BusinessTN

It is time for Brenda from Springfield to get to work. She's just told financial counselor Dave Ramsey and his legions of weekly radio show listeners that she and her husband have been hoarding 90 credit cards, all with zero balance, in a safe deposit box.

"Well, I've got four inches of Discover and..."

"Four inches of Discovers," Ramsey interrupts, cocking his head back and letting out a howling laugh from his Cool Springs studio. "We measure 'em by the inch!"

"Well, I'm sitting here looking at them right now."

"Ohhhh," Ramsey moans. "You're scaring me to death. Have you got a shredder?"

When Brenda says she does, Ramsey tells her to walk toward it.

"Are you serious?" Brenda asks.

"I'm really serious. I want to hear these things go away right now."

As the grind of the shredder signifies that the first two cards have met what Ramsey considers a well-deserved demise, he smiles with delight.

You might have heard (or heard about) The Dave Ramsey Show's "plastectomies"—when listeners call in and destroy their credit cards, chopping up the plastic with shredders or blenders or applying some other destructive method that they've devised. You're likely at least vaguely familiar with Ramsey's reasons for getting listeners to destroy their credit cards. (Ramsey says credit cards not only build debt when bills aren't paid on time but also facilitate 12% to 18% more spending because you can't "feel the money leaving like you can when you spend cash.") You may even have read his "Dave Says" column or one or more of his best-selling books, attended one of his live events or, as of October 15, seen his new television show on the Fox Business Network.

Yet, you may not know that in that same Cool Springs office building where Ramsey ministers to the debt-afflicted by radio airwave and television cable each day, he also runs a multi-million dollar company that employs more than 200 people. Armed with a story of personal financial mistakes and bankruptcy, and on what he considers a Providence-driven path, the 47-year-old has built his Lampo Group empire incrementally over the last 20 years, developing product offerings and services intended to help others "beat debt and build wealth." Today, Ramsey balances his time between twin roles—he's both the product the Lampo Group touts and the CEO who oversees the company's three lines of business.

Thus far, the Lampo Group's success in making money and reaching its audience suggests its founder is doing well in both roles. But as Ramsey and company stake out new frontiers for both CEO and product, the challenge of successfully maintaining the balance increases. That's fine by Ramsey, who aspires to nothing less than leaving a Microsoft-sized legacy for his employees and listeners.