My Transformative Two Years.

"If you're not laughed at, thought of as insane, ridiculed, insulted, criticized or even escorted out of the building on your way to pursuing your dream, then you're not doing it right."- Unknown.

Two years ago to the day, my dream of bringing mental health to every American regardless of their socioeconomic status ended. The largest black owned healthcare business in the United States (circa 1982) was no longer managed by a family member with our name on the sign. I was faced with a mid life crisis- what to do with all of my time, energy, and resources? The job was NOT done.

Every entrepreneur dreams of an exit while enduring sleepless nights, financial sacrifices, relationship issues, health scares etc. The "exit" or "peak" was to make up for all of it. For some, that may be the case. In my experience, the music stopped before the final melody was played. I had NO idea of what to do "next".

So, on the invitation from Kyle Polk, I went to Africa for three weeks to clear my mind. My wife and close family thought it would be good for my mental health. I also wanted to see where some of the most prolific modern injustices existed. A trip to Robben Island was booked and an exploration of South African culture helped me reset. On the final day of the trip, Kyle presented a letter on his flat screen TV I previously wrote to him and many other friends/colleagues when I left 摩根士丹利 Investment Banking in 2008. I had not seen the letter since I wrote it almost 15 years ago. It was a blatant reminder on why I started on my personal journey many years ago and why going home to support the small family business was important. A 36 hour trip back to the US followed the review of the letter and it helped me sketch out a new vision for the next 15 years. And upon my return home, I got back to work.

Many of you have reached out and asked me privately what I have been doing the last two years and what is next for "Bayless". Its been a transformative two years outlined below:

After my "exit", and trip to South Africa, I quickly came to understand that entrepreneurship is truly a social mobility tool that needs to be spread far and wide to those in underrepresented communities. Minority communities, and younger generations specifically, need to understand there is a path to wealth generation outside of sports, media, and entertainment. We can be entrepreneurial giants in all industries.

It always bothered me that my alma mater, Morehouse College historically never had entrepreneurial studies and a formalized path to take entrepreneurial risk. We certainly had a path to become titans in corporate finance, accounting, and wall street but lacked any true infrastructure to begin taking more swings at the proverbial "entrepreneurial at- bat". Therefore, I partnered with President David Thomas to establish curriculum starting with a faculty approved minor in Entrepreneurship and funding for a dedicated professor. I also decided to pay it forward by eliminating the entire student debt for certain talented business students to give them the opportunity to take more risk early in their career after graduation. I also supported a campus based entrepreneurial fellowship led by Tiffany Rogers Bussey at the Morehouse Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center in partnership with Blackstone and Trustee Verdun Perry. I was subsequently then honored to join the Morehouse College Board of Trustees at the recommendation from Chairman Willie Woods. I am excited to see where the future of the college develops and proud to be a part of it.

I also partnered with several community organizations over the past two years with programs towards entrepreneurship and eliminating debt. I want to highlight the programs at Black Ambition , AZYouthforce , and ElevateMeD . Thank you Shane Kelly , Marcia Mintz , and Alyx Porter, MD, FAAN for allowing me to partner with you on these initiatives.

In 2022, I launched Ten Figures, a management services organization, to establish administrative infrastructure for a new interconnected ecosystem of a family of companies. We also created a advisory/consulting arm to help support early stage entrepreneurs navigate "No Man's Land"- the stage transitioning from a lifestyle business to an enterprise. Thank you Dwayne Sansone , Dr. Andrea Raby , Kira Hamill , Angie Renshaw, Valencia Villarreal, Anika Bowman, CPA, and Denise Bowman, MC for believing in the vision. More to come on Ten Figures in 2024 as we look to formalize an early stage venture capital arm and continue real estate development projects in the Greater Phoenix area.

Ten Figures joined Carla Harris, Alice Vilma, and Jason Wood as an Advisory Board Member and Limited Partner in the Morgan Stanley Investment Management Next Level Fund that makes privately negotiated equity and equity-related venture capital investments in primarily early-stage technology and technology-enabled companies with women or underrepresented founders as part of the founding team. Thank you Carla for almost twenty years of mentorship, friendship, and partnership.

On the recommendation from Gail Covington, I also invested as a Limited Partner in GCM Grosvenor Advance Strategy led by Derek Jones. The Advance Strategy was established in 2019 to focus on investing with high quality, hard-to-access, and often overlooked private equity investment opportunities led by diverse investment managers with proven track records.

In 2023, in partnership with Mark Moeremans and Jill Hawkins Johnson, we launched the The Journey Venture Studio. We are pioneering an innovative venture studio model as a not for profit 501c3 entity that supports the "social determinants of entrepreneurship" and allows underrepresented founders to take risk with healthcare venture prototyping, leadership development, and mental health performance coaching. Thank you to Jon McCAINE, Ph.D., Dr. Andrea Raby Brian Wood, Nikki Haro, Imen Maaroufi Clark Ekene Nkem-Mmekam, Andrew Lombard, Jason Wood, Heidi Jannenga, PT, DPT, ATC, Ashok Santhanam, Michael White, and Jim Knapp for believing in our collective vision.

I re-connected with Melissa DiGianfilippo and Andrew Leger at Serendipit Consulting to create our new brands, public relations, and social media for the interconnected system of companies. Thank you for your partnership over the years.

I met Dala Al-Fuwaires, MFA and her team at House of Form which led to the re-development of the original Bayless Integrated Healthcare clinic into a state of the art facility for The Journey Venture Studio. We recently celebrated the grand opening of the facility- a place diverse entrepreneurs can transform themselves and their businesses. We are also mid-way through the development process of our new integrated Bayless Integrated Healthcare clinic concept that will be revealed soon-a place where patients and providers can transform themselves.

I realized that time is truly my greatest asset as an entrepreneur and built a relationship with another family business that is known for being one of the greatest innovators in capturing time- Audemars Piguet. Thank you for your support and all the new experiences around the globe.

After the suggestion from many advisors and friends, I decided to share my story and the playbook that helped me grow our family business into an enterprise. My book, "The Journey to Ten Figures" (with assistance from Seth Libby and Carla Harris) will be released soon to hopefully inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs.

And finally, I spent two years ensuring my family's legacy, name, and trademark would live on and represent our core values. My non-compete period has officially ended today and I am now able to provide advisory/consulting/operating partner services to mental health, primary care, and/or integrated care organizations nationwide. I am also excited to announce the official return of the family owned and managed business, Bayless Integrated Healthcare . More to come as we ramp-up our clinical delivery infrastructure and new opportunities available later this year.

The job is NOT done.

The vision is stronger. The goal of making mental healthcare accessible to every American regardless of their socioeconomic status remains. With all the investments and partnerships created over the past two years, I am excited to see where the journey will end up. Oh and this time, I will be much better prepared when the music transitions once again.

Thank you to everyone who has remained supportive through the journey. It will not be forgotten. - Justin

"Most people don't want to be part of the process, they just want to be part of the outcome. But the process is where you figure out who's worth being part of the outcome."- Corey Lohrenz

#BaylessBetter #BtheChange #blackhistoryeveryday #transform2024