Today we’d like to introduce you to Brett Horton.
Hi Brett, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Brett’s Story
Brett William Horton was born in WaKeeney, Kan., the fourth of four children and the youngest by five years. My dad was superintendent of schools and my mom was a homemaker. The first four years were spent as a towny in Utica, Kan., if you could call Utica a town, as it had only about 175 residents. When I was four, the whole family — Mom, Dad, my three older siblings, and even the dog and cat moved into a blue school bus converted into a camper. We parked it next to our future home 10 miles north of Kendall, Kan. (population 112) and quartermile from my grandparents, Elmer and Elsie Ploeger. For all practical purposes I grew up as a farm kid.
It was the farm that shaped who I am today: Hard work, self-reliance and a whole lot of love from parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, neighbors, and church community. I’ll admit my older siblings probably worked harder than I did, but the values stuck.
I had more time for extracurricular activities than my brothers and sisters did, though they were also active at church, school, and 4-H. It was easier for Dad to send the brothers out on the tractor than it was to teach Brett to drive, not to mention I had a wandering mind, so paying close enough attention to make straight rows was a challenge.
TV was limited to two channels, and I was not a huge fan of most things on, and so games were a go-to. After the siblings left for college, I could convince dad to play cribbage, or Mom, Dad, and I would play three-handed pitch. Once a month I joined the 55-plus community in rousing games of pinochle and Uno.
School was my other go-to. The fuel crisis of the ‘70s required extensive time on the bus. We were at the end of the route, and 90 to 120 minutes on the bus was not uncommon. All that time gave me plenty of room to read and indulge a wandering mind.
I never felt like the Hortons were poor. We had everything we needed. Mom and dad were certainly financially cautious. They grew up not having a lot, and that influenced their spending pattern their entire lives. This rubbed off on me, too. Although, I like to call myself thrifty vs. cheap.
Dad was an educator, and as such he encouraged all his kids to go to college. I don’t think not going to college was ever an option. Fanci started off at K-State and Wade, John, and I followed suit.
Hospitality came to me early.I spent a lot of time helping Mom and her friends cater meals as fundraisers for the community and church. As a young kid I didn’t realize I wasn’t “supposed” to be cooking alongside women 20 to 30 years my senior. I got comfortable in the kitchen, and as it turned out I was good at it. Mom may have developed this hospitality gene, but Dad told me he worked at the Broadmoor and the Garden of the Gods Club in Colorado Springs, Colo. when he was in college. So maybe it is also genetic.
Flash forward to college. I was a student at Kansas State University majoring in hospitality management, playing in the marching band, working in the residence hall, and striving to get good grades. Looking back, I am certain Mom and Dad instilled in me a desire to learn, and it has continued to grow. Today I am less focused on grades but more focused on learning. My No. 1 Gallup Strength is Learner. It is my greatest strength… and at times my Achilles heel.
The second strength is Achiever. It is the drive that has made my career and ultimately a doctorate possible. This quote from Gallup summarizes my approach to life. “No matter how much you may feel you deserve a day of rest, if the day passes without some form of achievement, no matter how small, you will feel dissatisfied. You have an internal fire burning inside you. It pushes you to do more, to achieve more.” https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths/en/252134/achiever-theme.aspx. This says so much about me and is why b3 Remarkable has achieved what it has to date, this along with some good fortune.
My first job after college was at The Greenbrier Hotel & Resort in W.Va., an amazing place to acquire hospitality skills. The Greenbrier was founded in 1778 with Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen. These ideals resonated with me then and still do today. My first boss, Rod Stoner, was an inspiration and today I call him friend. The best part of working at the Greenbrier is that it is where I met the love of my life, Michelle, and we have been partners ever since. Working at The Greenbrier elevated my expectation and understanding of amazing service. It also taught me a lot about leading people.
From The Greenbrier Michelle and I moved to Colorado. Springs, Colo. where I managed Spencer’s at the South Golf Club at The Broadmoor Hotel and Resort. A beautiful place to work and grow in leadership and financial management. I learned by making mistakes and getting better every day. While working at The Broadmoor I went to school at night, remember I am a learner, and earned an M.B.A. in finance. We also added Jay to the family, which made our world all the better.
From the M.B.A. to Ph.D. was a decision that I likely didn’t flow chart as well as I should have, but Michelle and I were off to Purdue University and Lafayette, Ind. where I continued to learn, grow, and become acclimated with higher education, a career that I came back to periodically throughout my life. The Ph.D. was “ruff” and was a time I would not like to repeat except for some good friends made along the way. Lafayette was where Faith joined the Horton journey and made our family complete.
