Reflections: Why Truth and Self-Reliance Shape Great Leaders | Greg Williams

The Entrepreneur’s Studio
Greg Williams: Why Truth and Self-Reliance Shape Great Leaders 

Greg Williams reflects on the early life lessons that shaped his leadership philosophy; self-reliance, transparency, and building something meaningful beyond business success. 

Topics Covered: 
• How an early family tragedy shaped Greg Williams’ work ethic 
• Why truth and transparency are essential to leadership 
• The importance of building success that gives back to others 

When Greg Williams was 14 years old, his father passed away suddenly. In a single moment, life changed for his family, and a defining lesson about responsibility and self-reliance began to take shape. 

In this short Reflections episode of The Entrepreneur’s Studio, Greg shares how that experience shaped the way he approaches work, leadership, and life. His mother’s candid message was simple: if he wanted something beyond the basics, he would need to earn it himself. That moment planted the seeds for the work ethic and determination that would eventually help him build Acrisure into a global enterprise. 

Greg reflects on how those early lessons carried forward into his leadership philosophy. For him, truth and transparency aren’t just values; they are the foundation of trust in both business and personal relationships. Facing difficult realities honestly, he explains, is always the right path forward. 

The conversation also touches on the personal side of building a global business. Greg shares how the growth of Acrisure required enormous commitment not only from him, but also from the people closest to him. Behind every ambitious vision are families, partners, and teams who share in the sacrifices and the journey. 

Finally, Greg talks about the importance of giving back. Through philanthropic efforts supporting organizations like the Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids and Michigan State University, he believes business success should ultimately create a broader impact, strengthening communities and inspiring the people who help build the company along the way. 

• Early life challenges that shaped Greg’s drive and sense of responsibility 
• Why truth and transparency are non-negotiable in leadership 
• How purpose and philanthropy create lasting impact beyond business success 

“The truth is always the right option. Now, the truth well told is the best story, but the truth has got to be rooted in all of this.” 
— Greg Williams 

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Transcript

Narrator 0:01

Welcome to the Entrepreneur Studio Reflections. In today's episode, we're exploring how a childhood tragedy forged an unbreakable determination and one of business's most driven leaders. Today, Acker CEO Greg Williams shares a rare glimpse into those formative years, how early responsibility ignited his entrepreneurial drive, the family dynamics behind building a global business empire, and the lessons he learned about the true cost of success. If you're an entrepreneur navigating the tension between ambition and family, this episode will challenge how you define success and what you're willing to sacrifice to achieve

The Moment Everything Changed

Narrator 0:40

it.  

Chris Allen 0:41

Well, you know, we've talked a lot about the business. I want to talk about Greg Williams for a second. My least favorite topic. Well, you know, uh I was talking with Vince the other day, and uh this really amazing story came out uh that came out right about the time that you were 13. And I I'd I'd love to unpack that a little bit uh with you about how work got started for Greg Williams. You know, it's amazing to see all of the stuff that you've done uh with Acriture, but there was this pretty pretty uh compelling moment that you had as a as a young boy. I'd love to he just to hear you tell that story.  

