Dr. Randal Pinkett: How he landed a billion-dollar government contract by 'putting in the time and energy'
If you are looking for someone who personifies academic and business success in the African-American community, Dr. Randal Pinkett is your go-to guy. Most people remember his rise to fame as the winner of the fourth season of Donald Trump’s The Apprentice, a high point of his career -- but there is much more to the man than this 2005 victory.
After that, Pinkett decided to partner with the Minority Information Technology Consortium, which is a membership organization consisting of 41 award-winning technology companies. This also helped him with his billion-dollar win. “This move is [a] great example of strength in numbers,” the author and speaker noted. “There is no way we would have pulled this off by ourselves. This shows that you can do more together than you can do apart.” Dr. Pinkett stressed that this strategy can be used as a blueprint for any minority company wanting to do business with the government.
Now managing huge federal healthcare contracts, Dr. Pinkett is contemplating the need for African-Americans to take better care of our health. “The two signature challenges as we face as African-Americans are economic empowerment and healthcare,” Dr. Pinkett stated. “The health disparities in the community are wide. We are at the top of the list as it relates to many diseases like diabetes, sickle cell, cancer, and high blood pressure. If we don’t tackle these two issues, they are going to keep plaguing us.”
As far as solutions, Dr. Pinkett believes there are many things black people can do to prevent health problems. “If you break it down, it comes down to nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle. Those three things can mitigate a number of challenges. Getting away from high-sugar beverages and eating healthy meals can go a very long way. Also, doing 20-30 minutes of cardio daily is helpful.”
Along with health, Dr. Pinkett is also passionate about entrepreneurship within the black community. “In order to create more jobs for African-Americans, we have to create more successful companies. If you look at how wealth is created in our country, roughly seven out of every ten millionaires will tell you that they made their millions from owning their own business.
“The message is very very simple,” he continued. “We need to get more young people excited to own their own businesses. We need more owners to become more successful, then partnering with other organizations to go after larger opportunities to allow them to grow to scale.”
When asked about how the younger generation can achieve his level of success, Dr. Pinkett closed by saying: “There is no substitute for persistence and determination. There are a lot of talented, gifted, and smart people out there. However, not everyone is willing to do the hard work that it takes to make an imprint on this world. A lot of people throw in the towel too easily and quickly. The race is won by he or she that endures.”
Thank you Dr. Pinkett for enduring!
Lawrence Watkins is the founder of Great Black Speakers, Great Pro Speakers, and co-founder of Ujamaa Deals, which is a daily deal site that promotes black-owned businesses. He graduated in 2006 from The University of Louisville with a B.S. in electrical engineering and earned his MBA from Cornell University in 2010. Lawrence currently resides in Atlanta. You can follow him on Twitter @lawrencewatkins.
