Janet Schijns, vice president, solution and sales channels, Verizon Business Markets (a Premier Sponsor), made the unorthodox move of ceding the majority of the time set aside for her keynote address at the Channel Partners Conference & Expo to country music artist Jimmy Wayne.

Wayne entertained the Channel Partners audience with a couple of songs, then told his story of growing up in foster care and taking advantage of a couple of chances he was offered to become a success.

We caught up with Schijns and Wayne afterward to learn more about Wayne’s story and to get the latest news about Verizon’s XO integration and the carrier’s new partnership with ScanSource. It’s all here in this short video.

Follow executive editor @Craig_Galbraith on Twitter.