Greg Williams 1:16

Yeah, you know, it's uh um I I was actually it was 1976, so I was 14. Um and uh my my my dad died of a heart attack when he was 39 years old. And so um, you know, th there's other stories for other days, but uh as people say, wow, it must have been hard. You know what? And the reality is, of course it's hard when you're 14 years old and your dad dies, but but uh you know I have friends that you know parents have have passed, and unfortunately, uh even relatively uh recent that uh you know uh they say, well, you know, you know, you're you're it must have really been hard when your dad died at 14. I said, Well, you know, I I never knew my my my my dad as an adult. You know, you get to know your your parents as kids and as adults and all that unique relationship you have with uh you know mom and dad and son and daughter when you're in your 50s and 60s. And so uh so I I mean it was uh 14, obviously a shock. Um you know, I had uh an older sister, an older brother, and a younger brother. Uh my sister was in college. My older brother was about to graduate from high school. I was a freshman in uh high school, and I have a younger brother who's in in uh seventh grade. And so uh it all happens, you know, you don't expect it 39 years old to happen. This was uh we were not uh a wealthy family by any stretch. Um fact it was about 30 years old, I realized, you know what, we actually didn't have any money. So we never wanted for anything, but but we didn't have any money. So my mom is not a uh uh you know, she's not an animated person. She's not uh She's not a savvy business builder. She's not a business build builder. She she was a she was a you know a stay-at-home mom. And so a week after uh the funeral, the she sat down and in when the word I was searching for is dramatic. She's not a dramatic person in any way, shape, or form. That day she she was. And when I say that, uh uh she knew what she was doing and that she was uh needed to get my attention. And I'm a 14-year-old and I'm running around and playing sports. Yeah. I mean, I uh it was track season at that time, so I was uh you know doing track stuff and you know it was football season. I played football or basketball, I played basketball, basketball, et cetera. So anyway, I'm kind of doing all of those things, and I never had a job in my life. Um I was always playing sports in whatever sport or whatever season it was. And so uh she sat down and she said, Look, she said, uh, you know, there's a roof over your head and food on the on the table. Um you're gonna always have that. But like I got to go find a job. And this is 1976 where a lot of women didn't necessarily work uh then. She said, I gotta go find a job. Um, I'm gonna go do that. Actually, the bank that my my dad worked at hired my mom, which was uh a massive help to the family. And and so um so her thing was, and her whole message was you know, he was pretty direct and pretty, you know, you know, kind of her version and delivering it was a lot shorter than what I'm doing right now, but but it was basically it says, you know, Greg, like anything you want in life. I mean, you want, you know, the football cleats, you've got it, you know, for in the fall coming up for football, like you're buying them. You want clothes, you're buying them. Um you want a new car or a car, not a new car, you get a car when you turn 16, you're buying like whatever you want, food and shelter taken care of, anything else, it's on you. And uh so I'm kind of sitting there, is you know, she's not dramatic, but you know, staring at me to make sure that I was paying attention. And uh, and so there's a a pause and she says, Do you understand what I'm what I'm telling you? And I'm like, Okay, um I think so. Um and she said, Well, if you need a minute to think about it, take the minute. But but yeah, it starts now. And and so uh, and so for me, it literally was it was in the the blink of an eye, it was okay, my dad died, and there was, you know, that was tragic and sad and all the things that you expect it to be. But now what that actually means is hitting me. And so it's like, okay, um, life's gonna just change. And so I, every available minute, I went from you know, getting prepared for a season. I still played, you know, three sports and high school and all of that, but every available moment that I could work, I worked. And uh, because it the whole thing, I also knew she meant it. While she wasn't dramatic, I knew she meant it that hey, if I wanted a first car, if I wanted, you know, some clothes or whatever.

Chris Allen 6:08

Go out to eat, hang out with friends.

Greg Williams 6:10

Um I'm I'm paying for it. And so so all to say, there was a I think uh without knowing it at the time for sure, uh, there's kind of a self-reliance mindset that you create when you have something that you really didn't think about, thrust in a fairly dramatic way. It's like, okay, life just changed for you. And so for me, that did change things. And in uh in in terms of how I thought about things, I mean, suddenly how my time was spent was really important. And the goofing off that you did as a as a kid and so forth, it's not as though I still didn't have my moments, but I mean, when I say every available moment that I wasn't involved in school or sports, I was working. And that did change things. And I think uh kind of set the stage for you know, my my probably character flaws to this day is that you know, I've got one speed, you know, let's let's let's go. Um uh I uh you know have a disdain. Uh in and when I say disdain, I don't know, it it's it's like there's you know, sitting and wasting time is just not something I can do. Um and so I think it kind of got all developed and ingrained uh you know back very early, and that's just the way that I am. And you know, my my wife's a saint. Uh we've been married 43 years. She's put up with with all of that that goes with it.

