From Vision to Reality: Peter McStravick and Parker Johnson

Danielle Grossman 0:00
Today we’re sitting down with , the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s chief strategic officer, and Parker Johnson, head of our building committee and a member of our executive committee. We’re diving into the backstory of this monumental project at 288. We heard from Chris Boleman and Wesley Sinor about why we’re building this ag facility. Well, today we’re diving into the how. All right, welcome back. We are so excited. We have two amazing gentlemen with us today. Thanks for being here, guys.

Peter McStravick 0:25
Thank you.

Danielle Grossman 0:26
Yes, of course, Peter McStravick, our chief strategic planning officer. Thank you for being here, Peter.

Peter McStravick 0:31
My pleasure.

Danielle Grossman 0:31
And Parker Johnson, of course, our executive committee member and chairman of the building committee. So we are so excited to talk things all agricultural facility today over at 288, but before we dive in, guys, let’s lighten it up. Okay, I have some questions for y’all. We’re gonna do some icebreaker questions. So first things first, I know you have a really long commute. So do I. We talk about it. What do you listen to on your commute?

Peter McStravick 0:57
In the morning, I listen to a little bit of. I switch back and forth between 740 and NPR, so trying to get a balance of all the news.

Danielle Grossman 1:04
Yeah.

Peter McStravick 1:05
But then I also go over to to KPVU because they have gospel on from about 5 a.m. to 7 a.m.

Danielle Grossman 1:13
You know all their programming.

Peter McStravick 1:15
So I so I switch it all back and forth depending on what mood I’m in that at that moment.

Danielle Grossman 1:18
You don’t do Spotify or anything.

Peter McStravick 1:20
No.

Danielle Grossman 1:20
No music.

Peter McStravick 1:21
Well, music on radio, but no. Yeah, but but no.

Danielle Grossman 1:24
It’s okay. Very cool. How about you?

Parker Johnson 1:25
I’m opposite. I’m doing Spotify, throwing that Cody Johnson out there. You know, jamming out, getting where I need to go.

Danielle Grossman 1:34
I love it.

Parker Johnson 1:34
Yeah.

Danielle Grossman 1:35
Yeah, we have long commutes, so I go back and forth too between podcast and music. How do you take your coffee?

Parker Johnson 1:41
I like it black with one Splenda. Pretty simple.

Danielle Grossman 1:44
That is simple.

Peter McStravick 1:46
Mine’s black when I’m at the office, and it’s and it’s blonde at home.

Danielle Grossman 1:51
Okay!

Peter McStravick 1:52
Mm-hmm. A little bit of cream

Danielle Grossman 1:55
And how many cups during rodeo, though? How many cups a day do you drink?

Peter McStravick 1:59
Five to six.

Danielle Grossman 1:59
Five to six a day, that’s a lot.

Peter McStravick 2:04
But I stop at about 1o’clock, though.

Danielle Grossman 2:05
Wait, you drink five or six cups before 1o’clock?

Peter McStravick 2:08
Correct.

Danielle Grossman 2:08
That is very impressive.

Peter McStravick 2:10
It gets me going.

Danielle Grossman 2:12
How about you?

Parker Johnson 2:12
I’m a two cup guy. I mean, you. But he’s over there working out and doing all the right things.

Danielle Grossman 2:18
He gets here really early.

Parker Johnson 2:20
Yeah, he’s up early, so he needs those five cups.

Danielle Grossman 2:22
Energy drinks? Do you drink any of those?

Parker Johnson 2:23
No energy drinks.

Danielle Grossman 2:24
Okay, it’s probably better. Yeah, they’re not good for us. We drink them anyway. And last one, what’s one subject you’d like to learn more about? Say you weren’t in this job.

Peter McStravick 2:36
Really, it’s it’s it’s about the auctions. It’s really understanding how the auctions work financially, and then also really the benefits that go to the students. I mean, it’s part of the mission, but it’s it’s it’s unique to Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, and so that’s why I really love understanding and learning more about that.

Danielle Grossman 2:53
I know I’ve been here now four years almost, and I feel like I still learn something every single year. There’s so much to learn. Maybe outside of rodeo. Is there anything that you’ve wanted to learn?

Peter McStravick 3:04
I am interested in getting ready for retirement, and so you know, yeah. So I need to start learning about cattle and and making sure that I have my ag exemption at home and can take care of if we have some sort of like you know catastrophic event, we can have our own meat and other stuff like that.

Danielle Grossman 3:23
I think about that too sometimes. I was like, if something happens, I don’t have anything saved. How about you?

Parker Johnson 3:29
Well, outside of rodeo, you know, I am doing the cattle work. You can come learn from me and equine side. We breed and show horses, and so I got a full cattle operation. But I want to learn more about on the education side and how you know rodeo can give back into these diverse communities more. And learning about that education side and what it takes for these students and what they have to go through.

