86. The Power of Connections for Career Exploration + When One Door Closes, Another One Opens

The Power of Connections: Anthony Newton's Journey from Humble Beginnings to Industry Leader

In this podcast episode, Sonia interviews Anthony Newton, CEO and founder of Kaduceus Holdings, about his inspiring career journey. Anthony shares his inspirational journey from his early days in Houston, through a pivotal mentorship by his high school teacher Ms. Betty Brown, to becoming a leader in educational and medical training. 

He discusses how his diverse experiences and exposure to different facets of pharmacy work led him to establish Kaduceus Holdings, which provides educational and medical training across the U.S. 

The conversation underscores the value of CONNECTIONS, mentorship, resilience, and faith in achieving career success. The episode also highlights Sonia's upcoming career connections online course which starts July 8, 2024. It is aimed at helping students explore career opportunities and create actionable plans for their futures. 

The episode emphasizes the importance of exposure, mentorship, and community in achieving success.

00:00 Introduction and Building Connections
03:32 Interview with Anthony Newton: Career Journey
06:41 Anthony's Early Career and Mentorship
12:15 Founding kaduceus Holdings
19:00 Expanding and Overcoming Challenges
26:43 Advice and Reflections
34:01 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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Join our College and Career Connections Club for free at www.CollegeCareerReady.org/join

Learn about our Career Connections Course: www.CollegeCareerReady.org/COURSE

"Stay well, be present, and enjoy the journey"

