19-Powering the Permian: Leadership, Partnership & the Future of Energy with Travis Stice & Tracee Bentley

Speaker A: Welcome to the Permian Strategic Partnership Podcast. I'm your host, Christa Escamilla. Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Permian Strategic Partnership Podcast. If you are a first time listener, thank you for joining us and welcome. And if you are a longtime listener, welcome back. We thank you as well. We are so excited to introduce our guest today. But first, I do want to just say how thankful we are that this podcast gets to help share the voices that shape the premium Permian Basin. And it truly is a gift to have Permian Strategic Partnership in West Texas and New Mexico and beyond. And so joining us today, we have two very special guests with us. We have CEO and President of Permian Strategic Partnership, directly to my right, Tracy Bentley. Tracy, thanks for being here.

Speaker B: Thanks, Krista.

Speaker A: And we also have the executive Chairman of the board of Diamondback Energy, Mr. Travis Stice. Travis, thank you so much for being with us today.

Speaker C: Good morning to you. Thank you.

Speaker A: And you have many, many, many other titles, but let you share all the titles and how we got here today. But, uh, first, I think we really just want to thank you for your leadership, both of you here in West Texas. Uh, it has been amazing to see over the years and we can't wait to share your story today. So let's begin with, first of all, how did the two of you connect and be able to build this collaboration that has been so effective in West Texas?

Speaker C: Well, we knew that when the Permian Strategic Partnership was getting started, that we were going to have to have, you know, a meaningful executive director, one that could, you know, could support, you know, the board of directors that was there, support Don Evans, uh, and actually take the vision that we had as Permian Strategic Partnership and push that vision forward and be able to execute on what that was. And so we, uh, were looking for an, uh, executive director, did a search, and we were fortunate enough to come across Tracy. Uh, she was in Colorado at the time, had some political background experience as well. But we knew pretty much immediately when we bought her out, brought her out to the Permian Basin that she had the bandwidth and the skill set, the personality, uh, the drive that we thought was what was needed to push the Permian Strategic Partnership agenda forward. And boy, did we, did we find a real gem when we got Tracy, because it's been an amazing relationship and, uh, it's been something that has really underpinned all the successes that we've had at Permian Strategic Partnership.

Speaker A: Is her leadership agreed on all levels that she is a gem, um, and so is Diamondback Energy. Tell us a Little bit about Diamondback, how it got started. I know you've been there from the inception, and, you know, for those that maybe haven't heard your story, well, I'll

Speaker C: try to be brief because it's an interesting story. Because we started off not unlike many other companies in the Permian Basin, you know, where we had private equity backing and that sponsor that, you know, provided us capital to go out and drill and complete, in our case, vertical wells. And we put a team together, started prosecuting that development plan, spending money. And we decided that in order to continue to grow the company, we needed another form, uh, of capital, and we needed to access the capital markets in the form of an IPO. And so in early February 12th, uh, February of 2012, we filed our paperwork with the SEC, and, um, through some fits and turns, we were able to get the company public in the fall of 2012. And that allowed us, uh, a form of equity, a form of capital to come back and start growing the business. And we pivoted our development strategy away from vertical, uh, vertical wells into horizontal wells. And we're really among the first that we're doing that in the portions of the basin that were economic, uh, with vertical wells. But it really worked, and we were able to continue to grow the company. And I think when we took our company public in. In 2012, we had a market cap of $500 million. And we're 60 plus today. So. 60 plus billion today. So.

Speaker A: Wow.

Speaker C: That's a pretty amazing. Pretty amazing growth story in just, uh, over a little less than 15 years.

Speaker A: That's what we call living the dream, right, Tracy? Yes, it is.

Speaker C: Yeah. And it took some amazing people to pull that off. And we were fortunate enough with the original founders of the company that they, um, you know, that they spent the time and energy and intellect to really pull this off, because without them, Diamondback wouldn't be. Wouldn't be where they are today. And they, fortunately for them, have all gone off to greener pastures in the form of retirement. And I'm sort of the last person standing right now, so. But anyway, it's been an amazing story. Thank you for giving me the chance to say that.

Speaker B: Travis, you are a native Midlander. Um, talk to us about growing up here in Midland and in the Permian Basin, um, and why you're still here.

