Speakers

April 29, 2010

An Amazing Business Success Story

Earvin “Magic” Johnson 

Earvin Johnson, Jr. is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Magic Johnson Enterprises which was formed in 1987. Through strategic investments, partnerships and endorsements, Magic Johnson Enterprises (MJE) provides products and services that particularly focus on ethnically diverse urban communities.

MJE is comprised of a portfolio of companies that include Urban Coffee Opportunities (making MJE the only joint venture partner of Starbucks with over a hundred stores developed across the country), Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund which is the country’s largest private real estate fund focused on the revitalization of underserved communities, Yucaipa Johnson Corporate Growth Fund which is the country’s premiere private equity fund focused on strategic investments in companies located in and/or serving America’s underserved markets, The TCW CapitalAssist Fund – a joint venture with TCW Leveraged Finance Group – which focuses on providing debt financing to middle market companies whose access to capital has been constrained by the frozen credit markets, thirteen 24 Hour Fitness Magic Sport centers, a T.G.I. Fridays restaurant, and a long-standing partnership with AMC Magic Johnson Theatres.

MJE has launched several additional initiatives: SodexoMagic, LLC and respective partnerships with Aetna and Best Buy. SodexoMagic, LLC provides an extensive portfolio of food and facilities management services as well as offers signature dining facilities.  MJE’s alliance with Aetna will empower businesses and ethnically diverse communities to make informed choices about health care options by improving health care literacy and demonstrating the benefits of wellness. Similarly, MJE has entered into a multi-year relationship with retail giant Best Buy to enhance urban retail growth strategies and implement diversity outreach with multicultural consumers. Mr. Johnson’s venture MAGIC Workforce Solutions (MWS) provides “best in class” staffing services and connects employers of today with the workforce of tomorrow.

The aforementioned businesses have been at the forefront of urban development, raising the understanding of the importance of the multicultural consumer, and are directly responsible for tremendous growth across the country. Through MJE, Mr. Johnson has bolstered the economy by establishing brand name businesses in underserved communities, training and hiring local residents, employing local contractors, and opening the door for other businesses to find success in diverse communities. In his New York Times Bestseller “32 Way to be a Champion in Business,” Mr. Johnson offers detailed advice, real world expertise and the enthusiasm of a natural born entrepreneur who has pioneered unprecedented economic development in long neglected urban communities.

In addition to his varied business accomplishments, Mr. Johnson was voted (unaided) number one at representing the urban community, garnering a higher percentage than any other organization or personality (February 2008 Yankelovich/Magic Johnson Brand Study). He was also voted the number one rated athlete for corporate endorsements (TSE Sports & Entertainment Survey, April 2007) and one of the most highly rated celebrities able to influence consumer purchasing power (rated 6 out of 350 according to the 2006 Davie Brown Index). Mr. Johnson is also the first African-American to receive the prestigious Doctorate of Humane Letters Degree from Mount Sinai Medical School.

As Chairman and Founder of the Magic Johnson Foundation, Inc., Mr. Johnson is dedicated to developing programs and supporting services that address the educational, health and social needs of ethnically diverse, urban communities. Founded in 1991, the Magic Johnson Foundation (MJF) has become one of the most recognizable charitable organizations around the world.

Over the past few years, the MJF has awarded more than $1.1 million to community-based organizations that focus on HIV/AIDS education and prevention, established four HIV/AIDS clinics and has co-created the award-winning “I Stand With Magic” campaign to end HIV/AIDS in the black community. Additionally, the MJF has supported more than 800 minority high school students with college scholarships (many through the organization’s Taylor Michaels Scholarship Program), opened 18 Magic Johnson Community Empowerment Centers located in underserved communities across the country, and provides a range of community-based initiatives including an annual kid’s Mardi Gras, holiday toy drive and semi-annual job fair.

Mr. Johnson is universally known for his 13 year career in the NBA. His honors include: five national championships with the Los Angeles Lakers, 3 MVP awards, 12 NBA All-Star games, a gold medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain and induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Mr. Johnson is also Vice President and part owner of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Workshop Presentation: The Core Disciplines of Business – Ruben Estrada

Ruben A. Estrada is CEO and chief small business architect of Estrada Strategies, LLC, and founder of the CEO Club™, Entrepreneurs Club and the monthly online Executive On-Line CLUB

In 2000, Ruben formed Estrada Strategies, LLC with the Vision of helping all businesses succeed. With a team of seven associates serving over 500 clients, under Ruben’s leadership, ES provides services that include Business systems training, sales systems, executive leadership development, systems management, organization devel-opment, strategic planning, financial management, and much more. Using a behavior modification model that integrates coaching, training and monitoring ensures that Estrada Strategies clients realize significant improvements in revenues and profits.

Today, ES serves clients in California’s Inland Empire, West Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego County. The first franchise office opened in Knoxville, TN un-der the direction of long time Estrada Strategies strategic partner Kevin Kragenbrink. Mike Tafoya, a former client of Estrada Strategies, opend the second Estrada Franchise in Denver Colorado.

Ruben’s expertise for rebuilding existing companies and for establishing new operations have made him a leader among entrepreneurs and CEOs of small businesses. His ability to develop and implement new market penetration and acquisition plans gives his clients the edge in growing their businesses. Using the Core Disciplines of Business™, Ruben has helped many entrepreneurs realize their full potential. His many clients have realized significant increase in revenues, gross profits and net income. They have also learned how to develop and implement systems to improve performance throughout their companies.

Prior to launching Estrada Strategies, Ruben worked 16 years with a now publicly held company. In the last ten years of his corporate career, Ruben opened new operations for the corporation in a series of West coast cities. Over that 10 year period Ruben’s new operations grew to exceed $21 million in annual revenues while winning numerous awards and recognition for service excellence and unprecedented growth.

In, 2004, Ruben created the Estrada Strategies Foundation to serve those small busi-nesses who were not in a financial position to invest in a Estrada Strategies, LLC program. The Foundation is now recognized as the Inland Southern California’s Small Business Resource Liaison serving start-ups, and youth in high school/college aspiring to be entrepreneurs in addition to the struggling small business owner.

An inter-nationally recognized key note speaker and an Inland Empire community leader, Ruben Estrada serves on several corporate and community boards and has been the recipient of numerous business and community awards. A deeply spiritual and family man, he lives in San Bernardino, California with his wife Lori, daughter Brittany, and son Ruben Jr.