Cause Magazine
Clarence Otis, Jr.
Rising From Poverty to Become Distinguished CEO by Toi Moore
In November 2004, Clarence
Otis Jr., became the CEO of Darden Restaurants (DRI). This accom- plishment put him in the history books as one of only seven African- Americans to run a Fortune 500 company. Darden Restaurants is the largest casual-dining restaurant com- pany, overseeing such mega-brands as Olive Garden and Red Lobster. This $5.6 billion casual-dining cor- poration also includes other food chains such as: Bahama Breeze, Smokey Bones Barbeque & Grill, and Seasons 52 restaurants. This CEO credits his dad's occasional Sunday drives to Beverly Hills as his key motivation to becoming more than what his own immediate sur- roundings offered. "Those drives showed me how the other half lived," Clarence Jr. recalls. "They made me believe another life was possible." Born on April 11, 1956, in
Vicksburg, Mississippi, Clarence and his family moved to Watts California when he was 6 years old (they later moved to Compton when he was a teen). On occasional Sunday afternoons, Clarence Otis, Sr. would load his wife, Calanthus Hall Otis, two sons and two daughters into the family Buick and drive past the estates in Beverly Hills. These driving excursions from the poverty strick- en neighborhoods of Watts to the beautiful and exquisite sights of Beverly Hills turned out to be life changing moments for Clarence Jr. Each drive began and ended in Watts. "I wanted
them to see what was possible," recalls Clarence’s dad, who dropped out of high school in the 10th grade and later scrubbed floors and sham- pooed carpets in order to support his family. "You could live in Watts but still think positive." Watts was and continues to be a city greatly feared by many and a place where only the strong survive. Clarence had a few friends who were scholars and a few others who became gang leaders. Some of his friends were killed in gang violence. With the help of his parents, he managed to stay out of trouble. "You kind of have an urban street map in your head," Clarence said. "You just try to avoid the places where gangs hang out." Clarence's mom was a homemaker who always insisted that her children work hard in school and finish all their homework. In 1965, the South Los Angeles area was the scene of riots that killed 34 and injured more than 1,000, but to Clarence, who was 9 years old at the time, it was simply home. During the Watts riots, his
parents wouldn't let him and his siblings outside. But the events and the years that followed still had a big effect on him. "I can still see the National Guard, with bayonets at the end of their rifles. I remember when I was in high school being pulled over by the police, guns drawn, and told to get on the ground. There were elements of a police state. But if you were bright, you had a lot of people heavily invested in making sure you had opportunity.
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