Transcript

2:43

Hi, Fran. Thank you for being here today. These last few weeks, I have been building my network or what I like to call my connections of parents, students, professionals in the field and industry leaders. To bring light into the fast growing career opportunities of today. Building my community helps me better serve you. Our listener. And the students that I personally coach. If there is one thing that I want you to always walk away from every episode of the college and career ready podcast, is that connections matter? All of my guests are invested in helping our youth. Our gen Zs succeed, not only in college, but in their future careers. Today. I wanted to air an interview that I had over a year ago from a guest who shared his own career journey. Anthony Newton. He STC. Oh, and founder of This holdings. Anthony shares his inspiring life story from humble beginnings. Guided by a pivotal moment in time. When one of his teachers, Ms. Betty Brown led him to a successful educational and medical training company. We will share with you the importance and value of exposure to career opportunities. Mentorship hard work and faith. We discussed the essential role of resilience, vision, and leveraging opportunities to achieve success and empowerment of our future generations. If there is one takeaway that I want you to walk away from the highlights of this interview is that connections matter. If you're a parent Lister surround your child by mentors and people who will provide encouragement and motivation in their educational and career journey. If you're a student listener, I hope you realize that you will only find opportunities. If you surround yourself by mentors and leaders, that will help you explore opportunities. That you might not even know existed. I want you to know the value of connections. And this episode could not have been in better timing because July 8th, my career connections online course will be launched. It's a self paced online course with weekly live group sessions. Does your child need help choosing a college major? Are you ready for them to make real life connections, to discover their best career options? I want your child to have the best future possible. And I am here to provide that for them. By taking this course, I will help them maximize the college experience. I will help them define their interests, abilities, and career goals. Together, we will explore employment opportunities and trends. Plus I will help them create their first LinkedIn profile that they can use for career and college research. They will establish smart goals and create a personalized roadmap using my easy to follow framework. Remember, this will be a summer cohort, so it will only be offered once this summer. So act now and sign them up. And if they can't attend one of our live weekly sessions, don't worry. All sessions will be recorded and shared with our group. To get more information and to join our summer class. That starts July 8th. Go to college career. ready.org. college career. ready.org Or if you have any questions, you can email me directly at info at college career. Ready dot O R D. I can't wait to see them in our online class. Alright, my sweet friend. And now here's our interview with Mr. Anthony Newton. Hi, Mr. Newton. Morning. Good morning. Thanks for having me. Thank you for, for joining us. Um, so why don't you go ahead and start off and introduce yourself to our audience? Yeah, uh, name's, Anthony Newton. I'm the CEO and founder of Caduceus Holdings, Incorporated. we established ourselves back in, June of 2005, uh, as a DBA. And got incorporated June of 2006. Um, and, basically a native Houstonian born and raised here in Houston. Parents were from Louisiana. Uh, mom and dad have been together now for 43 years. tell us where you are now in your career lives. Yeah. So present today, um, oversee, uh, Caduceus Holdings, which is a conglomerate. We have the educational Form, which is in a little over 250 school districts across the country in 24 states, including Hawaii. We have 10 different program offerings that range anywhere from pharmacy technician to, all all the way down to. So, um, there's a whole assortment of different programs that we offer. And things are going quite well. We're based in Houston, Texas. But like I said, we have a reach nationwide. Yeah, super. So let's go a little bit back in time. Um, as you were growing up, you told me a little bit about your history and your family. what did you have in mind as far as your, your career in high school level? Yeah. So in high school, most high schoolers, uh, back then, uh, I really didn't have a sense of direction or guidance as to what I wanted to do. but there was a teacher by the name of Betty Brown, uh, Cashmere high school in Houston, Texas, Houston, independent school district. She took me by the hands and in my junior year, she put me in what's called a health co op program. So apparently she saw something in me that I didn't see in myself. And she felt that I would do well in the medical center. Prior to meeting Miss Brown, uh, I never knew anything about the medical field. So I got my first job, as a patient escort at Hermann Hospital, willing patients to and from the radiology department. So that's how I got my start, uh, in the medical space. So before, meeting Miss Betty Brown, Do you have any inkling as far as what you were going to do when you grow up, when your parents would tell you? No, just, uh, just being a kid, having a good time, you know, getting into some trouble, but, uh, no, really no, no, like, short road as to what I wanted to do when I grew up, you know? So the objective was the, when you're younger, you think about the here and now. So there's not a lot of emphasis on, what's going to happen afterwards and that happened for a lot of my buddies. So it's like, when you graduate, then the reality sets in like, wow, I need to do something high school is over. But when you're in high school, you're so focused on the sports, the activities, the grades, things of that nature. So, it didn't afford me the opportunity to look to the future. It wasn't until again, Ms. Betty Brown, gave me that opportunity that the exposure and the opportunity. Absolutely. And that's wonderful. And I appreciate you sharing that because that's what we like to share that there are so many people that can really be influential in a child's life. and, being that she was your teacher and that she just. Saw that in you, to kind of start looking into the health science arena. It's pretty remarkable. so tell us a little bit more about, that externship. You were in a co op. So what happened there? What did you get to see and explore? Yeah, so I would, I was driving at the time. So I think 16, 17 years of age. But I will commute from, my residence or from school, actually from school all the way to the medical center here in Houston, Texas. And, um, prior to getting that job, I had never been to the medical center. So I'd go out there, I'd see all these