Today we’d like to introduce you to Lamont Robinson.
Lamont, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’ve known I wanted to start my own business since 2008, but because of various reasons, I was reluctant. I finally incorporated the company in 2012, but still resisted focusing fully on it. My background is in supplier diversity, which is a program established to help companies buy products and services from companies owned by women, minorities, veterans, LGBTs and disabled business owners. The program was started by President Nixon in 1969 through an executive order, then evolved over the years from one that was mandated in the 70’s and 80’s to a business imperative today. I was a supplier diversity professional for 15 years, working for companies in healthcare as well as a major media corporation based in New York. Because of financial reasons, I lost my job in 2018, which is when I decided to fully focus on building my company. I then recruited a solid team, which changed over the past year, to help the company grow and to realize the vision I had which was to maximize the value of diversity for our clients and communities across the world.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road for me the last 4 years have been extremely difficult. In 2015, I lost my mom to lung cancer (even though she never smoked a day in her life). Mom was always my rock and the person I could obtain some level of solace in the middle of turmoil. She passed a little over a year after being diagnosed.
In 2016, my wife and I had a toddler while I was about to turn 44. This was a shock but our little angel, Imani, would turn out to be a tremendous blessing for the road ahead. There were complications before her birth, but she was delivered as a healthy baby.
In March 2017, I lost my father figure. Since I grew up without knowing or meeting my biological father until 2001, my father figure provided life lessons from a father’s perspective. He was also the first businessman I was exposed to as I grew up in a housing project on the west side of Chicago where there weren’t many white collar employees.
The lives of myself and my kids were further severely impacted after finding out in early 2017 that my wife Michelle had brain cancer. The illness wasn’t common for someone her age (41) which added to the shock and struggles for the year. Although she fought a great battle against the illness, she would, unfortunately, succumb to the dreaded illness in November 2017, leaving behind our 5 kids (currently ranging 21 to 3) for me to raise alone. Michelle would only get 20 months with Imani before leaving this Earth, which is cruel in itself. However, my strong kids have been very supportive. My kids also include Jacqui (21), Malik (20), Antonio (18) and Payton (12).
The last blow in my personal life was losing my job in May 2018. Although I knew the company was having financial problems, the job loss was extremely surprising as I performed well in my role as a nationally-recognized and awarded supplier diversity professional.
I was now challenged with finding a way to provide for my family as an unemployed widowed father of 5. Although most would see this as an insurmountable task, I saw the challenge as my cue to build the company. But, as most entrepreneurs know, building a successful company takes time. You have to know what you’re going to sell, how you’re going to sell it, who you’re going to sell it to, and have the patience in knowing the sales cycle is always longer than you anticipate. I was in a quandary as I had to decide between building the business or finding a job with a company to pay the bills (which would take away the necessary time to build my business).
Please tell us about your business.
Robinson LaRueCo Consulting (RLC) is a certified minority owned firm that specializes in the creation of exemplary supplier diversity programs, improvement of existing ones, as well as sourcing and development of diverse suppliers. We also develop strategic plans to respond to community pressures while providing a platform for us to also extend award-winning writing and marketing services, based on the client’s needs. We also help professional athletes and entertainers to transition into business ownership. At RLC, we believe in delivering a quality product to our clients.
Our team is skilled and experienced in industries such as healthcare, technology/telecom, government, distribution, digital marketing, branding, content and book writing, web design, PR services, distribution, and sports & entertainment. Our significant experience in various industries in the area of procurement and supplier diversity, as well as our innovative approach, sets us apart from our competition.
I am personally most proud of our growth in such a short period of time. Although we’ve only been around for a relatively short period of time, we have been awarded opportunities with large health systems and major corporations in the hospitality and food and beverage industries. I’m also proud of the strong team we’ve established to further our growth. We are also well-positioned to penetrate additional marketplaces soon.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Outside of building RLC, my greatest achievement is having my autobiography “TransformNational: Journey of a Bastard” published in 2014. The book is an account of my journey towards success from the days in the violent and drug-infested neighborhood on the west side of Chicago to overcoming various challenges to find success in corporate America. The book has allowed me to speak to various groups, inspiring them to strive for their greatness. I’m working on an addition to the book after all of the life changes and challenges since it was released. I also practiced what I was preaching by using a minority owned publisher. I look forward to the next edition of the book so that I could use it as a platform to reach and teach. I truly believe our experiences and challenges prepare us to grow, and it is our responsibility to educate others about our journey in overcoming our trials for their own personal growth.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.rlcdiversity.com
- Phone: 972-510-8099
- Email: rlc@rlcdiversity.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rlcdiversitymag/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/RLCDiversityMag
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/RLCDIV
- Other: www.rlcdiversitymag.com
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