We were lucky to catch up with Marlon Gray recently and have shared our conversation below.

Marlon, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

Empower U. is a double entendre based on the mission of the organization. As an organization that seeks to empower the individuals who seek to empower individuals affected by mental/behavioral health challenges and/or developmental disabilities, we examined our mission and value proposition to both stakeholders.

In the mental health industry, mentorship and continued education are critical to success – not just in terms of efficacy in the field, but to career and personal growth. For those who are seeking to empower individuals served by this industry, we find it critical to be instrumental in the development of our team members by uniquely positioning ourselves as a learning organization that also provides services. This learning starts before entering the organization, continues from the point of onboarding, is directed through field support and clinical educational support, and is further empowered through job rotations in serving across diverse populations and continuing education programs. This all considered, Empower U. can be considered “Empower University.”

As far as the children, families, and adults we serve are concerned, Empower U. is more slang for the impact we strive for – their empowerment. The empowerment of the resilience to not only overcome past and current challenges or traumas but also the resilience, consciousness, and insight for them to better shape their future experiences as well.

Marlon, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Sure! I’m a native of Queens, NY who moved to New Jersey as a teen. I attended Fordham University, where I obtained a bachelor’s in Organizational Leadership. I obtained my master’s of management, strategy, and leadership from the Eli Broad School of Business at Michigan State University and my doctorate of education in Organizational Change and Leadership from the University of Southern California. That all said, I take leadership extremely seriously as both a duty and an honor. I should also say, for our Greek letter organization readers, I am a proud life member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

The road to entering the behavioral health field was surely one completely unimagined and complete with bumps, wrong turns, u-turns, and a navigation that at times seemingly was always “recalculating.” As a child, I experienced my own traumas between home, school, and community that shaped things within me behaviorally and subsequently, academically. While I strove to be a “good” kid, who got “good” grades, I would slip, and when I did it was usually costly and, often, in more ways than one. Without getting into the minutia of it all, I can say that I managed to get through and away from certain aspects of my life to adjust its trajectory.

I believe my life changed when I first got the opportunity to give back to others. I volunteered with children with developmental disabilities at my local recreation center for a few years and experienced so much purpose in that role. Facilitating activity workshops for things that are taken for granted like arts and crafts and music was where one of my first beautiful memories came from and probably sparked my interest in getting more involved. There was an art class that I was facilitating one evening and a father, sporting that “fresh off of the NYC bus from work” scent, was running late, but made it just in time to join his daughter, who was on the Autism spectrum through hand-over-hand artwork. He was so concerned about being there for her that he didn’t even take off his coat, he just jumped right in – and I found that to be beautiful. Literally placing his hand over hers and assisting her with making art and celebrating the beauty of what she created. The love, dedication, and support from this father to assist his little girl was beautiful to behold. Her appreciation and experience of a job well done was amazing as well. It profoundly changed the ways that I looked at life and the concept of “good fortune.” Regardless of their circumstances, they were each fortunate to have one another and it was both evident and beautiful.

At 20 years old, I gained the opportunity to first work for an agency providing services to children and families who were navigating challenges associated with mental/behavioral health and/or developmental disabilities, largely in marginalized communities. I quickly learned the business and started my own agency a year later and have steadily grown since. Now we are a team of nearly 500 diverse providers serving over 2000 individuals in the State of New Jersey. We were accepted into Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneurs Access Network to help us spread the impact that we make socially for so many – and I could not be more proud. In my reflections along this journey, I found myself reflecting on the other kids who grew up in my neighborhood and adults would often tell us that would end up dead or in jail. Having my own scares that placed me at risk, I eventually came to realize that I represented a relatively small percentage of us who make it to where I am today. My story, however, is not the one that matters most to me, it’s that about those who didn’t and how to help.

That all said, Empower U. has a very special “Why” for me. We recruit, select, upskill, and support individuals who are helping others. We are constantly innovating to create new program offerings, technology, and roads to accessibility for those we serve. We walk in our purpose on purpose – and we do it together. That is what I’m most proud of.

Let’s move on to buying businesses – can you talk to us about your experience with business acquisitions?

I have. The process of purchasing is complex no matter if you are purchasing an existing business as a means of transitioning from working corporate or acquiring a business to expand your suite of services as I did. In 2020, Empower U. purchased an organization that was an alternative to our applied behavior analysis business, which focused largely on children whose verbal skills were largely challenged and was scientific in approach – data collection, graphs and all. Understanding that Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a wide range and that this form or treatment was not appropriate for all children along the spectrum, we purchased a company called Clinical Care, LLC, whose specialty was providing licensed mental health clinicians who had proven strong in their knowledge of ASD and could provide talk therapy and parent coaching for children who could be receptive to and respond to talk therapy. This acquisition allowed us to deepen our capacity to serve the community of children with Autism.

The acquisition process is long. If it weren’t, I’d be wary. Due diligence is critical and time should be taken to ensure that the business you are purchasing has real business behind it. There are elements of forensic accounting, so to speak, that come into play. From the method of valuation that you’re using, be it Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) or Sellers Discretionary Earnings (SDE), you have to strongly consider what multiple of EBITDA or SDE, if any, you are willing to pay. That said, be sure that you research what the norms are for the business type that you are buying and the different levers around pricing. In our case, one of the levers that worked in our favor was a lack of tech enablement at the firm. We ended up purchasing for a lower number as a result and comfortably made that investment back quickly, which is a goal to have.

There are deal terms that have certain implications on taxes, who assumes liability over the prior actions of the company being acquired, financing terms, and in our case, safeguards around the license transfer process. This requires that legal teams from both sides engage each other and that, perhaps, holds the process up the most. Be prepared to negotiate, because attorneys are paid to represent the interests of their clients and if the clients themselves are not flexible to amendments of deal terms, that is a deal killer. We had a few points where the deal could have fallen apart, but it was the willingness of the buy and sell sides to collaborate for a solution that saved us. Collectively the process was a year or so.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Oh yes. I know we live in a podcast culture where we get short bursts of picking up and packaging up information, but I’m a sucker for a good book. The book that started my journey was John Maxwell’s “Roadmap to Success.” In this book, he states that if you can A) Find something that you love doing, that, B) helps others, and C) can financially sustain on while doing, then success will follow. It was a major aha moment for me that struck at 3 AM one night and turned into me having the confidence to start my business the next day. I literally still gift this book to my friends when they share with me that they are considering entrepreneurship There are many other notables, but I’ll just list them. I love the Harvard Business Review books (HBR’s Best 10 or HBR’s Best). They have annual editions with amazing short articles that are highly empowering. Also Simon Sinek’s “Start with Why”, which largely offers marketing tips, and “Leaders Eat Last” which covers areas of strong and influential leadership. There are really too many to name, but I always encourage entrepreneurs to get themselves a good one to reflect on while on their journey.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.justempower.me
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/marlonwgray