Ron Daugherty's Tremendous Contributions-Sunday, -Golf With Jay Delsing

This is golf with Jay Delsingh. A two-time college All-American at UCLA. A participant in nearly 700 PGA Tour events.

Seven professional wins to his credit. Over 30 years of professional golf experience. This is Golf with Jay Delsingh.

Hey, good morning. This is Golf with Jay Delsingh. I'm your host, Jay. I'm sitting down with my buddy, Perley May. Thanks for joining me. Glad to be here, Jay. Ready for another great show.

All right, so John, let's just get him right into the show. We have a really cool Gateway Spotlight today. One of the more interesting guys I've ever, ever run across is Ron Doherty from Doherty Business Solutions. Man, this guy, there's just not enough adjectives to describe him and what he's done and between fencing and chess and running a worldwide conglomerate that's located right here in St. Louis and philanthropy and he's into fencing and he's got a gold medal from, I mean, it just is on and on and on.

And so it's really a cool interview. I think you're gonna love listening to Ron Doherty. What he brings to the table. Look, John, got to give a shout out. I'm sure you remember, John Worth, who we played with and the Pro-Am, great, great guy. He's the COO for Doherty. He's the reason that Ron's on the show and John's a great guy and a good golfer and he and I have become friends because of the Ascension Charity Classic and because of the Pro-Am Pearl. Yep, I certainly remember him.

He was a very good player. It was a great group you had. Yeah, and I'm sure they felt the same about us. They got, they did really good on their pairing. They may have been excited that they got paired with you.

We'll have to have to do that out over a cocktail. Yeah, so Pearl, imagine this. You're sitting in the Norwood Ballroom and they're doing the draw and you're there and you've got Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, Jim Furyk. Names go on and on.

Jerry Keller, Bernhard Langer and they get Jay Delsing. They had to be thrilled. They had to be. They had to look around and go like, what did I deserve? What did I do to deserve? As thrilling as the sound when you let a little air out of a balloon.

Yeah, just like, oh, don't do that to me. Anyway, we got lucky. We had a great time with John. And John, a shout out to you. Thank you for, first of all, thanks for Doherty for supporting the tournament. They're also Pearl, the presenting sponsor of the Advocate PGA golf event this year at Glen Echo.

So these guys are unbelievable corporate citizens and love that. We got a great interview with Ron and with the tip of the cap segment brought to you by Dean Team Volkswagen of Kirkwood 314-966-0303. Guys, call Colin Burt. He's your car man. That's all I'm just going to tell you.

He is your car guy. I'm tipping my cat to the clothing technology folks in the golf space. John, back in the day, we wore heavy duty cotton. We wore cotton trousers. We wore cotton shirts. We like throwing a blanket on top of you. It is a thousand degrees here in the Midwest these days. And we're out there in those cool fabric, the wicking sort of fabric shirts that don't need to be ironed when we have like that back in the day. I got a few for you.

I got a few for you. So we are tipping our cap to those guys because those fabrics are awesome. They're so nice.

Great weight. No ironing. And I know how much you hate to iron. Have you ever ironed any of your clothes ever?

No, never. Do you even own an iron other than like a five iron? I own an old five iron that has the wrong loft, I think. That's all I got. Perfect. That's the tip of the cap segment brought to you by the Dean Team Volkswagen of Kirkwood 314-966-0303. Thanks Colin. I love my ride. Guys, that's going to wrap up the on range segment.

Don't go anywhere. We've got Ron Dougherty from Dougherty Business Solutions on the front nine. It's Golf with Jay Nelson. On the range is presented by the Gateway section of the PGA.

Find out more at PGA.com for more information. We'll be right back. Not too many people get to do that with their immediate family for so long, and I'm very grateful for it. And Mike, you got fourth generation as well, right? You got your kids involved. Yeah, yeah. I played in a club program earlier today, the PPC qualifier, and my daughter's talking about how she's going to make 46th anniversary cupcakes and 50th anniversary cupcakes, you know, and all this stuff. And yeah, it's pretty special. Oh my gosh, the fact that you're you're doing that with your family together. It's in the game that you're on the first of all on the property that your grandpa, you know, started and then you're honoring him and you've got four generations of series up there.

Wow. Yeah, we're lucky, you know, and it's it's we're lucky that we're in a game, you know that that gives back even even when you're when you're out there struggling like I did today. It's just you're just lucky to be able to play it and, and we try to pass that on to everybody, but obviously we wouldn't be here without for 50 years without all the people that came out and played so we're ultimately grateful to them and we're trying to celebrate with them this year. So Mike tell everybody about your junior program, your junior golf program because not only are you the top in the Midwest, you're the top in the country, I went down a step. Last year there's actually a couple of guys here in the Gateway section on Kipper and Clayton McGowan that overtook me.

I kind of say it was on a technicality, and I'll get it back this year. But yeah, with some of the leaders in junior golf in PGA Junior League golf are right here in the Gateway section on the Missouri and Illinois side. And, you know, for me it is a way that I can kind of have a purpose in life is golf, as you know is a selfish game and when you're out there doing it for yourself all the time.