Danielle Grossman 3:59
I mean, it’s life changing. We read the essays, you know, from our scholarship recipients, and many of them, nearly 50% first generation college, first generation high school. I mean, it’s life changing what we do. So yeah, that’s a great that’s a great thing to always learn about. It really is. Okay, so now we’re going to get into the main topic: why we’re here today. We have this incredible 1 million square foot agricultural complex that is being built or about to be built over at our property at Highway 288. It is incredible to be a part of this and learn about it and watch the decision making happen. So we had our CEO Chris Boleman on and Wesley Sinor, our chairman of the board, and they talked about why we’re doing this. But this episode, I want to talk about how it came to be. First questions for you, Peter. So, where did we get started on this?

Peter McStravick 4:45
Well, I was hired in 2019. Jim Winnie was chair, and Brady Caruth was incoming chair at that time. And the the goal that they identified for me during the interview process was rodeo needs to control its own destiny, and we need to improve and work on the congestion that we have in the show on an annual basis. And so, with that in mind, in 2019, when I came on board, we started looking at other facilities and then working internally, working with other chiefs and with Chris about really what our needs were and what we were trying to solve and cure here at the show, and so actually Parker and I were just talking before we walked into here, and and our first trip was in I think late 2019, early 2020, and we went to go visit the Kansas Star facility in outside of Wichita, Kansas, and so that really kicked this. That’s that’s when started.

Parker Johnson 5:42
It was it was a great day. We jumped on an airplane. We hit we hit them all in a day. I mean, we went all yes, and then we followed up, went to Las Vegas, South Point, and we we visited several different really unique. Whether it’s Dicky’s Arena, but we we kind of went around and collected all the data on what they’re doing right and where they could improve to make sure that you know we do the right thing when we’re going to build this new facility.

Danielle Grossman 6:10
So those facilities inspired you in a way.

Peter McStravick 6:13
Oh, truly.

Danielle Grossman 6:14
What was one thing you took away from one of those visits?

Peter McStravick 6:17
Well, it’s it’s it’s about that the hospitality is is defined so much broader in those facilities because it’s not just the hospitality for the guests. It’s it’s for it’s for it’s really it’s for the animals. It’s for the contestants. It’s for the volunteers, and you really realize that you’re having to serve so many different constituents. So it’s not like a hotel development where it’s just about the guests per se and the operations.

Danielle Grossman 6:40
Yeah, Peter. I mean, you’ve you’ve spearheaded some significant projects here in Houston, and so, I mean, jazzes you up. You get excited about it. Clearly, you have a passion for it.

Peter McStravick 6:49
I I really do. I will say though, a lot of the I was just the water carrier on a lot of deals, but I’ve I’ve been very grateful to have worked on these successful projects.

Danielle Grossman 6:58
Well, this is very exciting. I’m sure you’re very excited about it too. So let’s talk about when you started, when you made those visits. What happened after that? You went to the drawing board. You said, “Okay, we want this to happen in two years, three years. How did you figure out what the timeline looked like?

Parker Johnson 7:12
Well, first we had to kind of rethink how we’re going to approach this process, and so part of that was we got to get build the foundation. We got to get in front of the volunteers, in front of these committees, and really understand where where they need to be, or what opportunities are they not currently getting, and what they would like to see in the future. And future growth is a big part of RODEOHOUSTON. So we identified all the committees that we thought, whether it was livestock breeders, greeters, or transportation, all of them, and of course the horse show committee, to understand from them if they had no expense, what would it look like, and so we developed a task force, several task forces actually, and brought in brought them in the room. We had workshops, and we really ran through on how they operate. We we got to go around and learn, and during show and outside of show, but during show was really neat because we went down on and followed them around on how they execute day to day, and you know it really showed us at that time what exhibitors go through, and from start to finish. So when they arrive here, they arrive out 288 check in. Well, they were spending hours, days on the road, in lines, and it just took forever for them to actually get moved in here at NRG Park, and we were like, “Wow! I mean, to be an exhibitor, and we we we followed them around. It was just amazing of what they have to go through. It’s not easy, and so Peter and I were like, we got to make some changes, and obviously, what’s going on with the arena? We were challenged through the executive committee for a long-range plan to really focus in on how we could reduce congestion, make a better experience for our exhibitors, and then, of course, deal with the arena that you know has got five years left or whatever. And so, that being said, controlling our own destiny, we evaluated our 610 property. We evaluated our 288 property, and 288 was obviously the place that we needed to be. And so, with that, we put all the teams together and really focused in, collected a lot of data, went around all these other facilities, really focused in on what’s right and what’s wrong, and here we are today.

