The Patron Saint of Crazy Ideas Brings ‘Thinking Inside the Box’ to Murfreesboro
Most keynote speakers arrive with a slide deck. The one headed to Murfreesboro on Friday, Oct. 23 arrives, by his own description, with a record of staging a funeral for people's regrets, organizing a fake marathon, and gaining a surge of followers on a social video platform nearly overnight. Kyle Scheele bills himself as the “Patron Saint of Crazy Ideas,” and he is the featured speaker at this year's MTSU Leadership Summit, a free, open-to-the-public luncheon that asks a deceptively practical question: what do hard times do for creativity?
The talk is titled “Thinking Inside the Box: How Tough Times Fuel True Creativity & Innovation,” which plays on the familiar business phrase about thinking outside it. The pitch is that constraints, whether a tight budget, a shrinking market or a rough year, are often what force people to invent something better. Scheele's videos have collected more than 250 million views, and his stunts have drawn coverage in national business and technology press, so the Murfreesboro stop is a chance for local owners, managers and students to hear that argument from someone who has built a career on it.
The summit is hosted by MTSU's Jennings A. Jones College of Business and sponsored by the Jennings A. Jones Chair of Free Enterprise. It runs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Embassy Suites on Conference Center Boulevard. Lunch is included and a meet-and-greet with the speaker follows the program. Seating is limited, which is why the registration deadline matters.
The details
- When: Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Where: Embassy Suites, Conference Center Boulevard, Murfreesboro
- Cost: Free and open to the public; lunch included
- Register: by Friday, Oct. 16, at jones.mtsu.edu/lead (seating is limited)
- Also: meet-and-greet with the speaker after the program
The summit lands in a busy stretch for the campus. Four days earlier, MTSU hosts two former U.S. senators for a free afternoon conversation about leadership and public service at Tucker Theatre, and the day before the summit, the university's Jazz Artist Series opens at Hinton Music Hall. Together they make the week of Oct. 19 one of the more crowded fall weeks on the calendar for anyone who likes ideas as much as live music.
Anyone planning to attend should register before the Oct. 16 cutoff, since the room is limited.
Image: illustrative, AI-generated – not the actual location.