It's hard because especially if you're not doing well and people are depending on you. But when you can give it to kids and give it to families and then they come out here on the afternoons and play, you know, you kind of feel more purpose in life and so that's really what I get out of it I obviously get way more out of it than the kids do. And that's why I love to do it. But and hopefully that's why they participate golf as a societal powerhouse just through the monies that the tournaments raise in various ways, shapes and forms but the fact that you've got so many of our next generations getting involved dipping their toe in and having these, these young boys and girls, you know, jump in at whatever level they choose.

That's where our future lies. Oh, absolutely. And I you know sometimes the parents will be disappointed that their, their child doesn't want to try out for the high school team and I said it doesn't matter I said, if there you have an eight or nine year old girl that plays golf for a couple years, and then she decides when she's 25 years old she wants to take it back up she's going to be so far ahead of all the people that are just starting, she'll have the gift for the rest of her life to be able to go and play, you know, I mean you get to go to some of the greatest places on earth if you have the resources and you can go and and you know nobody goes on a, on a hockey vacation. People go on golf vacations all the time though, you know, and I see all these people over at St Andrews and I'm thinking man I've been on a golf course my whole entire life and I have been St Andrews, but that's what's great about it. I had three junior leaguers that were over at the 150th open and they sent they brought me back a flag and they took know how cool is that that they wanted to celebrate that with me, how cool is it that that they got to do it, you know what's really neat and so special is this game of ours is a really big Uniter Mike it in a world where we have so much fractioning going on and so much, whatever I don't even want to talk about it. This is this gets you outside it gets you exercise some fresh air and some good clean fun I know that's kind of corny but I love that.

Yeah, oh absolutely. And today I've done my daughter walks around with me when I play I really don't even like to play anymore unless she's with me. My two boys are playing in a gateway event down at Dalhousie so they're living a good life down there, we get done and I look at my phone and I had 15 text messages and 10 missed phone calls, you've been on the golf course when you're not playing good and it is tough. But then when you get done and you look at your phone you're like man I just had four and a half hours of peace and quiet, even though I was struggling, like you say, it brings everybody together because when you're out there on the on the tee and you get a bad drive it doesn't matter what you feel about anything every you know the people that are with you feel your pain or when you hit a great shot, it celebrate with everybody too. And so it is a great Uniter is just terrific Mike, congratulations to you the legacy your family keep doing what you're doing this is Mike Suri he's over at Oak Brook golf course on the east side. Congratulations.

Hey, thank you Jay and congratulations to you on on a successful radio program and podcast and we love it. Thank the Gateway PGA thank you. I am proud to welcome the Gateway section of the PGA back to my show, whether you're pulling into your favorite driving range public golf course or Country Club, there is an excellent chance that the staff there is part of the over 300 men and women PGA professionals at over 100 facilities that make up our Gateway section. I grew up watching so many of these fine men and women getting to the golf course at dawn, leaving at dusk spending their entire day running events giving lessons and growing this great game PGA reach drive chip and putt PGA hope and the fantastic PGA Junior League are a few of the examples of the programs run by these same PGA professionals go to Gateway PGA.org to learn more or to find your next PGA professional for your next lesson, go to PGA.com the Gateway PGA growing the game we love. How would you like access to 90 holes of golf. Well that's what happens when you join it with more Country Club, you get access to the Missouri bluffs, the links to Dardeen and the golf club of Wentzville, and guess what, no cart fees included in that deal, there's food and beverage minimums, there's no assessments, they have a 24 hour fitness center, two large pool complexes, three tennis courts, year round social calendar includes holiday parties picnics date nights, live music, they even have a kids club for your children and much much more. There's junior golf, junior tennis and swim teams available.

This is a family friendly atmosphere, and they have a wonderful staff, if you get out there you got to poke your head in the golf shop and say hello to my friend bummer, he is a terrific guy and he will help you with your game and show you around, and don't forget their golf leagues skins games members tournaments and couples events available all year round, visit Whitmore golf.com that's Whitmore golf.com. The Ascension charity classic returns September 6 through the 11th. Once again, St. Louis will host golf's greatest champions players like Bernard longer, Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, john Daly, and returning champion David Toms, but no matter which legend wins this year.

The real winners will be North County charities, because all proceeds from the tournament. Stay right here in St. Louis to benefit our communities tickets available now at Ascension charity classic.com folks are you in the market for some additional protection for your ride, you need to call my friends at vehicle assurance, their number is 866-341-9255 sherry Fain is the owner and president and she and her team are committed to helping you with your unexpected auto repair bills, they are committed to finding the right protection for you, your budget and your family. They only work with the top vehicle service providers in the country, get the protection and the peace of mind you deserve.

That's vehicle assurance 866-341-9255 for a free quote 866-341-9255. This is golf with Jay delsing. The front nine is presented by the Ascension charity classic September 5 through the 11th at Norwood Hills Country Club. For tickets, Ascension charity classic.com. Hey, welcome back. This is golf with Jay delsing I'm your host Jay Burley is with me and we're headed to the front nine and brought to you by. Ascension charity classic. Get this date down September 5 through 11 Norwood Hills best players in the world over 50 right here in St. Louis, raising money for North County, and the North County charities guys got to come out, you're going to love what Marcon did for their military viewing platform for our first responders in the military, and also don't forget about the advocate PGA, the tickling echo and it's presented by dirty business solutions, guys, we are going right now to the first half of my interview with the CEO of dirty business solutions, Mr Ron Daugherty enjoy this interview, man, thanks for joining me this morning.

