Many times journalists are encouraged to simply report the story and leave personal opinion out of it. In this case however, I reserve the right to include my personal opinion. Anthony Colbert, Sr. started a company, Spectrum Corporation, 20 years ago that focused initially on just financial services. When he began his business, there were few African American male business owners in the very competitive financial services industry.

He persevered, he worked hard, and he created more than just a company, but a place of inspiration for all young African American males that have dreams of creating their own business. I view him as a business mentor and Spectrum is considered as a second home for me. When I need to be surrounded by like-minded entrepreneurs, you can either find me at Catalina coffee these days or the Spectrum office located in the Galleria area of Houston.

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The company now includes real estate services, mortgage and lending services in addition to financial services. It was my pleasure to sit down and discuss the company with Anthony Colbert, Jr., Charles Thigpen, and Kelvin Guity; personal friends of mine and smart businessmen. Spectrum currently has grown to include a client base of over 2,000. Even though the company has been in existence for a while, I still consider the endeavors of these three men to be start-up endeavors because of the new services they are seeking to add to the business.

Although the real estate business has slowed down, they haven’t. They are constantly finding new ways to gain additional market share for the company and expand to provide additional products and services for their clients. With Anthony Colbert, Sr. leading the way, these three men all barely in their 30s are taking the Houston market by storm. Here are their stories in their own words. I sat down with each of them and asked them the Liberate10™.

Anthony Colbert, Jr.

LM: What drives you?
ACJ: Dreams, family and making an impact in life. Dreams can be anything…your aspirations, the reason why you do different things, it is self-fulfilling. My drive is also influenced by Marcus Garvey and indirectly the Nation of Islam. Even though I am not a muslin, when I was a kid the Nation of Islam was one of the few organizations that had businesses and products all over owned by African-American men. It was good for me too see that as a young African American male.

LM: What experiences influenced your decision to start a business?
ACJ: My dad. He was working for an oil company when I was a kid and then he left there and went on to work for Dick Gregory. I went to a predominantly white school, so seeing my father in business for himself showed me black men were able to get things accomplished more on an intellectual level.

LM: What formal education and/or training do you have or had to get to start your business?
ACJ: I have a B.A. from Texas Southern University and I have 90 hours of real estate training and a real estate license. My training hours include Investment Risk, Financial Services, Commercial and Residential

LM: How did you get started?
LM: How did you determine what product and or service to sell?
(he combined his answer to these two questions)
ACJ: I used to sell in the telecom industry through Arial Communications and got picked up and became an independent contractor through that company. I started my own telecom company to initially pay for law school. When I left to start my own company, I discovered the leadership skills that I had when people followed me to start my company. I did not really know what I was getting into. I chose to get into real estate at that point when I was looking for investment avenues. I wanted to find out how to become a part of the real estate industry because every millionaire has it in their portfolio. If you see people with wealth and freedom, you want to put yourself in that arena.

LM: What lessons have you learned from your first years in business?
ACJ:You have to work hardest even when you don’t want to. Don’t trust anybody to do what you are suppose to do. You never put your livelihood in someone else’s hands, only you can determine how you live.

LM: Who were the primary influences in your life as it relates to being an entrepreneur?
ACJ: My dad, and seeing other African American male business men that were successful.

LM: What has been your biggest success?
ACJ: Besides being married to another entrepreneur, it hasn’t come yet. It comes everyday in some ways. Every time I can walk into my office and the lights are on and I am working for myself, that is my daily success.

LM: What has been your biggest disappointment?
ACJ: Deception in some people.

LM: What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs?
ACJ: Persevere, have patience, and be determined. It is going to be a hard journey, you got to keep going at it though.

Charles Thigpen

LM: What drives you?
CT: Success is my driving factor. Success is more than financial…you’ve got to be well rounded as far as family, physically, and spiritually.

LM: What experiences influenced your decision to start a business?
CT: Mr. Colbert (Anthony Colbert, Sr.). Before you can start a business or have the drive to do it, you have got to see someone else do it. Seeing him start from nothing and grow this business influenced me.

