opportunity.
Final Thoughts
Sam Houston’s rise wasn’t one breakthrough.
It was a series of them.
Some happened on football fields.
One happened on bowling lanes.
Others happened quietly through conference championships, recruiting, coaching, administration and the daily work required to sustain athletic programs over many years.
That’s why the move to the FBS makes more sense when viewed through the previous decade and a half rather than through 2021 alone.
The national football championship was an extraordinary moment.
But it wasn’t the whole story.
Neither was the bowling championship.
Neither were the 2011 and 2012 football teams.
Together, however, those accomplishments document an athletic department that kept building, competing and finding ways to succeed as college athletics changed around it.
And that leaves a business lesson considerably stronger than simply saying winning leads to bigger opportunities.
It doesn’t always.
Preparation doesn’t guarantee that the door will open.
But when it does, years of preparation can determine whether you’re ready to walk through it.
Graphics created with AI-assisted design tools.
Visual concepts, editorial direction, composition, and final creative decisions were developed by Vallano Media.
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Tags: Conference USA, Football Bowl Subdivision, Sam Houston State University
About Cheval John
Cheval John serves as Managing Director of Vallano Media, LLC, where he oversees company's editorial strategy, business development and digital media operations. Operating at the intersection of social media management and sports, Vallano Media is building a dual-pillar brand that does two things: deliver real growth for businesses and translate the sports strategies into practical business lessons. Cheval hosted "What's The Word?" a podcast about finding out what inspires people to choose their respective careers and how social media impacted their lives and business from 2013 to 2017. He has spoken at Social Media Week Lima in Ohio and at Social Media Day Houston 2017. He was named a Houston Top 25 Social Media Power Influencer (2016 and 2017) and Twitter (Now X)Top 50 Influencer by Onalytica in 2018.