After Purdue we were off to Iowa State University which helped me discover that I am passionate about helping young people become the best version of themselves and research is not my passion. Albeit as a small business owner, speaker, and coach research is prevalent. Just much different than what is expected in a university environment. I leaned into learning and how the learning could be applied to the hospitality industry.
Our family of four plus Dart, our dog, moved to Harrisonburg, Va. where I took a teaching position at James Madison University. Ultimately, I led the hospitality management program and grew it to a regionally recognized program. I discovered at JMU that I don’t play office politics very well. This created many different opportunities and challenges. Ultimately, I moved out of higher education and headed to Rome, Ga. to run WinShape Retreat Center. I look back on JMU with fondness, not because of the job, but because of the students who made such a difference in my life. They challenged me to be my very best and strive to get better every day.
WinShape is a retreat center nestled in North Georgia on the Campus of Berry College. The Retreat, funded by Chick-fil-A, specifically the Cathy’s, includes 80 rooms, 25 cabins, and 100 acres. It is a camp in the summer, and a marriage retreat center for the other 10 months. The opportunity to work with the Cathy’s and grow in my leadership was a huge blessing.
After seven years we returned to the Midwest, specifically Shawnee, KS (a.k.a. Kansas City) to be closer to family. I helped launch a second campus for the hotel and restaurant department of Kansas State University and we were off to a good start. AND then COVID-19, and the hospitality program in Kansas City became a victim of the times.
After K-State, I joined the faculty at a community college for three years and discovered that the community college is similar to a university and is in need of dramatic change.
During this realization Michelle and I decided that launching b3 Remarkable, a leadership development and executive coaching firm had merit and fit my love of helping others become the best version of themselves. I have been doing it for 25 years in higher education and leadership roles and it seemed like what I was being called to do. I had been serving as an executive coach and offering leadership events as a side hustle for five years and to go full time seemed like the right move at the right time. AND it has been. Not always easy but extremely rewarding.
Jeff Gliner, COO of Lucky Strike Entertainment and former JMU student, helped to launch the business by allowing b3 Remarkable to rework its leadership development program. This contract along with some other great clients propelled b3 Remarkable forward and we have never looked back.
We have had some challenges in the first two years, but nothing that has kept me from getting up in the morning and attacking whatever problem is before me.
I have the opportunity to work with Jay, our son, who does our marketing and Faith, our daughter, who keeps the company books. Michelle is my rock who encourages me when the dark and twisties, as we call them, attack and I start telling myself s@#$ty stories. The best advice I have received from my executive coach and other mentors is that I must continue to tell myself positive stories. The positive propels me forward.
Starting a business is not for the faint at heart. It takes a bucket load of work and even when I am not working in the business, I find myself thinking about it and striving to do better. The Learner and Achiever in me is extremely active. Yes, all the advice out there that says to succeed you need to sell a product that is wanted, make it unique, and create a good story are all vital. But as I learned from dad, a dryland farmer in western Kansas, the most important thing a successful person does is get up every day and do the necessary work to grow the business. The business I run today will not be the same one I started seven years ago or the one I am running in 5 years. Life comes to us fast and as a leader we must be willing to change and adapt to what is happening around us.
Most recently I have embraced more social media and written a book. Five Words to Change the World: Leading with Compassion, Kindness, Humility, Gentleness, and Patience. This book materialized out of some personal journaling on the words Paul wrote to the church at Colossians some 2,000 years ago. I now attempt to live these out in all that I do, some days better than others. This business book is how others can embrace and apply these five words in their business. The book should be available midsummer 2026.
Our 1987 senior year song was The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades, by Tembuk 3 the lyrics still resonate with me today.
Things are goin’ great
And they’re only gettin’ better
I’m doin’ all right…
The future’s so bright
I gotta wear shades.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I suspect, operating a small business of any kind is all about finding, attaining, and retaining clients. Building a business, and that is the season b3 Remarkable is in, is all about sales. I am consistently seeking to find individuals who aspire to grow from good to great by becoming the best version of themselves.
I naively did not realize how much of starting a business would involve sales. In the process I have met many amazing individuals and cultivated some wonderful friendships.
Being a small business owner requires knowledge of all aspects of a business. This has activated the Learner mentality and challenged the Achiever when I am not the expert.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Executive Coach
Leadership Development Facilitator
Key Note Speaker
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.b3remarkable.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/b3remarkable/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bretthortonphd/