Speaker C: Well, the Permian Basin has always been about oil. Right. We discovered oil back in 1923. So we've now been producing oil for over 100 years out here. So our economy, um, 100 years ago, migrated Away from ranching, uh, more in towards, you know, oil and gas development. And over those hundred years, we've gone through significant boom and bust cycles. And it wasn't really until kind of the 2010 times where the horizontal drilling uh, really took off and transformed this region in a way that none of us ever really realized. Probably, uh, the biggest thing it did is it provided us, the shale revolution, provided America energy independence. And nobody thought that was possible. But it certainly transformed this region as well too, because growing up this was sort of an, uh, outpost for technical, uh, folks where, you know, they'd come out here and do their, do the, do their tour of duty in the Permian Basin for two or three years and then move out. But now what we've seen over the last 15, uh, plus years is that the Permian Basin has become a destination and that change has really transformed the need for what people that are staying here long term want. You know, if you're only going to be here for three years, well, they, you know, they say, well, we can stand on our head for three years and then we're out of here. But, but if you're raising a family now, if you're gonna be out here for most of your career, if not all of your career, there's requirements. And um, that was really sort of the genesis of what the Permian Strategic Partnership. People wanting better healthcare, they wanted safer roads, they wanted an education system, they wanted workforce development. And those became the pillars of the Permian Strategic Partnership.

Speaker A: With these challenges, were they something that you saw early on and you thought, oh, we need to jump in with Diamondback or how did that, how did the growth and collaboration really begin with psp? Because I think that's something that, um, a lot of people that have been here a long time like, like us, have, have seen such drastic changes. But it takes someone going, we need to make these changes.

Speaker C: Yeah, I think, I think there's a, uh. There was a group of 10 companies that came together early on and Diamondback wasn't part of it. And I wasn't part of that either. A group of 10 companies that sort of got together and said, you know, we can drill really good oil and gas, we can allocate capital really efficiently. We ought to be able to do things in a way that transform this region around areas that we think need improvement. And those 10 companies were the original board of directors, the original founders. They provided capital. Um, and like I said, Diamondback wasn't part of that. And I always like to joke with Tim Leach because You know, we weren't originally big enough to be part of the premier strategic partnership. And then as we continue to grow and had a little bit of success, Tim came to us primarily because he wanted our financial contributions. He's a good friend of mine, so I can joke about that. But he said, he said, we'd like you to come on the premier, uh, strategic partnership. But, uh, he says you need to be on the JV team.

Speaker A: You know, you have to start somewhere. Right, Travis?

Speaker C: Right. And what that meant is that our capital, our capital contribution was about half of what the big boys were. But it wasn't too much later that we got to take off the Fishnet jersey and join the. Enjoying the varsity. And, uh, it's been a wonderful relationship ever since then.

Speaker A: I feel like you're kind of quarterback now.

Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. Let's be clear. Tracy's the quarterback and she's got some amazing people wrapped around her as well too, that, uh, lead the development of what's going on out here.

Speaker B: Travis, you are on the executive committee of psp. You're also on the board. And you were one of the very first people that, when I landed here, that I wanted to visit with, um, because you're here. We're in the same building, as a matter of fact. And, um, you're a native, ah, Midlander. And so I'll never forget what you told me. And it's ringing true. And it's been something that I've shared with others who moved to the Permian. And that was, um, this area will give back to you what you put into it. And so let it give to you. Also, um, don't be shy about diving right in. And that's probably the best advice I got, uh, from the entire time I've been here and I've shared it with others because it is so true if you let, um, the intimidation of new surroundings and it's so unique here, it's very different than any other place that I've ever been. Uh, but don't hold back and don't wait for it to come to you. You've really got to dive in.

Speaker C: Yeah, that's very, um, good that you remember that because that's part of my rant. Then when I talk to people about coming to Birmingham, it's a reflective community. So if you come out and reflect that, hey, I'm going to dig in, and people just jump to your aid. It's not really even a one to one relationship. If you're really genuine and you're trying to move Forward, man, they'll be 10x the number of people coming to support you. And the other thing's also true. If you come out here saying this is a desert full of old people, you know, then you're not going to, you're not going to get probably what you need to be successful out here. So, like my wife says, you got to bloom where you planted. And the Permian Basin is certainly good evidence of that.

Speaker B: So we are PSP this year is seven years old.

Speaker C: M. Wow.

Speaker A: Happy birthday.

Speaker C: I know.

Speaker B: Ah, it's hard to believe it's been seven years. It's gone by so fast. Um, what are some of your favorite initiatives or projects that we've worked on?

Speaker C: You know, I think that the list is long of what we've been able to get accomplished, but I think more fundamental than what projects got done. It was really the thought process that we had about, you know, we would like to be the catalyst behind things that get done in the Permian. You know, other people will come and support, but they need somebody to step forward and say, hey, this is important. This is why it's important. We're putting our money behind this project and we'd like you to come support it. And so whether it's things around education, things around road, uh, road safety, things around workforce development, all the things that the Permian Basin Strategic Partnership leaned into, in most cases catalyzed what we see today. And I like to stretch the numbers. We put about 200 million in, and there's probably been 10x that $2 billion worth of concurrent, uh, funds that have been poured into the Permian Basin. And I believe that what's been accomplished out here in the Permian Basin with the Permian Strategic Partnership will go down as one of the greatest private public partnerships in the history of our country.