Danielle Grossman 9:55
And this is a long process. You know, we have two more years, and there’s still a lot of kinks being worked out. Where the light switches go and where the trash cans go, I’m learning too about all of this. But let’s talk a little bit about the process leading up to now, when we’re getting into those little nuances and making those decisions about design and things like that. You know, you’ve been working with a lot of entities, Peter and Parker. Talk about the the community, you know, input and also the folks in our community that have worked with us to make this happen.

Peter McStravick 10:26
From a community standpoint, you know, as Parker was talking about, it’s the volunteers and helping us really understand what what we’re trying to solve from their perspective. But then also, based upon the various guest surveys and and customer surveys that we have, we start also understanding what are we trying to solve here at the park as well that would that would impact our guest, and so collect using all this data has really helped us identify what we need to do to incorporate. Now I will also say, during this five to six year process, we’ve been very fortunate to have Populus and specifically Charlie Caleric, who is one of their principals, and Charlie’s expertise is in equine design, in other words, and also arena design, and so Charlie has has really helped us every year. He has attended the show to help really understand the the operations of the committees, what a what an exhibitor is like, and then also from a guest experience, those who are just attending, and so all that Charlie has helped really bring all that to the table to help us identify and then start incorporating what we wanted to design. I think the other part to this is that Clay Development, Robert Clay, who heads up Clay Development, Robert is a board member. He’s a former officer. He has been around for many, many years with rodeo, and so he too knows all a lot about what we’re trying to accomplish here. And so it’s the input from from those two, plus the task force, the building committee, and then and then on a weekly basis, sometimes just twice a week, we have meetings with all of the other department heads, the other chiefs, showing okay, this is the latest update that the floor plans. What you know? How do we need to tweak? And we we Parker’s in a lot of those meetings too. And so it’s a collaborative effort in really moving that design forward and getting to where we need to go.

Danielle Grossman 12:19
It’s very cool. So talk a little bit more about the timeline. I think, folks, this is a very fast timeline, according to a lot of people, that this is going to be completed in time, hopefully, for our 2029 event. So that’s like two years away. Let’s talk about the remainder of 2026. Is that what we’re in? And what people can expect from construction, and if when we’re going to start seeing things happen on the property.

Parker Johnson 12:44
Most recently, the way we’re going to phase this is first livestock expo facility, then the equestrian facility, and then our center building, which is going to be a claim to Houston Livestock Show and rodeo museums, and it’s going to be really unique. A lot of fun bringing it both those buildings and the contestants together that show in them, and so we, you know, those are going to be state-of-the-art facilities, and you know it’s we’re looking forward. But that that construction timeline is is tight. It is going to be tight. It all has to play the right way. Obviously, we’ve got weather that can that can happen during the construction timeline. But we’re we’re anticipating trying to meet that goal.

Danielle Grossman 13:36
Everyone’s counting down the days. Very excited. How does it feel, both of you to finally be at this point. You’ve been keeping this a secret for like quite a few years. So how does it feel to be able to talk publicly about it? Talk with your friends, your family, and of course the folks that come out to the rodeo.

Parker Johnson 13:52
So I enjoy it because I compete in cutting horse shows, and so I’m traveling around Texas and across U.S. and I get to now brag about it, and so if we’re going to put together a first-class equestrian facility, that’s what Rodeo Houston is going to do. So I’ve been able to now brag about it, and and people are fired up. They love the fact that now they’ll be able to drive up to this facility, park their trailer right there close, RV hookups right there for them, be able to walk in, no, not have the long lines that they’ve been used to in the past, and so they are so excited, even if it’s apart from NRG Park, and we’ve been looking at that, and transportation is going to become a real important part of this, and in how we interact and get people back and forth from NRG Park and 288, and that’s going to happen. And we do our committees do a great job of that, and and they’re going to make it happen.

Danielle Grossman 14:50
Yeah, speaking of committees and volunteers, I mean this could not happen without our 36,000 volunteers and the role that they’re going to play. So we just want to say thank you to all the volunteers out there. What about you?

Peter McStravick 15:02
I think I. I feel much more. I feel better because I’ve not been able to talk to a lot of my my professional friends because I didn’t want to slip, and so and so now I can visit with them, and everyone understands really what what has been the reason I’ve been so quiet about it. But everyone that since we have really come out and started talking about it, since it was announced, it’s just-it’s incredible that you know that everyone that I know professionally, as well as just you know from an acquaintance perspective, is is just not only surprised but they’re really happy, they’re proud for rodeo being able to do this and and having a home for its you know of its own.

