Powered by Volunteers: Wesley Sinor and Jeff Hayes

Danielle Grossman 00:02
Today on Mission Rodeo, I’m joined by Wesley Sinor and Chairman of the Board Jeff Hayes, a board member on our executive committee. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is truly one of a kind-one of the only organizations of our size run by so many dedicated volunteers. And today we dive into what their role will be at the new agricultural complex on Highway 288. All right, gentlemen. Welcome to the podcast. We are so excited to have you. How are you? We’re

Jeff Hayes 00:26
Great. Thank you for the invitation.

Wesley Sinor 00:28
Thanks for having us. Thanks for doing the podcast.

Danielle Grossman 00:30
Of course. Thank you for coming back, Wesley Signor, our Chairman of the Board.

Wesley Sinor 00:33
I’m going to do every one.

Danielle Grossman 00:36
I would love it. You’re always welcome to the podcast. Thank you. We have lots to talk about, you know. And we have Jeff Hayes here. Welcome.

Jeff Hayes 00:43
Good morning.

Danielle Grossman 00:43
Member of our executive. Yeah, well, a member of our executive committee. So we have two very established gentlemen with us to talk about all things rodeo. But before we dive in, we’re gonna have some fun, right? Because we like to have fun here, right? So I’m gonna ask you some really fun questions to just loosen it up. First of all, Tex-Mex or barbecue? Go.

Wesley Sinor 01:00
Oh, Tex-Mex.

Jeff Hayes 01:01
Tex-Mex all the way.

Danielle Grossman 01:03
Really?

Jeff Hayes 01:03
Oh, easy, easy question.

Danielle Grossman 01:04
I know it is easy.

Jeff Hayes 01:05
A little harder.

Danielle Grossman 01:05
Breakfast tacos all day, every day for me.

Wesley Sinor 01:08
You had made breakfast tacos. Although I didn’t see any this morning, so

Danielle Grossman 01:11
sorry.

Wesley Sinor 01:12
Yeah.

Jeff Hayes 01:12
Next episode.

Danielle Grossman 01:13
Let’s make a note, y’all. Yes. Let’s get some breakfast tacos next episode. Okay. I do love good Tex-Mex. All right, next one. Early bird or night owl? Go.

Jeff Hayes 01:21
Early bird.

Wesley Sinor 01:22
Wish I could be early bird, but night owl.

Danielle Grossman 01:23
I know.

Jeff Hayes 01:24
Don’t call him before 8:30 in the morning.

Danielle Grossman 01:26
Really?

Jeff Hayes 01:27
No, not a morning guy.

Danielle Grossman 01:28
What time do you get up?

Wesley Sinor 01:29
Well, actually, I get up at.. That’s not true. There’s another reason. But

Jeff Hayes 01:34
You can call him late. Just don’t call him super early.

Wesley Sinor 01:36
That is true.

Danielle Grossman 01:37
That’s okay.

Wesley Sinor 01:37
Um, seven… eight.

Danielle Grossman 01:39
That’s pretty good. Eight, wow.

Wesley Sinor 01:42
Oh, I’m ready to come nine or 10 if I need to.

Danielle Grossman 01:43
Wow I’m jealous.

Jeff Hayes 01:44
I’m ready for lunch at eight a.m. He’s just getting out of bed.

Danielle Grossman 01:45
Jealous.

Jeff Hayes 01:46
But he works really late.

Danielle Grossman 01:48
That’s true. That’s true, right?

Jeff Hayes 01:49
He puts in the hours, no doubt.

Danielle Grossman 01:50
Exactly. All right. So, do you have any hidden talents, any of you?

Jeff Hayes 01:55
No, I have zero.

Danielle Grossman 01:56
Really? You can’t think of anything like

Jeff Hayes 01:58
No musical talent. Oh no, I really don’t. No musical talents. Do you, Wes?

Danielle Grossman 02:03
Even something silly. Do you any talent?

Wesley Sinor 02:05
So the other day we were at the FFA convention and we went around the room and asked all the kids to tell us your hidden talent. And I said something at the time, and then I thought, wow! I bet I thought about something this morning. I have built my own house.

Danielle Grossman 02:18
What?

Wesley Sinor 02:19
Yes.

Danielle Grossman 02:19
You built your own house

Wesley Sinor 02:20
Out at my farm. I built my house.

Danielle Grossman 02:22
Stop it!

Jeff Hayes 02:22
He did.

Wesley Sinor 02:23
Yep.

Danielle Grossman 02:23
With your own hands.

Wesley Sinor 02:24
My own hands. I had some help, but

Danielle Grossman 02:26
but that’s incredible.

