Shaping Tomorrow’s Leaders Today
Nicholas Duffee of Cardinal Carryor reflects on his journey and the value of new industry leaders.
By Nicole Needles
WHEN NICHOLAS DUFFEE, vice president of sales at Cardinal Carryor, first pulled into the parking lot for his job interview, he nearly turned the car around. He had recently left a 20-year career with AutoZone, where he had become so immersed in the culture and team that he joked, “I became AutoZone.”
Taking a leap into a new industry felt overwhelming. But he parked the car, went inside and hasn’t looked back since.
“It’s been incredible,” Duffee said of his four years at Cardinal. “And MHEDA has been a big part of that.”
Within five months of starting, he attended his first MHEDA event and knew he had found a new professional home. He did not hesitate to share with Cardinal Carryor’s CEO at the time, Brad Baker, that he aspires to be on the MHEDA Board of Directors someday.
Duffee’s journey to that moment didn’t follow a traditional corporate path. He began working at 15 and was leading teams just a few years later. His early management roles, from a food chain to eventually running up to 27 AutoZone stores, instilled in him a deep understanding of leadership.
“I don’t believe any leader wins awards on their own,” he said, referencing his Manager of the Year honors at AutoZone. “It’s the team around you that makes you look good.”
That team-focused mindset continues to guide him. At Cardinal Carryor, Duffee has worked intentionally to bring diversity and fresh perspectives into what he acknowledges has long been dominated by the same demographic. He’s built a team that includes young professionals with different backgrounds, noting, “They challenge us to look at things differently … they don’t carry the same ingrained thought processes that have been around for so long.”
His commitment to elevating others finds a powerful outlet in MHEDA’s NextGen program, where he serves on the advisory group.
“We’re just as much friends as we are resources for one another,” he said. “Being part of this group gives me the chance to do something I really love: lead leaders.”
“Leading leaders” has become a central theme in Duffee’s career.
“There’s a shift when you go from managing people to managing people who manage people,” he explained. “You have to help them see what my mentor Lonnie Nicholson taught me: that your team’s success has to matter more to you than your own. If they succeed, your success takes care of itself.”
Nicholson, a former leader at AutoZone, still influences Duffee’s approach. From coaching him on how to motivate and give constructive feedback to instilling the importance of emotional control, Nicholson left a lasting mark.
“The best leadership advice I’ve ever received is simple,” Duffee said. “Don’t respond emotionally.”
He’s lived by that advice even when sensitive situations arose. Recently, he was physically shoved by a customer during a difficult debt collection conversation. Rather than react in anger, Duffee kept his composure.
“There was a time in my past I might have yelled,” he admits. “But now I know I need to pause. I’ll write something, put it in my notes app, then go back and ask myself, ‘Where’s the emotion in this and how do I remove it?’”
That mindset – calm, reflective and service-driven – has become the foundation of Duffee’s leadership style. And it’s what he strives to pass on to younger professionals, especially those attending MHEDA’s NextGen events.
“If something I say helps someone take a risk or face a challenge they were unsure about, then that’s amazing,” he said. “That’s everything to me.”
As Duffee looks ahead, his goals are clear: to continue mentoring, to one day serve on MHEDA’s board and to keep pouring into others the way mentors once poured into him.
