(stately music) - [Announcer] This is a production of WEDU PBS Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota.

- A self-made entrepreneur once said, "There are three phases in a successful and rewarding life.

First you learn.

Next you earn.

And then, you return."

And what he meant by return was sharing your good fortune with others and doing what you can to help others succeed.

We all take different paths in life and some face more obstacles along the way.

You're about to meet a Tampa Bay entrepreneur who's overcome major hurdles by combining his faith and fortitude to build prosperity while mentoring others to lead remarkable lives next on the "Suncoast Business Forum."

- [Announcer] "Suncoast Business Forum," brought to you by the financial services firm of Raymond James, offering personalized wealth management advice and banking and capital markets expertise, all with a commitment to putting clients' financial wellbeing first.

More information is available RaymondJames.com.

(stately music) - [Geoff Simon] A winning football coach once said, "People aren't born leaders.

They're made that way by hard effort."

Tampa Bay entrepreneur, Gary Hartfield, learned that the hard way.

From a small town in Florida's panhandle.

he struggled to build a successful career in insurance, real estate and elder care.

What's more, he's a transformational leader who's dedicated to mentoring and motivating others to be successful and impactful in building a better community.

Gary, welcome to the "Suncoast Business Forum."

- Thank you, Geoff.

It is a pleasure to be here with you.

- Thank you.

Now, you are an entrepreneur and then some.

You started with an adult living facility, just one location.

You grew it into several.

You've also expanded into elder care and home care and insurance and consulting.

What is it that separates you and made you an entrepreneur?

- So for me, I looked at how do I stabilize the ability to provide for my family, and two, how do I truly grow and own the value of my own labor?

Those two are the driving factor for me for entrepreneurship.

- Let's discuss your businesses.

Now, you own several businesses that you run simultaneously.

One of them is a group home.

You have several group homes around the state of Florida.

Tell me about that.

- The group homes that we own serve the developmentally disabled.

We started facilitating services for the developmentally disabled in about 2010.

We serve 200 clients every day between residential services as well as adult day training, and we employ approximately 110 individuals.

We have locations in Hillsborough and Pinellas County.

- You are also CEO of Serenity Village Insurance and Consulting.

Tell us about that.

- We started in 2012 looking at opportunities to diversify.

As we were continuing to thrive in healthcare, we wanted to diversify our holdings.

And we were serving on a statewide steering committee for the Agency for Persons with Disabilities.

We understood that there was a mandate coming down the pike that would enforce what was already in contracts for providers or business owners that their liability insurance was going to be enforced, that every time there was a monitoring that would be enforced.

So, you had to secure your liability insurance now.

You had to secure your commercial auto insurance now.

All of the different types of insurance that was required, you had to make sure that you have the correct policy with the certificate of the insurance.

So we were able to get out in front of that, and we took the 220 exam by the state of Florida as well as the 215, became a licensed agent, opened our shingle and we grew exponentially from 2013 until now.

- You also have a home healthcare company, DAB Support Services.

Tell us about it.

- DAB Support Services, we were looking to downsize our home health operations, our healthcare operations, and a friend and actually an insured that I provided insurance for for about 12 years came to me and said, "Gary, we want you to have this business."

They lived in Polk County, and they were looking to retire and get out of the business.

I made them the offer.

They said, "Where do we sign?"

And in 2018 or 2019, if I'm not mistaken, we started DAB Support Services as a functioning entity within our portfolio.

- You are also the chairman and CEO of Empower Florida.

Who does Empower Florida serve?

- So Empower Florida serves the business owners throughout the state of Florida that provide services for the developmentally disabled.

What we saw in 2015 when we started Empower Florida is just a grassroots organization, was that providers or business owners within the industry had a great love for serving clients.

The ministry work, the working with clients, helping them with their ADLs, helping them to retool to be able to work was important to them and as it should be.

What we found out was that their acumen as it related to building a business, growing a business, expanding a business was sometimes lacking.

So we had to, in our minds, provide resources to help them be better business owners.

And we knew there was an inextricable relationship between being a better business owner to providing great services that provided for the health and safety of the clients that we serve.

- You are a very dedicated community volunteer.

You're active in nonprofit sector, in employment, in mass transit in healthcare.

And you also founded and chaired for a number of years, the Tampa Organization of Black Affairs Leadership Institute.

Tell us about the institute and tell us about some of your other community involvement.