I'm delighted to be here, Jay, looking forward to it. First of all run. Tell the folks just a little bit before we start getting the background stuff, tell the folks a little bit that don't know, they may not know about dirty business solutions. What you guys do. I started our company 37 years ago, we help our customers use technology to better achieve their business objectives and a lot of that is associated with better use of data analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, we build applications we help companies with next generation product management work with a lot of big companies work about 75 fortune 500. We have 2500 dirty employees teammates of mine who work in 30 states and three countries that were growing fast, and we're one of the largest privately held companies in the region. We just came out with the list of top, the largest it consulting firms and the largest software development firms in the region and dardies number one in both categories and we have been number one for the last few years, really been lucky started the company from scratch.

I don't have any outside investors. And I'm very, very committed to doing good things for our communities run I think that inspiration is so obvious to me today and what you're doing and how you consider people that work for you teammates and how you guys are focused on your teammates to look at things that are larger than themselves you know where they push and pull at the same time to accomplish some really great things. That's not easy and that is pretty uncommon today. If we have a common shared guiding vision, then every everything else becomes, it just becomes more straightforward, easier to collaborate on and collaboration and teamwork is such a such a key such an important key especially as an organization grows, you know, I'm the original founder of the company, and just just started myself and Jan Darty, the two of us, and now with over 2500 employees, all over the world and growing fast. It's so easy to lose the vision the value the culture, the just the core values of the organization and so I put that at the very forefront, the thing that matters most for we're all here to do something together that's that's bigger than any of us is individually, and over the years day more and more of that has become associated with how do we make a positive difference in the world. And then in fact I tell my people, I tell all of my teammates, if you work with me.

If you're a part of Darty business solutions. I cannot guarantee you that everything will always be perfect here, but I'll promise you two things. Number one, that I'll be working with you every day to make things better here in every way that we can. And number two, I guarantee you that if you're part of this company, you will be making a positive difference in the world, because we're, we're completely totally committed to that. And, and that that just really helps us stay focused on what matters. And I think it's been a major key to our success. You know it's interesting round as we push through this pandemic and hopefully we're nearly through it, the growth that you've experienced at a time in this world has been so tenuous.

Your ability to communicate in the way that I have seen this pop up time and time again about things written and spoken about Darty business solutions yourself. That's a big challenge in the world today because it seems to me like we have more and more ways to communicate, but we actually communicate worse and worse than the old days. That can definitely happen. It is, isn't it just if you look at the world overall, if we could just communicate with each other a little better, then we could understand each other better, and then a lot of things would start to fall in place. What I found, Jay, is that you just have to do it. There's no one way to do it.

You have to do, you have to communicate every way that you can imagine and be consistent and continuous in that process. So one of the things that I did, I started doing it during the pandemic, and then I realized, holy cow, I should have just been doing this all along as my company got bigger. Every Sunday night, I send a message every Sunday night to everybody in my company. Here's what happened last week, and here's what I think matters, and here's where we're going every Sunday. And I see people all the time, Ron, you know, I joined your company a few months ago. We've never met, but I feel like I know you because I've listened to you. I read your Sunday update. I look at your podcasts, view your podcasts. I participated in your all-hands meetings that you have, so I think it's such a key, Jay, just the communication and never let go of it. This same thread follows through with your personal life, with what you've done with your kids.

I know you and I think your daughter, Melissa, started the painting spot. You were a Golden Gloves boxer when you were a young man, equestrian sports with some of your daughters, chess with your son. I mean, the harmonica, the music, the da-da-da. I mean, I could go on and on, but how the hell do you have time for all this stuff, man? Well, I appreciate you mentioning all those things. Time's a challenge. It's an interesting thing.

Everybody has the same amount of it, don't we? And so how we use it is so important, and I try to be efficient and combine things in any way that I can. For instance, the Darty band, I play the harmonica and sing in the Darty band. And so we use the Darty band to raise money for worthy causes.

We raise money for cystic fibrosis. We compete in the United Way Battle of the Corporate Bands and raise money for the United Way. It lets me do something that's fun. It allows me to get to know my teammates better who play in the band. Everyone in the band is a Darty teammate. And then when we perform, our colleagues from Darty and our clients come, and it's a way for me to interact with them, play the harmonica. And I like to think I play a pretty good harmonica. So how did I find time to do that? Well, I'll tell you that, and don't tell anybody.

But I practice in my car, and I drive with my knees. I just love it. Ron, I gotta tell you, folks, you gotta check out Darty Brought the Party. It's a music video that you put together, and I am so jealous of your ability to play that harmonica.

Man, it sounded great. I appreciate that, Jay. I appreciate you looking at that video.