LM: What formal education and/or training do you have or had to get to start your business?
CT: I started at Austin Community College to get into drafting. My dad was in the oil business and I went to work with him and I realized I didn’t want to be in an office. I transfered to the University of Houston. I also have a real estate license.

LM: How did you get started?
CT: While I was at the University of Houston, I got a job with an internet marketing company. Anthony Colbert, Jr. and I were roommates. He told me we needed to branch out and start our own business. At first I worked for the telecom company part time and the internet marketing company part time. I finally realized if I was going to do it I couldn’t do it 50/50, I had to do it completely. That was 7 years ago. I haven’t worked for anyone since. You have more stability in building yourself up.

LM: How did you determine what product and or service to sell?
CT: Real estate is one of the key components to financial wealth and if you can understand the foundation of it, you can build upon that foundation. I started in sales, learned loans and then learned construction. You have to know all aspects of the business.

LM: What lessons have you learned from your first years in business?
CT: You have to persevere, everything is not going to go the way you want it to. Everything happens for a reason. You have to be diverse, you cannot target a certain clientèle or culture.

LM: Who were the primary influences in your life as it relates to being an entrepreneur?
CT: Marcus Garvey, seeing day-to-day black entrepreneurs that have been doing it for a while maintain on a daily basis. My dad worked in the corporate world all of his life.

LM: What has been your biggest success?
CT: 9 years of entrepreneurship, not having to go back to corporate. Being able to come to a balance spiritually, in business, and financial as well as teaching others.

LM: What has been your biggest disappointment?
CT: In myself, you cannot be disappointed in others. That is the only person you can blame for not being where you want to be.

LM: What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs?
CT: We have people that come and ask us for business advice all the time. We tell them to do it, but they have to have a plan in writing. That is the first step. Look at your plan everyday.

Kelvin Guity

LM: What drives you?
KG: The need to establish a set foundation, not just the hope or the wish of one. We are actually starting something not just for us, but for our families and our kids. It is about leaving something behind besides the bills. I am constantly dreaming.

LM: What experiences influenced your decision to start a business?
KG: Working for corporate America and realizing and understanding that at the end of the day you can be called into the office and told not to come back. I wanted to take control of my life a little more. I have also been a numbers person.

LM: What formal education and/or training do you have or had to get to start your business?
KG: Education is important for those I cater to. I went to Texas Southern University for two years, did some online classes with Troy State in the military. I have loan officer’s training from Champions School of real estate. I am active reserve military now also and have been for 7 years. I’ve been in the military for 11 years total.

LM: How did you get started?
KG: I had talked with Colbert , Jr. and Thigpen about it, but I was still in my corporate job. I would sell phones with them sometimes when they had that business, but I still wasn’t ready to leave corporate America. When I went to Iraq and came back, I really made a decision to work for myself so I spoke to Anthony and asked if the opportunity was still available.

LM: How did you determine what product and or service to sell?
KG: I was in finance in corporate America in the sales department, so it made sense to be a loan officer and continue to sell financial products and services. I am the mediator between the client and the bank.

LM: What lessons have you learned from your first years in business?
KG: Cherish a dollar and invest in yourself first and foremost sell yourself, make sure you are marketable.

LM: Who were the primary influences in your life as it relates to being an entrepreneur?
KG: Anthony Colbert, Sr. and my colleagues Anthony, Jr. and Charles. There are also a couple of former teachers, but primarily the Spectrum people.

LM: What has been your biggest success?
KG: Making it through the first few years in business. The biggest success is to not return to corporate America.

LM: What has been your biggest disappointment?
KG: Trying to sell a product to those I thought were close to me and having them opt to purchase the same product from a different source. They will put that same trust in a total outsider.

LM: What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs?
KG: Get your books straight, ensure that you have a plan and a backup plan to be prepared to deal with speed bumps.