Today we’d like to introduce you to Jakeb Clay.
Hi Jakeb, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I was born in San Antonio, TX in an area called Rigsby, TX, and anyone familiar with San Antonio knows the reputation my neighborhood carried. I can remember always needing a ride home from school but no one would ever want to drop me off in my neighborhood, for fear of what might happen to them by being an outsider. It was growing up in a place like this, from very humble beginnings, that led me to be the person that I am today. The person I have become is capable of overcoming all obstacles placed in front of me, and I was groomed to be a survivor.
I have always known that I was not cut out to work for someone else’s company, which is why I started SEEMERCS, LLC. Prior to starting my own business, I worked for companies like the US Army Corps of Engineers, AT&T, Homeland Security, and a plethora of other companies domestic and international. The one commonality that I gathered while working for the aforementioned companies is this, I have always affected their bottom lines, and made lots of money for them. My thought process to this scenario was always- if I can make millions for these companies, why not make millions for myself? In March of 2013, my partner and I started SEEMERCS, LLC, which is a shortened abbreviation for Safety, Environmental, Emergency Response, & Consulting Services. In a nutshell, that is what we do along with many other services we have grown to provide.
My business partner and I started SEEMERCS, FZC (Free Zone Company) in Dubai, UAE where we worked for several years before bringing the company (SEEMERCS, LLC) to America. While working in the Middle East, we built hospitals, complexed construction projects, provided safety and environmental services, and to include being the leading pioneers in the integration process of Afghani women into the Afghan National Army (ANA). While working in the United States, we continue to provide the US government with personal protective equipment (PPE), rapid COVID test kits, vaccines, medical grade gloves, and masks. With everything we have done and are planning to do, integrating women into the ANA would prove to be my most rewarding and fulfilling accomplishment to date.
My success, discipline, attention to detail, and work ethic led me to be the success story I am today. I am a firm believer that your reputation follows you and will only be as accurate and great as you consistently push for it to remain! I treat every project like it is my first project, with the goal in mind to exceed all expectations of every client we are blessed to work with. My past is rich and very colorful, and my story is still being written as I strive to make history.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The road traveled to get here has been very challenging, yet rewarding. Sometimes you have to look back in order to understand the things that lie ahead of you, or to fully appreciate what you’ve accomplished. I grew up in an era where young black men were expected to not succeed, and were also given a life expectancy of 17 years. Young black boys were being killed and/or were dying at an alarming rate in part to gang violence and police brutality. I oftentimes joke with colleagues about my post traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) from a painful and scary childhood that I overcame. I have seen people shot in front of my young eyes, by police officers and rival gang members. I grew up witnessing hand to hand drug deals, and young women selling their bodies for that next fix. My neighborhood didn’t have grass because of the broken glass everywhere, and yet I learned from all the things I’ve seen, and that pushed me into college and later the military; and thus, allowed me to leave my neighborhood and the past behind. I always talk to my employees about “Making your past work for you”, and what I mean by that is this… You have to embrace what you’ve been through, and not allow those past experiences to define you, but to enable you to be the best version of you in the present day. Every experience I have ever grown through, has been a major component in not only my development, but it has also helped me to accomplish many of the tasks I’ve completed in extremely austere locations. For example, I worked in several warzones and experienced bomb explosions, rapid fire, and outright gun fights. After these experiences, many of the contractors were on the next plane home; and even the military personnel wanted to return home and leave as soon as humanly possible. As for me, I learned at a very young age about how to compartmentalize those events, quickly put them behind me, and then continue to move forward in getting the job done. I became that man who mastered himself through self-discipline, and would not allow myself to be mastered by others, nor by single events. I had dreams and goals that I was determined to achieve, and failure was never an option! Every morning, WE all have two choices- continue to sleep with your dreams, or get up and chase them with tenacity. I will achieve every dream that I have, and I have learned to appreciate the struggles that I overcame, along with welcoming the ones that have yet to be overcome.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
SEEMERCS, LLC, is a minority owned, small business company that was founded internationally in 2013 and registered in the United States in 2017, by two (2) service-connected veterans, and specializes in creative solutions for complex problems. With many of our clientele having established worksites in austere locations, we routinely assess, provide courses of action for, and resolve very unique problems. Our reliable, responsive, and innovative staff of truly gifted and experienced professionals will consistently provide comprehensive services and products to eliminate environmental liabilities.
