At Neeley’s Against All Odds speaker series, CAVU Securities CEO Greg Parsons reflected on the ways lessons from the Marine Corps and Wall Street shaped his belief that resilience, adaptability, and human connection drive lasting business success.
October 13, 2025
By Winter Harris
Writer, Neeley Communications
In his journey from the Marine Corps to Medalist Partners and McKinsey & Company, Greg Parson has learned valuable lessons through success and failure. Now serving as the CEO of CAVU Securities, a national institutional broker-dealer, Parson’s shared some of his professional life lessons with Neeley School of Business students as the featured guest of the Against All Odds speaker series – Stories of Grit and Determination.
“For me, grit is knowing there’s always one more step to take,” Parsons said. “Not everything is easy or rewarding, but there’s a responsibility to keep moving forward and get the job done.”
In the conversational interview with V. David Russell, a member of the TCU Neeley Board of Advisors, Parsons reflected on his journey from being a young man to leading a broker-dealer focused on strategic investment and client success.
Parsons’ company, CAVU Securities, is both veteran and minority-owned, reflecting his lifelong belief in the importance of diversity of thought, people, culture, background and skills.
Parsons’ foundational values of community, culture, and purpose were shaped early in his adolescent years and amplified once he joined the military upon completing his undergraduate degree at Princeton University. After leaving the military, Parsons highlighted his time at McKinsey & Company.
After leaving Wall Street, Parsons worked for various industries – including an internet startup before the 1999 crash and a housing-investment firm before the 2008 recession.
Through it all, he’s held onto the principle of embracing change as an opportunity for growth.
“Where there’s challenge, there’s opportunity,” he said. “At one firm, we went from $3 billion in assets to $400 million in a week. I said, ‘Well, I’ll take over,’ and we grew it back to $5 billion. Business is business, it’s all about human connection and the softer skills: communication, leadership, problem-solving.”
Parsons’ experiences resonated with students, in particular his comments on overcoming adversity. “I’ve gone to these [Against All Odds events] since freshman year, and I always learned something new. I liked this speaker’s story because of his journey. He failed and he had times where he succeeded, but he always kept going,” said Dynasty, Coe, a senior finance – real estate major.
Parsons also shared the importance of perspective, especially as an entrepreneur.
“Life is stressful: big stresses, small stresses, sometimes even government shutdowns,” he laughed. “But if you’re healthy, your family’s healthy, and no one’s shooting at you, you really don’t have any problems.”
As the conversation closed, Parsons left students with a timeless reminder: grit isn’t about perfection, it’s about persistence.
“I built a company, spent 20 years of my life in it, and we failed,” he said. “I woke up the next day and said, ‘All right, let’s get back at it.’ That’s grit. That’s forward traction.”
Through stories of service, struggle, and success, Greg Parsons showed that the true measure of leadership lies in how you pivot, persist, and help others find their purpose - against all odds.
