We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mario A. Bayne a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Mario A. , appreciate you joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Losing both parents at an early age and being angry at life and circumstances because of that I wanted to create an organization that would help young people.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I lost my Dad at the age of 8 and my Mom at 18 from a heart attack and cancer. My athletic dream to play professionally ended with a knee injury my first year in college. I spent 19 years in Sales and Marketing for 3 major hotel chains. I wanted to take those life disappointments in life and create a organization that would empower middle school youth to strive regardless of circumstances to be productive citizens and begin the process of owning their journey with the tools of academic effort and career awareness to succeed. From there.Career Concepts for Youth was created. For 31 years tens of thousands of youths have participated in this part motivational part prevention program.
By aligning with schools and private/public partnerships we work to produce the next workforce and citizens in society.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Many stories can be told but one in particular was a major supporter of my mission disagreeing with me on the direction of my vision to help young people. We lost significant level of funding for two years. What I learned through that process was that I would not compromise my vision or beliefs for money. I learned that I must be authentic to be successful no matter what and to have an unshakable mindset to follow my path to make a difference in the lives of children..

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to learn to not take things personally. I had to learn to observe to understand , not judge or be upset when things didn’t go my way. The ability to understand the process and power of success starts with the mindset of aligning your desires with your beliefs. Then creating a strong work ethic enables you to have success in what you choose to do positively in society..

Contact Info:

• Website: careerconceptsforyouth.org
• Linkedin: Mario A.Bayne
• Twitter: Mario Bayne@ CCYKids