Wesley Sinor 02:27
I was the one doing it.

Jeff Hayes 02:29
Did you have a plan, or did you start?

Wesley Sinor 02:31
Well, I’m an engineer, so yes, I had I had plans. I did my own drawings.

Jeff Hayes 02:35
A full set of plans? Drawings?

Jeff Hayes 02:35
Yup I did it all.

Danielle Grossman 02:36
You laid the bricks, did the plumbing, or do you have a plumber come out?

Wesley Sinor 02:38
No bricks, plumbing, yes.

Danielle Grossman 02:40
You did the plumbing.

Wesley Sinor 02:41
Electrical, carpentry, everything.

Danielle Grossman 02:43
Is this also why you’re so passionate about vocational scholarships and vocational support?

Wesley Sinor 02:47
Yeah, because when I grew up

Danielle Grossman 02:48
Because you’re so into it and you understand it.

Wesley Sinor 02:50
My dad, like we were talking about, my dad and grandfather both were you know really good working with their hands. So I just learned that as a kid. That was natural. I mean, I was doing all that stuff as a teenager. So to do it on my own on my own property, kind of like we’re doing with 288.

Danielle Grossman 03:04
Yeah

Wesley Sinor 03:05
Yeah. So it was just natural to do it.

Danielle Grossman 03:07
That’s so great. Have you built anything before?

Jeff Hayes 03:10
No, I’d rather call a professional like Wesley to do it.

Danielle Grossman 03:12
Absolutely

Jeff Hayes 03:12
I know my limits, my patience. But I will say to his credit, I’ve been at his farm a lot of times, and beautiful place, and what he’s built. It’s iconic and kind of a true horse property, and it shows his passion for our culture and horsemanship and all horse activities. So it’s it’s still standing 25 years later.

Wesley Sinor 03:29
Yeah

Jeff Hayes 03:29
Job well done.

Danielle Grossman 03:30
You must be so proud of it.

Wesley Sinor 03:31
I am. It managed a few hurricanes. Yeah.

Danielle Grossman 03:33
Wow. I told my husband I was painting the bathroom, and he went ahead and did it without telling me because he was so nervous that I would mess it up. But that’s where I’m at.

Jeff Hayes 03:40
Smart husband.

Danielle Grossman 03:41
Exactly. He cringes when I say I’m going to Lowe’s. So.

Wesley Sinor 03:44
So painting is not your hidden talent.

Danielle Grossman 03:46
Not so much. I’ll stick to my day job. So awesome. Okay, so let’s get into why we’re here. We’re going to talk a little bit of business, but this is fun business, right? We’re talking about our volunteers today, and our agricultural complex that we’re building at Highway 288, 1 million square feet, absolutely incredible. We’re all very excited, but this didn’t happen overnight. There was a lot of work, a lot of people that went into this decision. Let’s talk about the volunteers. What role did they play in making this come to life, Wesley?

Wesley Sinor 04:15
Yeah, so we of course we hired architects, we hired Clay Development, we had builders, Professionals, consultants, but also we we had leaders from different committees that will be working in that facility, and they helped us design. They helped us with traffic flow. We had Breeders Greeters that Jeff was on and over. They helped us figure out traffic flow around the buildings to make loading and unloading so much quicker, so much easier. Same thing on the horse side. We had all the horse committees that helped us out. So it was really a volunteer-led effort to make those buildings again world class.

Jeff Hayes 04:51
I think to Wesley’s point too, the collaboration among not only committee leaders but just the the knowledge base. And as you know, we have a lot of positive. We also have. Some negatives, and so we could take we’ve learned from this facility here and really go fix the kinks. I think it’s really going to improve for not only our volunteer base the experience, but also the end of the day, it’s our exhibitors. I mean, we’re in the hospitality and the customer service business. I think the 288 project we really have that as our end goal is how do we make the experience for the volunteer, but more importantly, our exhibitors world class and best in class. I think when you see it, I think I think they’re gonna have that that feeling, and our goal was achieved.

Danielle Grossman 05:27
So making this experience world class, best in class. We need the help of our village, our 36,000 volunteers. Dive into what role they’re gonna play on the property during our 20-day event, and how much we are gonna need their help to make this happen.

Wesley Sinor 05:41
Oh, absolutely. I mean, we need their we need their help here on this property. We’ll be expanding down to 288, so we’re going to need their help. We’re going to need the committee’s help. We’re probably adding spaces on a lot of committees. There’ll be a lot of opportunity to more opportunity to volunteer, and certainly more opportunity to move up through the rodeo and assume leadership responsibility or leadership positions. So, there’s this this this project is really dependent on volunteers to make it world class.

