Episode 4 — Taking Share: Lessons From Leaders

Welcome to Taking Share Lessons from Leaders with Rob Holmes, chairman, president and CEO of Texas Capital. During each episode, you will hear from leaders, decision makers and culture shapers across industries. What drives them? What tips the scales when making tough calls? How do they continue to evolve? We're here to understand the thoughts behind their actions and discover how they are taking share. Thank you for listening. 

Holmes: Our guest today is someone who has quietly but unmistakably played a defining role in shaping the modern identity of Austin, Texas, and someone I’m proud to call a dear friend: Eddie Margain. Eddie is a co-founder and owner of Austin FC and CEO of Pixiu Investments. He is a significant figure in Austin, known for his entrepreneurial ventures that shaped the city’s identity through real estate, sports and consumer brands. Originally from Monterrey, his background and experiences influence his approach to business and community development in Austin. And from my many interactions, conversations and observations, it is clear his greatest passion is his family. It’s fun to watch. Eddie, welcome to “Taking Share.” It’s great to have you.

Margain: Thank you. Thank you, brother. 

Holmes: So, you grew up in Mexico, in Monterrey as I mentioned. Let’s start with your background. A couple…I want to start on just your upbringing in Mexico, I don’t think a lot of people know about that — it clearly shaped a great deal of you. And then I want to go into the entrepreneurial background and experiences you had in Mexico. What shaped your perspective most by growing up in Mexico during that time?

Margain: For me personally, like, it’s a level of appreciation for what we have here in the U.S. and in Texas. Why? Because you learn the relevance of the system, and by system I mean the structure that we live in. And you can go deeper into it and say rule of law — the how well we have it structured, our judicial system, our political system. So, when you’re in a disadvantage, you have to hustle way more to get some things done then you realize. Then I moved here and then say like, “Wow.” Like, I thought we had it pretty good back there, but then you moved here and you’re able to get way more things done because of, at the end of the day, certainty.

Holmes: Right.

Margain: So, you have certainty and at least — yeah, of course, nothing’s like perfect and nothing is like you can completely predict, otherwise it would be boring — but at least there’s a certain level of certainty and trust that lets you be a better you and perform better and do more. I learned a lot from Mexico, a lot: the hustle, the fight, the figuring it out. I owe a lot to Mexico in my upbringing and ways to work around things and just get things done. And then it helped me when I transitioned here to appreciate more and protect what we have here.  

Holmes: I want to come back to that. You do espouse the benefits of rule of law frequently, and in conversations with me and others, and it’s great for people to hear that, because I think a lot of people here take it for granted, and I don’t think we should. But let’s, if you don't mind, let’s go back to…you had a lot of different businesses in Mexico at a young age. I mean, you were a young man when you started a lot of different businesses. How did you get in the first — you know, you had a technology business, a telecom business. Talk a little bit about that. I know people won't believe that the founder and owner of Austin FC has scars on his hands from putting up satellites…  

Margain: Yes.

Holmes: …you know, in one of your businesses. I’ve seen the scars. I didn’t believe you, then you showed me. So, tell us a little bit about your entrepreneurial spirit in Mexico and how you started a business and why you just didn’t go to work for somebody else.

Margain: I was just, honestly, just trying to be self-sufficient. Like, I just wanted to produce so I would depend less on my parents. And it’s weird but, like, I just wanted to be able to — whenever I needed — to buy something or, like, I don't know, I mean, the capitalist side of me, like, I just wanted to keep producing and keep creating and making  so I would just be self-sufficient. So, that's why in college, yeah, I had that first business on the telecom side. And yeah, I was on the roofs of the houses installing antennas and stuff. I don't know if I would let my son do that when I was doing, like, I was like, I don't know how my dad let me do that. But anyway, I mean, it was good and it was a lot of learning and also how tough it is.

Holmes: Right.

Margain: And but, you know, when you’re 18, you were aiming for a small amount of money that will change your life.  

Holmes: Right.

Margain: As you grow older and you have more responsibilities, then you’re asking for more. So, now I look at that business like, I would never do that.  

Holmes: Right

Margain: But it was not even the money, it’s what that business taught me.  

Holmes: Right.

