Bo Parfet Keeps on Climbing: From a Childhood in the Projects to Life as a CEO

Bo Parfet was born in the projects to a single mom. He grew up with no formal education and, at times, without food on the table. But he also had an entrepreneurial spirit that helped him build his own company from nothing more than a dream and some ambition. Now, as CEO of Parfet International, Bo has come full circle—taking what he learned back into his community to help other kids do the same. In this interview, Bo shares his story of how he went from a childhood in the projects to the CEO of a multi-million dollar company.

About Bo Parfet read more here: https://www.denaliventurephilanthropy.com/about-us

How did you go from growing up in the projects to owning your own multimillion-dollar company?
By seventh grade, I realized that school was not going to work for me. I thought about dropping out of school and finding an easy job to make minimum wage, but I was not too fond of the idea of quitting. Instead, I focused on getting my GED and started working for a chemical company as a janitor and worked my way up from there; by 16, I was testing chemicals in labs.

But after about four years, I had an epiphany. I realized that it was time to figure out what I really wanted to do with my life. The chemical business wasn’t for me, but I didn’t know what else there was.

I reached out to everyone who might be able to help me gain some insight, including the owners of the company where I worked. One of them suggested that I should start my own business, but I laughed at him because I thought he was crazy. He told me to go home and think about it, so I did—and the more I thought about it, the more intrigued by the idea I became. So, after spending some time researching what kinds of businesses existed out there, I decided to start a janitorial company