Jeff Hayes 06:11
I think also to add to that, we have to our breadth of our volunteer base from expertise and their professional lives. As Wesley said earlier, we’ve leaned on that. We’re going to lean on even more, and as he said, it’s going to create new opportunities, new committees, and so I’m excited about that. Is just bringing in new talent, and also as he mentioned, helping elevate the existing talent through the ranks of leadership. And to answer your question, addition, I think it really it’s important on our current vice presidents as well as committee chairmen to help pass the information down and to engage our commitment at all levels, because it’s going to take, as you said, a team effort for this to come off the way we want to, given the economic impact and what we’ve spent on this project.

Danielle Grossman 06:48
Yeah, and talking about the skills of our volunteers, I mean, this is a huge volunteer base. I don’t think there’s a volunteer base as large anywhere in the world. I would say 36,000 is an incredible number, and the skills that all these volunteers, like Wesley here, who can build a house from scratch, but folks who can do all kinds of things, right? So talk about more about how we’re leaning into our volunteers and their skills outside of rodeo and using it to our advantage to help us propel into the future.

Wesley Sinor 07:15
Yeah, we’ve just started last year our skills database that we’re documenting what skills a volunteer can offer, and that’s really helped our show that we can lean on them for expertise that maybe we didn’t know about. Because with 36,000 volunteers, we don’t know everyone, but we’re able to look and see who has those expertise to make the show even better.

Jeff Hayes 07:34
I think we also have found relationships because we’re we’re involved in a public-private partnership, as you know, here at Energy Park and the center, as well as 288, and so we’ve had to lean on our volunteers and their political connections, their relationships throughout the industry, especially the development construction side. So it’s it really, as he said, it’s a well-rounded knowledge base that we’re having to tap into at a level that we never had before, honestly.

Danielle Grossman 07:57
So if you were talking to the volunteers or a volunteer and they feel uncertain about what the future looks like for their role, their involvement in rodeo. What would you say to them? Put their mind at ease about 2029 when we open the doors over at the Agricultural Complex.

Wesley Sinor 08:12
I think it’s going to be a world -class. It’s going to be, it’s going to be such a phenomenal facility that I think they’re going to want to work at it. Believe it or not, I mean, we’ll have clubs there. We’ll have food options. They’ll have their committee tent. So maybe a you know, as we’re expanding there, they may be expanding their committee tent down to 288. So just to make them feel at home, have a home base. So I think it’s going to be a desirable place to want to work a shift.

Jeff Hayes 08:41
As I mentioned earlier, we’re in the hospitality business, so we recognize we have to deliver. As he said, best in class. We have to raise a bar. What we’ve done for the last 95 years is not going to be good enough in five years, and so we’ve taken that upon us. And these are legacy decisions we’re making. And as Wesley said, I think we’re going to create a place of enjoyment, excitement and energy. The volunteers, our exhibitors are going to want to be there. I truly believe that, and so that’s our job to deliver, as he said, best in class, and I’m confident we will.

Danielle Grossman 09:08
So I think there are a lot of folks in Houston and the surrounding community. I mean, people come from all over the country, honestly, to volunteer here, but we don’t have a, I would say, a lot of volunteer openings every year because we have so many great people dedicated to this organization, and a lot of the highly coveted committees are always full, right? Like wine committee, wine garden, those types of things. Do you see growth in those specific committees and the need for more people to come volunteer? Like, do we are we going to have a wine garden at this new location, or are we going to expand other committees’ opportunities to grow, not just with the folks, but with what we can offer the community.

Wesley Sinor 09:46
Sure, whether it’s a wine garden or a beer garden, we’ll have really two livestock shows going on two 288 and here. So all of those committees associated with livestock shows, breeders, greeters, the livestock. Committee, transportation, health and safety,

Jeff Hayes 10:03
horsepitality

Wesley Sinor 10:04
all the horsepiatality committees, all of those will have to grow to be able to accommodate two different campuses. So there’ll be a lot of opportunities, and like you said, I came up through gatekeepers, and you know we always had openings, and now they I think two or three years ago they started their first wait list because people wanted to get on them. So a lot of those big committees, whereas Greeders is another one that’s always had a wait list, but now as they grow, it should be easier to find a volunteer position.

Danielle Grossman 10:31
These committees are a part of people’s family history. These committees, you know, make a difference in people’s lives. They meet their spouses. An example,

Wesley Sinor 10:40
As I did

Danielle Grossman 10:41
Wesley Sinor. So, just talk about for those listening, maybe that don’t know as much about our volunteers, the commitment, and the committees, and how you can become a part of it.