It's interesting. We did a leadership training session. It's a really key area of focus for me. How do I invest more in my leaders to help them develop and grow? Because I started this company, never had any outside investors. We're on track to get half a billion in revenue next year. We'd be about a little over 350 million this year, half a billion next year. And I've had my eyes set on a goal of a billion in annual revenue while I was still able to run the company.

And it looks like that just may happen. I invest in my teammates and that most of my senior leadership is grown from within the company, so that the success of our organization then translates to a benefit and value to all the Darty people who made that success happen. And so we're doing more and more leadership development training. And as we did our leadership development training, I brought in someone that I got to know when he was the head of all global supply chain for Kraft and Mondelez.

Daniel Myers is his name. And he ran all global supply chain for Procter & Gamble before that. Just a great business person. And he just a couple of years ago retired and he works with the Global Supply Chain Institute and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. And he delivers leadership training. He partners with his brother, who's a professional musician, a young woman named Natalie Marshall, who's one of the top fiddle players and professional musicians in Nashville. So there's a musical component to the leadership training and the musical component helps capture and dramatize inspiration and vision and emotional connection.

And so we did the leadership training with my friend Daniel Myers and his team and Natalie. And part of the training was to write a song. And it's interesting because writing the song and the teamwork required to do that and to capture the vision and then to put it into words and the concepts like harmony and they translate nicely. And so we wrote a song and it turned out so well, Philip Daniel invited me to go to Nashville and record the song, recorded the song at the Sound Emporium.

That's where Chris Stapleton recorded Tennessee Whiskey to just give you an idea of the nature of the place, recorded the song. I did the harmonica tracks and then we brought it back and did a music video around the recording with the Darty band. So that's the Darty brought the party is written by the Darty leadership team and set to music and with the music video. So that's what the Darty brought the party music video. You cannot miss how much fun everybody in that band is having in that video. It makes me smile right now just thinking about it.

It was really good. You know, and then the other concept here associated with that leadership training is as we grow and as we achieve success, I make it clear to everyone. When we're a billion dollars, when we have 10,000 employees that I want to look around the room with my senior leadership team and I want to see a lot of familiar faces.

That's the commitment. And the other the other part of that, Jay, is that I've made a commitment to everyone in the company that I'm never going to I'm never going to sell Darty business solutions to an outside organization. I'm going to turn it over to the employees the ability to do positive good things with this company continues to increase as we grow and become more successful and I want that to continue after me.

And so I'm grooming the leaders who I can see have internalized the values of Darty and will continue to propagate and take those things forward and they're going to they're going to run the business and all of our employees are going to own it. Wow, Ron, that is incredible. So it's basically an extension of your family at what you've done is, has been able to stay in touch.

I have four daughters and their live all across the country and it's never easy to kind of keep all those balls in the air in an equal fashion. And it's amazing what you've done here. And congratulations, there is a family element to it. And I want to say this.

This is a little confusing to some folks and it's a little bit of a personal thing but I just want to share it. Jan Darty started the company with me, and she's been a part of the business from the very beginning 37 years, and she and I were divorced about five years ago, but we're still good friends you still part of the business, and it was just a personal thing you know, people, they grow up, they become more like themselves, and there was no scandal it was nothing bad and maybe this is even a little too personal to mention but she's still a big part of the business and she was, she was involved from the beginning, and there's the story behind that, but I just, I just wouldn't feel right without mentioning her contribution. No, I think that's great. I really appreciate that run one of the things that that is so clear to me is that you have a competitive fire you're a competitor, I know you were a golden glove boxer. I also know, and this is really cool you got to just tell us briefly about your fencing gold medal in the, in the pan and games because I know you dealt with some injury and some adversity to try to get that thing. I got involved with fencing I became interested in fencing, several years ago, when my daughter, Jan and my oldest daughter got involved with the fencing program at the University of Michigan. So Allison was fencing, and I thought wow that's that sounds interesting I'll, I'll see if I can learn how to do that so I'll have something to do with her. So I started studying fencing.

By the way, Allison has gone on to become a veterinarian she's the veterinarian for that St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station and for the World Bird Sanctuary here in town. And, and so I owe my fencing career to her. I started fencing, and then something very fortunate for St. Louis happened. A world class fencing coach his name is Hassan Hassan, he moved to St. Louis.

He was the coach of the Egyptian national team, he took them to the Olympics in Atlanta. And so world fencing coach here in town started playing with him and fencing has a very active age group competition for four years of age and above. And so I started to compete to work hard at that. I won the Pan American Games gold medal. I was on the podium at several US championships.

And then just 2017 just five years ago, coach Sam and I went to St. John's Island, and one won the gold medal in men's foil fencing in the Pan American Games. And I had a really, really good day. I had a really good day. And I, you know, I want every every out and I competed in the final against the gentleman who was number four in the country at the time, and I beat him 10 to three. So it was a good day for me. It was a good day and, you know, it was also, I was able to do that with my son, who came a very good venture as well and we we fenced together for for a number of years so so that was quite a thrill, and all the circumstances were there once again and it takes a team and I had a world class coach fencing is one of those sports that you just you can't get to the top of the sport without having a really good coach it's like maybe that's true for every sport but some are more that way than others.

