Good Leaders Listen with Jack Reed Jr.

Join us for Episode 3 of IgniteCast featuring Jack Reed Jr. of Reed’s Department Store.

In this inspiring conversation, Jack dives into the power of listening first as a leader and how that simple habit can transform teams and communities. He also shares his philosophy on giving back, why employees should be treated as your number one customer, and how to recognize and seize opportunities wherever you go.

Don’t miss this chance to hear timeless leadership lessons from one of Tupelo’s most respected business and community leaders.

Big thanks to iHeartMedia—our Presenting Sponsor for the entire IgniteCast podcast and the powerhouse fueling this season’s episodes! 🔊🔥 

🎧 New episodes drop every other Thursday, packed with insight, inspiration, and actionable ideas to help you grow as a leader—right where you are.

Want to learn more about the Ignite Leadership Conference?
Visit 👉 www.igniteleadership.com

Transcript

0:17
Welcome to Ignite Cast, where ideas spark action.

0:21
Brought to you by the Community Development Foundation, your Chamber of Commerce and economic development engine for Tupelo in Lee County.

0:29
Thank you to our presenting sponsor, I Heart Media for powering this season of Ignite Cast.

0:34
I'm Taylor.

0:35
I'm Judd, and welcome to Ignite CAST.

0:41
Taylor.

0:41
Another episode.

0:42
Woo Hoo, I tell you, I love this music too.


We were actually all having a dance break.

0:48
And when I mean all, I'm talking about our guests in the studio today.

0:52
Jack Reed Junior Jack, it's good having you here with us on at Night Cast.

0:56
Judd and Taylor, thank you for inviting me.

0:58
Always good to spend time with friends.

1:01
Yes, yes.

1:02
And Jack, we're going to be talking about leadership today, but tell us just a little bit about yourself just so folks can know who you are.

1:10
Well, I'm a 73 year old, lifelong Tupelo and I hope has a few more years in that description.

1:18
Born here with Tupelo Public Schools, went off to Vanderbilt, went to Oman's Law school, came back, practiced law for four or five years here with Mitchell Mcnutt and then went back to our family business, which is Reed's.

1:29
That was in 1980.

1:30
That was 45 years ago.

1:34
Seems like yesterday, right?

1:36
Some days, some days.

1:37
Seems like 45 years ago.

1:40
Also, more, more more importantly, married to Lisa Reid.

1:44
We've been married 50 years as of December 2024, and we have two children.

1:50
One lives in Birmingham, one lives in Atlanta, and six grandchildren.

1:54
Wow.

1:55
What is your anniversary date in December?

1:58
December 21st.

1:59
Did you think I wouldn't know that, Taylor?

2:01
No.

2:01
I was also married in December, So I had to ask.

2:04
Yes.

2:05
What day were you?

2:06
The 14th.

2:06
The 14th?

2:07
Well, you're a week ahead of.

2:08
Yeah, You're a little closer to Christmas.

2:10
I needed to get married over law school.

2:13
Christmas break.

2:14
There you go.

2:15
So that's why we picked that day, which was really a terrible year for a retail family.

2:21
All of a sudden, my father, my uncle, all of the cousins and family leaves Tupelo the Friday before the biggest weekend of the year, it reads.

2:31
And dad said my grandfather's probably rolling over in his grave when he said, you know, what the heck, where the hell y'all going, you know?

2:40
Well, I know you've been here in Tupelo for a while and you've been a great leader in the community, but what would you say is the best leadership tip that you've ever been given?

2:50
Well, just right off the top of my head, I would say be a good listener.

2:58
That's a good one.

2:58
That's sometimes hard to do though.

3:01
Well, those of us who are put in leadership positions naturally have the opportunity to talk a lot.

3:09
And it's you've got to, I think I have to be more intentional about listening a lot.

3:14
So what I have to say when I do decide to say something is worth hearing.

3:18
Guilty.

3:19
I have trouble listening to Jack and so through that, what are sometimes that where you really listened, you could see it, it transformed you as a leader.

3:32
Well, I guess there, you know, you have different chapters of your life, you have different silos.

3:39
You got your family opportunities, you got your business opportunities, you got your civic opportunities.