Margain: And I still use a lot of things that I learned from that business, and it was good and it was difficult, but I learned a lot.

Holmes: Tell us a little bit about the family and how and why you all moved to the United States, how that decision was made, and how did you pick Austin?

Margain: Yeah, my wife is amazing and a big part of why our kids are so good is because of her. Like, she does have a normal job, and the three of our kids are different in what they want, but very similar in their values. And we spend a lot of time with them, and we try to guide them, you know, obviously with our conversations, but also by example. And we moved in 2008 for security reasons, and then we fell in love with Texas. And we fell in love again, like, the structure, the…we saw, for me as an entrepreneur, like, I saw the potential, I was like, here, like, oh my God, this city is ready to go. Like, it was starting to go. Like, we were basically…you had the 2000, the dot-com bubble, and that brought everything down. But then it was starting to pick up. You had 2008 and that recession. But you could, you could see. For me, it’s energy. So, you would come and walk here and you will have all that energy from all of the students, and then some of the entrepreneurs and the tech, and you could see that something was happening here. And when they ask me about Texas, and I always tell them, like, it’s — talked about this with one of my business partners — and like, it’s like the story of the four brothers. Like, Dallas is the corporate brother; it’s very well dressed, corporate, good. Houston, like medicine, energy, different — like it’s the most diverse city on the planet. San Antonio is more Army, defense. And then you had the fourth brother: Austin, which was the guy with the hoodie and just hanging out with the computer, and suddenly that became like a big thing. So, I saw the potential; we fell in love with the city, and that's why we stayed here.  

Holmes: Great.

Margain: And it’s been fantastic; the people are amazing. Like, every time that other people come here or other teams come and play against our team, like they all leave like, “What the hell is wrong with Austin? Everybody’s so nice.” It’s pretty cool. Like, and we have that, like it’s that energy — an energy you cannot buy. It’s just it’s there and you need to protect it and you need to empower it.

Holmes: I want to come back to the team, but let’s stay on what you did first. You came in and you started investing from day one, right, in Austin? And you, now you own some of Austin’s most iconic properties. You didn’t buy the shiny new building, you bought really iconic properties like the Driscoll Hotel, where we are today — we just toured it. You just redid the whole thing since buying it in ‘22. It’s gorgeous, all unbelievable amenities and restaurants, but also you saved a lot of the history and added to it, which was — thank you for doing that, by the way. I know that that’s important to you and it’s important to us. I think it’s a little gift you’ve given back, which is great. You own the Scarborough building, the Littlefield Building — so, what did you look for when deciding something’s worth not just investing in, but preserving? Those are very unique buildings that maybe somebody else wouldn’t have bought.

Margain: Yeah, I mean, first of all, like all of the projects that we’ve talked about or that we’re going to talk about, like, I have incredible business partners, like I have incredible business partners, and my job is how to connect the dots and empower more people from my business partners to the rest of the organization. And so, it’s about them, not about me. My job is to just help them out and empower them more. We moved here and I tried from day one because I was looking at it — but I needed to learn about the U.S. because it’s so different. It’s, like, whoever tells you that it’s the same to do business in Mexico or the U.S. or any other country, like they don’t know what they're talking about.  

Holmes: Right.

Margain: It’s completely different. So, I needed to learn what was, like, the, not easiest, but like where I could take…I don’t like too much risk, so it was, like, kind of like, what asset class? I can kind of mitigate the risk. We were coming out of the 2008 recession — I moved in 2008. So, I tried to buy real estate because I thought that I had, like, at least a kind of safety net, that I wouldn’t lose everything by learning. I tried, but nothing traded in 2008, nothing traded in 2009. One property that we tried, but one...and then in 2010, we acquired our first asset. And my wife and I, like, we’ve been evolving. And then we got into, like, let’s invest with purpose. Like, yes, you can buy the shiny new thing, but what’s the real…There’s two things: Like, what’s the real value in it, and what’s the economic value? But then there’s, what’s the legacy value of it? And what are the odds of having a brand-new building being there in 40 years versus a building like this one that has been here for 140 years…  

Holmes: Right.  

