Coates ’06 Rogers Forum Speaker

Entrepreneur and podcaster Sam Coates ’06 spoke in Hyde Chapel as the 2023 Rogers Leadership Forum special guest, sharing three principles for a life full of meaning:
  • Knowing who you are
  • Showing up
  • Doing the work
Coates wove in lessons he has learned from guests on his podcast, “Driven By,” and other successful people, including some at 6191 Park Avenue.
Introduced by his friend and mentor, Lower School Assistant Principal Joe Tyler, Coates described how the cross-country coach helped him train for a half-marathon when he was in his 20s.

“What sticks out to me about that fall was [Coach Tyler’s] interest, commitment, and love of seeing someone flourish, become more of their potential and who they can be. That’s what I think of when I think of the best MUS teachers.”

After selling his landscape business in 2019, Coates launched “Driven By” because he was curious about what motivates people to choose their careers and build companies. In 2021 a national retail organization asked him to produce a podcast series on the stories of the company’s success through longtime employees. Since then, he has chronicled the history of families as well as corporations, and clients have included Youth Villages, Hollywood Feed, AutoZone, and Campbell Clinic.

Describing how faith has been a vital part of his journey, he shared Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

“Life can be good, it can be meaningful, it can be fun, and it can also be tough,” he said. “This passage gives me the freedom to know I don’t have to control the outcome but take it one day at a time.”

See photos from the forum reception HERE. More information and episodes of “Driven By” can be found HERE.

Judy and King Rogers, parents of King W. Rogers IV ’98, provided the King and Judy Rogers Endowment for Leadership Development in 2000 to fund annual leadership development programs for MUS students. The income from the fund provides the resources to bring a renowned speaker to campus and sponsor additional leadership programs. 
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