A big guy in a workplace where most of the staff are petite women, and a rich man who runs an operation dedicated to serving the poor, Parker is a surprisingly good fit at Sarrell. Since he has much more business experience than everyone else there, and because he’s recruited many of the employees from JSU, where they first knew him as their professor, he’s very much the boss. Still, he loves to tease his colleagues—as we drove around Alabama, he took great joy in reminding Sarrell President Brandi Parris about the perm she sported when her high school volleyball team won the state championship—and he takes even more pleasure in being razzed himself: His favorite lunch spot is a barbecue joint where the waitresses serve up fried foods with a side of sass.