3:47
I think that one of the things when I, I left the law practice and came into retailing, I was pretty much a, I've always read a lot about leadership.

3:57
I've kind of a leadership study guru.

4:00
And I came into reads and I kept saying the customers #1 the customers #1 the customers number one, what are we doing to make the customer feel like they're #1.

4:11
And after a couple years, I realized that that was the truth, that really our staff was #1 and if our staff felt appreciated, recognized, visible, paid fairly, that by osmosis, they would make the customer feel like they were #1 because when they came in and would be happy, they weren't, they didn't feel like they had to go to work.

4:36
They were glad to come to work at Reads.

4:38
And so I spent a lot less time saying the customer's number one.

4:44
I kept spent more time trying to boost up our staff to feel like they were, you know, inspired to do their very best and that the customers would feel that.

4:55
And so I think that's probably one of the big things I learned fortunately, fairly quickly and I would still say that absolutely today.

5:03
When I became mayor of Tupelo, I tried to meet every person in the city of of the 500 employees, personally thank them, tell them my door was open citizens.

5:14
I already told the citizens my door was open, but I a lot of times, interestingly, the staff at the city of Tupelo had not really felt like that.

5:23
The mayor had heard them.

5:24
They, the word had been passed down to him two or three times through Supervisor X, Supervisor B, that sort of thing.

5:30
So anyway, I think that's, that's been valuable.

5:33
I would certainly encourage other people to think about that.

5:37
So that's interesting because that same concept, it reads and then in the mayor's office as well, if your team feels like they're heard, it actually does make a better customer service.

5:48
Absolutely, absolutely.

5:50
If they don't, they come in, you know, somebody's over there chewing gum, you know, going to help you no good.

5:56
You know, you know, if y'all been busy, they thank goodness we haven't been that busy.

6:00
You know, I mean, how do you how do you how do you compete that way?

6:04
So I'll tell you a quick funny story.

6:08
My a friend of mine who's only three years older but is balding and has a beard judge, you can appreciate the balding, not not the beard, but anyway, my wives, this was 20 years ago.

6:20
We he was kind of premature balling.

6:22
We, we are in a, in a Hilton in, in Louisiana on the way to Dallas to market and we get ready to check out.

6:30
He says he checks out.

6:33
And then I come and she said, oh, she said he doesn't know anything this this month the family stay free.

6:41
And he said, wait, so that's your son, isn't it?

6:43
And he said, what?

6:44
I don't know, it's not my son.

6:46
And of course I start laughing and I said, well, I said, that's really nice, but I, I'm not, I need, I need to pay.

6:51
And she said, well, Hilton screws people all the time.

6:54
Let's just screw them now.

6:58
What?

6:58
You know, how, how, how appreciated did she feel?

7:00
You know, but that is not the kind of employee you're looking for, of course.

7:03
Right.

7:04
Right.

7:04
But that that was an example of a very disgruntled employee.

7:07
That's right.

7:09
Well, Justin Wren was one of our past speakers at Ignite, this past one in 2025 and he talked about giving time to the the batch walk community.

7:20
And I know you've given a lot of time to the Tupelo community, but the very first thing he said when he walked out was a question and a challenge.

7:27
So let's take a listen and I get you to comment after.

7:31
What meaningful impact would you make if you only knew you could in the lives of others within this community in this great state of Mississippi?

7:43
What meaningful impact would you make if you only knew you could?

7:50
So we heard that at at night about the impact.

7:54
So I want to ask you, you know, why do you give so much time to the Tupelo community?

7:58
You mentioned being mayor, but why is that important to you?

8:03
Well, Ted, I've always felt like I want to do my part.

8:08
And you know, what is your part?

8:10
It's kind of like the Good Samaritan.

8:11
Well, it's, it's wherever you find somebody needs help where you are, that's, that's your opportunity to, to help.

8:17
So, so I've lived in Tupelo, It's kind of a smaller pond, but it does give you the opportunity to, to pitch in and it gives you the opportunity to, to make an impact if you're willing to.

8:28
And honestly, I just enjoy, I enjoy the, the people, the other people that are doing good things.

8:36
I mean, you go to whether it's involvement in the, the United Way, Boys and Girls Club, you know, Boy Scouts, Habitat, I mean, there's so many good things.