Speaker A: I couldn't agree more. And when you look around our community, you truly see those partnerships.

Speaker B: One, uh, of them that I know

Speaker A: many have been watching recently is the Behavioral Health Center. To see that being built from the ground up, I know that's something I'm sure that both of you are very proud of.

Speaker C: Yeah, uh, it's going to be amazing for this region. We're just a few weeks away from being able to open that up. It's a 200 bed facility, won't be fully occupied as we continue to build the workforce around what's needed out there, but it's going to be something that provides a service that unfortunately is not available in the greater Permian area. This isn't just a Midland Thing. It's not just an Odessa thing. This is a greater Permian area opportunity for, you know, people that have behavioral health issues to get the kind of professional help they can to change their trajectory and get them back on the path that makes them, uh, more and more successful.

Speaker B: And Travis has asked me not to share this anymore, but I'm going to anyway, so I'm probably going to get in trouble after this, but.

Speaker A: Oh, I love that.

Speaker B: What is it? I mean, it's really important for everyone to know that the reason why we have the Behavioral Health center and why we have some amazing developments going on out there on that property that now we call the Beacon alliance is because Diamondback Travis donated 200 acres for that development to get started. Uh, and then it grew from there. But without that vision, um, from Travis and from Diamondback Energy, we wouldn't be nearly where we're all. Where we are right now out there.

Speaker C: So.

Speaker B: Thank you.

Speaker C: You're too kind. Uh, you know, I did have. I do recall a conversation I had with, with Secretary Evans, you know, who's my hero, by the way, in all. In all shapes, form, shapes, form and fashion. Uh, about what is really possible if we were able to get something going out there, man, how big could this really be? What could. What could be a really big dream for that area. And we're really excited. We don't know exactly what it's going to look like over the next 10 years, but we believe that the Beacon alliance to be able to Health Hospital is just the beginning of what's going to be possible on that land that's out there. And like I said, this isn't a Midland deal. This is a Greater Permian, Greater Permian Basin, um, facility. Uh, I love that.

Speaker A: That's amazing. And thank you for that donation, that very generous donation you mentioned, Secretary Evans. And I've asked Tracy this before. You know, what's the best piece of advice you've learned from him? Do you have anything that he has really shared with you through the years?

Speaker C: When words come out of his mouth, you need to pay attention, because there's gems in there, and it's. And it's. It's from a lifetime of giving back. You know, that's one of the things that I believe separates Don Evans from just about any other individual of his generation, is that almost 100% of his activities have always been geared towards how can I give back? And he's been an inspiration to me personally and to countless hundreds other people as he's led a life of service. And that's what I think, uh, to me, is going to be his lasting legacy. And there will be hundreds of other specifics to his legacy. But just for me, the idea of serving other people is something that he just excels at.

Speaker A: And one thing that I admire about both of you is. And actually all three of you, Tracy, that you all choose to live here in the Permian Basin and stay here through the years because you could live anywhere in the world. What do you love most about the Permian Basin?

Speaker C: You know, uh, the Permian Basin, as we talked about just briefly, is, uh, a community that gives back in ways. Uh, many, many different ways. Philanthropy, I think, is probably per capita, the greatest philanthropic community in the country. But it's really the people that are here. Because by and large, you know, my dad was born here, I was born here. We're a rarity, by and large. The vast majority of people that come out here got transferred out here and they had to make Midland their home. If they didn't try to make Midland their home, then eventually they just become, you know, unhappy and they left. But the people that are here, I think, are some of the most genuine, some of the most authentic people that are all underpinned by what I call an unreasonable amount of grit and determination. Because God didn't give us a lot of blessings above the ground out here. He gave us a lot below the ground. And so we have a lot to be grateful for out here. And I see grateful attitude, um, I see a benevolent attitude out here and a kindness towards the other person out here in the Permian Basin. And that's. That was that way growing up, and it's that way. As you know, I'm in my 60s now and, uh, really has evolved into what's really a special place.

Speaker B: So, Travis, upcoming in that, let's say, in the next five years for psp, uh, and, you know, some of the things in our pipeline, of course, you've helped drive those. Um. What are you most excited about?

Speaker C: You know, I think. I think the Permian Basin is on the kind of the. The brink of yet another cycle of exceptionalism as science and artificial intelligence. And bigger companies like Exxon and Exxon Mobil and Chevron are really pouring in, uh, investments into enhanced oil recovery. I think not only do we have the rock out here that's going to, uh, produce kind of flat volumes in this 6 ish to 7 million barrels a day range for quite a long period of time, I also think that, um, enhanced oil recovery has a potential to change the trajectory of a plateaued oil production out here. And I think those all lend themselves to a growing community. I think we just touched on it briefly. Uh, I think the Beacon alliance is just the beginning of what can be done out there for, uh, health and the betterment of our community out here. Uh, and then as companies continue to be successful out here, I think you'll see more and more, uh, really engaged people in our community that really want us, want this community to be a better place than they found it. So trying to push the ball down the field that so many people before

Speaker B: us have done, it's true that we have only tapped, what, 10%?

