---

---

What originally drew you to the University of North Texas and the College of Business? What was your major? How did this affect your career trajectory?
My major to start with that was in health administration. At the time I was Director of Radiology at Lewisville Memorial Hospital. So [UNT] was not only a convenient location, but they also had a degree in health administration, which was important to me because at the time I wanted to become a hospital administrator, and this was the perfect path.

I'm a country boy from Mississippi [who] went to the local junior college, on all things, a music scholarship. And while one day walking through the campus, I saw a sign that said, "Want to be an X-ray tech?" I called those numbers. I became an X-ray technician. I learned very quickly in life that if I wanted more, I had to have a piece of paper behind my name. So, I went to day school and worked at night. I got my bachelor's degree.

On the flip of a coin, I decided to move from Mississippi to Dallas, Texas and was very fortunate here to land a job at Lewisville Hospital initially as their chief technologist, then their director of radiology, the department head. I enrolled and worked on my master's degree for four years at night.

Thought I was going to be a hospital administrator [and] was interviewing with HCA at the time, and this thing called MRI came out in the 80s. A gentleman approached me about joining the MRI industry. I said, "No, I want to be a hospital administrator." He said, "Come interview with me in Connecticut." So I did, and that started my career in the medical imaging space.

Did the typical work up the corporate ladder. I became president of a couple of companies and then in 1997 decided to take a leap of faith and go out on my own and become an entrepreneur. I took the technology to Latin America and the Caribbean for three years. Had a blast. Got some crazy stories. But sold that company. I made a little money, not enough to quit, but enough to at least think about what to do next.

And that led me back to Texas, which led me to build Preferred Medical Imaging, which became the largest medical imaging company in Texas. We then went into pain management, built the largest pain management practice in Texas with 53 doctors. I sold all of that and then branched off into a whole different area called franchising, specifically Orange Theory Fitness, and became Orange Theory Fitness's largest franchisee with 33 gyms. By pure luck and miracle, sold that one December 19th of 2019, three months before COVID hit.

Not one to quit we now have a dog grooming franchise called Scenthound. We're combining with a another territory right now. We'll have six locations with plans to build at least 11 more. Then we have options for 10 on top of that.

How did your experience at UNT shape your professional journey?
Well, that was interesting because I thought I was going to be a hospital administrator. I mean, this was my journey. This was my plan, and coming to UNT (and this is way before the internet), this is when you had to get in your car and drive here every night, three to four nights a week for four years to get my master's degree to be a hospital administrator. I had no thought about MRI coming out. I had no thought about this new medical image technology.

So focusing on my career in health administration really kept me focused on my job and staying in Lewisville and finding this other opportunity. Had I not been coming [to UNT], pretty good chance I would not have found this other opportunity and would not have taken that leap of faith and went down a different road.

Do you have a favorite UNT memory?
I don't have a lot of memories from before because it's been over 40 years. I'm having a lot of fun now with the memories, getting to know everybody here, and I think one of the most fun things was when I came to campus for the first time in 43 years last summer. Seeing the campus, seeing [it was no] longer that little [place for students] that came at night school. This was actually a legit university and I've really enjoyed getting to know people here and seeing the vision for the future.

What does it mean to you to be a UNT and Ryan College of Business alum?
Well, again, this is something that's kind of been fun for me—that's recently getting more involved in it and being able to actually participate and have discussions about the future of and the direction it's going. Having those discussions with Dean Wiley about the entrepreneurial program and being able to participate in that is just really exciting for me, and really makes me thankful that I stayed in touch and that [The Ryan College of Business] was gracious enough to reach out to me.

What advice would you give to current business students who want to be successful?
I think number one (I tell this people all the time) is work hard. You know, the harder you work, the luckier you get. That's a pretty common saying. Number two, don't be afraid to jump. You can't always prepare for everything. Sometimes you have to believe in yourself. You have to believe in your direction enough to just take those leaps. And finally, education is so important from a learning perspective, but also pick up what you can learn from others that have already been there. Find your mentors. Find your people to help you navigate the path. And ultimately, you'll achieve those goals you have.

You can also watch his interview on our YouTube channel to hear this conversation straight from the source.