Margain: …being there? So, when we started buying, I always been telling our partners on our team like, it’s we don’t own these buildings; we’re just good stewards of them. They’ve been here for 100…some of them 110, this one for 140, like, they’ve been here for 140 years, like, come on, we’re just good stewards of it. And then the other thing that my wife and I started working on, it was kind of like: what's the reality? Our kids were born here, but we migrated from Mexico. So, it was kind of like, let’s give as much back and prove that we’re here to add value. And for us, it was kind of like, thank you, USA; thank you, Texas; we’re here to give more — as much, as much as we can. Obviously, we like to make money, everything, but we’ve always been trying to, you know, make it better and just do more. So, we thought, like, why don't we just buy these iconic assets and enhance them? And if you go to some of our buildings, which you have, we’ve remodeled everything inside, but we protected the facade. Same thing as here at the Driscoll, like, it didn’t turn into a modern hotel; it turned into a more Texas, more robust Texas…  

Holmes: Right.

Margain: …hotel building and kind of almost a Texas museum.

Holmes: It for sure is.

Margain: It’s going to take us a little bit longer to make money, but we’ll make money, I think. And I just think that, again, it will be here for 50 and 100 years, instead of taking a shorter view and taking more risk and just making it only about money.  

Holmes: So, what about, you do, you invest in office a little different, at least, at least for me, meaning: I didn’t appreciate how different your office space was, and what I mean by that is, your buildings are, the finish-out’s pre-done. In other words, you don’t do tenant improvements and stuff…tenants, you still do it like that, right?  

Margain: Yes. Everything we do is like, what’s our…I mean, what’s your edge? If we don’t have an edge and we’re not different then you’re just competing against like just…it basically becomes purely an Excel sheet with numbers.  

Holmes: Right.

Margain: And who has this, like what’s your real advantage or what…I cannot exchange something with you, which is usually a value if I’m not adding value. If I’m not giving you a value, then why are you, why are you paying me rent? If I’m not giving you something better or something that is worth for you more than going to my neighbors? That’s on every product, like everything — if we don’t have an edge, then why? So, we worked on, like, what’s going to be our edge? An office. Like, like, okay, we’re going to buy these beautiful buildings, first, like, okay, let’s buy those with character, beautiful, we’ll preserve them. Now, let’s make all the insides so people walk in and it’s now, it’s not going to be the typical firm. This is going to be for a firm that they want to come in, they’re like, “What is this lobby? This is amazing. Like, I was not expecting this because it was an old building but now it’s beautiful inside and it’s music.” And then so like, yeah, but the office…then I’m fighting with someone else to see who gives you more TI. And we’re like, let’s make it easier on our tenants, which are our partners for two or three years because they’re coming with us and they’re paying us, so we end up treating them as partners. So, let’s finish it out because a lot of them don’t want to work with the general contractor, get the permits from the city, wait, and then be delayed. Like, let’s just take that and let’s just rent the space as they are. And here it is. We might change the carpet, we might change the color, but that’s it. We’re not going to add more, like, let’s go. So, our rotation and our downtime is way less.  

Holmes: Right.  

Margain: And like my business partner says, like we’re not Class A or Class B, we’re Class X — we’re different. And that, we thought, it was our edge. For some time it was tough for the market to understand it — I’m talking 2015, 2016. They were like, “No, give me TI.” I just wanted like…” No, we’re not your guys.  

Holmes: Right.

Margain: So, but now it has worked. And when it started to get more and more complicated to build, everybody was like…

Holmes: That’s great.  

Margain: “Just give me the keys.” I mean, especially for companies that — like, we’re not after Google or Facebook or — like, our market is different. This is way smaller,..  

Holmes: Smaller.  

Margain: spaces…  

Holmes: Yep.  

Margain: …smaller companies and through all of our portfolio, we can move them from our co-working space to a bigger office to a bigger office to…until they graduate. And then they need too much space that it’s not great for us to give them too much exposure in some of our buildings.

Holmes: We had to redo 330,000 square feet-plus of office the last four years at our firm, and so, to be able to go in and be already done and save that time and money, I see the value in it. So, what other business ventures do you have? I know you have a bakery and you have, you’ve invested in a tequila company that I can endorse. It’s really, really good. How do you decide what to invest in? And what are you working on now that’s fun?