Speaker C: Yeah, it's a rough number, but 10 to 20% is a fair estimation of the original oil in place, which means that 80 to 90% of the oil is still in the ground out here after 100 years after drilling hundreds of thousands of wells. So that's what makes this region so unique compared to the Bakken or the Eagle Ford or some of the other producing basins, is that the size of what we're developing, the vertical section of what we're developing is 6 plus thousand feet versus 3 to 400ft in some of these other producing basins. So that's why we've been out here for so long, as the depth of our reservoir is just so great.

Speaker B: I like to remind people of that because, as you know, every year PSP does our economic study, and in that study we include, uh, what does a workforce look like in the future to be able to sustain or even build on what we have? And people say 185,000 more workers.

Speaker A: Why?

Speaker B: And I tell them because we've, we've just scratched the surface out here. And so we want to be ready for that, um, making sure that we've got everybody trained up and if we, we need programs in place at our amazing universities and community colleges. Let's get those in place now.

Speaker C: Yeah. And all the support, the technical functions that support, you know, whether it's H Vac technicians, which we've really been focused on, or diesel mechanics, you know, those are all, uh, supplemental, uh, uh, careers that are fantastic opportunities. But we need to continue to make sure that we're providing the opportunity for those type of people to be grown here. Those type of people pursuing that career path can be grown here as opposed to trying to always attract them from the outside. So those are some things that we're working on at the psp, as you know, as well.

Speaker A: I love the partnerships that you have with the education partners as well, that Collaboration itself. Had you, had either one of you seen that through the years before PSP? Had you seen where workforce, companies, CEOs and education were all working together to get more CDL license drivers or to get H Vac?

Speaker C: I think that's one of the most underappreciated thing about the Permian Strategic Partnership is about how many members do we have now?

Speaker B: 28.

Speaker C: Yeah, I was going to say 30. But 28 members. And individually, when we're trying to allocate capital dollars to develop the resources that we've been charged, uh, with, you know, we're fiercely competitive. It's just by nature we're fiercely competitive. But this one aspect, the Permian Strategic Partnership, there is no competition in there. We are all equally yoked and equally like minded to deliver something better for our communities where we live, work and play. And I don't think that we, that that's widely appreciated outside of, uh, outside of, you know, uh, our tight knit community here. But it's really an amazing thing. Tracey, you've seen that as well.

Speaker B: It is amazing. Um, you know, I remember during uh, when Covid hit and oil went negative and the whole world was uh, in a state of panic and PSP was only a year old and I remember thinking, oh my gosh, what's going to happen? This is a brand new thing. We're just gluing everybody together like Travis just dead and everybody's cutting and oh my goodness, what are we going to do? And I was fearful. And we quickly called, uh, an emergency board meeting together. And what happened was so amazing. All of these CEOs of our member companies said, well, we're not going anywhere. This is exactly when the community needs us the most. So if nothing else, we're going to be stronger. And it just really solidified for me, uh, the kind of visionaries and the kind of leaders that I was working for. And I came out of COVID after that board meeting in March more excited than ever. Even during COVID um, because I got to share with the community. We're not going anywhere. We didn't lose one member, uh, during COVID or after Covid. It was pretty amazing.

Speaker C: Yeah, that board meeting, the board meeting really galvanized all of us on the board as well too, because it was, as Traci said, the community needs us. Let's lean in. And there was nothing else leaning in. Everybody else in the whole world was pulling out and we decided to take advantage of, you know, what was not take advantage of, but really be able to pour into the community at a time when it needed it the most.

Speaker A: I know as a parent, we're all parents, uh, that we've traveled many, many, many, many miles for sports. Can you touch a little bit on the Diamondback Midland Athletic? That is exciting I think for our uh, for any parent that's listening right now to think, wow, I'm not going to have to spend 5, 6 hours in a car each way.

