2018 Mogul of Year: Courtney Jordan

Learning more about Courtney Jordan, Modern Mogul’s 2018 Mogul of the Year 

                      

We first learned about the business prowess of Courtney Jordan, the American entrepreneur and Investor in 2015. 


When we Interviewed him in “Courtney Jordan knows how to grow business.” As Since then Jordan has grown the Host Rite into one of the largest domain providers and hosting companies in the UK. In addition Courtney Jordan has served as an inspiration to all as he actively battled cancer all while building a business. In “stiff upper lip” Jordan echoed the sentiments of an earlier interview with American Southern Business Review. 

That business was and is like therapy, that sickness nor anything else should distract one from their goals. In BossedUP magazine Jordan was covered for 5 days, and readers got an insight into this year’s judges selected Courtney Jordan because of his extraordinary journey and his relentless commitment to his dreams. In other articles we know we about the sell of his app that would fund his investments but here we wanted In this we want to talk about the foundation that made the man. 

Vital Stats: 

• Courtney Jordan
  
• Age: 30
  
• Designation: Executive Chairmen
  
• Company: Courtney Jordan Holdings, Venture Beyond, Scenester, Jordan
  Unlimited
  
• Visit: www.courtneyjordan.com
  

At just 30 years, Courtney Jordan is not merely a trendy businessman but a trailblazer whose ambitions are fuelled by making a difference and creating a legacy. The co- founder and Executive Chairmen of the Jordan Group of companies’ core focus is communications and technology, Jordan himself is known for providing professional advisory and resource solutions to various large and listed entities. His hard work and arduous hours have turned his dreams into reality. 

Through the Jordan Advisory business, Courtney oversees the team that provides managed chartered start-up and finance resource solutions to an array of clients in various sectors and industries. 

Venture Beyond has long been Jordan’s holding company for his investments, particularly in the fields of Manufacturing, and IT. And pursuant to his keen interest in the technological environment and the ways in which it can enhance business operations, Venture Beyond has stakes in outsourcing, through Calling Systems Worldwide, and holds stakes in the Jordan established Scenester, a parent company to The Odyssey Channel. A digital television channel, regionally broadcasted in the US State of Raleigh Durham North Carolina, and digitally online. 

‘Courtney’s story of persistence, growth and vision is an inspiration to anyone who is daring enough to start their own business,’ says Elias Shepard, one of the MOY judges. 

‘I think as entrepreneurs, we are always looking forward and striving to achieve more and as soon as we reach a goal, we change the goal posts to want to achieve more,’ says Courtney Jordan. ‘That being said, I wasn’t always fortunate enough to have enjoyed the luxuries life has to offer. I remember the struggles I faced entering adulthood. I think what sets me apart is that I have always seen these struggles and challenges as a learning opportunity which fuels my desire to want to make a difference and create a legacy.’ 

Courtney humbly attributes the success of his businesses to his strong team with an aligned vision: ‘My co-founder; Mary and team have all been pivotal to the growth of the business and their motivation and dream is what keeps us going on a daily basis,’ he says. 

Courtney admits that coming into adulthood, he didn’t always have the most fortunate of circumstances. As a young 18-year-old kid he would come to know the loss on a ‘intimate level’ following the death of his five-year-old sister due to hospital negligence, and father to cancer. Even in adulthood and after finding success. He was exposed to his fair share of financial and social challenges. Through betrayal, sickness, and corruption. Things, he speaks more in depth about in his upcoming memoir. Courtney Jordan held on to his dreams to make a difference. Today he says that his perseverance and dedication has been a key factor in overcoming his challenges in life. 

‘I remember a time when I was younger and wanted to become involved in business somehow, but my father wanted me to look into becoming a doctor or lawyer. Later on, I realised that I couldn’t spend time in hospitals and couldn’t stand the sight of blood. It was after his right after his death that under the advice of family I went to North Carolina Central University,’ he says. 