- We have come up with a common thread, and that common thread, Geoff, is that we serve to help change lives.

As I looked at that as kind of a common thread for my life, I said, "Okay, that makes sense for me, helping to change lives."

So one of the ways that has been remarkable is coming out of COVID and the social justice movement, we noticed there were a lot of issues in the black community.

Included in the social justice movement were a number of protests, a number of marches, and those, all those things were necessary.

With the death of and murder of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, the country was in an uproar.

And I wanted to be able to speak to those issues outside of being episodic.

So, being episodic means simply we're marching, we're protesting, we have speeches and all those things in that moment, during that episode.

I thought, how do we come up with long-term sustainable solutions to address these issues?

One of the ways that we were able to do that is through the Tampa Organization of Black Affairs, TOBA Leadership Institute.

So we looked at a way to develop young leaders that would be able to assume the roles in our society as policy makers, as elected leaders, and as community advocates to help change some of the issues that we were facing.

- Faith is a very important part of your motivation.

How does your faith influence you?

- For me, I find faith as the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen.

And more importantly, I've shared with some of my friends here of late that those things that we really want to achieve in life, whatever your heart desires, so be it unto you according to the faith that you have.

So having faith and believing and working toward those goals is extremely important for me.

- Family is also an important part of what motivates you.

Tell us about your formative years, and tell us about growing up with your family in the Florida Panhandle.

- Yes, so I am a product of DeFuniak Springs, Florida, the Florida Panhandle.

I'm a country boy.

I'm the youngest of six.

So growing up in the Panhandle is a wonderful opportunity to really explore life, sports, academics.

All those things were important, and the great thing about growing up in a rural area is that some of the issues that you may face in a larger city you're not faced with.

You're able to leave your back door open without fear of someone coming in and taking advantage of a situation in a negative way.

So those were some of the highlights of my formative years.

But the panhandle, being a country boy is a essential part of me.

- [Geoff Simon] Were you a good student?

Were you involved in sports?

Did you work when you were growing up?

What was your inspiration?

- So I was.

I was a good student.

However, being a good student, I didn't really understand what was required.

So I was naturally gifted in terms of academics.

So I didn't have study habits.

I didn't understand time management.

I just happened to have a natural talent to be successful in my academic pursuits.

I did play baseball.

I played football and I was pretty good at it with just natural talent.

- Did you work when you were growing up?

- I did.

I worked at the local police department and I had an opportunity to work where I cleaned the building.

And I would sometimes go on rides with the police officers, and I developed a very healthy respect for our law enforcement officers.

But also, in addition to that, they loved to come see us play football.

So they always looked out for me.

So usually, our games were on Friday nights.

When I went to work on Monday evening after practice, there was always a nice gift for me.

- You became a young father while you were still a teenager in high school.

- [Gary Hartfield] Yes.

- Tell us about that.

- Becoming a father at 16 was probably one of those circumstances that you wouldn't necessarily wish upon yourself.

My oldest daughter, Ashley, was birthed out of that pregnancy.

Her mother and I were both 16 at the time.

And what we had was a really great support system.

Her mother and her grandmother, I'm sorry, her maternal grandmother and her paternal grandmother were able to speak into our lives and help us bridge the gap between becoming parents as well as continuing to live as teenagers.

So it was a difficult time for us as we kind of transitioned from being teenagers at 16 years old into being parents.

But with the support system that we had, it allowed us to continue to live our lives as teenagers.

And our parents, which were, of course, my daughter's grandparents, stood in the gap for us.

And they helped us to get ready as parents and allowed us to continue to just grow and be better parents for our child.

- How old is your daughter, Ashley now?

- Ashley is 36 years old.

She attended my alma mater, FAMU, and graduated from there.

She's since completed her master's degree.

She is a educator here in Hillsborough County now, and she is doing extremely well.

- After high school, you went to Florida Agricultural Mechanical University or FAMU.

- [Gary Hartfield] Yes.

- Tell us about it.

- So my experience at FAMU was a tremendous opportunity.

I got a chance to transition into our state's only public HBCU.

I started that academic career off thinking I could exercise those same skills that I had in high school.

That didn't work out really well.

What I had experienced in the small town of DeFuniak Springs was me kind of being a big fish in a small pond.

When I got to Tallahassee at Florida A&M University, I was a small fish in a big pond in that the classes were a lot more difficult.

I started out taking calculus and chemistry and engineering and difficult classes, especially if when you don't have good study habits.