Speaker C: Yeah, it's getting close. But I think, I think just to sit back a minute when, when we became aware of this shell revolution sweeping through our communities, one thing it did was de. Gentrify our communities. I don't mean to say anything, uh, provocative about the older generation that lives here, but I think at the time we started looking at what does this community need through the eyes of who lived here. We realized that the average age of Midlanders or the average age of people in a Permian basin was like 32 to 34 years old. But more importantly the largest age group demographic was 0 to 4 year old. And so if you think about early 30 parent, early 30 year old parents with 4 year olds and less, what is it that want? They want green space outside. They want to be able to go out and participate in youth sports without having to drive to Dallas and Fort Worth or Houston and San Antonio. They wanted to be able to have what they needed in our communities to raise, to raise their families and participate in things outside, uh, you know, outside of just a traditional educational environment. And so many companies um, started trying to figure out ways to invest, you know, in green space and talk to our, talk to our city council about hey, there's opportunities to redo these parks. You know, there's other things. But I think we had the opportunity uh, to put something between the Midlands and Odessa that had, you know, multiple indoor facilities. Because you haven't been out here in summertime playing youth sports in July can get a little warm. So we've got an indoor facility uh, there that has um, basketball and volleyball and an indoor soccer field as well too. And it's open when it opens up, it'll be open to all the communities around here. And we've got it. I believe it's still on the bus transit. So uh, people can get on the Midland bus transit system and be able to move around and participate out there. So uh, you don't see Diamondback's name on uh, anything. Actually that's the only thing we've ever put our name on. But it was important to make the kind of the lead contribution there. For the community to see that, hey, it's not just Diamondback, but there's many people participating in that structure and other structures around that are helping the quality of life that, um, this younger generation is raising families out here, uh, want.

Speaker A: That's exciting. And I think it gives all of us hope that our kids will want to come back and raise their families here as well.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker A: Thank you.

Speaker C: For sure.

Speaker B: I don't know that there's a more generous, uh, or thoughtful, uh, company in the Permian right now, uh, other than Diamondback. I think they lead the pack when it comes to, uh, philanthropic efforts and really giving back to our community. We're so thankful for you.

Speaker C: You're too kind. And you probably heard part of that story in the past about our development of philanthropy. As we were little, there were many things we couldn't do. And one of the things we couldn't do as a small cap company was, uh, you know, do philanthropic work. Because either we were private and the private equity guys said, no, we'll take care of the philanthropy, or we became public and we're so small we didn't have any incremental cash to be able to do that. And so I made a commitment to myself that if and when Diamondback ever got to the size where we could lean back, lean into the community, we, uh, really wanted to do that. And we had a really good role model. There's so many great companies that were doing things, you know, in our communities. But being right across the street from Concho, it was easy to watch Concho do what they did. And that sort of gave us a go by. And then when, when they got bought by ConocoPhillips, you know, we just decided at that point in time, okay, you know, we're the largest, you know, largest, uh, market cap company that's headquartered here in Midland. And it's time for us to really step up. And I'm proud to say that we have. And it's not just writing checks that I'm proud of because we do. We do offer a lot of philanthropy in the form of, of of donations. But what I'm really proud of is the number of employees that we push into the or we allow to go into the. Go into their voluntary efforts and really lean into that. And we've kept track of hours, uh, loosely. We've probably had employee, you know, over 10,000 employees. Hours of the last several years where they go out and actually engage in the community alongside the corporate philanthropy. Um, we put a system in place called, um, ah, VTO volunteer time off. So I think we have 10 days or so that an employee can just say, hey, I'm going to take a VTO day. And they'll be out planting trees at a park or doing other things in the community that are alongside the corporate philanthropy that we see. So we tried to put, we tried to put our, you know, our sweat equity alongside our financial equity, uh, as we contributed to our communities.

Speaker A: I love that vto. I had not heard of that before and that is fantastic. I love that. What young companies. Make a note because that is, that is fantastic. Fantastic for your employees and the community.

Speaker C: Thank you. Yeah.

Speaker B: Speaking of community engagement, Travis, I know, um, one of the uh, issues that PSP is working hard on is uh, the lack of voter turnout here in the Permian. We know that less than 10% of people who go to the polls decide make major decisions for all of us. And so we've been working really hard together and Diamondback has really been a leading company on this, uh, for psp. But why aren't our young, uh, employees and their families registering to vote? And then if they are registered, why aren't they actually voting? And it was Diamondback who set up, uh, helped us get voter, uh, registration tables in the lobby in the downtown area just to try to get people registered to vote. And we made some really good progress. But will you talk about the importance of exercising your right to vote?

Speaker C: Yeah. I think if you go back to our founding fathers, what you're seeding is your ability to influence outcomes. You're being governed without representation. If you, if you don't choose to engage in our voting process, you're letting other people do that. And that's, that's, you know, that is, you're not being, you're not being led by your own representatives. And you know, I get it, these, these young families, you know, sometimes it's hard to get to the polls. Sometimes they don't understand the importance of the primaries. You know, but primaries really set the slate for what's coming up. Um, we just really have to get the communication out for uh, what, 90 plus thousand registered voters and we only get 10,000 people showing up. We got to close that gap and we need to cede, we need to cede the representation of the voters away from the minority, the vocal minority, and turn it over to these 30 to 35 year old people that live out here. Now they may not have the life experiences, but they're, what I've seen is they're incredibly intuitive. And so if we could get if we could get 40,000 people turning out for vote of the hundred ish thousand people we have registered, uh, it would be an amazing turnaround in how, uh, we're represented in our, in our cities. And it's not unique to just. To just Midland. I think all of our. Oliver, the greater Permian Basin suffers with low voter turnout.