Greg Williams 7:35 Greg Williams 7:35 Greg Williams 7:35

And uh and so uh you you do have, I think, a drive and uh and a mission that you're on when you have that that mindset and it can becomes deeply ingrained. And so good or bad, so I I I'll blame all my character flaws on on that. And uh and uh my mom is still with us in in uh in doing well, so uh I I won't say I'll blame it on her, but at the end of the day, she made a a the she delivered the right message, and what I say to people is you know what the thing that I appreciate the the most about what my mom did is she just told me the truth. I love that because she could have kind of, hey, I'm gonna fake this or I'm gonna figure it out or whatever. You can avoid the topic. Or I'm gonna avoid the topic, and I don't know if he's mature enough to handle it or not, but he needs to know. And so uh that's another thing, uh a lesson learned for me. Um and you you know me a little

The Value of Truth and Transparency

Greg Williams 8:27

bit. I'm a really transparent guy. Yeah. Um people say, oh, well, you know, don't don't say this and don't say that. It's like that's the worst thing to say, because you know what? The truth is always uh you know the right option. Now, the truth well told is the best story or the best option, but uh, but the truth has got to be rooted in all of this. And so for me, if I get uh chastised for anything in Aquicire, it's uh you know that you're too transparent. I said, well, if you want to chastise me for something, I'm okay being chastised for that because I know what that means, because it's uh it's you know tends to at least give you the opportunity to be very transparent, very honest, and very truthful about where we stand as a person, where we stand as a company, and being able to self-assess and self-critique and self-evaluate to me, uh, you only do that if you just deal with the truth and you can fool yourself and maybe fool some others uh for a short period of time, but sooner or later the truth is known. And so just to just accept it, embrace it, immerse yourself in it, that's kind of the lesson learned from all of that.

Chris Allen 9:33

I I love it. You know, uh dedication to the truth. Uh one of my favorite books, uh The Road Less Traveled, Scott Peck, that is a huge part about the character of discipline and you know the dedication to the truth is is a huge thing. And you know, the thing that I love about that conversation with your mom, hopefully you've circled back and been like, mom, see what you get started. Uh but uh you know, you fast forward to the 2010s you got a family, two kids, wife, and you're you have this moment where you're like going from a lifestyle business to this really fast paced being all over the country all the time, then internationally. What was going on behind the scenes?

Greg Williams 10:16

Uh you know what? It's a uh I I I look back at all of this, and um and and I and I've said this to privately and I've said it uh you know publicly, that uh you build something like this, first of all, you don't do it by yourself. It takes massive amounts of people and help and talent and energy and conviction and all the things from a lot of people. You know, there's a team, there's a team in all of it. But uh if you look at um uh second, yeah, it's all right. Yeah, yeah, what was going on behind the scenes? So um so what was going on behind the scenes is um all of this doesn't happen without a team. It takes a lot of people, but I never looked at my piece of this as a sacrifice. Um my family and wife and two kids in particular, and and my mom and and extended family, uh this was a sacrifice for them because w when when this started scaling, and you could see it was going from this lifestyle business to something that's gonna be a scaled opportunity, it really was I kind of knew what it was gonna take in terms of commitment and uh and the amount of time it was gonna take. Uh and for me, again, it wasn't a sacrifice because it was, you know, building a global business was my objective. I mean, that was the purpose. You're on your let's go speed. Let's go. Um the uh um it isn't necessarily building a global business, it wasn't my wife's objectives, it wasn't my kids' objectives, it wasn't my mom's. I mean, they they didn't care. Yeah. And so so I did sit down with them and just say, look, um, you know, I'm gonna go do these things. And I think this is what it's gonna take. Uh for me, it's what I want to do, but I recognize that may not be what you want me to do. And so let's talk about it. Back to the truth. And fortunately, I had a wife said, you know, like, I know you're gonna be miserable if you don't go do it, so go do it. Uh two kids were like, Great, we get it, you know, go do it. My son's very driven, my daughter's uh driven as well, so they get it. And they said, you know, go do it. Um, you know, my mom, like, whatever, I you know, you're you're busy, you're you're doing, you got to one speed, you're doing your thing anyway. And so for for me, uh none of this was a sacrifice. It was an investment of time. They're the ones that sacrificed. And so uh so behind the scenes, when you ask what's behind the scenes, it's those kind of personal discussions that uh I'm glad I had early. Um probably should have uh you know extended some of those conversations because you know I've got friends that uh that I didn't see for you know years, um, and are like, hey, what's going on? I've said, look, I'm busy, and you may not understand it, but I'm busy, and someday you will. And and uh and I've had the chance to kind of reconnect with a lot of them, but but at the same time, um, you know, it was uh it was the others that sacrificed, not me. And uh, and that's just the the way they're looking at that's kind of how I dealt behind the scenes with what's it take to build something like this? And again, first and foremost, it takes a lot of help.