So what I found myself to be in is a very difficult situation very quickly.

So what I had originally enjoyed as a stellar student now turned into a student that was marginal, and eventually a student that flunked out of college.

- So you left FAMU.

What did you do, and did you go back?

- I left Florida A&M University, and I had an opportunity to spend time with a cousin that does electronic engineering type services.

And he's a contractor for various companies, so he allowed me to work with them.

And later, I was able to actually use that work experience as credit for class.

However, I did not sit still.

I did not quit.

My parents recommended that I get back in school as soon as possible.

And that's what I did.

I went back to Florida A&M University, and I completed that degree.

It was one of the most difficult times in my life, but it was the most important time in my life.

In fact, I would dare to say, Geoff, that I wouldn't be here with you today if I did not go back to Florida A&M University if I did not listen to my parents, and if I did not persist in being the best possible version of myself.

- After graduating from FAMU, where did you go next?

- After Florida A&M University, I transitioned to Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida.

That was my first professional opportunity out of undergrad.

Tremendous experience.

I was the first African American professional at Florida Southern College at that time in its 110 year history.

The president was Dr. Thomas Reuschling.

He became a mentor, and he helped me out tremendously.

A couple of lessons that he taught me.

The first was to always go to wherever it was that we were working.

I was an admissions counselor, and if I had a college fair, if I was attending a school, wherever it was that I was supposed to show up, I was supposed to be the first one there and the last one to leave.

The second was pouring into others.

Dr. Reuschling made a conscious effort to pour in to me as a young professional.

He allowed me to grow.

I built a Multicultural Affairs program at Florida Southern College that still exists.

We started the first chapter of a predominantly black sorority and fraternity there at Florida Southern College.

In addition, I was given the opportunity to go to Claremont McKenna College out in suburban California and exercise my skills that I had learned in Multicultural Affairs and present my learning to a national audience.

I was a Carl Brown Fellow for the National Association of College Admissions Counselors.

- After several successful years at Florida Southern College, you left and went and got an MBA.

What did you have in mind?

- So, the thought was to be the President of Florida A&M University.

That was the career trajectory that I had at that time.

I loved the idea, and I still do.

I believe education is the passport to the future, and if we submit to that individually and as a community and indeed as a country, that understanding that education is our passport to our future, that we are able to really transcend any issues that society or nature or whatever may present to us if we allow ourselves to invest in education and continue that continual pursuit in our lives.

That's important.

- After you got your MBA at University of West Florida, you got recruited back to Florida A&M.

- I did, absolutely.

So before I completed my MBA, actually, I was recruited to go back to Florida A&M University and work in the College of Engineering Sciences Technology and Agriculture as the director of Academic Programs.

- In 2001, you left Florida A&M.

You went into corporate America.

- [Gary Hartfield] Yes.

- [Geoff Simon] You went to work for Hewitt Associates.

You went to work for TMP Worldwide and other companies.

- [Gary Hartfield] Yes.

- [Geoff Simon] Tell us about your switch from academics to corporations.

- So I've learned that my pursuit in higher ed to be the president of a university, it wasn't as exciting as I wanted it to be, so I wanted to try out my MBA skills and see how I could work those in corporate America.

So based on just my competition and willingness to get the job done, I started looking at the landscape, and I said, "Well, how can I get to the level of CEO in corporate America?

Could I be a CEO of a Fortune 100, of a Fortune 500, a Fortune 1000 company?"

And I said, "Surely, I could do that."

So I started on that pursuit.

One of the things that I took into it, again, was those lessons learned at Florida Southern under Dr. Reuschling They worked well in corporate America as well as in higher ed.

But, in addition to that, I understood that the willingness and innovation and being able to really just dig in and do the work, most people admired that.

And that's what we did.

We always exemplified great work ethic, and if that had been eight hour days or 18 hour days, we were willing to commit to that.

- While you were working in corporate America, developing your career, developing your skills, you and your sister Tammy also had an entrepreneurial idea to start an ALF, an adult living facility.

Tell us about that.

- So we looked at this opportunity to really just expand her passion for working with the developmentally disabled and the elderly.

We looked at our hometown, DeFuniak Springs, Florida, to build a facility there.

That didn't work out for us.

We transitioned to where she lived at the time in St. Petersburg, Florida.

We ended up finding a facility, an existing facility in Seminole.

We were able to acquire that for $200,000, and we started our entrepreneurial journey.