Speaker A: What do you think is the reason behind low voter turnout? Because I know they care about where their future Is it because they're deep in that I'm so busy in my life raising my kids at work.

Speaker C: It's like most things I would suspect I don't have a clear answer for it because I've struggled with it, but I think it's just a lack of, a lack of prioritization. You know, does, you know, does, does me casting my vote. Is it a priority to help the Permian Basin move forward? And the low voter turnout typically says that that's not a priority. Even if they're registered. Like I said, we have 90 to 100,000 registered voters here. So, uh, it's a, it's going to be an ongoing thing. And I don't think it's. Like I said, it's not unique to Midland. But for those that want Midland to become something different than what it is today, and I'm not saying it's bad today, but I'm just saying you got to get your vote. You got to get your vote heard, which means you got to go vote.

Speaker A: Absolutely.

Speaker C: We've, um, taken quite an aggressive stance inside Diamondback. So when we have new employees come on, and we have a lot of new employees, part of their enrollment package is a voter registration card. Now, uh, we, now we can't turn it in for them. They still have to turn it in, but we include it, you know, we include it out and we send out. Tracy helps with uh, Geo TV get out the vote campaigns and we make sure we send out. Send, uh, out both in the forms of emails and text to our, all of our employees to make sure they go vote.

Speaker A: That's right.

Speaker C: And we give them a couple. I think we give them half a day off to go vote.

Speaker A: So even better. Even m better. And I think that a lot of people, it's a cycle, maybe it wasn't in their home. And so maybe then they, you know, just carrying the cycle. So you're helping to break the cycle, but by at least introducing it to them, uh, and saying here's an option. I love that. Travis, on a personal note, can you tell us two things about yourself? We Would not know by reading your amazing bio.

Speaker C: Two things about myself, um, well, I'm very proud. I'm a very proud grandfather of, uh, of two grandchildren, uh, Emma, age 11, and Wesley, age 8. And they know they just need to memorize one phone number, and that's pops phone numbers. So I strive to be a very good grandfather. And then, I don't know, probably the other thing is, um, you know, I'm a closet guitarist. I picked up guitar, uh, in 2020, actually, during COVID uh, as a way to try to calm the savage beast of the oil and gas sector. And so I work real. I'm not very good, but I work really hard at it, so I love that. I get a lot of enjoyment out of playing guitar.

Speaker A: What are you playing? You play in classic rock.

Speaker B: You play?

Speaker C: Yeah, it's just all Broadway.

Speaker A: What are you strumming?

Speaker C: It's acoustic guitar. So it's mostly, uh, it's mostly, um, country western and praise. And praise music.

Speaker A: So.

Speaker C: But anyway, it's a lot of fun for me, and, uh, I got a great audience at home with my wife Brenda. She. She listens for a while until the door closes. But she's a very supportive, uh, fan, uh, of my guitar. But that's. That's probably where it ends right there.

Speaker B: I'll never forget when, when during COVID Uh, you know, our office was shut down, but some of us would just go in, you know, only one in the office, whatever. And, uh, I'm walking in one morning, I see Travis getting on the elevator with his guitar case. And I go, well, what do you do with the guitar? He goes, well, I'm teaching myself how to play, and I'm like, how does he like? It blew my mind that Travis Dice all in his place. Like, I'm just gonna teach myself how to play guitar.

Speaker A: I love. Pretty amazing. I think that's fantastic. And so self taught, but also a good reminder that you can start something at any age, right?

Speaker C: I was 60 years old when I picked the guitar up, so I love it. Yeah. Anyway, it's a lot of fun.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Lot of fun.

Speaker B: Um, Travis, who I know we spoke about secretary Evans a little while ago and how meaningful he is to you, but who are a couple of other leaders that have really inspired you along the way?

Speaker C: Yeah. Don Evans always has to lead that list. Jack, uh, Harper, um, has been an amazing, uh, friend to me over the decades. Uh, we would have breakfasts and Breakfast. Breakfast together and lunches together, uh, where we. Mostly me asking Jack about, uh, you know, business help and some personal help as well. Uh, so he's pretty high on the list as well too. Uh, you know, I think in a kind of a counter way of thinking about this. But having the privilege of working with guys like Case Van Toff and Danny Wesson and Matt McGrosky and Jerry Thompson and Tracy Dick on the financial side, you know, having to the privilege of working with those individuals, uh, they have changed me for the better as well too. And, uh, you know, not normally, once you would normally hear somebody name, name, uh, the people that work for them as leaders, but they have just done a phenomenal job in the new generational approach of how to lead others. And it's been a, it's been a privilege to watch.