young professionals, uh, doing so many different, things that really impressed me and just drew me in. I found myself going from, school to work and then back home. But I started spending more time at work, just learning from the different professionals that I was around at that time. So, well, in patients to him from the radiology department and wheelchairs and stretchers afford me the opportunity to interact with radiology technicians, MRI technicians, ultrasound technicians, the list goes on and on. Yeah, wonderful. And how did you get introduced to pharmacy being in the medical center to start, meeting everyone pretty much. And, I would go down to the MRI department and hang out with those guys. And I went over, to the pharmacy department too. And I started taking, hanging out with a lot of those guys. And I took a liking towards pharmacy. And so an opportunity presented itself for me to, in my senior year to work closer to home, at LBJ hospital. And so I actually submitted an application and because of my background in the medical field, or in the medical center, it afforded me the opportunity to work at LBJ hospital as a pharmacy technician. So that's how I got introduced to the pharmacy technician. It was, right around that senior year, right after high school. How did you transition into where you're at today? What happened was pharmacy technician is very interesting. I got my start. Most people start in the retail sector. I actually started in the hospital. And preparing those bags, working with the pharmacists and the pharmacy technicians and still taking the medicine up to the floors to deliver them to the patients. I really grasp that right? And, after doing that for about a year or so, I got the opportunity to, affiliated with a staffing agency because again, young, just trying to man, if I can make this, let me go ahead and try to make that amount of money. So the staffing agency was like, Hey, we can put you in various different places and we'll pay you X amount of dollars. So when I affiliated with the staffing agency, I probably worked. Okay. And every different aspect of pharmacy from retail to mail order to all the different types of things you can do as a pharmacy technician. And so, with that experience from the age of 18, all the way to 21, I got the opportunity to be a teacher at a vocational school here. And so I was their youngest instructor. form tech instructor, but they gave me the opportunity because of my, wide array of different experience in the field. So, at the age of 21, I was a teacher and I figured, man, if I can teach this stuff. Why don't I go back and become a pharmacist? And so I started, uh, got accepted into, uh, Blinn College out in, uh, Brenham, Texas. And I will commute from Houston to Brenham, which is about an hour one way, a little over an hour one way. Every single day, and I did for a year got a job out there as well. While I was going to school there, I figured I'd work out there and I worked as a pharmacy technician in Brenham. And then after a year of doing that, I came back to Houston. And, had all my, my courses that I needed for undergrad for the most part. And so I've enrolled in Texas Southern University to start my path to go to pharmacy school and I was headhunted by someone in the educational space, the vocation educational space. To be a, pharmacy technician program chair over a vocational school in Houston. So, uh, again, was their youngest person at that time, 24 years of age, where I got my start as a, as a pharmacy program chair for the pharmacy technician program. So I've developed it. From the ground up, here in Houston, uh, did that for about two years and, uh, rose to the point where I was overseeing the entire state of Texas, um, for the pharmacy, technician program. So, yeah, it was a student at one point, then a teacher, and then, rose to a director of pharmacy all within a short period of time. Oh, wow. And what happened, from that transition to the next thing that you went into? Well, the next thing was caduceus. So, just hanging around all these guys. I used to have students that would come up to me and say, hey, Mr. Newton, you know, I'm working a great job. Um, you know, as a pharmacy technician, and I'm making some pretty good money, but my, my tuition, my student loans are really weighing on me. So these guys were paying back. Student loans, not for, uh, bachelor degrees or associates, but for certificates and I just felt that weight on them. So that really stuck with me, as a director of pharmacy. in addition to that, I had a, um, task that was given to me. As the director of pharmacy, for the vocational school to go out and find, IV certifications for our students, because everyone was graduating from those vocational schools with, pretty much, certification to work in the retail sector. And so, they tasked me with this, monumental fee to just go out and find an IV certification company. So we went. We scoured all of Houston and looked at all the different companies out there, and I came across this 1 company that was absolutely phenomenal. so I went into the guy's office. I think he was a young guy to about 28 years of age at the time. I was 25. so I was very inspired by that. And I asked him, I said, hey, buddy, um, you know, I'm overseeing the entire state of Texas, but we have reached nationwide. And this was back in 2000, wow, 2005. Right. So we had reached nationwide and I told him, what you guys offer is ideal for what we need. And, I remember, this gentleman, he, you know, as I was talking to him expression, expressing my passion about what we did at the vocational schools, how we're helping the students to excel, et cetera. Uh, I remember I was very passionate about it and I've always had this entrepreneurial side to me as well. So I told him, Hey, man, look, if I can get you into this agreement, can you work out some type of agreement with me where I can get 10% for every student? That's brought to you. and so he came, he stood up from his desk, put his hand on my shoulder. I came around to where I was, put his hand on my shoulder. He said, Hey, I tell you what, I'll make sure, I tell your boss, you did a great job by introducing your company to our company. Wow, and then he went and had a seat and I remember I felt small. I just sunk in my seat and I was like, oh, man, I mean, this guy, I can't believe he just really killed me like that. he just, uh, he deflated my, I had so much passion so much drive so much. You know, ambition, I was young but in, instead of channeling that, that disappointment, or instead of absorbing the disappointment, and acting out on it, I actually channeled it and I said, what, you know, um, what this guy is doing is extremely impressive. Um, I know exactly what we need, for our vocational school. And this is where that aha moment came about. I identified a problem and I found a solution to that problem. And all I had to do was combine the two and put a price tag on it. And that's all business is identifying a