Mike Veeck
Author, Co-Owner of Several Minor-League Baseball Clubs, Restaurateur, Citadel Professor, Philanthropist and Founder of Fun Is Good – Employee Engagement Consultancy
Mike Veeck was raised by a man who was inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame for taking care of customers and brining fun and entertainment to all. Bill Veeck taught Mike at a young age that creating a work culture that encourages “out of the box” creativity can lead to massive accomplishments (i.e. integration of African-Americans into the American League ) and historic failures (i.e. helping end Disco and instigating a riot). In his keynote presentations, Mike shares stories of his successes and disappointments and demonstrates that every good idea starts with passion and purpose. His humorous stories are laced with multiple actionable lessons for your workplace and personal life.
Mike Veeck is a nationally renowned speaker, entrepreneur, college professor, marketing, promotions and advertising expert as well as an owner of several successful minor league baseball teams. His name is synonymous with fun and creativity and he continues to blaze new trails each year. Who else would train a pig to deliver baseballs to the umpire, hire mimes to perform instant replays or lock fans out of the stadium to set an all-time attendance record for fewest people at a game?
It is with the belief that anything is possible and fun is crucial to success that Mike runs his companies. His Saint Paul Saints have become a model organization and along with this culture of fun, it’s their willingness to take creative risks, forge innovative partnerships and deliver outstanding customer care that proves to be the positive difference that leads to success. It’s no surprise then that SNL alum and film guy Bill Murray (a co-owner and partner with Mike in a number of ventures) serves as Team Psychologist / Director of Fun. Murray is sometimes seen taking tickets, selling programs, coaching third base and giving noogies. Fans love the positive vibe, family feel and great customer service they get at the ballparks! This business philosophy has garnered national attention, with Mike being featured on NBC Nightly News, 60 Minutes, HBO Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, ESPN Sports Center and many other national media outlets.
With his teams practicing all this fun and passion in the workplace, providing great customer care, exceeding aggressive sales goals and gaining national attention for his creative promotions and partnerships, Mike decided to highlight his coworkers and tell these stories in his book – Fun Is Good! In response to the success of the book and organizations asking to learn more of this philosophy, Mike created the consulting company of the same name, Fun Is Good. He and his team lead entertaining seminars, training sessions and keynote speeches across the country. Mike is a highly sought after speaker, allowing him the privilege of working with many companies each year, including 3M, The NBA, Deluxe Corporation, General Mills and NASCAR, to name just a few.
Mike and his wife, Libby, reside in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. He is the father or two children, William “Night Train” and Rebecca.
FUN IS GOOD – HOW TO CREATE JOY & PASSION IN YOUR WORKPLACE & CAREER
Mike Veeck believes that anything is possible and that passion drives performance!
“When we can find our joy and passion, great things happen, in our work world and also in our personal lives,” says Veeck. This makes such perfect sense, yet it’s so hard to put into practice. Mike’s humorous messages provide meaningful and actionable lesson in the areas of:
• customer care
• leadership development
• creativity and innovation
• community and media relations
• and of course, … FUN
Mike Veeck’s personal stories of passion driving perseverance are inspirational and motivating!
CREATE A THRIVING AND FUN BUSINESS WITH DIVERSITY AND EQUITY
“Organic diversity and equity happens when passion is the driving factor or motivation for the things you do … you don’t see the differences in people or ideas as obstacles.” – Mike Veeck
Mike Veeck, his family and his teams embrace many kinds of diversity; diversity of thoughts and ideas, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and physical challenges. While all of this is deliberate, it comes from a culture of passion and curiosity, as well as respect for seeing peoples’ strengths, not their limitations. This, of course, leads to a diverse team filled with rich ideas and a willingness to embrace change. During this keynote message, Mike shares remarkable personal stories reminding us, that to be considered equal, we may all need something different to bring us to a level playing field.