There's probably some of that element in golf, and there certainly is in gymnastics and other sports and so I was really lucky, very fortunate. These are not going to going to be in any specific order in terms of your affinity for them but we've got to talk about the heart ball the independent center access point gosh I can't wait to tell people about access point, but let's start with the heart ball. I know that's really important to you. And we're raising awareness, and you're heavily involved in that endeavor. I'm the chairman of the American hearts Heart Association heart ball campaign this year, and it is quite an honor I feel very honored to be in that role. I first became familiar with the American Heart Association. When Tim Wentworth, who was the CEO of Express Scripts at the time here in St. Louis shared the campaign and and I attended my first heart ball to support him and was so impressed by how many people, the American Heart Association helps with such a large percentage of Americans of the world, have some sort of a heart condition and you know when you add high blood pressure and hyper hypertension into that mix.

It's a mind boggling percentage and hypertension is not a heart disease but it leads to heart disease, if you have it long enough so it's a very very big factor, I was impressed I supported the Heart Association for the next few years, and they asked me to chair the campaign this year so I'm delighted to do it. And I find when I do these things, Jay, that supporting a great cause that the awareness raising such an important part of it, there's a quote from Jane Goodall, just the famous conservation lady known so much for her work and, and it goes something like this if you know they hear, then they will understand if they understand, then they will care. And if they care, then they will help the people here in St. Louis are such good hearted people.

And if they just if they just understand then they're very likely to step up and help. And so that's where I am right now today with the Heart Association, the hardball campaign, just getting the word out, Jay I decided to focus, and I worked with the American Heart Association and they, they completely wholeheartedly agreed. My emphasis for the heart of the Heart Association campaign is health equity, health equity, so important we talked about equity diversity. That's part of that and it relates to a couple of other major initiatives that you're aware of that I'm supporting. And one is access point, which, which we can talk about and the other is the APGA golf tournament, which has that same element of creating equity, in this case, in the professional golf world. Okay, folks, that's the first part of the Ron Daugherty interview.

Don't go anywhere. We are headed to the back nine, and we'll do the conclusion of that interview with the CEO of Daugherty Business Solutions. Ron Daugherty, more with golf with Jay Delson. After my knee replacement, I was able to swing the golf club again without any pain SSM health physical therapy guided me through the rehab process. And when I was ready, one of their specially trained K vest certified physical therapist, put me on the 3d motion capture system.

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They understand that you and your life do not fit in a simple box. So guess what? Neither should your insurance coverage. Go to PowersInsurance.com or call 314-725-1414 and ask for Tim Davis. That's PowersInsurance.com. This is golf with Jay Delsing. To learn more about the game of golf, latest equipment and golfing tips. Log on to Jay Delsing golf.com. The back nine is presented by Pro Am golf. Hey, Jay Delsing here and golf with Jay Delsing is coming at you right now. We are headed to the back nine. Pearly's with me and the back nine is brought to you by my friends at Pro Am Golf Center.

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We still got three great months of golf. Call CJ get fitted. That's my entire message.

I've done it. Pearly's getting in line to do it. CJ is the best in town. He's going to help your game. Guys, we are going to part two of my interview with Ron Daugherty. I hope you enjoy it. You have to mention, I know you're also a ballroom dancing aficionado. And just last year for the Independence Center, you raised a lot of money in the Dancing with Stars program. And Ron, it kind of what I found interesting about this is that I'm not sure you knew of this at the beginning, but you found out shortly thereafter about a really strong personal connection on the Independence Center. And we're in the Independence Center for the folks that don't know are focusing and shedding light on mental illness. And that is really big deal in our community. It's really true.

More than most people understand, mental illness, depression touches almost every family in some way. And so I liked what I saw with the Independence Center and I was interested in their Dancing with the St. Louis Stars ballroom dancing competition. Such a clever and fun way to drive a fundraising campaign.

And so I agreed to compete as a dancer. And as I got closer to the campaign and I met some of the folks who were associated with founding the Independence Center, I heard a story about a young man named Gib Hecker and his parents, the Hecker family, were among the original founders of the Independence Center. And Gib Hecker took his own life and his family then helped start the Independence Center.

And when I heard that, it just hit me so hard because when I had just started a couple of years into Darty Business Solutions, way back in the 80s, Gib worked for me. He worked for me. He was brilliant. He was smart. He was funny. Everybody liked him.

Just one of those exceptional people. It stunned all of us. Stunned us when he committed suicide. I had just seen him. I saw him at the Lion's Choice right there at the corner of Olive and 270.

I remember, I'll never forget, I walked in. He was sitting there. He was eating the fries.

Something special about these Lion's Choice french fries, Ryan. He was just smiling. And a couple of days later, he was gone. And none of us knew that he was battling with mental illness. We didn't know. And why didn't we know? Because there was a stigma associated with it.

He didn't want anyone to know. And should there be a stigma? Of course not. Is there a stigma if you break your arm?

No. Why would there be a stigma if you have some other condition? That's one of the reasons that I got behind the Independence Center. Because if we remove that stigma, wonderful people like Gib Hecker can be more open in how they ask for help and support. And we lost him. We didn't know him. We lost him. And I was delighted to step in and help the Independence Center so we can change that situation.

