Bad Boy Mowers President: I Turned Down A CEO Job Because Of Bad Advice. Trust Your Gut! | David Brogdon
By Griffin Blackmon
December 24, 2025
Interview with David Brogdon
David Brogdon is president of Bad Boy Mowers, the Batesville manufacturer, and has been with the company since 1998. He was born in Batesville, studied accounting at Lyon College, and lives in Little Rock. He gathers advice from everyone he trusts, and then listens to his gut.
Draft built from the interview notes. Answers are summarized and are not direct quotes.
Find work that makes you happy, and strive to be a legacy guy who elevates everyone around him.
David Brogdon · Advice to his high school self
What was your biggest failure or mistake in your career, and what did you learn from it?
Taking the Wrong Advice
A private equity group once offered Brogdon a CEO role. He turned it down on the advice of people around him, and later realized he would have benefited from taking it. The lesson he carries is that advisors supply information, and the decision still has to be his.
What non-academic skills mattered most?
Patience, and learning to value the different roles people play on a team.
How does he stay sharp and relevant?
Spending time around people he considers more knowledgeable than himself and absorbing what he can from their conversations.
What I Learned from David Brogdon
Griffin writes this section in his own words after each interview.
The Brogdon Framework
- 01
Gather Data From Advisors
He wants every trusted voice in the room before a big decision.
- 02
Trust Your Gut on the Final Call
The advice informs the choice. It does not make it.
- 03
Elevate the People Around You
His measure of a career is who got better because of it.
Playbook Success Interview Profile
- Interviewee
- David Brogdon
- Date of Interview
- December 24, 2025
- Primary Industry
- Manufacturing
- Based in
- Little Rock, AR
- Born in
- Batesville, AR
- Education
- Lyon College, accounting
- Business
- Bad Boy Mowers
- Biggest Career Lesson
- A private equity group once offered Brogdon a CEO role. He turned it down on the advice of people around him, and later realized he would have benefited from taking it. The lesson he carries is that advisors supply information, and the decision still has to be his.
- Advice for Young Entrepreneurs
- Find work that makes you happy, and strive to be a legacy guy who elevates everyone around him.
Griffin Blackmon
Hi, I’m Griffin. I’m a student entrepreneur and the host of Playbook Success. I interview successful entrepreneurs and millionaires, so you don’t have to. During the interviews, I distill their biggest wins and hardest lessons into the “entrepreneurial intel” we need to build our futures today. Join me as I decode what it actually takes to win in business before graduation. Check out the Playbook Success Blog for more interviews and entrepreneurial tips to help you turn your hobby into an empire. Thanks again for reading!