For more than 25 years, the name Kent Beck Motors has been part of the Abilene business community.

But when Kent Beck was asked to describe who he is, he didn’t begin with the dealership.

He began with the people he loves—and the faith that has shaped the way he now defines success.

Kent has spent much of his life building businesses, chasing goals, taking risks, making mistakes and learning lessons the hard way.

He still believes in hard work, big dreams and pushing beyond what feels comfortable.

But somewhere along the journey, the definition of what he was building began to change.

Who I Am

Family Changes the Scoreboard

Kent still loves building.

He still loves dreaming.

He still believes there is value in taking risks and stepping into places that stretch you.

But the scoreboard looks different today.

The question is no longer simply how much can be built.

It is also: Who becomes stronger because you were here?

A Different Definition of Success

Still Building. Still Dreaming.

Kent Beck Motors has been part of the Abilene business landscape for more than two decades.

And even as Kent’s definition of success has evolved, the builder in him hasn’t disappeared.

Neither has the car guy.

Cars, business, community, competition and relationships have all become pieces of a much larger story.

But today, Kent measures that story differently.

“At the end of my life, I don’t want the biggest thing I leave behind to be a business, money, property, or my name on a sign.”

“God, I Don’t Got This.”

The biography tells you who Kent Beck is today.

The conversation told us something else.

It told us how he got here.

For nearly two hours, Kent talked openly about addiction, anger, marriage, fatherhood, business, control, failure, faith, relationships, redemption and the slow process of becoming a different man.

The conversation went well beyond the dealership.

And somewhere in the middle of stories about rebuilding relationships, learning to trust other people and recognizing what happened when he tried to carry everything himself, Kent reduced years of experience to one simple admission:

Kent described having plenty of evidence for what happened when he tried to run everything through his own strength, personality and control.

He also has a very different frame of reference today for what can happen when he stops trying to carry it all himself.

Sometimes surrender doesn’t begin when you stop caring.

Sometimes it begins when you finally realize you were never supposed to carry everything alone.

Behind the X’s & O’s with Kent Beck

Watch the complete conversation above, or continue reading for some of the themes that emerged when we went behind the business.

When the Business Becomes Your Identity

There was a time when Kent Beck Motors wasn’t simply a business Kent owned.

It was part of the way he identified himself.

The dealership had become something he had built, protected, carried and—by his own admission—at times placed too close to the center of his life.

Then came a season when the wheels nearly came off.

Kent talked about getting dangerously close to bankruptcy and eventually reaching a defining moment in front of a banker where he finally surrendered the outcome.

Looking back, he sees that season differently today.

What felt like everything falling apart became part of the process through which his business, his priorities and his relationship with God began to be rebuilt.

For an owner who had worn every hat and solved every problem, that realization wasn't easy.

But as Kent began giving other people room to make decisions, grow, make mistakes and bring their own ideas to the business, something happened:

Kent Beck Motors grew beyond what Kent could have built by himself.

He talked about giving his son Atley more freedom, hiring people whose opinions he valued and discovering—sometimes humorously—that the dealership seemed to sell more cars when he wasn’t there.

The result wasn't less ownership.

It was a different kind of leadership.

Kent said 2026 has brought stronger numbers, less stress and more time with his wife and grandchildren.

After more than two decades of building the company, learning to loosen his grip may be becoming one of the most important things he has ever built into it.

When Strength Was Really Self-Defense

Kent was equally candid about another part of himself he has had to confront: anger.

For much of his life, he described himself as an emotional reactor.

Eventually, he began to understand what was underneath those reactions.

It wasn't always strength.

Sometimes it was protection.

If he could overwhelm the other person, regain control or become the bigger force in the room, he could feel safe again.

Recognizing that changed what Kent began looking for in other men.

He started paying attention to men who could carry authority without crushing people with it.

Men who could face pressure, disagreement and difficult situations while still treating the person on the other side with dignity.

The more Kent watched those men, the more he wanted to become one of them.

The Relationships You Can’t Fix by Force

Some of the most emotional moments of our conversation had nothing to do with business.

