Starting out in the employee benefit business in 1965, Carl Dickerson remembers being among just a handful of black brokers in Los Angeles. From the very beginning of his career, however, he focused simply on being informed, honest, dependable and not afraid to ask whether he could be of service to a prospective customer, regardless of their skin color.
“When you do business with business people, they are really thinking about the bottom line,” he says. “They don’t care if you come from Mars.” That’s not to say he hasn’t come across racism, politely admitting his share of encounters with people who did not wish him any goodwill in those days.