problem, bringing a solution to that problem for an agreed amount. And depending on how big of a problem you solve, that determines the income that you create. And so I decided to bur cadu this. At that point, I went and hired two individuals, uh, put together, the Ivy certification components that were needed. And my company that was birthed was Cadus. So I allow Cadus to come in and present to my firm at the time. And, my boss and I were there, the company did an outstanding job and we decided to give them the contract. And so, uh, that's how Caduceus was birthed pretty much, out of a moment where you think is the worst moment of your life, To change everything. And that's why I say all things happen, for the good, when you're pursuing your path. So just always look at it from that perspective. I love it. I love the way you reframed the situation and how that brought you a lot of opportunity. Let's go a little bit back to your story. you came up with the, with the IV certification and you were basically selling it to, your current, employer. Correct? That is correct. Okay. And how did you branch out and become independent? Yeah, so I figured, you know, once a business, starting to generate revenue and you've identified a problem, and you bring a solution to that problem, then you may think about it and say, wow, our vocational school had this issue. Maybe other vocational schools have the same issue. So I went off to offer certification to. A multitude of different vocational schools throughout Houston and the surrounding areas. I did that for a year while simultaneously working for the vocational school. And so the success start to take off. And I remember, when I turned 26, a year after I had started Caduceus and just DBA making supplemental income, everything was great. Well, one of the things I looked at is the fact that. It was generating revenue, um, and. If there's opportunity in Houston, there may be an opportunity in surrounding cities and in surrounding states and so on and so forth. So what did I do? I went back to my employer and I told him, um, you know what? Uh, I'm going to go part time and, uh, I'm giving you guys a 4 week notice. And, um, that was that. So they were all shocked because everything was going so well. I was an outstanding worker. I always try to separate myself from everyone else by going above and beyond the call of duty. Cause I feel like if you're, uh, the best at what you do, there will always be a position for you. And so, um, again, I wasn't fired, uh, wasn't let go or anything like that. And I actually didn't give a two week notice. I gave a quality note, but then I went to a church the following Sunday. And something dropped in my spirit. I didn't tell you to go part time. I told you to quit your job, you know, resign from your job, apart from your job and start your company full time. So that was wrestling in my spirit and I decided to act on it. And I remember going back to my director and saying, Hey, look, uh, no, I gave a 4 week notice, and I was going part time, but now I want to give you a 6 week notice and let you know that I'm transitioning, out of this position in its entirety. So I just wanted to make sure everything was solidified before stepping out. And I did that in three months after I parted ways from the, from the vocational school. I decided to, uh, I was working with a group of individuals and we decided to put a pharmacy technician curriculum around the certification component and we went down to our 1st school district, which was Houston independent school district and they end up closing. Our deal with us and my first check from Houston Independent School District back in, uh, 2006 was for 58, 000. Yeah. Wow. Go a little bit more in detail and share with us if that's okay. How did you get into HISD? It's the largest school district in the Houston area. Yeah, I think definitely faith because I had no, I was this young kid, 26, a lot of me was a very naive at that point. I felt like I could conquer the world. Right. And I remember my mom put me in contact with an individual that knew another individual and, they got me the introduction to just, you know, they, they led me to say, Hey, go, why don't you try going down to H I s D. So I remember going down to the. Yeah. And I remember, they're telling me about the CTE department, career and technical education. And so I go to the front desk of this huge building off from Houston, Texas. It's off to 90, the building. and I go in there and they say, okay, uh, you're for the CTE department and they, give me the phone and they let me speak to an individual. And, uh, this individual, I can't remember his name to this day, but, the individual that I spoke with said, oh, I'm sorry. I'm not the right person. You need to speak to this is the person you should speak to. And I said, okay. And when I got the connection for that person, I said, hello, miss such and such this individual told me that you're the person I need to speak to in regards to presenting our course for the pharmacy technician program for independent school district. And because this is years later, she told me this after the fact, because I said that individual's name that transferred the call. That is the only reason she allowed me up into her office. So it was a subtle name drop, you know, uh, from one person that had referred me to her, and she allowed me into her office. I presented. I was very passionate when I presented. Didn't have a lot of information. It was more conceptual than anything, but that young lady at Houston Independent School District gave me the opportunity. That I needed, that catapulted me to where I'm at today. Wow. That is, that is amazing. And thank you for sharing about, stepping out of your comfort zone and just knocking on that door, a huge door, huge for me, it was just a door, you know, cause I was 26, this is just another door. Let me go do it. In fact, this was a building. I mean, it was the largest I've ever set foot in. Wow. That's amazing. And then how did you get to creating new programs? You just decided that you wanted to continue to expand? Well, see, this is what I've learned about life, you know, as things come at you, people may ask you to do monumental tasks that may ask you to do a little task. If you pick and choose what you want to do, then you're picking and choosing how you move forward in life. Every task that they brought to me at the vocational school, I took it on, I used to work 60, 70 hours a week, and I never knew that what I was doing then would help me for caduceus and what I was about to do in my future. And so I always tell people, no matter how big or small the task is, take it on and don't look at the. Compensation that you're receiving for it now because you will need it later on in your life. Wonderful. Wonderful. What would you tell them right now? What would be the biggest takeaway, um, that they should hear from you who has come from a background of, you know, family who, who really didn't have that, that