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Leadership Conversations
The Leadership Breakfast Series
Twice a year, Allen Austin convenes a select group of senior executives to hear from leaders who have built, transformed, and sustained high-performing organizations. Not panels. Not keynotes. Candid conversations about what leadership actually requires.
About the Series
A room of operators, and one honest conversation.
Each breakfast brings together CEOs, board members, founders and senior executives from across Houston for a single conversation with a leader who has done the work: run a company, turned one around, built a culture that outperformed. Rob Andrews hosts; the guest talks about what actually happened, including the parts that went wrong.
Attendance is by invitation and kept deliberately small so the conversation stays candid. Sessions run about ninety minutes over breakfast, with time for questions and for the people in the room to meet one another.
Presented by Allen Austin with WoodRock & Co., Crowe, and Tanglewood Legacy Advisors.
Past Sessions
The leaders who have joined us.
Recordings are posted where the speaker has agreed to share the conversation.
Spring 2026
Pattye Moore
Board Member, ONE Gas & QuikTrip · Former President, Sonic · Former Chairman & CEO, Red Robin
“Relational vs. Transactional Leadership”
Fall 2025
Michele McNichol
CEO, Arion
“Courage, Authenticity, and Purpose”
Spring 2025
Scott McClelland
Former President, H-E-B
“Culture, People, and Why the Means Matter”
Fall 2024
John McCollough
CEO, James Avery Artisan Jewelry
“Leading Ahead of the Curve”
Spring 2024
Bob Aylward
Senior Advisor, Allen Austin · Former CEO, Jones & Carter
“Becoming a Leader That People Want to Follow”
Fall 2023
Bill Higgs
Founding Partner, Mustang Engineering · Senior Advisor, Allen Austin
“What Is Your Culture Actually Costing You?”
Request an invitation
Tell us who you are and we’ll let you know when the next session is scheduled. Invitations go to senior executives, board members and founders; seats are limited.
What to Expect
Ninety minutes worth your morning.
Twice a year, Houston.Spring and fall, breakfast hour, at a central Houston venue. Dates are announced to the invitation list first.
No pitch.The sponsors host the room. Nobody sells anything, and the conversation is off the record unless the speaker agrees to a recording.
The right room.Peers who run organizations, not vendors. Most guests return, and many bring a colleague.
From the TPL Insights archive