That was December 21st, 2002.

We closed on the business, and we were celebrating this great milestone over lunch, and we talked about what our future may look like.

About 12 hours later, I went back home to Orlando, Florida at the time.

Tammy came home from work and took an overdose of Oxycontin and subsequently passed away.

So here we are, December 22nd, about 12 to 16 hours later, after we closed on the first facility, my sister passed away.

Remember, this is December 22nd, so it's Christmas time.

And my family, instead of celebrating Christmas and all joy that it brings with family gifts and just being together in celebrating the birth of Christ, we were planning the services, the funeral services for my youngest sister.

So I had to make a decision.

Do I rescind that offer or try to rescind that offer, or do I continue with her legacy?

So fast forward 20 plus years, here we are.

We continue the legacy and hopefully we've honored her.

- So that was a a period of another six years you were working these two careers?

- [Gary Hartfield] Yes.

- Continuing to expand your horizons in the corporate end and growing, it was called Serenity Village.

- [Gary Hartfield] Yes.

- You were growing that.

In 2008, you were able to come back to the Tampa Bay area focus full-time on the Serenity Village Adult Living Facilities.

And you also got involved with insurance right about this time.

- Yes.

Now looking at the time that we started to 2008, and I'm able to walk away from working for anyone else.

Now, I'm starting to truly own the value of my own labor.

At that time, now, I understood what it truly meant to be an entrepreneur, the sacrifices that are required and the level of commitment that it requires to be an entrepreneur.

So as I mentor others, as I have that conversation with others that are aspiring entrepreneurs, if they're willing to commit to sacrifice, if they're willing to commit to preparing that business plan, then we're able to talk, and I'm able to pour in to them and help them get to the next level.

But, if they're not willing to commit, then I question where they are in that journey.

Not that they will never get there, but they have to be willing to sacrifice and commit.

- [Geoff Simon] In 2020, you launched the Leadership Institute for the Tampa Organization of Black Affairs.

And this was to really help train young black people on how to use the resources and develop the skills to have impact in the community.

You also started the All Heart Foundation.

Tell us about your role and goals in these organizations.

- So with the TOBA Leadership Institute, we wanted to make sure that the individuals that were looking to influence policy in the community, that were looking to somehow become elected leaders in the community that were looking to speak to and address the social justice issues that we were facing in our country, that we gave them a comfortable and committed environment to do that.

So we looked at programming from Leadership Florida, from Leadership Tampa, and we thought this is one of the ways that we could do that.

However, we grounded that into two books that we thought were pivotal and foundational.

Those two books are "The Color of Law" by Richard Rothstein, and the second was "The Mis-Education of the Negro" by Carter G. Woodson.

And as almost 80 individuals who have graduated from the program, as they matriculate through the program, you see the lights come on.

You see them engage in a different way where they understand that their impact in the community has no limits.

That, indeed, the issues that we're talking about, they will always be just things that we talk about unless you become active and advocate.

So that's the Leadership Institute, and I am forever grateful for the opportunity to help facilitate and create that program.

From there, what we noticed with the All Heart Foundation, that we needed another level to continue our commitment in the community.

We look for ways to pour into entrepreneurs, to pour into those individuals that had graduated from the TOBA Leadership Institute.

And other individuals in the community that were looking to make a difference, we started curating an event that really talked about social justice issues.

They talked about financial issues.

They'd talk about financial wealth.

They talked about mental health and making sure that these resources were immediately available in the community, and that we could have intelligent dialogue around them, Geoff, and be open and honest in a way where we bring the community together and effectuate change in a very real and sustainable way.

- During your life, during your career, you've certainly faced challenges.

You've had a lot of success.

You've worked with a community.

You've helped others find success.

What's next on the horizon?

- That's a good question.

I think my purpose calls me into service beyond where I'm serving now.

So an integral part of what I do every day is advocating for the community, whether that's the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit, the now integrated Pinellas and Hillsborough Workforce Board, the Skills Center.

All of those things are an integral part of who I am, and who I hope to be.

I think the next level for me looks like serving as an elected leader and as a servant leader, and as a statesman.

- Well, Gary, I wanna thank you so much for being our guest today.

- Thank you.

I truly appreciate this opportunity.

- If you'd like to see this program or any of the other CEO profiles in the "Suncoast Business Forum" again, you can find them in our archive on the web at wedu.org/sbf.

Thanks for joining us for the "Suncoast Business Forum."

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