Margain: So, I mean, it’s again like where we can find an edge and that we have, that we can have a difference and, at the end of the day, minimize the risk and be able to produce good output compared to everybody else. So, I mean, the tequila was kind of like, my business partner — it’s amazing and he has all the connections in the world and I didn’t. I was kind of conflicted because there’s a lot of tequila brands. And so, I was kind of, like, the world doesn’t need another tequila brand. Like, yeah, but if you help me with the best tequila in the world — no sugar, no nothing — I promise I’ll work really hard and push it through all of my contacts in the U.S. And it’s growing like it’s a… it's a rocket ship. But again, like, so, something that was supposed to take six months going to Guadalajara, to Tequila, Jalisco, and find it, like I went and suddenly you’re visiting all the distilleries and, like, “Oh yeah, we added caramel.” And, like, what the hell? What do you mean you added caramel? Yeah, they’re proud of it. And like, no.

Holmes: Yeah.

Margain: Then no, we add fructose or syrup.

Holmes: Yeah. There's like a peanut butter tequila.

Margain: I was like, this is wrong.  

Holmes: Yeah.

Margain: So, instead of six months, it took us four years to source the right tequila because if it’s going to have our name, it better be like, I'm not…I prefer not to do it.  

Holmes: Well, it’s a great name.

Margain: Well, it’s Aguasol, the only thing that it has is water, sun and agave: agua, sol and agave. And so, it’s the purest…we won the best reposado tequila in the world in the Spirits Alliance competition…  

Holmes: I did not know that.  

Margain: …in San Francisco. It’s the biggest spirit competition in the world — we won the best reposado. So, I was like, okay.  

Holmes: Did you win the best bottle? The bottle’s great.

Margain: Yeah, again, we designed like that bottle is it was designed by us, and then it’s produced by the biggest glass company in Mexico, but in the perfume division.

Holmes: Oh, to make it pretty.

Margain: Well, and it’s the quality and the level is very different than a typical…like we didn’t go and get from a catalog of 200 types of bottles, we — “Okay, give me this one.” No, we went to design ours…  

Holmes: It’s great, though. I’m not sure what costs more, the bottle or the tequila.  

Margain: Yeah, well no, it’s still the tequila, but it’s close. Yeah, we spent a lot of money, but it’s worth it. Again, you’re gonna put your name and you’re gonna…So, that business has been going great. First time that we do, and do more structure, a funding, and we’re doing a fund for the first time that we’re going out. Why? Because I don't know, it hit me like, then people ask us what is your thesis? And our thesis is Texas. I love Texas.  

Holmes: Right.

Margain: Like, why are we going…  

Holmes: You’re talking about your real estate fund?  

Margain: Well, this is going to be a platform.  

Holmes: Okay.  

Margain: So, our first vertical is real estate. But we’re going to do several verticals with the sole thesis of Texas.

Holmes: Texas investing.  

Margain: That’s, that’s… this is where we… like it’s at $2.9 trillion economy; I don’t have to go anywhere else. I don’t know why I’m traveling and investing in South America or Europe or Asia. Like, I don’t have to. Like Texas…I love Texas. We have, number one in health, number one in energy, number one in semiconductor manufacturing, number one in space. We have really good people. We have a surplus. Go to our infrastructure — the infrastructure fund has over $140 billion. Like it’s, like why am I, like I like I was… I get mad about not seeing it before.

Holmes: You get excited.

Margain: I’m super excited, and I’m, like, why I didn’t do this eight years ago?

Holmes:  Well, to be fair, Texas isn’t what it was eight years ago.

Margain: Yeah, that’s part of the deal that they keep calling it the Texas Miracle, and it’s not a miracle.  

Holmes: No.  

Margain: Like, it’s just been at work…like a lot of work from a lot of people for so long, especially like Governor Abbott has done a fantastic job.  

Holmes: Fantastic job.

Margain: Fantastic job, and he deserves a lot of recognition for it. And he, he, he, he’s been doing, like he's been there for what, 22 or 23 years, first as attorney general and then 12 as governor? Like, look at the numbers. Like, numbers don’t lie. Like, stop getting emotional about other stuff. Like, focus on the numbers, and, like, it’s just been fantastic what we have here, and we just need to protect it and keep going. Don’t don’t don't don't don’t don’t move it.  

