Meet The Disruptors: Richard “RJ” Valentine Of EvaClean Infection Prevention On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
“The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.”
As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing RJ Valentine.
Richard “RJ” Valentine combined his passion for business and auto racing to achieve remarkable success in both fields, as a driver with over 400 pro starts and a championship win at the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, and as a serial entrepreneur who built dozens of businesses in diverse industries with 18 notable exits. RJ is majority owner of many companies but, has devoted the last several years to building EvaClean by EarthSafe, which has become a globally recognized solution for a safer, more sustainable infection prevention.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
Entrepreneurialism is in my blood. I’ve dedicated my entire life to building market-leading companies. However, I don’t consider myself a typical entrepreneur. I have an innate instinct for recognizing potential business opportunities that others usually overlook. And while most entrepreneurs are only interested in growth and acquisition, I’m also driven by the desire to bring about transformative change in as many industry sectors as possible.
I always back into opportunities. First I identify a problem, then I ask three key questions. Who is the customer? How big is the market? How can I help fix the problem to make lives easier? Most entrepreneurs jump in without ever asking those questions.
Fast forward to 2014, when I first saw a critical need to replace hazardous chemicals with less-toxic options and founded EarthSafe Chemical Alternatives. The company evolved to focus on safer chemistries for cleaning and disinfection, and the EvaClean Infection Prevention Solution was born. We were breaking new ground so, I knew it would be a long road but, I was 100% confident it was the right thing to do. Luckily, I also have a gift for spotting talent and building top notch leadership teams, and the EvaClean team is the best of the best.
I’ve earned a reputation for being fearless which, has served me well in both my business career and my professional racing career. For me, racing and business are interconnected in that they both require intuition, teamwork, and taking calculated risks. I love a challenge but, I also love to win, whether in a championship race or with a world-changing idea.
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
I developed EvaClean with the goal of providing safer and more sustainable infection prevention solutions to protect public health.
The cleaning industry had numerous challenges. For example, using traditional tools like mops, buckets, or rags took an unrealistic amount of time to effectively clean, sanitize or disinfect all surfaces well enough to eliminate pathogens. On top of time constraints, facilities constantly deal with labor turnover and shortages. From the first moment I learned electrostatic spraying equipment could apply disinfectants faster and more completely, I knew disruption was eminent. However, the sanitation industry isn’t quick to change and EvaClean spent the first few years educating on the many benefits these new technologies could provide. Today, electrostatic sprayers have revolutionized cleaning by giving facilities the power to accomplish more in less time with less labor. Disinfectants can be applied 10-times faster and cover three times more surface area than with traditional tools. The sprayers also reduce chemical consumption by 60% per square foot.
Toxic chemicals are another long-standing concern in the sanitation world. The disinfectants we chose to center the entire EvaClean solution around are a disruptive NaDCC-based chemistry that the cleaning industry had never seen before. Not only do these disinfectants have the highest pathogenic kill claims, they have the lowest toxicity levels as well.
Now, we’re working on a new infection prevention program designed to build long-term partnerships in healthcare, higher education, and other sectors. Our program is helping transform cleaning and disinfection processes from reactive to proactive prevention.
EvaClean’s purpose is to disrupt the chain of infection and keep people healthy. Our disruptive approach to disinfection is helping facilities save time, save money, and most importantly, save lives.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
The latest story isn’t so much funny as ironic. When I first raised funds to invest in private labeling electrostatic sprayers for the EvaClean disinfection solution, the technology was completely unheard of in the cleaning space. Then a worldwide pandemic struck and what was originally considered a risky investment, turned out to be the polar opposite, delivering 70-times the return.
I suppose the lesson learned here is if your dreams (for success) don’t scare you, then you’re not dreaming big enough.
We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?
I’ve always looked up to three people — Jack Welsh, Roger Penske, and Lee Iacocca.
Jack Welsh taught me the value of working outside the box. He got to where he was by doing just that. GE was just a small chemical company until Jack came along and found multi-faceted ways to expand. I thought to myself, I can do that, too.
