One Take with Phillip Bacon

👉 The Scoop – Phillip is both, an experienced businessman and a philanthropist with a special interest in helping disinvested kids improve their lives through education and building businesses.

👉 Decisive Moment #1 – Right out of the university, with no job, Phillip was driving a cab when a friend called him over to interview with Cargill. He followed their management training program and wound up in sales. Selling salt.

👉 Decisive Moment #2 – Came to South Florida in the early 70s, with American Hospital Supplies, and started selling in an industry where “the sky’s the limit”.

👉 Unexpected change or event – The government changed from reimbursing hospitals by cost to reimbursing by procedure. The industry was forced into consolidation and commissions were cut in half.

👉 What did he do? – Started working for the Collins Center in Broward, which morphed into Urban Philanthropies, which then began creating businesses to employ and teach kids in Overtown. This has continued to this day.

👉 About older workers – First, they bring enthusiasm, because by the time they get to be “of a certain age” they have decided what they really want to do. They bring maturity and a longer attention span.