Holmes: So, talk about that, you, Abbott appointed you to the Texas Economic Development Corp in ‘22. I know you spend a lot of time on it; I’ve been to some meetings there with you. What does that entity focus on most now and what do you enjoy about it?

Margain: I never did more of, like, media because…it’s funny, but my family-in-law, they’re in the media business, so I’m kind of media shy, so I just do it like…

Holmes: You do it very rare.

Margain: I've never, and I’ve just done it for two friends: you and another friend.  Because you’re my friends and it’s my way to say thank you for what you do and for your friendship. The same way, like, when Governor Abbott invited me to help him out, I said, yes, and I’ll help him in almost anything that he asked me for, because look at the numbers again.  

Holmes: There’s clearly, in my lifetime, never been a better pro-business governor of any state in the country, period.

Margain: Again, but he a, as a human, incredible.

Holmes: For sure.

Margain: And as a governor and as a leader, incredible. So, you need to be there when they ask you. Like, do I have a lot of time to put on it? Like, no, I’m struggling with my time, but I have to. I’m doing it because I say I have to on my own right, like in my own way, to be there and help him out. And I will help the state and I'll help him. He asked me to help him with the World Cup right now in the World Cup task force. We have more games in Texas than any other state, any, more than Mexico, and more than Canada — here in Texas. So, we’re not a host state; we’re a host country — that’s how big Texas is. I go and help him because I just think that it’s the right thing to do. The Texas economic development has just been fantastic because we're trying to help and connect and do more for Texas and bring more business. If there were 80 or 70 leads five years ago on companies trying to relocate to Texas or do projects in Texas, there's more than 400 by now. 

Holmes: Right.

Margain: It’s massive. It’s incredible. It’s a lot of work. For example, there, I mean, Aaron, that leads the board, and then Arianna, on the economic development on the state, like, they work really hard. Like, I just don’t think that people appreciate the work that a lot of people, these people put on to make our lives better. Because at the end of the day, the more companies move here, it’s a more diverse economy, more jobs, more…

Homes: More corporate relocations the last five years than any state.  

Margain: Incredible.  

Holmes: I think 111 just in Dallas-Fort Worth alone.  

Margain: Dallas is amazing.

Holmes: It’s…  

Margain: They’re doing like probably the, I would guess, that probably is the hottest city in the world.

Holmes: The world. Growth, corporate relocations, velocity of capital — I think you’re probably right.  

Margain: Yes.  

Holmes: And Abbott’s a big part of it. I mean, you know, the Texas Stock Exchange was his idea.

Margain: Yep.

Holmes: I mean, he’s very curious, very smart. So, let’s go to, well, first of all, let's stop in Austin for one more second on this on the civic side, because you also gave a lot back of time to Austin recently on the police commission. Can you just talk a little bit about that?

Margain: They asked me to you know, head the, back then it was the Greater Austin Crime Commission, which was, it’s been there like, Admiral Inman put it together with a lot of, some Austinites like 26 years ago. It was pretty good but back then we were working on getting extra equipment for the police department when they needed it. I don't know, the police helicopter needed tech. The city bought the helicopter, but they didn't put the money for the tech. Like, okay, we’ll get the funds and help him with that. But that I mean that world, that Austin changed substantially. And so, we didn’t, I think, in my point of view —and again, we didn’t have a robust presence from the community on the public safety side — so, we changed the name with the help of the board and everybody involved, like, we changed the name to the Central Texas Public Safety Commission. So, we can really make it broader and with different angles and different perspectives. So, we did that, and we now have a way more robust organization with a bigger impact. Why? Because again, public safety. You miss public safety you’re, like, we can go and build three Tesla factories, five stadiums, other four professional sports teams, whatever — it’s irrelevant. You don’t have public safety, you don’t, like, you don't have anything.

Holmes: I think that's what a lot of cities are getting wrong today.

Margain: Yes, and the problem is that when you…and what bothers me is that you start hurting the most needy. Those communities that need more policing or need a police…now saying that every organization is perfect and that, in this case, all of the police officers are perfect, doesn’t exist — it’s made of humans. But that doesn’t mean that the whole profession is wrong.  