Kent talked about his wife Treby—who has walked with him through addiction, anger, mistakes, growth and more than three decades of marriage.

He talked about learning that providing money, buying things and being the person who handled problems was not the same thing as knowing how to love.

Treby modeled something different.

Kent described a woman who continued loving him even during seasons when he admits he didn't know how to love her well in return.

Eventually, that example began teaching him not only how to love his wife, but how to better understand the love of God.

One of those relationships was with his daughter.

Kent described spending time with her in Oregon and learning to sit on the couch while she talked—without rebutting, defending himself or trying to win the conversation.

For a man accustomed to solving problems and controlling outcomes, simply listening became part of the restoration.

Kent had prayed that if the relationship was going to be redeemed, he wanted it to happen in God's time rather than through his own attempts to force it.

Today, that relationship is moving forward.

And for Kent, those restored relationships have become a much more meaningful measurement of success than anything sitting on a balance sheet.

Stretch Out the Hand That Needs Healing

While listening to Kent talk about restoration, another image came to mind.

In the biblical account of the man with the withered hand, Jesus tells him to stretch out his hand.

The man doesn't offer the healthy one.

He exposes the one that needs restoration.

That became an important picture of what was happening in this conversation.

We show the successful business.

The accomplishments.

The confidence.

The highlight reel.

We keep the part that needs healing tucked away where nobody can see it.

Kent didn't come on Behind the X’s & O’s and show us only the good hand.

He talked about addiction.

Anger.

Fear.

Family relationships that needed repair.

Pride.

Business pressure.

And the parts of himself he is still asking God to change.

Maybe that's one reason the conversation lasted nearly two hours.

There was no rush to get back to the highlight reel.

Men Need Men They Can Tell the Truth To

Early in our conversation, Kent said something blunt:

“As friends, a lot of us just really suck.”

His point wasn't that men don't care about each other.

It was that many men have never learned how to become the kind of friend another man can actually trust.

Kent talked about finally having men in his life with whom he can have confidential conversations—men who won't take his struggles and turn them into something circulating around town.

Sometimes those men have advice.

Sometimes they don't.

Sometimes the most valuable thing they can say is:

“I don't have an answer, but I love you. Can we pray about it?”

That's part of why testimony matters so much to Kent.

Not only the dramatic stories.

Sometimes a man simply needs to hear how somebody else made it through one ordinary difficult day without becoming the person he used to be.

From Seven Men to Eighty

Eight years ago, the weekly men’s Bible study Kent helps lead began with seven men.

A recent Wednesday brought around eighty.

Kent described a room filled with men from across the community: car dealers, plumbers, attorneys, doctors, law enforcement, men from ministries and others from completely different walks of life.

The point isn't that anyone in the room has life completely figured out.

Kent would tell you the opposite.

“We're just trying to get it figured out too.”

The gathering includes a speaker, conversation and room for men to share what God may be showing them.

For Kent, those relationships feed his soul.

And his invitation during the show couldn't have been much clearer:

Wednesday Men’s Bible Study

Want to join them? Kent says just show up, find him on Facebook, come by Kent Beck Motors, or call the dealership and ask to talk with him about the Bible study.

First time?
Kent said he'll buy your lunch.

What Do You Want to Leave Behind?

Kent's original biography gave us the answer before the conversation ever began.

He doesn't want the biggest thing he leaves behind to be a dealership.

Or money.

Or property.

Or his name on a sign.

After hearing the story behind those words, they carry more weight.

Because legacy isn't simply what remains after somebody is gone.

Legacy is also what gets transferred while they're still here.

The men who poured into Kent.

The man whose simple habit of hugging his family taught Kent another way to show love.

The wife whose example helped teach him what love actually looked like.

The children and grandchildren who now receive a version of Kent that he freely admits didn't always exist.

The employees learning to carry responsibilities Kent once believed had to remain on his shoulders.

The room full of men every Wednesday learning from one another's stories.

That's legacy too.

Business. Brotherhood. Community.

Real People. Real Stories. Real Conversations.

Behind the X’s & O’s goes beyond the business to meet the people behind the companies, organizations, ideas and communities we see every day.