8:44
I mean, just working on the Habitat, I love working on Habitat houses as a worker and not as the leader.

8:52
You know, I get a kick out of that.

8:53
I don't always have that opportunity.

8:56
So number one, it's just, it feels good to me to be a part of these good things.

9:02
It's it's satisfying, but the more important thing is what it does for the people that you're helping.

9:07
And so I'll give you an example of something that I hope will be a personal legacy.

9:13
A little bit of mine is the Chicksaw Heritage Center program this fall.

9:20
For 40 years we've been working to honor the Chicksaw people back in Tupal.

9:24
This was their capital thousands of years ago.

9:27
They are our ancestors.

9:28
They are our first people here.

9:31
When I was mayor, it was during the recession.

9:33
So on my own dime, I flew out to Oklahoma to tell them we wanted to partner up more.

9:39
How can we do that?

9:40
When I left the mayor's office, it would invite me to be on the board of the Chickasaw Account Foundation.

9:46
Keep volunteering, you get I'm Down chair of the capital campaign to raise $60 million for this Chickasaw Heritage Center.

9:52
I think that will be a legacy for this community, for the state and really for the country.

9:58
I like families, young people.

10:01
Once that opens in 2026, people for the rest of their lives will have a better understanding of the Chickasaw people about the Trail of Tears.

10:08
What happened, what's what's happening now?

10:11
The the underlying part of the capital campaign is the Chickasaws unconquered and unconquerable.

10:16
Yes, this was a terrible thing that happened, the Trail of Tears, but they survived more than survived.

10:21
They've they've done well.

10:23
So I'm, I'm excited about being part of that.

10:26
And I think that will certainly, you know, outlive my life here.

10:31
But I think the ripple effects will be positive for a long time.

10:34
It'll make Mississippi first at something instead of last.

10:38
We'll be the first state in America that partnered with a tribe of the Trail of Tears to come home and celebrate them.

1
I'm excited about that.

10:46
Yeah.

10:47
I didn't know that we would be the only state.

10:49
So I like they were going to be first and something too.

10:51
And I think it's going to be a great addition to Tupelo and very needed in the community, too.

10:56
Let's speak ripple effect.

10:58
You mentioned it, you didn't really have a choice but to be a leader because that's how you were raised.

11:03
We all know your dad so well and and and the legacy that that he has left this area, this region and and really the state.

11:11
Talk a little bit about living in the House of Jack Reed senior and you can tell a funny story too, but just learning leadership from him.

11:20
Well, I, you know, I think it was osmosis.

11:23
You know, more than any anyone thing, although I have, I have lots of stories about Malachi.

11:29
I'll share one in a second.

11:30
But he he, he actually his robot was his father, Bob Reed, my grandfather.

11:37
I mean, he didn't get married till he was my grandfather didn't get married till he was 40.

11:41
He was just opening a new business in 19 O 5 as a young man from Tilden, Itawamba County.

11:48
He worked hard.

11:49
He helped found the hospital and was the first chairman of the hospital for 18 years as a volunteer.

11:55
I found the Boy Scouts counsel here.

11:58
So my dad saw him and he saw his, the, the joy he got out of, of being part of, of good things in the community.

12:08
So he just picked up that baton and, and ran with it his own way.

12:12
And he was, you know, we all have opportunities that we can pass him by or pick him up.

12:18
And one of his opportunities was the successful integration of, of the state of Mississippi back in the 60s.

12:25
And dad was a real hero in that.

12:27
I mean, he was, he was the at his funeral, William Winter said.

12:30
He, his voice was the most significant speech in in the history of Mississippi's civil rights movement from a white person saying we need to do the right thing.

12:42
And so after that, he got a lot of opportunities to go around the state as well as here.

12:46
And, and I'm so proud of the Tupelo community, which never formed a white racist Academy.

12:52
That's why 90% of the people plus still go to public schools here.

12:56
97 I believe it is.

12:58
Yeah.

12:58
That's a ripple effect from that.

13:00
Just I mean, there are very few cities in in Mississippi that that don't have, you know, a very large private Academy.

13:06
So.

