Brian Heflin 9 star on the rise. Karen Kreisler A bright new star who ...

If you ask <strong>Brian</strong> <strong>Heflin</strong> what makes him successful,
DeceMber 2011
<strong>Brian</strong> as a child growing
up in South Central LA
he’ll give you three answers: persistence,
mentorship, and knowing the “why.”
Persistence: Growing up in South Central
Los Angeles is not easy, especially if you
are an underprivileged black kid raised by
a single mother. South Central is known
for being a relatively rough neighborhood. Growing
up, it wasn’t uncommon for <strong>Brian</strong> to see squad
cars arresting people on the streets, or the occasional
body being wheeled out of a home after a
drug overdose. But <strong>Brian</strong>’s mother’s greatest gift
to her son was showing him the value of persistence.
Mabel worked two, and sometimes three,
jobs to provide for <strong>Brian</strong> and his sister, Tonda and
Trina. Somehow, she was always able to keep a
roof over their heads and clothes on their backs.
Despite her hours, Mabel also managed to be a
loving and disciplined parent: she kept her
children on the right track because she believed
in their ability to become contributing members
of society.
Mabel recognized the limitations of living in
South Central. She knew that she had to show her
son another way of life. So she arranged for <strong>Brian</strong>
to spend three months in Chicago every summer,
from the ages of 8 to 15 with <strong>Brian</strong>’s great uncle
who ran a successful business there. For the first
time in his life, <strong>Brian</strong> saw a man get up and put a
suit on every day to go to work. He met other business
owners. He saw that hard work could lead
to financial security. <strong>Brian</strong> recognizes that his time
in Chicago with his great uncle was life-changing.
“My uncle would always tell me that I could be
anyone who I wanted to be. So when I came back
to Los Angeles, I would return to the same place I
grew up, but I would speak differently, I would think
differently. I would dream.”
The possibility of a different life for himself and
his mother became <strong>Brian</strong>’s driving force. At the
age of 10, he went to work for his uncle’s friend at
a stationery store. By high school, <strong>Brian</strong> was taking
a 1.5 hour bus ride every day after varsity track
and field practice to a Thrifty’s Drug Store in the
Valley. He wouldn’t get home until almost midnight
by the time he was done. At this job, <strong>Brian</strong> got his
first taste of the rewards of persistence: he worked
his way up to the manager position.
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