Today we’d like to introduce you to Colin Wilford.
Colin, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
It all started as a young boy in South Africa when I was asked this question… “What do you want to be when you are big?” without hesitation, I responded by saying. “A Clinical Psychologist… and I want to do something that will make me known around the world.”
So after completing high school, I went into the Navy for two years as it was compulsory to do national service in South Africa in 1986. After my military service and served a further two years as a missionary helping and teaching various communities in rural and urban parts of South Africa.
Only once that was done did I finally start my college and university studies at the age of 22. Getting into a graduate program for Clinical Psychology was certainly not easy. I studied hard and achieved my goal in 1995 as I wrote and passed the Board exam and completed my internship. Diving straight into private practice and getting married in the same year was challenging and rewarding at the same time.
Fast forward to 2016 after I had had a successful career which resulted in me consulting with companies and business leaders in Europe, the United Kingdom, the Middle East, and Malaysia on their psychometric testing and training of leaders, I was offered a job in the USA heading up the HR needs for a group of companies which included the USA and the United Kingdom. So the whole family which includes two daughters and a son now live in Utah, USA.
It was here that the Chairman of the group that hired me originally decided to form a new Company called Wilford Scholes and have my function as the CEO. It is here that many new products have been created and after an executive meeting, we decided to create a new assessment tool to help potential couples not only check for possible compatibility but also for existing relationships to see where they need to improve.
This resulted in a new, one-of-a-kind assessment tool called “ConeXsions” which is an acronym for the ten key pillars needed for relationship success. The vision is that this tool will eventually be used and known by people all over the world.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Changing countries and cultures is never easy. Growing up in South Africa with the political challenges was certainly not easy. As a young boy, I grew up in a racially divided country where there were laws to discriminate against people of color which was always wrong and needed to change.
As a young white South African we were not fully aware of the atrocities and unfairness of that political climate until I was an adult. When Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990 I was 22 years old and at University doing my undergrad degree. The change in the political policies after Nelson Mandela became President was great for the country but laws were put in place to make it more difficult for the 7% white minority to get accepted into graduate programs and find work.
So out of 200 applicants, only five students were chosen for the graduate program in Clinical Psychology and I was the only white student. Once I graduated, I could also not find work as institutions only employed Psychologists of color. I had no choice as a 26-year-old graduate to start my own Private Practice which fortunately grew and I became fairly successful in doing that.
As the years went on and the laws and policies tightened towards white people, I eventually lost 70% of my income from my corporate clients who were forced to only use consultants and experts of color for the assessments, training, and coaching. So I had to expand my work to the rest of the world and again was very fortunate to get work in the Middle East, Asia, Europe, the UK, and the USA.
That change of business focus led me to do work for the USA Company that now employs me full-time to run their consulting business here in the USA. Working and living here in the USA now is literally like starting again. So here we are building in a new country and culture.
We’ve been impressed with Wilford Scholes, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Wilford Scholes is a new consulting business in the USA that has drawn upon the combined experience of my 27 years as a clinical psychologist and worldwide consultant, the 25 years of experience of my one business partner in the sales, marketing, and the executive business leadership space who now successfully owns and runs many international businesses around the globe.
Combined with our 3rd business partner who has 30 years of experience in graduate and postgraduate education in writing and running creative programs and is also an expert in organizational leadership and design. Given this background and expertise, we offer the following:
1. Leadership development and training
2. Psychometric testing and assessments
3. Cultural change and development.
4. Racial and gender bias assessment and training
5. Relationship compatibility testing
6. Emotional Intelligence assessment and training
What sets us apart is that although we are a new company, we have the combined experience and professional expertise of the best that’s out there. We were all born outside the USA and have lived and worked in many parts of the world before now residing in USA and Canada.
We have the added benefit of living with and experiencing many other cultures and understanding international challenges. Whenever any client works with us they always say “We got the best professional service and even more than we imagined.”
How can people work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
We try and collaborate with as many other professionals in the leadership development and psychological testing space.
We are currently bidding for a massive project with the marine corp in providing leadership evaluations and coaching and have needed to partner with many other similar professionals.
Contact Info:
- Email: colin.wilford@wilfordscholes.com and colin@conexsions.com
- Website: wilfordscholes.com; ConeXsions.com