Jeff Hayes 10:51
I think, as you said, it’s a way of life. I think it starts with our families, whether it’s grandparents or friends and family, co-workers. You know, at our our office, we’re a small boutique real estate company, it’s almost an unwritten rule that you’re going to be involved in rodeo, and it’s it’s not a mandate, but it’s an expectation because I’ve seen firsthand what the show does from a friendship, from a leadership standpoint, leadership development programs we’re involved in. It’s just, and as you mentioned earlier, giving back to community, it’s a great way. I also believe it needs to be 60% fun and 40% work. We have a job to do, and so we take that very seriously. And so I think with this new 288 complex, Wesley said, there’ll be more, bigger, and better opportunities for volunteers.

Danielle Grossman 11:31
The complex itself, because you both have been in multiple committees, you’ve committed so much of your time, so many hours of your life to this incredible organization. How does it make you feel that this is happening? This is coming to fruition, and you’ve watched so many iterations of this organization over the past few decades.

Wesley Sinor 11:48
Yeah, we’ve well, we’ve been planning this almost for a decade, but really got serious about five years ago, and so we put so much into it, and we are so proud of it. So it’s exciting now that we get to talk about it, and then that we get to start bragging about it to the world.

Jeff Hayes 12:04
I think it was Jim Wynnie sent it best. Guys, we have a chance to make a legacy decision and put a stake in the ground.

Wesley Sinor 12:10
Stake in the ground.

Jeff Hayes 12:10
So I think for all of us, we take it seriously. Wesley said we’re excited. It’s a lot of time and effort, as you mentioned But now it’s game time. We’ve been practicing. Let’s go. Yeah. So that’s what gets us excited.

Danielle Grossman 12:21
I mean, we’re a part of history. Literally, this is legacy decisions.

Jeff Hayes 12:24
Yes

Danielle Grossman 12:24
Very cool.

Jeff Hayes 12:25
Yes, ma’am.

Wesley Sinor 12:25
And this happens every 30 or 40 years at the rodeo, and here we are. So

Danielle Grossman 12:31
I know

Wesley Sinor 12:31
we put stake in the ground.

Danielle Grossman 12:32
It’s a transformational time. Okay, so I have to ask you: Do you have one volunteer story that has stuck with you? Maybe it’s a story about someone you know that met someone, or someone’s life was changed personally. I know that there was a volunteer that had a kidney donated to them by someone they didn’t even know, but was a rodeo volunteer. Those are the types of stories that resonate that make you realize, wow, this is a family. Do you have any of those stories that you could tell us about right now?

Wesley Sinor 13:01
Well, I can say the person that got me involved in the Rodeo, he met his wife here, and I met my wife here. So that’s very the show is very special to me because of that.

Jeff Hayes 13:10
I think I think I’ve experienced several situations with our concert, our you know big acts, where I know one instance I was in with a meet and greet with Garth Brooks and a young lady from Cypress was in line with me. We started talking and kind of, and actually was Michael Kelly, his neighbor, and she was one of Garth’s oldest, dearest friends and hadn’t seen each other in 40 years, and so the odds. And so as we approached and got closer, and she stood there, and Garth was like Sarah, and it was like his oldest, dearest friend, and so just to see that the human side of a major act like a Garth Brooks, a lifelong friend, and so to me that was something. I also have one more experience. Also, this was Lainey Wilson, a young girl had terminal cancer, and Lainey Wilson is her favorite singer. And to see the time and the the private setting that Lanie dedicated this young girl was really really special.

Danielle Grossman 14:03
Some of these country music acts are incredible. These artists, they are they truly are storytellers. They are just so human, and I think it helps with our show because we are community. We are you know we want that human connection. We provide that to our community, right?

Jeff Hayes 14:20
Well they embrace the lifestyle. A lot of them grow up in agricultural setting, like Lainey did. Obviously, Garth did, and so it’s in their roots. A lot of them showed animals, have horses, run cattle. They’re involved in agriculture and the outdoors, and so it’s personal for them too. Which obviously, that’s the backbone of our our show.

Danielle Grossman 14:36
So for volunteers or folks in our community who want to be a volunteer, right? So for the next two years, 24 months-crazy! Can you say that out loud? That’s crazy. 24 months

Wesley Sinor 14:45
That’s right around the corner.

Danielle Grossman 14:46
I know, but there’s going to be opportunity for people to volunteer, and we’re going to need those people, right?

Jeff Hayes 14:50
Yes, totally.

