All-decade basketball player, a proud Mr. VU winner and Business Administration Major Gregory Scott ‘10 is no stranger to wearing many different hats. Today, Gregory is a self-proclaimed “boring entrepreneur” (although he is anything but) who continues wearing multiple hats – he invests, owns Legacy Logistics headquartered in Riverside, serves on the board for both the Make-a-Wish Foundation Orange County & Inland Empire and the La Sierra Business Council for the Riverside Chamber of Commerce for small businesses and is involved in the real estate market.
Gregory loves giving his time and resources back to his community through whatever means he can. As is evident through Gregory’s many interests, he shares “business is my passion, but giving is my heart…I have been invited to join the University of California, Riverside Extension Transformative Leadership in Disruptive Times Executive Program Advisory Board. The Transformative Leadership Program focuses on teaching innovative thinking as a means of advancing technical, analytical, and communication skills to address today’s changing landscape.”
Gregory said that when the pandemic first broke, he sat in shock for the first two weeks, “I had just set all of these goals for 2020, and now I was needing to focus on if I could continue to do business and provide for my employees. Luckily, the Lord had bigger plans, and once I surrendered my business to Him, He turned it into my best year ever— in business and personally.”
Gregory knew that he had an opportunity to assist his community through his business and by continuing to give back and share his learning experiences. One of the ways he was able to network with other business owners was through the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program, an investment to help entrepreneurs create jobs and economic opportunity by providing access to education, capital and business support services. “Being a business owner can be pretty isolating and get pretty granular,” shares Gregory. “But it was so nice to have other business owners and leaders to vent with and share advice that I can take back to my own business.”
“One of the things I wish I had realized while I was at Vanguard, was the amount of networking opportunities I had through my professors and peers on campus.” Gregory, who launched GIO Brand, his first official business, on campus, turned business theory into application, but recognized that he could have navigated a couple of challenges by building a more robust business network. “So much of business is the network you build and the community you create. I know that Vanguard has opportunities for students to build that network on campus — and I want to be part of that. I now want to help students, especially Black students, sidestep some landmines that I triggered after graduating.”
Gregory’s heart for service was clear when asked how Vanguard can support him. “This year has publicly aired a lot of the trauma that the Black community has experienced, and the good thing about that is that it opened the floodgates for conversations surrounding sympathy and empathy about the very real problems that exist and need to be addressed.” Gregory believes that continuing to have the conversation and looking out for opportunities to serve and encourage the diverse population of alumni and students at Vanguard is the kind of support that can have a lasting impact beyond the campus borders.
“My heart is to help serve students at Vanguard through mentoring, advising and hopefully providing opportunities for students like myself who are reaching for the next level.”“The main thing I teach is, ‘give yourself a chance'”