Chris Allen 13:57

Yeah. Well, how you know, how did that affect you? You know, knowing that um and it might have been a building thing where over time you realize that. But so just looking back, really, how did that affect you knowing that they were carrying such a heavy weight uh or having to sacrifice? What what are some of the the sort of reflective thoughts you've had on the the the weight that they were carrying, knowing, hey, I'm supporting um my husband, I'm supporting my dad.

Greg Williams 14:23

Yeah. Well, you know what? It's one of those um I I know everyone says uh I guess that you know part of the purpose in life, you want to, you know, you know, uh whenever that fateful day comes that you know it ends, you want to have uh have no regrets. I I'm actually kind of the opposite. I know I'm gonna have regrets. And so um it's the time that I didn't spend with people would be where those regrets would come into play. Um and uh I mean that that's I mean, because you know, you've just like anything else, you you you're not getting it back. Yeah, the past doesn't exist anymore. Yeah, it's it's gone. So, you know, I I know I'm gonna live with with a few regrets, but at the same time, I've I've spent time trying to kind of you know reconcile that on one hand and also make up for it uh with another. And and so shared experiences and spending time with people that uh that I haven't and and prioritizing some of that. I'm definitely better about it today than than I was uh for 10 or 12 years, but uh I am trying to make up for some of those while I'm still around and healthy enough to do it. So I love that.

Chris Allen 15:34

That self-reflection is huge, especially as a leader doing what you're doing. That dedication to the truth is really huge. There's some big stuff um that, you know, I think the things that people see, right? And that's one of the things I like to talk, you know, what's behind the glass, what's what's going on behind the scenes. You know, people see the Pittsburgh Steelers Aquitur Stadium, you know, uh they'll see you on a stage or, you know, somewhere. Um uh but one of the things that I I really love is there were a couple of really big moments, right? Uh I'd love for you to talk about uh the giving back that has happened that you've really been intentional about. Um one of them just the work with the children's hospital. I'd love to hear you talk about the children's hospital uh and and the work that you've done there. And then uh, you know, obviously Michigan State. I'd I'd love to just hear about those two. I mean, especially the Michigan State uh endowment. That's a that's a huge one. You don't have to share the dollar amount. I know it was in some of the stories, but the giving back thing, I wonder uh what what people may not see about that part of Greg Williams.

Greg Williams 16:39

Well, I think the thing that uh in and this is you know, again, these things happen because of epipanies, or these things happen because that just who you are, or you know, lessons learned. There's a lot of reasons and things that can can go into this. For me, it was just so obvious uh early on, on one hand, and another hand, it was something I actually did have to learn. And when I say that, um the learned part of it was uh you've got all this explosive growth, 48% a year for a dozen years and so forth, and you know, you got all the things going on, and you you can see how you're you know, how it's all impacting people's lives and things of that nature. Um then then we did uh the the thing with the children's hospital in Grand Rapids first, and intentionally said, look, we gotta have more of a purpose here than serving stakeholders. Yeah, yeah. We've gotta serve communities, we've got to help people. I mean, what are we what are we here for if we're not gonna do some of that stuff? Absolutely. Um in the they're just it's gonna have to be important. Um and so we did intentionally went and spent time trying to find the right cause. And in the children's hospital in Grand Rapids, I mean I think back about it now, it was like staring us in the face the whole time. Yeah, we're spending time running around trying to find out who do we want. It's like, duh, you know, it's right there. And so we went and met with them um and and we reached out to them to say, look, we were gonna, you know, we want to get involved. And I don't think they really understood what getting involved means, because getting involved in my my uh view is you you get involved and you get involved with with the idea of yeah, we're gonna have impact. And so uh so we met with them, they went through you know the things that uh they were thinking about doing and you know how do they better serve communities and what are they missing, and and they were uh very articulate uh about those things. And so we did the $15 million commitment to to the children's hospital. And so it was uh uh you know something that was appropriate and right and fitting in terms of the impact that we were looking to have uh on a community.