Let's talk about Access Point. You got St. Louis and Nellie involved. If people want to check out, they need to go to your website and check out the Nellie video. It is really impressive.

I've really been impressed with Nellie. He's smart. He's entrepreneurial. He's having a lot of success right now because he's really been very, very clever, very smart with his collaborations and other things that he's done.

He's just a great, talented musician. And so he stepped in. He was happy to support Access Point. He came to our offices and recorded videos with us. And then we went to Topgolf.

He loves Topgolf. And we went to Topgolf along with students, parents, teachers, corporate people supporting Access Point. And there's a video of Nellie speaking at our kickoff event, in addition to a couple of other things. So Nellie was there from Topgolf, and he continues to support Access Point. And Access Point is a program that we created, helps underrepresented kids and are primarily, these are students who are African Americans and female students, often from the city schools, and help them move from high school to a well-paying career in information technology with a major company within a year.

I just had an Access Point event at my house last night. We had our partners from Cigna, our first corporate partner, who stepped up. Tim Wentworth, John Joplin, Dallas Long, their leaders stepped up to support Access Point and be our first corporate sponsor for our pilot, which has been very successful. Now we have 15 students, kids who were in high school a year ago, who are making in a mid $50,000 a year range from $54,000 to $57,000 a year.

You're out of high school, and it's a career, not just a short-term thing. And Cigna made that possible. And now we've been joined by MasterCard, by Bayer, by Ameren, by Edward Jones, by a couple of other companies. And those folks were all at my house last night, talking about the success of the program, what it's done to change the lives for the students and their families, and how we're going to take it forward and scale it. And my vision for Access Point is for it to change the game with respect to diversity in the information technology workforce everywhere in the country, and to change the lives of thousands of deserving students by opening up career opportunities for them that just ordinarily would not be within their reach, because these are smart, capable students who are just not in a position to achieve a four-year college degree in the traditional manner. But through Access Point, if they can learn the Access Point material, which we teach, then they're guaranteed a well-paying job with a major corporation. The jobs are waiting for them.

I start with the jobs. Really excited about the program. I have a team of half a dozen really dedicated dirty teammates that work full-time supporting Access Point. We work with just about every high school in the region, 50 high schools.

We're starting to move outside of St. Louis as well. It's been a game changer for everyone who's been involved so far. Well, Ron, being able to hit these younger folks right at this time, such a crucial time, so many big decisions come up right in that high school timeframe area that can alter the course of their lives.

This is just an incredible opportunity. And then I believe, if I'm not mistaken, you have already planned on hiring in the next group that comes to the program, I think 25 of them. Yeah, that's exactly right. I made that commitment. And so Cohort 1 is already employed at Cigna and at Darty. Cohort 2, where we have 30 students coming through now, I made the commitment and was excited to hire 25 of them. I think that we have so many companies in town, I'm going to have to fight just to get a few of them. But Cohort 3, Cohort 2 is halfway through the training.

Everything's going great. We anticipate over 100 students in Cohort 3, and I'll get my 25 from that group. And then we'll build on it from there.

Jay, the point you made is so important. I've just learned this as we've moved through the program. These students in high school, they are at a point, a crossroads, where they'll need to make a decision. They'll need to go down a path. And it won't typically be a traditional four-year college education.

They're just not in a position to do that. If we're able to work with them before they make those long-term life decisions at the end of high school, we can pull them into the program. But after that happens, it becomes more and more difficult to connect, to change the path.

And so, so important. And what we're doing with the program is that every year we work further upstream. That is from second semester seniors to now we're working with juniors. And the earlier that we can start to work with students, the easier it is to help ensure their success. So I'm really happy with the way it's coming along.

Ron, also consider this. If you're, say, a freshman or a sophomore and you're watching what happens in front of you and you're watching someone who is probably in very similar circumstances to you, have this opportunity, grasp it, take a hold of it, do it, and then get into a different level of society for lack of a better way to say it. That is the true power in what AccessPoint brings, because that is going to spread like wildfire among those high school students.

Yeah, it's so true. There's a young man, his name's Marcus Keys, young African-American man. He works for Darty. I hired him out of the AccessPoint program for the pilot. Marcus goes with us when we speak to high school. He's been to about 30 high schools with us so far. He'll stand up in front of the students and he'll say, I was right where you are a year ago.

I was a high school senior. If you look through the window there, that's my car that I drove to this meeting. And it's not a brand new fancy car, but it's a nice car.

He was able to buy because he has a good job now. And he said, that's the sort of doors that AccessPoints open up to me. You should take a look. And they go from kind of distance to another pitch to holy cow, who do I talk to? Just as you said, Jay.

What the hell, Ron? I am a golf show. So let's talk a little bit about the Ascension Charity Classic and the NKEG. I'm really anxious to do that. Can I just tell you one quick AccessPoint story?