Holmes: Right.

Margain: So, you need to be careful because then you hurt the most needy and that’s where things start to get bad. So, yes, I put a lot of time on that because I, I lived some of that back home in Mexico. So, my new home, I don't want that to happen. And, and that’s why I put a lot of time on it. And, and I just think that if the community gets more involved, then we can have better results. And at the end of the day, like I can tell you, like, and we spent, we spent a lot of my wife’s and my money on — my family’s money — on public safety in our city. And the reason for it is, again, to protect that we run every single model on in my office on what really matters, what’s the real impact. And if you want to oversimplify it, over mega-oversimplify it, like we used to pay our first responders across the country, we used to pay them with money, but we also used to pay them with honor and respect. The moment that you stop paying them with honor and respect, it doesn’t matter if you pay them twice as much, it’s the honor and respect that matters. It’s like, it's…that’s why I tell everybody, like, if you can, you don’t have to do too much — start by just thanking, every time you see a first responder, say, hey, thank you for your service.  

Holmes: For sure.

Margain: Like that’s the least thing we can do.

Holmes: Let’s move to the fun part: FIFA, Austin FC. So, you brought the first professional sports team to Austin ever. Tell us a little bit about the role you played in that, how that came about, because I bet there was a lot of people that wanted to do different versions of that or the same one and, and, and I know it’s, like, so much greater than what you originally anticipated — at least that’s my understanding from just seeing it and talking to you. And tell us about how it came about.

Margain: Well, that was an interesting one. Again, like that was in that period when my wife and I were like, okay, like, let’s do more for the community. Of course we’ll end up making money with it. But, like sports, especially something like soccer, which is a league with tremendous growth, it costs you money every year. But the impact is fantastic. So, so, we’re like helping like local hospitals, and it’s like, like, let’s try to keep kids out of the hospitals. So, like, okay how? And then, professional sports team, if you have a professional sports team, back back then when we did our analysis was like, a professional sports team, then you have professional athletes. If you have professional athletes, you have professional heroes for the kids. Why? Because they want to be with everybody, celebrating them and whatever because they buy the nice cars. But whatever the reason, I don't care, but if we, back then, had between 30,000 and 40,000 kids that want to be like them.  

Holmes: They want to be healthy.  

Margain: Exactly. Then from year 12 to 20, they will train to try to be that. Even if they don’t make it when they’re 20, they don’t become professional, they already made those tough years productive years and healthy years. So, you end up, no matter what, having a better community. So, that was one of the first thesis that we liked about doing it. And yes, the same thing from being completely private and completely off the radar, we knew that was going to change our life. That was the, one of our biggest questions, like, do we really want to go, like, that was kind of the biggest hurdle that we as a family had to go through and say, like, is it worth it?

Holmes: Right. Is it?

Margain: I mean, of course you have different days and, like, but when you…for me, when I’m driving into a game and I see a family and I see a kid on his dad’s shoulders and both wearing their local team jersey…

Holmes: That's pretty cool. Like I tell you, I've been to a game with you, and I’m not going to give you credit, but maybe I should. But whoever decided to keep, I think it’s the east side…  

Margain: Yeah.  

Holmes: …as a general admission.

Margain: Yeah, that’s the supporters’ section, the supporter groups are amazing.

Holmes: It’s crazy. They add so much to the game.

Margain: They’re the best. They're amazing.

Holmes: But that's the funnest soccer game I’ve ever been to.  

Margain: Anthony thought about a lot of things, and he was right on it, and I was trying to help. But I, on purpose, like I've stayed away from a lot of the sporting side, but a lot of the other stuff, like, which I enjoy more, like on the stadium, the design, the branding, who are we bringing, how, the energy; and what the supporters do, it’s amazing. But talking about some cool things that make it worth it, like, again, this is a project that you cannot make it feed on an Excel sheet because there’s other stuff, that it’s, it’s not there, but it makes all the difference. Like what? Like the kid that went for their first professional sports event there and they become a lifetime fan. Where do you put that? That’s unique. That’s a, so, the interesting thing here was, you know, Anthony and I creating something from scratch. Yeah. Like we didn't buy one thing, like we put it together — like it was just years of work. So, that for me, that was…

Holmes: Overnight success.

