I am eternally grateful for our amazing team, our partners, and our customers who continue to trust us as the agents for change in the world: Jack R. Smith of Fortuna

“I am proud to represent what Fortuna is.” 

Jack R. Smith, CEO of Fortuna, is an entrepreneur, investor, speaker, host of the Purposeful Prosperity podcast, and a USAF veteran. Aside from his remarkable career as an entrepreneur, Jack is also a talented author. He is currently working on a book called Purposeful Prosperity, which complements his upcoming podcast of the same name. Jack interviews inspiring leaders of purpose-driven businesses, sharing their insights and experiences with a broader audience. By highlighting the positive impact of such businesses on society, Jack aims to inspire and motivate others to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams with a social conscience.

Fortuna is a veteran-owned IT consulting and staffing company who are committed to providing customized, innovative solutions to solve any business problem.

Specializing in areas such as managed staffing, IT services, and contact center solutions, Fortuna tailors its services with precision to meet clients’ unique specifications.

Fortuna is headquartered in McClellan Park, California.

The Silicon Review reached out to Mr. Smith for an interview, and here’s what he had to say.

Interview Highlights

How would you describe your professional journey so far? Tell us about a few roadblocks and learning lessons that helped you grow through the years.

In the last 20 years, I have gone from an individual contributor to a director of corporate governance, an entrepreneur, and now a founder and CEO. This journey has been one of self-understanding and discovery. The further up in an organization you climb, the bigger your shadow and the more impact you have on those around you. Throughout this journey, I have learned many important things, like how to measure my temper, that nothing is ever as good or as bad as it seems, how to stay curious, and how to find the opportunity inside every problem. I think that’s the key to entrepreneurialism—to meet each challenge head-on with enthusiasm.

Q. Trust is one of the most important currencies of leadership that requires authenticity and consistency to maintain. What’s your take on this?

Trust is absolutely the most important thing for any team. A leader is only as effective as what he can get done through others, and if there’s no implicit trust from all parties involved, they are not willing to take the leap of faith unless you lay out all the maps. At Fortuna as well as for me personally, I have found that the best way to build trust is to build it around a shared why. As a CEO, it’s your job to plant the flag of the why, and then your whole team connects to it. It’s not just about my vision as the CEO; it’s now about our vision as a team. That shared motivation as a team builds that trust.

Q. As the CEO of the company, what are your major roles and responsibilities?

As CEO, my major roles and responsibilities include, first and foremost, setting a clear vision and direction for the organization. It is crucial to ensure that our company’s purpose is valuable, important, and worthwhile to pursue, and I serve as the public steward of that vision. Additionally, I am dedicated to taking care of my team, ensuring they have all the tools they need to perform their jobs effectively and contribute to the positive change we aim to bring to the world.

Q. What can you tell us about Fortuna? What are its focus areas?

Fortuna is a veteran-owned global consultancy delivering customized, innovative solutions to solve any business problem. Our key focus areas really are our customers. We want to get to know them, their vision, and their business needs, as this understanding is vital when developing the custom solutions they need.

Another key focus of Fortuna is our veteran hiring solution. Through various partnerships, including the Transition Assistance Program (TAP), the Military Spouse Employment Partnership (MSEP), and a P3 Partnership with the Army Reserves, we are able to help transitioning military service members, veterans, military spouses, and their families gainfully employed. We can actually tie our key focus areas together, as it was a customer request that led to the development of our veteran hiring solution. At Fortuna, we are always looking for ways to be useful to our customers. Back in 2018, we had won a large contract, and the client indicated to us that they wanted to hire more veterans and asked us why we weren’t doing so. That question led us to where we are today. Our mission is to improve the lives of our people, our customers, and the communities we are a part of, so it’s wonderful to see our actions tie in with our mission every day.

Q. Can you introduce us to your solutions? What are their key features?

Fortuna offers a variety of services. We are a managed staffing provider, meaning we can provide our clients with customized, on-demand teams. Whether it’s individual experts or large-scale teams, Fortuna can deliver. Fortuna offers IT services as well, including IT consulting, systems integration, data analysis, digital transformation, change management, and IT strategy development. We also offer contact center solutions, where we are a trusted, turnkey, managed service provider.

Q. How do you see Fortuna changing in five years, and how do you see yourself creating that change?

Fortuna is changing by becoming a lot more of an impact-driven company. We are really leading the way in purposeful prosperity and heart-centered leadership, which means that we are getting an opportunity to take on a lot of large-volume staffing jobs so that we can be the employer that takes care of their people. We are also building the bridge for military veterans, their spouses, and their families to the jobs of the future. And in five years, Fortuna will be one of the leading AI, new space, and nanotech pathways for military veterans getting out of the service.

Q. Is there anything you would like to add before we wrap up?

I am honored to have been interviewed. I am proud to represent what Fortuna is. I am eternally grateful for our amazing team, our partners, and our customers, who continue to trust us as agents for change in the world.

“Our mission is to improve the lives of our people, our customers, and the communities we are a part of, so it’s wonderful to see our actions tie in with our mission every day.” 

“I am dedicated to taking care of my team, ensuring they have all the tools they need to perform their jobs effectively and contribute to the positive change we aim to bring to the world.” 

“In five years, Fortuna will be one of the leading AI, new space, and nanotech pathways for military veterans getting out of the service.”