If you are a blogger keep blogging. You can overcome almost anything if you keep going. Reginald F. Lewis was the head of Beatrice International Foods, one of the largest food companies in the country. In 1987 TLC made world news with a $985 million buyout.
The Reggie Lewis continued with the American Legacy Television Special. What kind of statements will your family and friends say about you when you are gone. Reggie wrote a book titled Why should white guys have all the fun? And he had fun building his empire and setting the stage for others Black Entrepreneurs.
Buying 64 companies in 31 countries is a huge undertaking no matter who you may be. Only a person with vision does something like that. His mother, Carolyn Fugett talked about some of the things he had to overcome to keep going.
His colleagues said he was very smart and highly focused. He knew what he wanted, and he had the talent to get to where he wanted to go. As an entrepreneur we may know where we want to go but, we need a vehicle that gives us reach and speed to get to where we need to go.
His mother talked about giving him some tough love. When Reggie was young he wanted to leave home, but she explained that if he didn’t want to follow the house rules we would end on the streets or in jail. She told him that he needed to find out who he really was: Mama baby or mama little man. His mom left his dad because he didn’t have enough drive. He didn’t have the drive, so he settled. Reggie made up in his mind that that would not be him when he got married.
I wrote a blog about the life lesson we learn when we are kids. They determine what we will do later in life. Reggie’s mom took over his paper route when he went to summer camp for two weeks and delivered the papers herself. When he came home, he asked her about his money. She told him that he didn’t deserve the money because he didn’t make an agreement before he left so he didn’t deserve the money.
When he went to law school he made sure no one else took advantage of him. Harvard Law School seemed like a perfect fit for him. A college professor said that Reggie seemed right at home.
Four years out of law school he had Ben Chavis, the Civil Rights Leader as his client. In 1992 Reggie gave $3 million dollars to the Harvard Law school. At the time it was the most that anyone who had given that much before. When you give that kind of money, most schools name something after you: They dedicated the Reginald F. Lewis International Law Center in his honor.
Along the way he met a strong intelligent woman who supported him for 24 years. He left a legacy that will be lasting. What kind of legacy will you leave.
H.G.M.