13:08
So, yeah, I got to say I'd ride with him.

13:10
He'd go make speeches.

13:11
Sometimes I would go, right.

13:13
I'll tell you one funny leadership story.

13:15
Go quickly about him.

13:16
I when I came back in the store, I walked in his office and you may remember Jay, he wore glasses.

13:21
He was sitting in his desk.

13:22
And I said, Dad, I think we ought to try this.

13:23
And he said, you know, I thought that was a good idea.

13:25
But a couple years ago we tried that.

13:27
We just lost money on it.

13:28
We were just, And so trying to compliment him into agreeing with me, I said, well, you know, Dad, you're just a futurist.

13:33
You know, I think, I think we're just early on that.

13:35
I think we, he said, no.

13:36
He said, we honestly gave it a good try.

13:38
We just lost money on it.

13:40
And I said, well, Dad, he took his glasses off and he looked at he said, son, I don't know why in the world you left a job that paid you to argue to come over here and do it with me for free every damn day.

13:53
So so his sense of humor help too.

13:56
I'll say that any leader that that can really show a sense of humor, particularly a self deprecated sense of humor goes a long way.

14:05
Judge, you've got that talent too.

14:06
But really, I've tried to do that.

14:07
All the speeches I give, I write little notes to myself with little sunshine, you know, to intersperse cheerful pieces of a speech just to get people's interest.

14:18
I really recommend that people.

14:21
People don't like to follow a sour pessimist, you know, chew you out kind of.

14:26
I mean, I believe in the carrot a lot more than stick.

14:29
Yeah, yeah.

14:31
Taylor will probably ask you about you and CDF, but going with your dad still.

14:36
He was chairman.

14:37
I think back in Let me look at my notes 1968 but was involved in CDF well before that kind of talk about your dad and CDF.

14:45
Well he was he my and my grandfather are are part of the founding members of CDF and they again, they just both believe that a rising tide lifts all ships.

14:57
And this was in an article in the paper this week, I think about 120th anniversary.

15:02
But we've always believed what's good for Tupelo is good for reads.

15:06
It's up to us to be smart enough to take advantage of these jobs that that CDF helps bring in.

15:12
We're not asking for personal, you know, favors, but we need to, we need to earn it.

15:17
But we believe that.

15:19
And yeah, Dad was a lot.

15:20
He was, he was on the executive committee this before they had these rotational requirements.

15:26
He was on the executive committee of the CDF for over 50 years, one meeting a month for 50 years.

15:31
And he was one of the founders of the Create Foundation, one of the four founders of the Create Foundation.

15:37
And he was on the Create board for 60 years.

15:40
So he he believed in your presence, being part of being services community, not just, you know, mailing in a yes or no, I approve or don't approve.

15:51
He really believed in taking the time to listen and be part of a constructive conversation.

15:57
So the so the deliverable they are on leadership is don't just do, but actually show action with it as well.

16:03
Present.

16:04
Yeah, I think you just got to be there.

16:05
You know, you go to a church when the minister could give a great sermon, but the only 25 people there, you know, that's not reaching that many people.

16:13
I mean, part of part of responsibility, I think as leaders is to be be present.

16:19
Well here at CDF, you know, we, we want to train people in, in leadership and show leadership in our community.

16:26
And that's what we stand on creating more and better jobs for Tupelo.

16:29
So why would you tell someone to join CDF?

16:34
Well, I think it's, I think it's their benefit.

16:36
I think it's a mutual benefit.

16:38
I think they will benefit from it both personally and hopefully professionally.

16:42
And I know that the again, the numbers help.

16:46
I mean, the more shoulders to the wheel, the stronger organization CDF is.

16:50
I think we've proven that we deserve their their dues, whatever there is affordable for them and whatever place they are in their career.

17:00
Jack, y'all have always been very supportive at night.

17:02
We started at night and and 2018 and then I believe you've been doing the bookstore for US ever since then.

17:09
So all these speakers that come can sell their books there.

17:12
Why is leadership development important?

17:14
I mean, you're very involved in CLI as well.

17:17
You're on the steering committee for that.

17:18
And why is it important as as Taylor said, to continue to train these leaders?

