Stafford Shurden speaks about business from the middle of it.
Farmer. Restaurateur. Creator. Author. Former judge. Stafford brings humor, hard-earned perspective and practical ideas from a life spent building businesses, audiences and communities in the Mississippi Delta.
Stafford Shurden is not speaking about business from a textbook. He is still running the restaurant, still farming, still creating content, still building new ideas, and still learning what works when real money, real employees and real customers are involved.
His talks combine Southern storytelling, humor and practical lessons from the bench, the field, the kitchen, the truck and more than two decades of entrepreneurship. The result is a room that feels less like a lecture and more like a conversation worth remembering.
“Stafford does his homework and it shows in his presentations. The focus is not on what he learned; it’s on how to teach you. And, most importantly, it’s engaging.”
Jeff LenardEach program can be tailored to the audience while keeping the stories, frameworks and voice that make Stafford unmistakably Stafford.
Being good at what you do is not enough if the people who need you do not know you exist. Stafford shares how ordinary businesses can use authenticity, consistency and modern media to become recognized, trusted and chosen.
A life rarely moves in a straight line. Drawing from business, farming, public service and personal reinvention, Stafford explores the kind of grit that keeps people moving when the plan changes, the door closes or the easy answer disappears.
Hard work matters. But hard work pointed in the wrong direction is just expensive exhaustion. Stafford challenges audiences to get clear on the objective, recognize the door that says PUSH and direct their effort where it can actually produce a result.
Recognize what you’ve been given.
Find the courage to pursue what matters.
Through a deeply personal story, Stafford invites audiences to consider the people whose choices and sacrifices helped shape their lives, including the ones they may never know about.
With humor and heart, he explores gratitude as an antidote to negativity and a source of strength when pursuing a passion gets difficult. It is an invitation to appreciate more deeply, live more fully and keep going with purpose.
Stafford's stage material comes from a career that refuses to fit neatly into one box.
Stafford Shurden is a Mississippi entrepreneur, farmer, restaurateur, author, creator, former judge and speaker. Based in Drew, Mississippi, he has spent more than two decades building businesses and telling the stories of the people and places that make small-town America work.
He owns Stafford's Market, farms in the Mississippi Delta, created the Gas Station Tailgate Review, hosts the Breaking Bread podcast and Success Supper Club, and wrote the Amazon bestseller Meet and Three. He is also a spokesperson for Farm Families of Mississippi.
Stafford has appeared twice as a speaker at NACS, including an opening-session panel and an education session the following year. His speaking combines humor, storytelling and practical lessons learned from actually doing the work.
Planning a keynote, a business gathering or a shorter inspirational moment? Share your event date, location, audience and available speaking time. Stafford will help you find the right fit.
speaker@staffordshurden.comStart a Speaking Conversation →