Danielle Grossman 14:52
Yes. So tell your friends, tell your family. There’s going to be more information, and of course, they can go to our website rodeohouston.com to learn more. We’re always going to update the website with volunteer information, of course, information on our agricultural complex as well.

Wesley Sinor 15:05
Yeah, you can go there and volunteer on committee, put yourself on a wait list, join the show first of all, and then of course we’ll have all the information, timelines, and everything for the new facility.

Danielle Grossman 15:16
Yeah,

Jeff Hayes 15:16
I guarantee it’ll be life changing. You join the show, it’ll change your life.

Danielle Grossman 15:20
Yeah, it’s a family you didn’t know you needed, but you do need it. That’s right. Exactly. I know. Guys, this is awesome, but we’re gonna have some more fun questions really quick before we go. Okay, what movie do you enjoy quoting the most?

Wesley Sinor 15:32
Well, I just happened to watch Anchorman last night.

Danielle Grossman 15:34
Oh, that is my favorite

Wesley Sinor 15:36
For the 10th time. So that’s kind of stuck in my head now.

Jeff Hayes 15:40
Caddyshack, hands down.

Danielle Grossman 15:41
That’s a good one.

Wesley Sinor 15:42
Yeah, as a golfer, I’d probably say Caddyshack too.

Jeff Hayes 15:45
Classic.

Danielle Grossman 15:45
Yeah, and they don’t make movies like they used to. You know, like the Anchorman’s and the Talladega Nights and the the comedies.

Wesley Sinor 15:51
Talladega Nights. Yeah

Danielle Grossman 15:52
That’s a good one. They don’t. I feel like…

Jeff Hayes 15:54
Hae you started watching The Hawk.

Danielle Grossman 15:56
No, is it funny?

Jeff Hayes 15:57
Yes, I’ve watched first four episodes. Awesome.

Danielle Grossman 15:59
Is it?

Jeff Hayes 15:59
Yes, I had that cheerless, The Hawk, with oh my gosh,

Danielle Grossman 16:03
Will Ferrell.

Jeff Hayes 16:04
Will Ferrell, thank you.

Danielle Grossman 16:04
He’s hilarious

Jeff Hayes 16:05
Well, he’s a professional golfer, comeback. It’s it’s classic,

Danielle Grossman 16:06
and it’s a show, it’s not a movie?

Jeff Hayes 16:10
It’s a series on Netflix.

Danielle Grossman 16:11
Okay cool. I’m gonna watch that. Do you have anything that you are watching right now?

Wesley Sinor 16:15
I’ve been traveling a lot, and I have to keep a spreadsheet of the 100 shows. So you

Jeff Hayes 16:20
You think he’s an engineer.

Jeff Hayes 16:21
They’re all they’re all kind of running together.

Danielle Grossman 16:24
So funny! I just got back from a cruise actually, and I saw that there was the documentary that came out about the cruise that capsized. Did you see?

Jeff Hayes 16:31
Oh yes, I saw.

Wesley Sinor 16:32
I haven’t watched it

Danielle Grossman 16:33
I know it’s crazy.

Wesley Sinor 16:34
That’s almost like watching airplane while you’re on an airplane.

Danielle Grossman 16:38
I didn’t watch it while I was on the cruise, but I saw it when I was on. I was like, I have to watch that when I get off the boat.

Jeff Hayes 16:42
What’s your tip? What are you watching right now?

Danielle Grossman 16:44
What am I watching? I watch. I actually watch like Game of Thrones on HBO. My husband’s into all that.

Jeff Hayes 16:53
Yeah.

Danielle Grossman 16:53
But I don’t know. I don’t really have time for TV. I read more.

Jeff Hayes 16:56
That’s good.

Danielle Grossman 16:56
Yeah, we’re all busy, you know. Well, thank you all so much for coming. We have so much to talk about, so of course we’re going to have you on again in the next few weeks to update folks. There’s an evolving door of information, as you know. You know you’re in planning and stuff, and so we’re excited to share this with the community and answer their questions.

Wesley Sinor 17:15
Thanks for having us. Thanks for putting on the podcast.

Danielle Grossman 17:16
Yeah.

Jeff Hayes 17:16
Yeah. Thank you for hosting. Thank you for the opportunity. This is wonderful.

Danielle Grossman 17:19
Of course, this is a wonderful organization, and I think we’re all just proud to be part of it, right?

Jeff Hayes 17:23
Most definitely.

Danielle Grossman 17:24
All right, we’ll see you next week, guys. Thanks.

Wesley Sinor 17:25
Thank you.