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Randy Barker ’91 – How a Communication Degree at Roberts Prepared Him for Life As a Business Entrepreneur
Randy Barker ’91 (Communication) has had a very successful career as an entrepreneur (starting multiple companies, and recently selling two of those companies, Miller & Associates, which focused on Business Intelligence, and Dedo Interactive, which focused on user experience, multi-touch, data visualization, and mobile technologies). Among many honors, Miller & Associates was ranked as one of the Top 100 Fastest Growing Private IT Services Companies in America by Inc. Magazine and recently earned honors as Technology Partner of the Year for Neiman Marcus. Their client list included: Proctor & Gamble, Hugo Boss, Deloitte, American Airlines, Adobe, HP, Neiman Marcus, and Pizza Hut.
However, most importantly, Randy is happily married to Cathy. They have two teenage boys, Nick and Brayden, and are heavily involved at Hope Fellowship Church near their home in McKinney, TX (a suburb of Dallas).
Roberts Wesleyan College played a large role in Randy’s life, which is expressed best in Randy’s own words:
Being able to look back and see how my life has progressed I know that God wanted me at Roberts Wesleyan College. My mom had passed away just before I came to Roberts, and I was really struggling with a lot of frustration, anger and questions. We had a very close-knit family, and her passing had been really difficult on all of us. However, God was able to use my time at Roberts for not only academic development and professional preparation, but also to start the healing process.
Some of my closest lifelong friendships were established at Roberts, specifically Javan Mallery ’92 and Ed Egenlauf ‘91. God used my friends at Roberts to get me back on track with Him. Roberts impact was deepened as it was also the faculty and staff at Roberts who took a personal interest in me. I remember Dr. Wayne McCown, Barry Smith, and Scott Caton, among others, going above and beyond as educators who were as concerned for my well-being as they were my academics. Their positive examples were not just in the classroom, but also in the real world.
However, it was Dr. Elvera Berry who had the greatest impact on my life. Dr. Berry not only allowed interaction and debate within her classroom, she required it. She pushed me to accept nothing less than the very best from myself. She did not mandate that I agree with her, but she did require that I could defend my position using solid reasoning. I was able to see Dr. Berry live her life both inside and outside of the classroom. She was able to expand my worldview while at the same time sharping my personal beliefs. She taught me the importance of being a critical thinker.
From Dr. Berry I learned to take the time to "measure twice so you only have to cut once." This is a paraphrase of my interpretation as I am sure Dr. Berry would articulate this concept more eloquently. In my case, many of the projects our companies developed involved creating technology solutions that didn’t currently exist. Going with a "gut" instinct can sometimes work, however, ensuring the proper due diligence was completed prior to making a decision was instrumental in generating a good decision and almost always produced a better outcome. It sounds easy, but is much harder to do consistently.
Dr. Berry took the time to invest in me. In doing so, she didn’t just develop me as a student, but she improved me as a person.
Since Roberts, I have been fortunate to work with some brilliant technology and business people. I know that the foundation that was laid at Roberts enabled me to add value and help our teams capitalize on each situation. More importantly, the healing that started at Roberts continued to the point where I was willing to allow God to be God. I am so grateful for His mercy and grace. I am also appreciative for His divine plan, which thankfully for me, included Roberts Wesleyan College.
Although Randy has been able to slow things down since the sale of the companies, he continues to serve as the CEO of Graphium Health (“Graphium”). Graphium is a data analytics company that is focused on the medical industry. Graphium is currently partnered with Intel and Microsoft as they use Graphium as an example of mobility in healthcare.
He now enjoys spending more time with Cathy, Nick, and Brayden, and is also more involved with missions. Randy and his family are supporting a Christian orphanage in Kenya, helping to build a Christian school in Nicaragua (the school offers classes up to 6th grade, and they are adding a grade per year), they are assisting in the establishment of an outreach mission in the Central African Republic (CAR), and he’s developing an interactive Spanish mobile application for evangelizing/discipleship.