Margain: Yeah, but it’s, you just, I think again, like, it’s like this building, a thing is going to be here for 100 years, I hope that the team is for 100 years and that the city owns it and the city, it’s theirs.

Holmes: My guess is that today there’s a dramatic amount of more soccer fans living in Austin than even when you thought about this, just given what’s happened with the migration to the city. No?  

Margain: Yes.  

Holmes: Or, is it a conversion of football fans to — American football — to soccer?

Margain: No. I mean, number one, like, if we didn’t have the right environment, like our stadium has the four corners open.  

Holmes: Right.  

Margain: We’re in Texas. We have a huge canopy, a huge roof, but we get the southern breeze to go through it and cool it down. Why? Because we’re in Texas. That makes the experience better. And then what about McConaughey being our partner? Like, when I told him, he was super. Matthew is something else. We were there families and I tell him, let’s do this crazy thing. And it’s like, he came back a week after, it’s like, “Let’s do it. But let me also put some of my money in.”  Like, that’s how cool this guy is. And that’s a lot of energy. That makes the experience better for the kids, for their families. And let me give you another example: We’re there, one of the games, and he tells me, “Eddie, you see that family over there?” It’s like all with black t-shirts.  And like, yes. “Well, guess what? That family just lost one of their members last week, and they’re all here because this was the place, every game, that they would come together as a family from different parts of the city or the country and get together for a game.”  

Holmes: Yeah.  

Margain: And they’re here, celebrating their family member that passed away. I mean, like, how do you make up that? Like, it’s, that's it. But he knew that because he went and met with them.  

Holmes: Right.

Margain: That’s, that’s also, I’m leaving credit to Matthew, I’m giving credit to the team on how it impacts lives.  

Holmes: That’s great.

Margain: And so yes, it’s super challenging. Professional sports is challenging, challenging, challenging. And especially when you get to the sporting side, that’s a tough…I don’t get that much involved on that side. It’s really tough. So, that’s, that’s when I like, okay, wow. Like that's, so all of my complaints and stuff that’s like it’s worth it.  

Holmes: You want to talk about FIFA?

Margain: We just had here the president of FIFA for dinner with the governor and the FIFA team. And most people don’t realize how big the World Cup is going to be for Texas, for the U.S., but for Texas, it’s going to be massive. We’re only going to play Dallas and Houston. But even with those just two cities and the games that we have there, we have more games than any other state and more than Mexico, more than Canada.  

Holmes: How many games will you go to?  

Margain: I'll go to probably six games.

Holmes: That's a lot.  

Margain: Because my son is like…and yeah, he’s just now asking me to go to the opening game in Mexico. And so, I'm like, I don't know.

Holmes: Sounds like you’re going to seven.

Margain: Yeah, yeah. He knows how to make me go and take him. It’s huge, I mean, economically. So, now you have people from all around the world coming to Texas, realizing how big Texas is. Because you have on one side, you don’t have Texas realizing how big the World Cup is going to be. But at the same time, you have a lot of, I mean, you can say FIFA or the World Cup or the other countries, they don’t know how big Texas is.  

Holmes: Right

Margain: So, when they come here and they see what we have, then I think that they’re going to be more interested in investing here in Texas, which is great for economic development.  

Holmes: They’ll vacation here.

Margain: I think they’re going to come back to vacation here in Texas and visit. I just think that it’s going to be huge for Texas. At least the numbers that we have and what we’re seeing is going to be incredible for Texas.

Holmes: I got a couple more questions. Let’s just do a lightning round. We’re at the end. Okay?

Margain: Whatever you need.  

Holmes: What do you like to do for fun outside of work?

Margain: So, I’m a pilot; so, I like flying. That helps me a little bit, disconnect, because there you cannot fool around. So, it’s kind of like no cell phone, I’m up there, put on a nice music background, and then just go in and enjoy it. Now, I recently started playing golf. Last summer, some of my friends came and visit and I realized that they had this, you know, trips and stuff, and I wanted to spend more time with them, so like, okay, I’ll play golf and join them so I can spend more time with them because for me, my friends are important.  