Speaker A: I'm glad you mentioned that because I think, um, if you're like me, I listen to every piece of advice anyone shares because I think if I can get one nugget right from them, and oftentimes it is from the younger generation, what is that one nugget you would like to share that you have learned, uh, maybe from this next generation that's coming up.

Speaker C: We had a strategy session, gosh, I can't remember four, five, six years ago, and you know, this younger generation that really dominates the leadership positions at Diamondback, uh, you know, we were all strategizing together and I think it was Case that actually came up with this phrase. He might have used it in his college tennis. I don't remember exactly how he attributed it, but it was to stay humble and stay hungry. And for a growth company like Diamondback that has enjoyed pretty good success, uh, in the marketplace, you know, to think that someone of that group influencing that group in a way that focused on humility, which is really important to me, as real as also staying hungry. Those two things don't always normally go together. So today you'll still hear in our culture, stay hungry, stay humble.

Speaker A: Love it.

Speaker B: Um, Travis, it sounds like here pretty soon you're going to have a little bit more free time. Uh, uh, moving on from the, as, uh, executive chairman of Diamondback board, um, we're also very excited that you're going to stay, uh, on as PSP in the, um, emeritus director role. So thank you for that.

Speaker C: Don't think anybody normally would think of Travis Dice and emeritus, but I'm glad

Speaker A: you,

Speaker B: I think he would too.

Speaker C: Yeah, let me have that title. So that's pretty good.

Speaker B: So have you and Brenda thought about what are some things now that you are going to have some more free time in addition to more times with the grandkids. What are some things that you guys want to do?

Speaker C: You know, it's really in kind of two buckets. It's relationships, uh, uh, in service and relationships, uh, you know, when you go down the path that I did as a public figure CEO, uh, I allowed the company a lot of times to drive, you know, all of my thoughts. And one of the things that sacrificed when you're fully engaged, you know, in the role that I was in is relationships. You know, my high school buddies, you know, my friends that I developed over the years, you know, you are so busy and you are so much in the fight that even when you had incremental moments, your friends all thought, well, he's too busy. And so it was sort of both sides. And so what I really want to focus on is these relationships, my friend, relationships that have been, have been, you know, sacrificed over the last 15 plus years. And then the number one person that has sacrificed, uh, everything for my career is Brenda. And one of the things that I've started, I started last year and we haven't quite got to a full year yet, but it's been what I call the year of yes. So I just committed to her, I said, whatever you ask for, whatever you want to do, the answer is yes. Because it took me a long time to realize that everything, every time I said yes to something that was business oriented, yes to something that I felt like the others needed of me, I was saying no to Brenda. So I'm trying to pivot that calculus with this year of yes. And it took her a little while to see if I was really serious about it. So now she has to actually think about it a little bit because I know she goes, I know he's going to say yes. So I want to, I want to try to be careful about what, exactly what I asked for. But yeah, relationships there. So probably in the order as we think about things, you know, both of us are very like minded on this relationship with our Lord, relationships with each other, relationships with our family and relationships with our friends. And so that's going to be a big focus area. And then secondarily, uh, or maybe in conjunction with that is how can we, how can we best serve other people if we've got incremental time now, uh, how can we serve other people not with just with our time and with our treasures and with our talents. Uh, so that's what we're trying to do is, is individually figuring out how we can serve others and then collectively figure out how we can serve Others as well. As we go through this fourth quarter of our life, we like to say,

Speaker A: I love that I'm still. I'm still sitting on the year of yes. Did she do anything that, uh, really kind of surprised you at first, like, do you want to go to Disneyland tomorrow?

Speaker C: I just made the commitment. I mean, I literally did. She said she would say, hey, Emma, our granddaughter, she's, uh, she's got a something in the school, uh, play, you know, on Thursday night. You want to go to Houston to watch it? Yes. So, I mean, it wouldn't even. Wouldn't even a thought. So it's been those kind of things. They're very, uh, spontaneous on her part that I would just say yes to. That took her a little getting used to, because she always had to try to figure out how to justify it around the business schedule or whatever.

Speaker A: So I love that.

Speaker C: It's been a lot of fun.

Speaker A: That is fantastic.

Speaker C: And, uh, uh, I don't know if she'll watch this or not, but I intend to continue that. That year of yes. You know, as well, too. It's that important to me.

Speaker A: I hope our husbands are listening.