SEEMERCS, LLC, is comprised of two (2) owners and seventy-six (76) employees who collectively have decades of experience providing safety, environmental consulting, emergency response, construction support, and other services to the U.S. Government and both public and private sectors, internationally and within the United States. We are a growing, small business based out of Dallas, Texas, with satellite offices in Djibouti, Africa, Nairobi, Kenya, and Dubai, UAE. SEEMERCS is globally focused to boldly confront complexed construction projects, safety and environmental risks while, in turn, minimizing the risks projected onto our clients in any anticipated scenarios or situations.
SEEMERCS, LLC is most known for women integrations into the Afghan National Army (ANA). Most women in Muslim countries were not allotted many of the liberties that US women consider a naturally given freedom. For example, women were not allowed to drive and had their spouses chosen for them for marriage. Further, women were not allowed to work and were not allowed to live away from the home overnight. Additionally, women were not allowed to live, nor train in the same areas as their male counterparts. This posed many problems in an attempt to construct housing and training facilities for these young ambitious women. SEEMERCS, LLC creatively found ways to construct housing and training locations for these women. We also were the first to initiate a pilot training program for Afghani women to become MI-17 (Russian Helicopters) mechanics. When we first started working with the ANA, women were living in a storage container and using port-a-johns to relive themselves. After four years, we have now established training rooms with daycares, and living facilities for these amazing women. Our efforts with the ANA have won us awards and recognition from ANA Generals and Officials, as well as through the Black Engineer of the Year (BEYA) Award 2019 & 2020 respectively.
During the COVID pandemic, we provided the US Military HQ USA INSCOM G-4 at Fort Belvoir, Virginia with supplies when all other contractors failed. SEEMERCS, LLC was able to support the US Government with PPE, which allowed our troops and servicemen and women to combat this mission against COVID head on. We provided the servicemen and women with gloves, masks, hand sanitizers, and other supplies to work in safe clean rooms while figuring out how to control the virus during the pandemic. We continue to be a leading supplier of PPE and can get vaccines, COVID Rapid test kits and other vital supplies to any Embassy worldwide. As the Chief Executive Officer of SEEMERS, LLC, I take pride in leading our company into the future as we continue to be what’s needed for our clients during these very trying times.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
If you don’t fall or fail in life, you’ll never learn how to pick yourself back up. The true test is learning to get up more times than you fall or get knocked down. Taking risks helps you to overcome the fear of failure, because it pushes you forward and makes you more determined to succeed in the face of adversity. I am a calculated risk taker that will take risk with a proper assessment before proceeding.
All risk come at a cost and at a price that may or may not pan out in your favor. No matter how much effort, or research you put into anything- there will still be risks involved. He who is bold, will take the risk no matter what, because they understand that if you win or fail, you will be better in life thereafter, because you took the risk and tried something new. Further, this leaves you better off knowing than to live life wondering the “what-if” or the possibilities had you been adventurous enough to take that risk to begin with.
Chasing your dreams and fulfilling your personal ledger in life is a risk within itself, as many people get caught up in their daily lives while pushing their dreams to the back burner. To achieve your goals and live the dream comes at a risk that you must be willing to step out of your comfort zone to achieve. Taking a risk is to do something you’ve never done before, to achieve something you’ve never had.
I am one who will take risks, because I am one who guards his energy and dreams from people not deserving. You can’t control how other people receive your energy, and any dream you have or risk you are determined to take, when shared will be filtered through the lens of how others view the world along with themselves. Other people’s opinions kill dreams on a regular basis, and their thoughts and words stick with you with every step you take closer to making it or not. Take the risk and keep your goals about what is you’re planning to accomplish to yourself, or only share your dreams with a very small and trusted group. Keep doing your thing with as much integrity and positive energy as possible. The journey and the short trip both begin with a single step. I believe in taking steps daily towards your dreams and goals no matter the risk!
Contact Info:
- Email: JClay@SEEMERCS.com
- Website: www.SEEMERCS.com
Image Credits
Jakeb Clay