Danielle Grossman 15:39
Yeah, and no taxpayer burden. I mean, this is a huge, you know, moment. The community is going to benefit from this in so many ways, and it’s going to be, you know, very low cost to anyone visiting. And so I think that the community’s jazzed up about it. Not only the exhibitors, of course, the people that are going to use it, but the year-round activations. There’s going to be so many great things here.

Peter McStravick 16:01
Well, I think the other part to this too is that it it really it re the situation that we have here without having to have any public financial support is that it demonstrates the fiduciary and and and the role of the executive committee and what they have done with our net income and also with investments and just being very prudent over time and taking advantage of that and be able to do this now, I think is just a it’s a wonderful gift back to the community that rodeo can you know that rodeo can can demonstrate and uphold.

Danielle Grossman 16:34
And a lot of folks don’t realize, but we actually built the what was the Astro Arena you know, and so we donated that to the county, and so I don’t think people realize that. And so, what we do here at the rodeo, we we like to give back.

Peter McStravick 16:47
Well, Daniel, to add more to that, we also rodeo also the you know built and deeded then the Astro Hall, which is 500,000 square feet of conditioned space, and that was the precursor to NRG Center. So, you know, rodeo has demonstrated this over and over for the years. That’s exactly right.

Danielle Grossman 17:03
Yeah, and this is just the next phase, the next chapter, setting up for the next generation, right?

Parker Johnson 17:08
That’s right, and it’s ours.

Danielle Grossman 17:09
It’s ours. Yes, we can do what we want in there. That’s right,

Parker Johnson 17:12
year round!

Danielle Grossman 17:13
Yes, we’re so excited to talk about what could be year round. There’s so much to talk about for that. Okay, this was a great conversation. I think we answered a lot of people’s questions. Of course, we could talk all day about this, right? But we’ll revisit y’all in a few weeks and maybe have another conversation. But I want some more fun, rapid-fire questions. You ready?

Parker Johnson 17:29
You bet.

Peter McStravick 17:29
Go for it!

Danielle Grossman 17:29
Help people get to know you.

What’s the best piece of advice? It can be personal or professional that you’ve ever received.

Peter McStravick 17:37
Have options.

Danielle Grossman 17:38
Have options.

Peter McStravick 17:38
Always have options.

Danielle Grossman 17:39
Oh, have options. That is awesome.

Speaker 1 17:40
Be open-minded is where I was headed.

Danielle Grossman 17:42
Be open-minded. I wonder that those are both very good pieces of advice. What are you most looking forward to the 2027 show?

Peter McStravick 17:52
I am excited about the concert lineup, the entertainer lineup.

Parker Johnson 17:57
Do you know it?

Danielle Grossman 17:58
You had to bring it up!

Peter McStravick 18:00
No! No!

Parker Johnson 18:01
You didn’t tell me.

Danielle Grossman 18:03
Excited too. I don’t know.

Peter McStravick 18:05
It’s always fun.

Danielle Grossman 18:06
great, though, Peter. Like it’s always fantastic.

Peter McStravick 18:08
It’s always, it’s always. But I love the new acts that are that come on, as well as some of the older acts. It’s great.

Danielle Grossman 18:14
Yeah, and people don’t realize too. We have so many other performers throughout the grounds, like in the wine garden and in the hideout, so I mean, there’s just tons of music and places to explore new talent. A lot of the big names perform to whether at you know barbecue or other stages here, so it’s their starting point, right?

Parker Johnson 18:33
Absolutely.

Danielle Grossman 18:34
What about you? What do you most looking forward to?

Parker Johnson 18:35
So I’ve got to be excited about the cutting horse show because we’re changing the format a little bit, and I’ve been involved in it, which I think is going to help grow it and prepare it for the new 288 facility. And so we are having a four-year-old aged event with some jackpot money, and I look forward to competing in it. Hopefully, we win another buckle.

Danielle Grossman 18:59
You text me when you’re going to compete, and I’ll be out there and watch you. Yes. Do you think more people are going to compete in equine and horse show because of the new facility? Do you think it’s going to get people excited to come out?

Parker Johnson 19:08
I think it will. I think it’ll also. It’s it’s a growing industry, right? And so we’ll actually be able to bring in some outside horse shows in the off season at that facility and really utilize it. I mean, when they see a first-class facility, there’s not going to be one like it.

Danielle Grossman 19:23
No.

Parker Johnson 19:24
and so it’s really going to drive people to want to be here.

Danielle Grossman 19:27
It’s going to be so awesome. Thank you all so much for being here. This was a great conversation. We’re excited about it. I know you are.

Peter McStravick 19:34
We are.

Danielle Grossman 19:35
Yeah. All right. More to come. All things rodeo coming up next week. I’ll see you guys later.

Peter McStravick 19:39
Thank you.

Parker Johnson 19:40
Thank you.