Holmes: Yep. How are you doing? Do you want to share your handicap? You want to say…

Margain: I mean, I can tell you something good. About a month and a half ago, a friend of mine calls me and he’s like, “Hey, want to go and play?” It’s Friday, first day of the spring break. Like, dude, I’m super busy. I can do something maybe after three. Then he calls me like, “No, it’s bad, there’s no tee times at the club.” Like, “Oh, well, I'll see you there at 3:30 and we’ll just go to the range.” And we’re there and then these two other guys that I didn’t know are like, “Hey, we have a tee time at 4:20. You guys want to join us?” Super nice guys. And like, we joined them. And on hole number eight, I just grab a soft eight iron, 130 yards or something.

Holmes: Don’t tell me you hit a hole in one. Atta boy, atta boy. There's going to be a lot…

Margain: Yeah, I saw it bounce and then it goes, it rolls and gets in and this other guy like, new friend, he was the one that was invited us to play, he jumps out of the golf cart like, “It’s a hole it’s in one.” And I’m like, “Hey, don’t play with me. I…don’t play with my emotions.” Like, I don't know if it went over the ridge or something. Like, “No, I saw it like, it’s in.”  

Holmes: That’s awesome. What is the one thing people would be surprised to learn about you they don’t know?

Margain: I mean, historical, like people will probably laugh that I was 12 selling Amway products.

Holmes: Okay. That’s fair. That’s a good one.

Margain: Yeah, I was 12 selling Amway products, cleaning products, because it was, I had a catalog and I knew my strengths. I knew that it was like, it’s tough to say no to a 12-year-old. And then my dad is like, “Okay, let the driver take you.” It’s like, “Dad, I’m selling cleaning products. How can I have a driver?” Like, no, I’m walking the street, like, leave me alone. Like, let me go. So, I was 12. I would, I don’t know how much I would pay for my blue folder, plastic folder, from Amway that I had all my brochures and everything there. Like, that was fantastic. That was, like, I would be with that for like a year and a half…

Holmes: That’s great.

Margain: …selling Amway products and I made good money. But then they were like, “Okay, you need to now register, and you need a tax ID because you’re selling a lot.” And I went to my dad and was like, “Dad I need a tax ID.” He’s like, “Hell no, you’re 13-and-a-half. Like, I'm not gonna give you a tax ID number. Like, no, go to school.”

Holmes: You go to school. Okay, so this is the last one. It’s one that I ask all the guests that are on “Taking Share.” What is a single-most important trait for an effective leader to have?  

Margain: Trust. If you don’t have trust, like, I mean, you can’t…  

Holmes: I think it’s a great answer.

Margain: We’re all imperfect. So, people can follow an imperfect person, but if they don’t trust you, then all of the other values like, become irrelevant, I think. Obviously, I have in my scale, like honesty and loyalty…

Holmes: But trust.  

Margain: But trust…  

Holmes: I like that.

Margain: I think that that’s, that's, and that’s why, like, again, like, you go to, back again to rule of law and everything is just what is…it’s just basically all trust in the system and trusting…The moment that you lose the trust, then you don’t trust the system. And if you don’t trust the system, then how do you know that they have your back? Imagine that you, let’s take it again to and connect with public safety. If you cannot dial, if you know that if you dial 911 and you cannot trust that the other person on the other line of the, on the other side of the line, that you cannot trust them, it’s completely like, then it’s game over.  

Holmes: Right, right.

Margain: Like, the beauty is that we have a system in which we do trust those other guys, and that’s why we need to empower and protect them and just be there for them as well and do more of that. So, it’s the same thing, I think, in leadership, in our business or in our lives and with our families, like I just think that it’s trust.

Holmes: That is a great answer. Eddie Margain, thanks for being here today. You’re a great friend and a great citizen, and what a blessing you are to Texas and to Austin.

Margain: No, thank you. I’m always here to help and just try to add value for everybody. It’s…

Holmes:  And have fun doing it.  

Margain: Life’s short. Like, let’s make the best out of it. Then, again, I’m super grateful to you as a friend, to this city that welcomed my family and me, and this state and this country. So, I’ll keep fighting and keep doing everything I can to make it better.  

Holmes: Thank you.  

Margain: Thank you, brother.

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