‘Zebras and Cheetahs’ to air New Year’s Day on The CW Network
MURFREESBORO — Calling
himself a “coachepreneur,” Middle Tennessee State University alumnus Micheal
Burt is a leadership coach of the highest order — bold, demanding and
encouraging.
An entrepreneur, motivational speaker and author of nine books
on how to improve businesses, Burt is embarking on a journey into the world of
reality television to start the new year. And he’s bringing several MTSU alums
along for the ride.
The pilot episode of Burt’s reality show, “Zebras and
Cheetahs,” will air at 9 a.m. CST Jan. 1 on The CW Network on cable and
satellite providers in the Nashville area. (A teaser of the show can be watched
on YouTube at http://youtu.be/WhGkGWX8XdU.)
Cameras were there earlier this year to chronicle a two-day
leadership boot camp in the Nashville area in which Burt coached five
contestants on “how to look different, run faster and be agile in today’s
concrete business jungle” — to turn them into zebras and cheetahs for 2014.
The show title harkens to Burt’s latest book, “Zebras and
Cheetahs: Look Different and Stay Agile to Survive the Business Jungle.” It was
co-written by Dr. Colby Jubenville, an associate professor in the MTSU Department
of Health and Human Performance.
“What we’re trying to do is find additional ways to bring
the book to life,” said Burt, a Woodbury, Tenn., native and former high school
championship basketball coach who hopes the pilot leads to a full season of six
to eight episodes. “When I call people zebras and cheetahs, what I’m really
saying is that they distinguish themselves. They look different. They run
faster or they jump on opportunity.”
The MTSU ties certainly don’t end with Burt and Jubenville.
MTSU alumnus Brock Patterson, also an adjunct business
communication professor in the Jones College of Business, is executive producer
of the show. Other MTSU connections on the show’s production include alums Rob
Janson, director of photography, and Ty Whitaker, cameraman; and students Jacob
Cleaver and John Martinez, assistant cameramen.
“The process was truly transformational, not only for the
contestants, but for the rest of the staff,” Burt said. “I had concerns going
in if we could make it compelling enough … where a viewer would sit there and
say, ‘I want more of this!’ It was a great experience.”
To top it off, recent MTSU graduate Cody Hawkins of
Gallatin, Tenn., is one of the five contestants featured on the show. Other contestants
are Jason Goolesby of Alabama, Emina Hotilovac of Kentucky, Brandon Maxwell of
Nashville, and Christy Neal of Nashville.
“I was very adamant about having a college graduate on the
show, because so many college graduates are underprepared when they go out into
the workforce,” Burt said. “It’s not that they don’t have the theoretical
knowledge. A lot of times they don’t have the practicality.”
Patterson, who is also chief optimizer of Micheal Burt
Enterprises, said the program sprung from a lunch discussion with Burt, who
wanted to do something special to motivate people going into the new year.
Patterson describes the show as a hybrid of popular reality shows “The
Apprentice” and “The Amazing Race” in which Burt uses his gifts as “an
incredible speaker, author and trainer” to bring out the best in those he’s
coaching.
“We’re at the point where we want to expand our reach from
community to country, that’s our goal,” Patterson said of the show’s purpose. “There’s
going to be heartache, there’s going to be tears, there’s going to be laughter,
there’s going to be frustration. There’s going to be a wonderful transformation
that happens over the course of the television show. It far exceeded our
expectations.”
The contestants will compete in three challenges: The Zebra
Challenge — Trying to understand what makes them unique; The Cheetah Challenge
— Determining how agile and quick thinking they can be; and The Final
Challenge: Appearing before a three-person board of advisers to make their
pitch.
“Coach challenges five people who have high aspirations for
2014, but are not taking that next step,” Patterson said. “He’s going to force
them to evaluate where they are, determine what makes them unique and what’s
going to help them stand out, either in their businesses as entrepreneurs or as
individuals.”
Potential contestants submitted videos about how they wanted
more from their lives in 2014 and wanted to be coached by Burt to achieve their
goals. Burt and his staff looked at 20 to 25 videos and narrowed the list to
five contestants, whose backgrounds range from a former teacher/coach to an
office manager.
“We picked those candidates based on their stories, their
backgrounds, how bad we thought they were interested in coaching and the
diversity of the group,” Burt said.
The final challenge takes place at The City Club in downtown
Nashville, with a grand-prize winner selected at the end. Middle Tennessee
restaurateur Peter Demos, real estate agent Kendra Cooke, and investment and
retirement specialist Phil Cavender make up the three-person panel.
“The board represents the world … to get contestants in
front of them and say, ‘This is why you should have a relationship with me,’”
Burt said of the final challenge. “These advisers are experienced zebras and
cheetahs in the world critiquing these contestants. They ultimately decided who
the winner was.”
Burt said he and his staff will be engaging with the
audience on social media now and throughout the show, on Twitter @michealburt,
hashtag #ZebrasCheetahs and also on his Facebook page. He thinks the show will
give viewers plenty to discuss online.
“We laughed, we cried. Every contestant said it changed
their life,” Burt said. “And it changed our lives. It shows us how we can truly
affect people, and it doesn’t take years to do it. We can do it in a very short
period of time if we just get in the boat with them, and it’s that intense of
an interaction.”
For more information, visit Burt’s website www.coachburt.com.
To listen to an “MTSU On the Record” radio interview with
Burt and Jubenville about their book, which aired in May, go to http://mtsunews.com/zebras-and-cheetahs/
and click the link.
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