He liked what he found and avidly began pursuing his studies in Political Science and Biotechnology. It was there, Jordan learned how to heal and found a new love for business and the global community. He distinctly remembers his time at University, as it being “the singularly most impactful experience of my life. It was there my love of business got a jolt of electricity and a passion for globalization"

It was through his involvement in student organisations that would give him the confidence to “reach for something, I had no idea or concept of.” It was his chancellor and mentor at the time, Charlie Nelms “a man who believed in a global society and believed in preparing everyone to be a part of it”. That helped him to seize a concept of the global community. One fostered by another key person in his development; University Chief of Staff, Susan Hester. Who Jordan attributes his networking abilities to. Jordan says it wasn’t until another mentor Dr. Maria Lumpkin came along that he learned how a person who feel so small can accomplish big things. “Dr. Lumpkin gave me something so big and so powerful -- a sense of belief in myself.” Lumpkin the then Director of Student Services would in trust Jordan with the leadership of the Student Affairs Global Experience program. “It was so many experiences during my time there that not only prepared me for furthering my education, but in life and in business. 

                         

All my life I have experienced the unreal, and opportunities rising out of the most unlikely of places. It was there I learned to master it and turn any negative that came my way into a positive.  Janelle Simmons, who was in charge of orientation, not a licensed therapist was the  one who helped me handled and adjust to life without my father, she is someone who I’ll never forget she taught me how to grieve with dignity. The words no you don’t move on rather you move forward. Are an example of the things that helped me to break out of deep sorrow. Moving forward has been a general theme of my life. Never wavering and in times of deep despair a war chant and a reminder to never give up. 

‘I managed to pass honours that year and since then, I have realised that giving up isn’t the answer. We should always continue to follow our dreams no matter what odds are stacked up against us,’ he says proudly. 

Courtney would go on to receive advanced degrees. The biggest one would he would call a doctorate in failure from the University of Life. 

‘I think great entrepreneurs are the ones who not only learn from their failures but also learn from those they are surrounded by,’ says Courtney. ‘As entrepreneurs, it is so easy to get consumed by our own ideas and vision that we forget to listen to the needs of those around us, and more specifically the needs of our clients, teams or employees. Great entrepreneurs not only identify these needs but also develop solutions to address them.’ 

Courtney has established one of his holding companies in the United Kingdom through the opening of a London office, and a retreat in Hertfordshire. Through Venture Beyond, Courtney owns one of UK’s largest domain providers Host Rite. This is pursuant to the companies’ expansion strategy to gain international exposure and the ability to service their clients with both their local and offshore financial advisory and resourcing requirements, as well as provide their finance and recruitment professionals with international exposure. Also, as part of an underlying strategy. Jordan says early on that he lived by the never let your left hand know what the right is doing. “You have to have a plan A-G, I established multiple companies that hold various shares of different investments, it’s strategy.” I make a conscious decision to keep separate both mentally and legally the different ventures I go in. Never connecting any of them. It helps protect me and that was tested in 2016 with the deep betrayal I was faced with.” In fact in the piece done by Oliver Thaik, he observed how he would take a call from another office and immediately get off when his American staaff walked in. 

Jordan, who also has committed to a massive overhaul of his companies including his foundation that once focused on three programs that attacked, education, youth development, and homeless prevention. Now has consolidated, with Jordan’s Startup Durham, and recently started a programme Under ‘Courtney Jordan Foundation’, which is aimed at providing technological resources such as laptops and Internet access as well as development training to institutions and organisations that need it most. 

‘Our StartUP programme started with an idea to help a local community and has transformed with the aid and advace of my close friend Danielle into providing training and guidance on not only how to build a business but also how to get access to resources to further education . 

 What is the single greatest lesson you have learnt?

‘The single greatest lesson that I have learnt so far is that with God, nothing is impossible!’ 

What mantra do you live by? 

Learn and grow from failure.