Please do. Okay, there's a young African-American woman, her name's Destiny, and she sent me an email and she said, I just want to thank you for the AccessPoint program. Because of AccessPoint, I believe in myself now. And finally, I'm able to help my mother so that she doesn't have to work three jobs. And for the first time in years, we were able to sit down and have dinner together last night. And she just sent that email to me. Now, here's the rest of the story. It turns out that just a few weeks ago, Destiny's mother had a heart attack. And she's not going to be able to work for a few months. And that family would be in such a bad, bad situation. But because of Destiny completing the AccessPoint program, she has a very good job, a good income, full health insurance coverage.

She's the primary breadwinner and everything's going to be okay. And that's the kind of life-changing impact that AccessPoint's making. Man, what a difference. That's amazing and also makes me think of the heart ball and the inclusionary aspect of that, you know, to try to get these African-American folks more help and more coverage that they need. That's right. It's just a solid line connection between AccessPoint and the Heart Campaign.

Just helping that situation. So, absolutely. Let's talk a little bit about the APGA. For the folks that don't know, the APGA is Advocate Professional Golfers Association. It's been around for probably 12 or 13 years, but to not much fanfare until just recently. And I know Nick Ragon and Steve Spratt have spearheaded the Ascension Charity Classic.

I know they're good friends of yours and they have just done great, great stuff. But Nick Ragon tells me a story that I don't even tell Ron what I'm asking for. I'm just telling him about the program for the APGA. And he said, you committed on the spot to being the presenting sponsor of this event that's going to be at Glen Echo. It's also, Ron, picking up major momentum. There's a couple of new stories in the Golf Digest this week. There's another story in Golf Week about the APGA just catching on around the country and more businesses like Doherty supporting this inclusion and this equal opportunity thing. And it's opening doors that should have been open a long time ago. I am delighted to be the presenting sponsor for the APGA tournament this fall.

I really am. And when I heard from Nick what the APGA really was about and their commitment to equity and bringing in African-Americans into the world of golf, and what a good thing that was and how complimentary that it was to AccessPoint and to the American Heart Association Health Equity Campaign that I'm running, combined with the fact that Nick was organizing it and I knew if Nick was organizing it that he would do a fantastic job with it. I just wanted to be a part of it. I so appreciate the Doherty Business Solutions jumping into golf and this APGA is a fun event. I am going to personally be involved to help some of the golfers understand that, yeah, it's great if you can play on the PGA Tour. But if you don't quite get to that level, there is still so much that the game can provide networking.

For example, I'm talking to you right now. You're the CEO of a huge company that's growing outrageously well, and I'm getting to talk to you because of golf. And there's opportunities for those young men and those young women, even if it's not necessarily playing.

Jay, I kind of see the universe as just a set of dots and they're all connected somehow or another, some more directly than others, but they're all connected. And so this APGA tournament and the good things that it's doing with a golf focus, a golf theme, but there will be more good even beyond golf done by the APGA. Please, please, and I know you'll never stop, but keep doing what you're doing for our community. The fact that people may not know about AccessPoint is criminal.

They need to know about that. The Independence Center has been around for a long time. What you're doing with the heart ball, the golf that we're still pushing, all of those things are big, vital, positive things in our community. We so appreciate what you're doing. We're so glad that Doherty is centered here in St. Louis and never leaving. You know, it's such a great pleasure for me to do it, Jay. This town, the city of St. Louis has been so good to me. Just everything started here.

We have operations and offices around the world now, but I'm committed to keeping my headquarters in St. Louis. The city has been great to me. It's an honor to be able to give something back. And it gives me the ability to talk with wonderful folks like yourself, Jay.

I really have had a lot of fun talking with you today. All right, Pearl, that wraps up the Rod Doherty interview. Man, I do the prep for these guys, and I'm like, gosh, the accomplishments that some of these people have are just staggering.

And Rod Doherty takes a backseat to no one. He's got to be like 110 years old to have gotten everything done already. And he's doing so many things, so he acts like he's about 30. And he's done enough things that it takes you over 100 years to get it done. So I'm not sure how he puts it all together. I did like your question about how he does get that done and stuff. And he talked about it a little bit, how he does pay attention to what he's doing and to get enough in. It's just fun to hear his excitement. He has so much fun with his philanthropy. And I think it's just absolutely fantastic. All right, that's going to wrap up the back nine.

But don't go anywhere. Pearly and I will be breaking it down on the 19th hole, presented by the loading dock. This is golf with Jay Delson. Hey, this is Jay Delson for SSM Health Physical Therapy. Our golf program has the same screening techniques and technology as the pros on the PGA Tour use. SSM Health Physical Therapy has the Titleist Performance Institute trained physical therapist that can perform the TPI screening on you, as well as use a KVEST 3D motion capture system.

Proper posture, alignment, et cetera, can help you keep your game right down the middle. We have 80 locations in the St. Louis area. Call 800-518-1626 or visit them on the web at SSMPhysicalTherapy.com. Your therapy, our passion. Folks, do you need a new car, truck or SUV? Then the Dean team of Kirkwood is the place for you to go. 314-966-0303 and go see Colin Berg. He just got me into a new SUV and I love it.

Boy, did they make the experience painless and super, super easy. Most dealers don't have any cars in their lots, but at Dean team of Kirkwood, Colin has an entire parking lot full of new and used cars. You don't want a VW?