Speaker B: Is going to hear about the year of yes. Yes.

Speaker A: Fantastic. There's so much that I admire about you both, you know, professionally, personally, and faith and parenting. Uh, can you just maybe give us, uh, just since we have you in this chair, your best, best parenting advice, Something that has really helped you and Brenda, because I know you all are amazing parents as well as stewards of our community.

Speaker C: Yeah. You've got to be equally yoked when you raise kids right. You can't have one that says, hey, that's okay, and another parent. Another parent that says, that's not okay. So you got to be equally yoked, and you have to communicate with each other to make sure that, uh, you are leading your children in a path that you want. Because I think our biggest role as a parent is to make sure you get your kids to heaven. Right. Because if it's not that, then if it's not that, I don't know what it is. Right. So you got to make sure you get your kids to heaven, so you got to set the example for them. You got to live your life according to what it takes to get to heaven and, uh, make sure that they see it. And one of the things about raising children, I didn't realize early on is that as you're raising your child, you're also raising your grandchild, even if you. Even if your kids are teens or whatever, because you're imprinting on your children the ways that they're going to raise their children, God willing, in the future. And so how you're raising your children, you're also going to be raising your grandchildren. So it's a little extra, little extra stress, you know, to be aware that that's the case. And I also think probably one last piece of advice is that, you know, it's probably talk less and pray more, you know, when you're raising kids. And I think, uh, I think that can get you through some rough spots as well, too.

Speaker A: Great advice.

Speaker B: Well, Travis, um, it has just been an honor of a lifetime for me to get to work beside you and for you these last seven years. And you're somebody that we've been talking a lot about leadership and who we look up to. I mean, you are that person for me for sure. Uh, I feel like you lead by example, and I watch that and try to take note. Um, you're also, you are also one of those people at our board, when people, when you speak, people listen because people want to know, what does Travis, um, have to say? And, um, among all of our executives at the PSP table, I, um, know that you are incredibly respected and somebody that when we have a tough decision to make, people want to know, what does Travis think? And so it's just been remarkable to watch and to get to know you and having to live down the street from him. So sometimes I get to see he and Brenda, uh, walking around the neighborhood. But I just want to thank you for that.

Speaker C: You're too kind. And thank you for those words as well.

Speaker A: I think it is so beautiful to see the two things that are, uh, the two of you, I should say, come together today because our community is truly better because of this partnership. And psp, is there anything, Travis, that you would like to add that maybe we haven't talked about, about your involvement with psp, with the community? And I really don't want this conversation to end. I have to say I want to put you on speed dial. I know my husband already has you on speed dial for advice, but I'm like, wow, I've learned so much today. Uh, but is there anything that you would like to add on this community and where you see it going?

Speaker C: Yeah. You know, at the base level, it's. It's not about me, it's not about you, it's about other people. And to develop an other person oriented perspective is the way that you can make things better. If you don't like food insecurity, you know, do something about it. You know, focus on the other person. You know, if you don't like homelessness, you know, lean into doing something about that. So it's really about. It's not about me. It's about other people. And to just really emphasize your thought process around how can I help the other person? And sometimes you want to say, all right, well, I'm going to stand on a platform and I'm going to say, I'm going to solve world hunger. And, boy, if you can, that's awesome. But if you can't, you know, just make sure one person. The person that you just make sure somebody is not hungry. Kids should not be hungry in the city of Midland. They should never go to bed hungry. But yet we have food insecurity in the city of Midland. So, um, do what you can is probably a good way to think about it. And like I said, it's not always about big, grandiose gestures. It's just, do your part, do what you can when you can. I think the world will be a better place as a result of that.

Speaker A: Absolutely. Tracy, any final thoughts? This has been amazing.

Speaker B: I feel so amazing.

Speaker A: I don't want it to end.

Speaker B: Yep. Um, looking forward to what's ahead. Travis, for you and for psp. Thank you.

Speaker C: Uh, it's been a pleasure. And thank you both for your time this morning and your kind words. Tracy, thank you.

Speaker A: Thank you again. Our community truly is a better place because of Travis Dice's leadership and Diamondback. He will be too humble to say it's him and it's his team. And that's what we love about you, is that it truly is a team. But I want to thank all of you for listening today. If you know someone in the Permian, please share this with them. Um, share and subscribe the Permian Strategic Partnership Podcast, because that's what this podcast is about, is about really just amplifying the voices and the leaders in our community that are truly making West Texas and New Mexico and beyond a better place to live. So thank you for your time and listening today. Again, thank you both. I am just honored to sit beside you and to watch you two lead and look forward to seeing what the future looks like because of the Permian Strategic Partnership. Remember, we're all in this together, and the future lies in the Permian. Thanks for joining us. You make it a great day.

Speaker C: Sa.