The Palacio Podcast
Successful Entrepreneur Walter Larkins Shares Wisdom and Good Laughs
My interview with Walter Larkins, a successful local entrepreneur, was one of the funniest ones I’ve done in while; even when he was talking about the KKK and racism. His company bio does him no justice in describing the man I know: “Currently President of CDR Benefits, LLC. in Long Beach. . . a successful entrepreneur with over 25 years of small business development experience for middle market companies.”
Walter Larkins in front of one of his patents
The Walter Larkins I know has a way of turning doubt into confidence, pessimism into optimism, and a story about the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) into a laugh about the absurdity in some of life’s moments. It’s a story about his father prior to World War Two, working in a Mississippi restaurant as a busboy, and not willing to follow the rules of behavior, at the time, when a white person is calling you hateful names. Talking back about could get you killed; especially when that person is connected to the KKK. The restaurant owner had some words of advice for Larkins’s father.
“’Look, I just found out that the Klan is after you, so you’re going to have to leave.’ And leaving in that definition was leaving town.”
And leave he did, straight into an army career. He would go on to be awarded a Bronze Star and a battlefield commission during the Korean War. Later, after Walter Larkins was born, the family would move around various Army bases in the south but mostly in Europe.
“Mainly because of the racism that existed in the United States. He just didn’t want to expose his wife (she was German) or his kids to that environment and spent most of his time overseas.”
Larkins shares those stories and more in the PalacioMagazine.com podcast.
Following His Father’s Footsteps…Sort Of
Walter Larkins attended the United States Military Academy at West Point.
“That was one of the rules my dad had, ‘You’re going to go to college…this is your education, not mine. By the way, I’m not paying. So, you better get a scholarship.’”
A career in medicine was on Larkin’s mind in High School but that dream eventually evaporated. Thinking about his father’s rule about college money, Larkins applied to West Point and was accepted. He would go on to serve four years in the Army, achieving the rank of Captain.
“Discipline and focus are one of the things that the military is recognized for and I think that’s one of the things that I certainly learned.”
But, something else also happens, it’s a test of your limits and it begins in boot camp. Larkins begins his explanation by pointing out that, no matter where you’re from, you have some idea about your personal limits and how far you can drive yourself, physically and mentally.
“You think that’s it until a drill sergeant tells you it’s not it. And you can be completely exhausted and you think you need sleep and you find out, “Huh, maybe I don’t need that much sleep.”
For Larkins, every limit seemed to give way to a new limit that would also fall by the wayside leaving him feeling like there is no physical and mental limitation. That is one powerful lesson.
Walter Larkins Has Been Around
Listen to the Walter Larkins interview HERE to learn about the companies he’s started, the patents he’s received, and the value he puts on real-world education for the next generation. Larkins and his wife, Julie Larkins (You can hear her PalacioMagazine.com podcast HERE), founded the Education Equal Opportunity Too Foundation (E=O2™). According to their website,
“The foundation takes a business approach to an “at risk” intervention, offering academically and socially “at risk” 8th grade students an incentive to enhance their future studies: a laptop, printer, flash drive, and backpack is earned by the student if they have fewer referrals to the principal’s office and are promoted to a minimum 3.5 GPA by their graduation.”
Find out more about Education Equal Opportunity Too Foundation HERE.
