Faces of communication: Carlton Dallas
This longtime game-changer is changing the game in anti-aging
Like many people, Carlton Dallas came to Hilton Head looking for a place to retire after a successful career in sales. But he did exactly the opposite. Dallas is the CEO and founder of two companies with very different missions that share the common goal of helping people live longer and more prosperous lives.
One hundred years ago the average human life expectancy was somewhere in the mid-30s. Today, global life expectancy estimates range from 72 to 78 years old. Although we’ve essentially achieved an “extra lifetime” in the last century, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the national rates of chronic disease also have grown exponentially during that time – meaning that many people are living with chronic illnesses for longer.
But one of Dallas’s companies, Phoenix Med, is looking to change that.
“As people live longer, they want to enjoy sustained mobility, mental acuity and overall active and high quality of life,” Dallas said. “With the increasing life span, it is the intention of Phoenix Med to identify and support research that helps that expanding population deliver on their personal aspirations.”
The company, which was founded with the help of two foreign investors, is dedicated to researching and developing treatments for chronic diseases commonly associated with aging, like arthritis and Alzheimer’s, as well as anti-aging cosmetic treatments, like dermal fillers and skincare products.
Dallas is also the founder of BusinessATTRACT, a Lowcountry-based volunteer organization that is primarily focused on supporting the region’s economic development. The organization seeks to recruit high-paying companies to the Beaufort County area, as well as promote science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) jobs to local students and young professionals.
“As a way of highlighting [STEM] talent, BusinessATTRACT proposes that Hilton Head Island and the Lowcountry adopt the moniker of being the ‘Silicon Garden,’ a play on our focus on the sustainable natural environment and the growth of the technology-oriented talent that resides here,” Dallas said.
BusinessATTRACT also has a political focus, as it holds monthly meetings with local and national political leaders such as U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, SC State Sen. Tom Davis, and Beaufort County School Superintendent Frank Rodriguez to discuss current events and topics.
And that’s just the beginning of Dallas’s community involvement. He is also a Board of Trustees member at the USC Darla Moore School of Business- Business Partnership Foundation and is on the boards of the Beaufort County Economic Development Corporation, the Hilton Head Plantation-Property Owners Association, Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park and the Beaufort Military Enhancement Committee of the Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Dallas is also a member of the Beaufort County School District’s Citizen-Led Oversight Committee (CLOC), a group of nine citizens who provide input into the execution of the $345 million capital bond referendum.
As a global businessman Dallas has worked with people in 51 countries, 20 of which he has either visited or lived. He said members of each country thought he would favor other countries’ cultures, which is why he developed the Eight Tenants of the Dallas Leadership System, leadership guidelines for practicing cultural competency.
“It became truly clear that as a leader, it was essential that every single person in the region felt they had equal opportunity and support from me, but also equitable accountability and access,” Dallas said. “Once it was felt that I did not play favorites, the cultural integration and teamwork became self-sustaining and produced superb results.”
Dallas is clearly a busy man, but when he’s not at the office, he translates his entrepreneurial spirit into his favorite free-time activity.
“I love long ‘country back road’ drives,” he said, “seeing a road, not knowing where it goes, and just exploring.”
Key takeaways
1. Culture is king. Change your company culture, and you change the internal behaviors that become self-sustaining. Great company culture creates an environment for confident people who make well-informed decisions that improve financial and operating results.
2. Always, always, always invest in your people as individuals. Pay attention, listen and reward, or as I like to say, “Public Praise, Private Coaching/Censure.”
3. Ethical results achieved through visible ethical behaviors win converts over time. It may seem that you are at a disadvantage by adhering to ethical standards when others do not, but those who cut corners are pilfering from some other entity or effort, and that shortfall will become visible.