17:24
Well, I, in fact, I, the reason I agreed to lead the Reach campaign, the first one was because the Ignite conference, honestly, more than anything else, I realize that was just a, a, a hole in our opportunities here.

17:41
And I would go around the country to my retail seminars or civic seminars and, and I'd hear these great speakers and I would take notes.

17:51
I'm a real note taker now.

17:52
And I would come back to our staff meetings and I would share those things.

17:56
And I said, we need more people that can afford to hear these great people, have them come to us rather than us send 600 people to Atlanta or Nashville or somewhere.

18:06
So the the Ignite campaign was the main reason I agreed to cheer the reach broader effort.

18:12
And I really think it's absolutely been successful in what I was hoping it would do.

18:16
I mean, I still, you know, I still take notes every year.

18:20
I took took notes this year trying to apply them to our job.

18:24
I think it's a wonderful opportunity and and really a an unusual advantage for a town our size have this quality of leaders come.

18:31
That's one reason we have the book stored so people can, you know, they get an hour speech, but after your hilarious, sometimes hilarious interludes, but but with their books, they can, you know, underline, take it with them and everything.

18:46
So, so yes, I really I'm proud of big ****.

18:50
You know, you bring up a good point because I got your book that you wrote from the notes you took in your Bible at church.

18:57
So kind of talk about as a leader, why it's important to to write those notes and actually take them down.

19:03
Well, just for me, I do not have a photographic memory.

19:08
I don't know how many of you listening public do, but I just you know, I remember them better if I bring them down.

19:18
And also it just helps me pay attention with gives me a little more clarity on what what's really important.

19:23
That's being said.

19:25
I also doodle a lot, which I like to do.

19:29
I don't know if it has any benefit or not.

19:31
Just some people doodle and some people don't.

19:33
But I think that those you know, those opportunities again, we just need to take one thing.

19:39
I will say this, I've always tried to take advantage of my opportunities where I go.

19:44
If I'm in New York and I've got an extra afternoon, I'm going to try to see a matinee play, you know, or if I'm in Chicago, I'm and I've got 2 hours, I'm going to go to the Chicago Art Museum.

19:53
I mean, I try to take advantage of the opportunities like TCT.

19:58
I've been a well, at least it helped with the fundraising campaign to buy the lyric.

20:04
Now they're doing another one.

20:05
But I mean just that, you know, 40 years ago, 50 years, I mean we I do, I just believe it at the Symphony the.

20:11
Participate I just believe in in taking advantage of our opportunities and the it's a big wide world out there.

20:17
I believe in talking to people in the elevator, you know, my, my kids.

20:21
So Mr.

20:22
Friendly.

20:22
I believe in talking to the Uber driver, you know, Hey, where are you from?

20:25
Wow.

20:25
Wow.

20:26
You know, Ubekistan.

20:27
I, I haven't been there.

20:28
Tell me about it.

20:30
You know, life's not long enough.

20:32
Some occasionally one day you say I can't wait till this day is over.

20:35
But generally speaking, you know, there are a big wide world out there and I'm still excited about the you know, I'm still curious how I want to be a part of more.

20:46
I want to hell, I want to do a better job for our store.

20:48
It's not easy there.

20:49
There are very few stores like ours still in America.

20:52
People come every day that every week, particularly if they're on the weekends, they're here for a sports or swim meet or something or concert like this weekend.

21:00
God, there used to be a store like this in our town in Nebraska or Georgia or Kentucky.

21:06
And so it's hard.

21:07
Beating an independent retailers is not an easy challenge these days.

21:11
So I need to be a good thinker and I need to be developing a good bench to help me be a good thinker.

21:18
That's good.

21:18
That's good.

21:19
Taylor, did you write a note for that?

21:20
I should have Jack, Thank you.

21:23
I mean, great, great information and and and great thoughts that we got out of that.

21:28
And we appreciate you being on the at night cast podcast and thank you for what you do for for us at CDF, but what you do for the community as well.

21:37
My pleasure.

21:48
Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Ignite Cast presented by iHeartMedia.

21:53
For more leadership insights and engaging conversations, be sure to hit subscribe.

21:58
And if you enjoyed today's episode, we'd love for you to leave a review and remember, go forward and do good things.