Chris Allen 18:57

And meaningful.

Greg Williams 18:58

And meaningful. Um what I didn't uh understand um in until uh this is the learned part, yeah, is uh the inbounds that I was getting from employees. Um whether it be emails, uh text messages, uh people stopping in the office and just you know that I didn't even know and and saying, you know, thank you. That's meaningful.

Chris Allen 19:28

Yeah.

Greg Williams 19:29

How proud they were to be part of something um uh to be part of a company that was doing things like that and that was having that uh uh being having that kind of impact. I didn't know it. We had two employees whose kids were very sick in the in the children's hospital at the time. I didn't know it until that came out as part of this as well. And so I'm set back and you reflect on things as uh you know hopefully everybody does from time to time, and sit back and say, okay, we have all this growth, and if I count the number of times someone sent me a text or an email or stopped in my office to say, hey Greg, you know, wow, that you know, last quarter was unbelievable. Thanks for all the growth, Greg. That was great. You know, has it happened? Sure. It's probably you can count it on two hands.

Chris Allen 20:19

Yeah. Pales in comparison.

Greg Williams 20:20

Yeah, that singular, and over the years, yeah, that singular moment in commitment to the children's hospital had hundreds. And so that's the learn piece. So you know what? Um is having a an employee base that's proud of where they work, you know, proud of the impact that their employer has in the community that they live and so forth, is that a good thing for business or is that a bad thing? And and so to me, that was the learns like, okay, again, it was after I saw that, learned it, it's like, okay. You know, should have known it maybe ahead of time, but I just didn't I didn't see the impact it was gonna have. And and so once we did that, the you know, intend to be if we're in something, you know, it's just not uh I'm not wired to sit on the sidelines, and so if we're in it, we're in it, and we're gonna have impact and all that. We played that out obviously in in Grand Rapids and went to Pittsburgh. Um not the the the the stadium stadium, the children's hospital in Pittsburgh. Um the philanthropy that uh you know my wife and I did uh with MSU is the same in the same spirit is um you know it people like you know, why would you do it? Um like, well, you know, it is the community that we live. Yeah. Um and if you can't support the community that you live, um, and and frankly, outside of our two kids, why do you care? Um and so if we sat down with our two kids and say, Hey, we're gonna do this or thinking about doing this, we'll only do it if you're okay with it. And they're like, do it. I mean, if if this is what you want to do Do. And you know what? And I give my kids a ton of credit because it could have been easy for to say, well, wow, you know, you know, what about us? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And neither one of them did that. That's amazing. They didn't flinch. So, and and actually I was looking for the flinch to say, okay, they're going to say the right thing, but you know, you can read a person when you're talking to them. Absolutely. And these are your kids, so you can really read them. And uh they didn't flinch. They say, you know what, this is uh this is what you want to do, go do it.

Chris Allen 22:27

And that is that's incre that's a testament to you and your wife.

Greg Williams 22:31

Well, thank you. It was uh probably uh candidly, and I'm not saying this uh because she'll probably listen to this. I'm not saying it for that reason, but more of her, because if you think about what I was doing running around, you know, uh trying to build a global business, she was, you know, raising the family. It's amazing. It's amazing.

Narrator 22:51

Thank you for listening to the Entrepreneurs Studio Podcast. Check the show notes for resources and links from today's episode, and follow us on Instagram at the entrepreneurs.studio. See you next time.