116: Oh Gosh Ryan with Atkins Fleming

Recorded live at the HETMA Roadshow in Chicago, this week’s episode continues the conversation with Atkins Fleming, Assistant Director for Learning Spaces at Texas State University and Treasurer of HETMA. Picking up where Episode 115 left off, this candid discussion drifts from music to meaning, from fake Zoom backgrounds to the real impact of integrity in leadership.

Atkins and Ryan go deep into what drives decision-making, the slippery slope of compromised values, and why being a steady, ethical presence in an organization is more powerful than we think. Along the way, they get a little lost in 90s country nostalgia, try to cast the movie of Atkins’s life, and toy with the idea of forming a HETMA house band. This is more than just a follow-up—it’s a masterclass in consistency, character, and how showing up with quiet authenticity shapes a culture.

Topics Discussed
• What Atkins would do if not in higher ed or tech (spoiler: drums are involved)
• His musical roots, band geek origins, and love for 90s country
• The challenge of naming the HETMA band and Joe Way’s Slash story
• Casting Jake Gyllenhaal in the movie of his life
• Whether people are fundamentally good—and how that belief shapes his work
• Ethics in leadership, from timecards to treasury duties
• The contagious nature of moral culture, good or bad
• Travel hacks from Central Texas and the 16-hour rule of driving through Texas
• Why Atkins always uses the same Zoom background (and what it says about him)
• The most common answer to “a question you wish people asked you”

Guest Info

Atkins Fleming
Assistant Director for Learning Spaces, Texas State University
Treasurer, HETMA
[e-mail]

Ryan Gray – Host
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanagray/
Email: [e-mail] www.higheredav.com

Voiceover by Chris Dechter
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