CLIFTON L. TAULBERT: ENTREPRENEUR
Global Human Capital Consultant,
International Lecturer & Pulitzer Nominee
“Entrepreneurial Thinking: Shifting Mindsets”
Ctaulbert@cliftontaulbert.com
918-584-0414
Clifton Taulbert’s Path To Entrepreneurial Thinking…
Clifton Taulbert’s voice is being heard around the world as he shares his life story and the possibilities that exist for all of us; through the lectures given and the books written.
An unlikely path from the deeply segregated south seems contradictory to the current world of Clifton Taulbert. According to Taulbert, now the President and CEO of two companies [The Freemount Corporation and Roots Java Coffee], he could have failed had he not encountered entrepreneurial practitioners and the sustaining power of community lived out in his presence by the ordinary people of the Mississippi Delta.
Taulbert appreciates his early entrepreneurial practitioners, and especially his “Uncle Cleve” who owned the local Ice House in their small hometown—a business that served the entire community. As a young teenager, Taulbert learned from this man how to dream the impossible—to graduate valedictorian of his high school class, to break the barriers in Saint Louis banking, to excel in the US Air Force, to graduate from Oral Roberts University, earn an additional community college degree and to receive a graduate degree in banking from the Southwest Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University.
This attitude would serve him well decades later when he found himself involved with a new fitness product called “STAIRMASTER EXERCISE SYSTEM.” It was failing! And Taulbert became part of the team that followed their “hunch” and pressed forward – never looking back. The success of “STAIRMASTER” became the catalyst that continues to push him beyond pre-determined boundaries. For Taulbert, the impossible is possible — as his life and work demonstrates.
YOUR MINDSET MATTERS…
Taulbert’s “Uncle Cleve” was not familiar with the word “entrepreneur”…but he was indeed one. His way of facing life—challenges and opportunities were different than most of the people in Taulbert’s community, who were part of the well established cotton and plantation system. His “Uncle Cleve” was not held captive by the rigors of that system. He embraced the power of “gumption”…his concept of what we know today to be “entrepreneurial thinking.” Uncle Cleve’s principles come to life in the Kauffman sponsored book, Who Owns the Ice House?
His “Uncle Cleve” embraced the “Growth Mindset” as researched and shared by Dr. Carol Dweck of Stanford University. And passed that way of thinking along to his young protégé, Clifton Taulbert. Today Taulbert travels globally sharing how this mindset has impacted every aspect of his life and his expectations of life. With this mindset activated, Taulbert is telling the world to ACCELERATE THEIR IMAGINATION.
A GLOBAL JOURNALIST
Taulbert writes articles on “Entrepreneurial Thinking” for “Leader to Leader” founded by Peter Drucker
TAULBERT IMPACTS THE MARKETPLACE:
Infusing “Entrepreneurial Thinking” into the work he does for his clients worldwide:
LEADERSHIP. ENGAGEMENT. INNOVATION.
The Department of Defense Worldwide Leadership Conference, Rotary International Conferences, ONEOK-Tulsa, National NMSDC Conferences & Affiliates, Notre Dame University, The U.S. Air Force Academy, Harvard University Principals Center, Walmart, Charles Sturt University Business School-Australia, The International Chair Academy “College” Leadership, Kauffman Foundation, Tyson Foods, NATO Gathering, the International Schools Worldwide and the United Nations-Global Innovation Conference, Bank of America, Memorial Health Care System, Kansas Federal Reserve & the Federal Executive Institute
TAULBERT, THE WRITER…
Taulbert, once refused entry into his town’s public library has gone on to write fourteen book and with his second book, The Last Train North becoming a Pulitzer nominee. His first book would set the stage for the rest of his business and personal life for this businessman headed to a career in banking — Once Upon A Time When We Were Colored — the story of his childhood community, which was made into an award-winning “Two Thumbs Up” major motion picture of the same title.
Taulbert never dreamed of writing and movies, there were no apparent roads headed in that direction for him. Again, the memory of his “Uncle Cleve” would whisper in his ear, “The impossible is possible.”
ASSEMBLY HALL-UNITED NATIONS
[Taulbert: After Assembly Hall Speech-Innovation: Starting at Home]
On February 10, 2017, Washington, DC-
based Global Ties U.S., a nonprofit partner of the U.S. Department of State, presented its highest honor, the Citizen Diplomat Award, to Taulbert. It was presented to Taulbert by Ambassador Barbara Stephenson, PH.D., President of the American Foreign Service Association.