Richard Scott is living proof that hard work and dedication in the face of adversity can lead to prosperity and success. Richard was born and raised in Portland, Jamaica, the oldest of seven children born to a coffee-farming single mother. Richard knew from a young age that he did not want to follow in his mother’s career path, so he worked hard to keep up his grades in high school; however, this goal was difficult for him to achieve, as transportation to his school was a strenuous task. Richard said that, each day, he had to walk 3.5 miles, then ride in the trunk of a taxi with several other students. Despite the challenges, Richard was able to graduate high school by the age of 16, but he knew that college was off the table for him due to its high tuition. By this time, Jamaica had grown into a high-traffic tourist destination, so Richard decided to capitalize on this trend and attend hospitality school. Richard went above and beyond his responsibilities and graduated at the top of his class which earned him a prestigious position at the popular resort chain, Sandals.
Alongside working at the resort, Richard served as a waiter at a catering business, a position that granted him the opportunity to create new connections – little did he know that one of these connections would completely change his life trajectory. The connection, who was the owner of several Subway restaurants, was so impressed with Richard’s strong work ethic that he offered to sponsor Richard’s Visa, allowing him to move to the United States to work for him in Tampa, Florida. At 18 years old and with only $137 to his name, Richard decided to take a giant leap of faith and take his career to the next level.
“This was a stepping stone for what was coming next for me,” said Richard.
When Richard accepted the offer, he knew that the position was not going to last forever. In 2008, he relocated to Fort Smith, where he climbed the corporate ladder, using his past experiences in foodservice and hospitality to streamline the food departments of nursing homes. By 2016, he had gained enough experience to co-found his first company: Pro Care Innovations. The preventative telehealth company is dedicated to lowering healthcare costs and preventing unnecessary hospital visits for over 10,000 patients with chronic conditions on a monthly basis by providing ongoing care coordination and management.
Since founding his first company, Richard’s path has led him to become involved with several other business ventures. Alongside serving as the chief executive officer of Pro Care Innovations, Richard currently serves as a managing partner for Heritage Signs, Awnings and Canopies; managing partner at Trotter Electric; and co-founder and board president of BMP Momentum. He is also the principal at Scott Enterprises – a business solution company offering management services and business advisory to startups and founders. Although his business endeavors are of a wide variety, Richard comes to them each with the same mission: to help them become more efficient in helping others.
“It’s not because I have some secret sauce. I was just able to find ways to focus on service and find ways to find efficiency in the process to maximize resources,” said Richard.
Richard has come a long way since his childhood in Jamaica, but he does not take his time there for granted. With his career experiences, Richard acquired the resources necessary to give back to his home. In 2019, Richard founded BMP Momentum, a nonprofit dedicated to keeping children in the education system from going through the adversities that he faced as a child. Starting with his former school, the nonprofit worked to modernize school buildings, provide scholarships for students to attend high school, offer all in-school meals for no cost, and provide a school bus to prevent students, who were often barefoot, from having to walk several miles to school. His nonprofit has since grown its outreach to other schools in eastern Jamaica, and his nonprofit’s impact has reduced absenteeism to almost zero percent, according to Richard.
“When you think about life in its most granular sense, we are all just lucky – none of us gets to choose the family, environment, or circumstances that we were born into. Now, as we become older, we are able to influence our future a bit more,” said Richard.
Richard’s entrepreneurial spirit is contagious, but it’s not an easy path to find success. For those interested in following Richard’s footsteps, he suggests this: “It’s important to have grace. We are all just people and we are doing the best we can with where we are. If you have the means to pay it forward, I would encourage you to be intentional with your time.”
When you think about life in its most granular sense, we can influence our future a bit more.