role model for you to follow? Yeah, so I'd tell people. A high school students to get involved in as much things as you can get involved in because the exposure is where it's at. Had I not been exposed, there's no telling what I'd be doing right now. So that's the whole purpose for caduceus is just to allow. Exposure to individuals, uh, so that they can have opportunity that stimulates from the exposure. You may, uh, go and realize that, hey, uh, after doing this job or after experiencing this, this is now what I wanna do. I like it. I like the way the people are, the environment, the work, uh, flow and, and things of that nature. So, uh, I tell people, Just keep your mind open to exposure because once you're exposed, then opportunities develop from that. Because a lot of times, I mean, I wasn't passionate about medical field prior in high school, but the exposure. Created the opportunity and then the passion for what it is. I started doing over and over again, day in and day out developed. So that came over time, but how you first have to be exposed to it. Beautiful. Wonderful. other than Ms. Betty Brown, who has influenced you the most? Wow, man, I was, like I said, I was like a sponge. So I pretty much. Took from a lot of people, when they, when they crossed my path, uh, no matter what, uh, ethnicity, no matter what religion, no matter, uh, what the person was, uh, involved in, I was just. I had the ability to extract the positive and leave behind what it is that, that I didn't desire. And so, throughout the years, there's just been a multitude of individuals that I've extracted from that have helped me to become who I am today. So, uh, that's 1, but I think that the biggest, Influencer, you know, I watch my parents work hard, uh, they work hard day in and day out and they were blue collar workers. And so that was not something that I wanted to aspire towards, but I really admired their work ethic and how they kept the family together. And how they stayed married for as long as they did. I love, I love how you shared how you've taken every opportunity and you have learned from it and, you've had some pretty big obstacles that you've overcome, but is there anything looking back? Yeah. Mindsight is always 2020. Is there anything you'd do differently? Yeah, you know, um, I wouldn't, even though, I had my, my fair share of obstacles, I wouldn't change anything. The reason why, because so many lives have been impacted over the last, 17 years that I've been in business, not only just my life, my family's life, those, that are employed with our companies, the students, the teachers. Uh, the CT directors, the school districts at large, the communities at large, when you have an individual that can come up to you and say, man, it was because I was exposed to a program in high school, I'm now a pharmacist. I'm now a nurse. I'm now a medical doctor. that's a great feeling. And I feel if I go back and change anything, it could change everything. So I'd rather keep everything the way it is. No regrets. Love it. Love it. Love it. Love it. what do you think, what are the qualities that you think that has stood out from you the most? And I, and I think, and I'm, I might step in a little bit here and say, is it your ability to just absorb all the good from others and be able to just, defer anything else that's, probably not productive or something that's going to help you in the long run? Yes, I would definitely say that was major because you got to learn to extract the good and leave behind the negative. And if you have that perspective, you can learn from anyone and everyone because. Everyone that crosses your path is crossing your path for a reason, and there's something that you can extract from that person. It may even be what not to do, or it's what to do, or how to do it better. So these are things that I pride myself on also to having faith is so huge because fear keeps us from doing a lot of things that we want to do. So how can you overcome fear? Well, you can only overcome it with having faith. And if you have no faith, then you'll always have fear and it'll keep you, pretty much stagnant and not moving forward towards the things you want to accomplish in life. Yeah, absolutely. What's your definition of success? So success to me is relative. I feel every single person is successful in their own way. So the single mom that's taking care of her two kids, uh, working, nine to five, coming home, tending to them. She's successful, a successful businessman that have rise to a certain level in their lives. Uh, they're successful. The teacher. Which has 1 of the most hardest jobs in the world sits down and deals with students day in and day out with all different type of personalities all from all different walks of life, and they're able to keep their sanity. Okay. That's impressive. And they are successful. So to me, success is relative. We're all successful in our own way. And it's all about perspective perspective and perception. So, uh, that's my definition of success because if I talk to anyone for. Prolonged period of time. I can identify their success. And what inspires you now you've made it to such an amazing, opportunity to have your own company and you're continuing to grow when inspires you. Yeah. So my, my, my biggest inspiration is my kids. the reason why is because it doesn't do me any good to go out and educate tens of thousands of students around the world and not take the time to give to those that are nearest and dearest. And closest to me. So, they're a huge source of inspiration for me today. Uh, just making sure they're successful and they have every opportunity, that I had, if not more, the people I work with my colleagues, they inspired me being able to, see them excel in their careers and give more to our teachers and our students, so that they can be successful. That's inspirational. Thank you so much, Newton for spending your time with us for sharing your story from your upbringing to how you channeled all the different challenges in your life and how you reframe so many situations to be the person you are today and To have accomplished everything you've done so far. And I can't wait to see how you continue to grow. Thank you. Thank you so much, Sonia. I'm proud of you too, for even starting this podcast and, reaching the audience that you're reaching, cause it's definitely a necessity and I love the fact that you're going with your passion and what you love to do. So thank you for having me and I greatly appreciate it. Thank you. soon./ Thank you for listening in. If you enjoyed this episode, it would mean so much to me. If you share it with a friend, a colleague, or your own community, if you share it on social media and tag me, I'll make sure to personally thank you. My two favorite places to hang out are Instagram and LinkedIn. Check out our show notes for a direct link. I'm so thankful for each and every one of you. And as always stay well, be present and enjoy the journey. I'll talk to you next week. Adios.