Steven Healis ('82, Industrial Engineering)

Steven Healis

Entrepreneur, Pass The Baton

BS Industrial Engineering, Cal Poly Pomona, 1982

Wherever Steven Healis goes, successful business ventures tend to follow. Throughout his 30-year career, this Cal Poly Pomona alumnus proved that engineers really can own large, successful non-engineering companies.

During his junior year, the Learn by Doing paradigm helped Steve rise above students from other schools and land an internship—and first job—at Procter & Gamble. But corporate America wasn’t Steve’s passion.

In 1988, he joined a friend’s part-time janitorial business, growing it from one to 50 employees in six years. Next, he started his own company, growing it from 20 to 450 employees in five years and making the Inc. magazine 500 List in the year 2000.

Several years later, instead of selling his company to the highest bidder, he found an innovative way to sell to key employees for no money down. Over the next 11 years, Steve went on to launch 22 more businesses with 28 partners and employ over 1,500 people, before recently retiring.

His advice to students today? Don’t start a business right out of college; work for companies that will teach management skills you can apply to future businesses. Be open to opportunities and do your research, but don’t be afraid to pull the trigger.