MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Innovation and creativity will be the focus of the upcoming annual Leadership Summit hosted by the Jones College of Business at Middle Tennessee State University.

Keynote speaker and presenter Kyle Scheele, known as the “Patron Saint of Crazy Ideas,” will entertain and inspire attendees with a theme of “Thinking Inside the Box: How Tough Times Fuel True Creativity & Innovation.”

Sponsored by Jennings A. Jones Chair of Free Enterprise, with registration free and open to the public, this year’s event is set for 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23, at Embassy Suites, 1200 Conference Center Blvd. The registration deadline is Friday, Oct. 16. Lunch is included (though seating is limited), and a meet-and-greet will follow. Register at jones.mtsu.edu/lead.

Whether he’s having a symbolic Viking funeral for the regrets of 21,000 people, hosting the world’s first fake marathon, or gaining a million TikTok followers in just 25 hours, Scheele is always on the lookout for crazy ideas that produce wildly outsized outcomes. 

Over the last decade, his projects have been featured in outlets like Fast Company, WIRED, The Washington Post, Yahoo!, BuzzFeed, UpWorthy, Goalcast, and more. His videos have been viewed over 250 million times, and he has spoken to hundreds of thousands of audience members across the United States. 

More than anything, Scheele hopes his story inspires others to chase their own crazy ideas and become the people they were meant to be.

— Jimmy Hart ([email protected])