Roger Penske taught me the value of starting a business and using racing as a tool to generate more business. Racing and business work together to build companies through sponsorships.
Lee Iacocca went from nothing to working with titans and literally teaching them lessons. Instead of giving up after Ford, he went on to turn Chrysler into the darling auto maker of its time.
Like Lee, I never give up. I’ve taken companies that weren’t doing well and turned them around through persistence and hard work. As the saying goes, the 2% that never give up employ the other 98% that do.
In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?
We understood introducing disruptive technologies would come with responsibilities.
Electrostatic sprayers made it possible to maintain cleaner and healthier facilities than ever before yet, wide-scale adoption also given rise to new risks. Until recently, there was no regulatory governance over electrostatic spraying equipment which, opened the floodgates for potential reckless misuse and poor efficacy.
Since the beginning, our company has advocated for establishing standards for the safe and compliant application of chemicals with electrostatic sprayers. EvaClean has published many educational articles, developed usage guides, and created training programs to raise awareness, mitigate risks, and protect the health of everyone concerned.
Equipment and chemical manufacturers are responsible for ensuring that sprayer specifications properly align with the right chemistries and are consistent with registered chemical claims, as well as the regulatory guidelines for safety.
The good news is the industry has made great strides in promoting safer, more responsible use of cleaning chemicals and electrostatic sprayers. Now, the world can realize the many valuable benefits of electrostatic disinfection without sacrificing safety.
Can you share five of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.
I happen to be a collector of motivational sayings that help guide my decisions in business and in life. There are so many that convey different messages, it’s difficult to pick just one, let alone one that’s only five words. Nonetheless, I narrowed it down to five of my favorites:
“The three stages of truth — First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”
“The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.”
“Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion.”
“The best way to guarantee a loss is to quit.”
“Never hate your enemies. It clouds your judgement.”
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
My team and I are already in the process of establishing infrastructure for global expansion in order to provide EvaClean Infection Prevention Solutions to countries worldwide. From offices in Singapore, EvaClean Asia will manage the APAC initiative through strategic distribution partnerships. EvaClean Europe operates out of offices in Ireland, with international business development in Amsterdam. Collectively, we will serve over two billion citizens in the UK, eight EU countries, six Asian territories, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia.
I am also a lead investor and sit on the board of directors of Octet Medical, whose disrupting the field of medicine with electrostatic sprayer technologies. Octet pioneered the first medical electrostatic applicator that will revolutionize topical wound treatment. Look for very exciting advancements to come in electrostatic therapeutics.
My definition of shaking things up is finding new ways to save lives now and in the future.
Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?
I listen to Joe Rogan’s podcast. He’s been disrupting the medical community with stem cells. As for books, I’m a voracious non-fiction reader and have a long list of books that are important to me. But, if I had to name the books that have impacted my thinking the most, the four I’d choose focus on health, finance, politics, and the world.
Stem Cell Therapy — A Rising Tide by Neil H Riordan Pa, PhD
Digital Finance by Baxter Hines
Unfreedom of the Press by Mark R. Levin
The Next 100 Years by George Friedman
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
My father once said, the harder you work, the luckier you get. As an entrepreneur, I’ve been fortunate enough to have the right ideas at the right time. But, unlike other entrepreneurs, I don’t just sit back and observe the company I invested in. I get down in the trenches and work side-by-side with them on every facet of operations, from product development to sales and marketing. I do whatever it takes to help the business succeed. Talking the talk isn’t good enough. I have to walk the walk too.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I’m proud to say that EvaClean has already helped inspire a movement to bring about greater good in two key ways — Industry adoption of safer, more sustainable cleaning and disinfection practices, and more proactive infection prevention preparation to better address the pathogenic threats of today and in the future.
How can our readers follow you online?
Follow Richard “RJ” Valentine and EvaClean Infection Prevention on LinkedIn
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Meet The Disruptors: Richard “RJ” Valentine Of EvaClean Infection Prevention On The Five Things You… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