That's no problem. They have Audis, BMWs, Mercedes, anything you want. Colin and the Dean team of Kirkwood will go get it if they don't have it. Call them at 314-966-0303 or go to DeanTeamVWKirkwood.com. The Dean team for all your car buying needs.

We're creating a better future one swing at a time. The Ascension Charity Classic returns September 6th through the 11th and provides critical dollars for area charities. Once again, St. Louis will host golf's greatest champions.

Tickets at AscensionCharityClassic.com. I've been looking for over three years for the perfect place to be the official 19th hole of the Golf with Jay Delson show and the search is over. Please welcome the loading dock to the show. What a great place it is. It is located at the confluence of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers in beautiful Grafton, Illinois. Their patio is killer with seating for over 800 and every weekend the loading dock has the area's best live music. There's no reservations required. They have overnight lodging available and they also have an ice skating rink in the winter months. And don't forget about the super cool Riverside Flea Market which happens the fourth weekend of each month from April through October.

If you're into antiques and collectibles, you've got to check it out. The Grafton Ferry runs directly from St. Charles County to within steps of our parking lot. Go check out the loading dock and say hello to my buddy Peter Allen. He is a great guy, good golfer and a lover of the game. Call 618-556-7951 or visit them on the web at GraftonLoadingDock.com.

For more information on their live music schedule, the Riverside Flea Market and more. The Loading Dock, the new official 19th hole of the Golf with Jay Delsing show. This is Golf with Jay Delsing. I'm Jay Delsing and I'm sitting here with John Perlis. And this is the Golf with Jay Delsing show. We're headed to the 19th hole.

Pearl, go ahead. This is a perfect little introduction because the 19th hole is brought to you by my buddy Peter Allen and the loading dock in beautiful Grafton, Illinois. Right where the Mississippi and the Illinois rivers get together.

618-556-7951 or visit them on the web, GraftonLoadingDock.com. Great place, great folks, got to check it out. Super live music, the whole thing.

John, Ron Doherty. The fact that he's so committed to St. Louis, I just love the fact that he's grounded, his roots are strong. And that he's so into trying to get back to a city that he believes has been great to him. I love how passionate it is about it. He truly enjoys it.

There's where I think the power is. This is not a labor, or if you will, a labor of love to him. Tell how much he enjoys networking, the fun things, the special things that he does, the stories he was telling, that he was doing. And I'll tell you what, there's so much going on that when all of a sudden the Pan Am fencing came out of nowhere. Bro, the guy had back, he had like a back injury and almost a back surgery or something and was really, I mean, it's just amazing.

So, yeah, I mean, I've always felt a little bit like a slacker and when I, you know, prep for him, I'm like, forget it. A lot going on. He's built cool teams. From a business standpoint, I love what he talked about as far as building the team, how they work together, how he's going to transition away from it and make it more of an employee-owned operation. A lot of great things. Obviously, a master business person.

And, hey, an overnight success of 37 years. Exactly. I love that. And, you know, Jen, it's interesting because a lot of the principles that you help companies with are stuff that he hit on just regularly.

Communication and structure and things like that. It was really cool. Really cool guy. Really appreciate his time.

Pearl, that's going to wrap up another show. Thanks for being with me. Enjoyed it, Jay, as always. And we will be coming back right at you next Sunday with more of Golf with Jay Delson.

Hit them straight, St. Louis. I want to tell you about a family-owned and operated golf business that's been right here in St. Louis for over 40 years. I'm talking about Pro-Am Golf Center.

That's right. Pro-Am Golf Center. I know you know the name, but I'm not sure you know what they really have to offer. They have everything a seasoned golfer like myself could need all the way down to what a beginner would want. Pro-Am Golf Center has the lowest price in the area for custom club fitting. I just went and visited CJ.

He is terrific. If you call them now, mention my name, Jay Delson. You will receive a discount on that already low club fitting price. Their number is 314-647-8054. Ask for CJ or you can visit them at ProAmGolfUSA.com.

That's ProAmGolfUSA.com. I want to tell you about my friends and longtime supporters of this show, Marcon. Yes, they are incredible community stewards.

Yes, they are the largest distributors of GE appliance parts in North America. What you don't know, they are spearheading, led by owner Anne St. Louis and Jim Sowers, a new service dog program with and in conjunction with David Farity and the 24-7 Battle Buddy program. Jim and Marcon are ensuring that a minimum of two service dogs a year will get partnered with a veteran hero in need. These dogs are expertly trained, connected with their veteran master and then magic starts to happen.

These dogs are retrained to meet the specific needs of their warrior and to help them successfully navigate everyday life. You can learn more on Facebook at Troops First 24-7 Battle Buddies or reach out to me at jdelsongolf.com and I will fill you in on more of this program. This has been Golf with Jay Delsing. To learn more about Jay and the services he can provide any golfer, visit jdelsingolf.com. You'll see the latest in golf equipment, get tips from a PGA Pro and you'll learn more about the game of golf.

That's jdelsongolf.com. Peloton, let's go. This holiday, with the right music and the right motivation from world-class instructors. We're going to pick it up a notch.

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