Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse Credits Teachers, Family & Kansas For His Success

By Michael Hooper
Photos by Heather Hooper

Three Kansans inducted into the Topeka High School Hall of Fame had much to say about the influence of teachers on their lives.
Brad Garlinghouse, Raymond L. Powers and Pam McComas were inducted into the Topeka High School Hall of Fame on Oct. 1, 2017,with official ceremony.

Topeka High School Principal Rebecca Morrisey, Brad Garlinghouse, Pam McComas, Raymond L. Powers.

Powers, a longtime manager with Hallmark, became the first African American to serve as a vice president for Hallmark. He credited a teacher at Topeka High School for inspiring him to go to college.

Brad Garlinghouse thanked several teachers for helping him along the way. Pam McComas praised multiple teachers and administrators for supporting her.

Brad Garlinghouse

Garlinghouse has led an extraordinary career in business, communications, technology, once making the front page of The Wall Street Journal for his Peanut Butter Manifesto about Yahoo spreading itself too thin.

Garlinghouse, son of Kent and Susan Garlinghouse, was a 1989 graduate of Topeka High School, the University of Kansas and Harvard University. Today he is CEO of Ripple, which is a San Francisco-based company that uses blockchain technology for sending money globally, its digital currency Ripple (XRP) is the third largest market cap digital currency behind Ethereum at No. 2 and Bitcoin No. 1. Garlinghouse’s leadership at Ripple is the perfect match of his technology, communication and management skills. His history of leadership goes back to his days at Topeka High School, where he served as editor of The World newspaper, and president of the Student Council. At KU he was elected student body president.

In his remarks during the ceremony, Garlinghouse said he has lived in California for 20 years, but he always thinks of himself as a Kansan first. Kansas is home. “Topeka High is an indelible part of who I am today,” he said.

Working in Silicon Valley, life can get crazy. Being from Kansas gives him a touchstone to the real world. Throughout his professional career he has interviewed hundreds of people. He always asks two questions. His first is “where are you from?” He is excited if they say they are from the Midwest. He finds Midwest people work hard, are humble and work well with others. 

His second question is on a scale of 1:10 how lucky are you? The reason for this question is you don’t want to work with someone who is unlucky, it says a lot about someone.  The question will illicit the person’s level of gratefulness. Danny Manning said luck is when opportunity meets skill.

“I believe I am one of the luckiest people on the planet,” Garlinghouse said. He listed a dozen people whom he was “lucky” to meet and learn from over the years. He said he was lucky to have parents like Kent and Susan Garlinghouse and their support. He said he was lucky to have his wife Kristen and their three children, and his sisters Megan and Kim who showed him how strong women can make everyone around him better.

Raymond Powers said he grew up in East Topeka near Ripley Park. Lived in poverty and attended East Topeka Junior High School where he was voted most likely not to succeed. His mother said she didn’t care what he did as long as he did his best. He served in the Army for two years after high school graduation in 1964.

At Topeka High School a teacher asked him what he was going to do with his life. He said he would work at Kansas Neurological Institute. The Teacher suggested he go to college, which in his lifetime, he earned several college degrees including a bachelor’s in Graphic Arts Technology Management from Central Missouri State University and a Master’s in Management from Baker University. Moving to Kansas City, he gained additional responsibilities working for Hallmark. He became production manager at Leavenworth and next plant manager in Kansas City. In 1995, Hallmark promoted him to Vice President - North American Production. and later Vice President of Manufacturing, he retired in 2007.

Powers thanked his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, his family, his friends, his wife and his children and grandchildren.
“Thank you so much, I’m so thankful, I’m so humbled,” he said. 

McComas earned a reputation for excellence, her students won multiple state and national awards for speech and debate. 
 
McComas said she was surprised to learn she was being inducted into the Hall of Fame because she lacks certain traits like being “warm and fuzzy.” She was fierce in demanding her students perform their best. She credited two teachers with “fortune telling magic” to see her potential. It’s those individuals who push and tug and prod you to your next level, she said.
 
Pam McComas said she had worked for USD 501 for some time, but resigned in 1978. But later that summer she was called back to work at Topeka High School, where she worked until her retirement in 2014.

"Excellence is never an accident," she said. "It is achieved by high intention and sheer effort, excellence represents a choice, not a chance.”