Bryan Scott McMillan is a Southlake, Texas-based business leader, volunteer, and early retiree known for turning challenges into opportunities for growth. His life began in North Las Vegas, where he learned responsibility early as the oldest of three boys. His parents worked long hours, so Bryan stepped into a leadership role long before he knew what leadership really was. Those early lessons shaped the way he approached every chapter of his career.

Bryan earned a degree in Political Science and Business from Arizona State University, where he also wrestled and earned academic honors. He later completed advanced programs at Harvard and the University of Texas. These experiences helped him build a clear, strategic view of how businesses grow and how organizations change.

Across more than 20 years, Bryan became known as a business leader who could transform companies across multiple markets. He guided turnarounds, led large teams, improved operations, built strategic partnerships, and helped drive major acquisitions. His focus was simple. Build value, develop people, and create long-term growth. His career was marked by record revenue gains, successful integrations, and the ability to reverse negative trends.

Bryan’s story is also shaped by resilience. After losing his wife to cancer, he turned his attention to service. He volunteered at The WARM Place, supported children through Camp Sanguinity, and founded Families with Holes to help families facing grief and hardship.

Today, Bryan Scott McMillan enjoys early retirement. He focuses on faith, fitness, travel, service, and helping others build healthy and meaningful lives.

Q&A with Bryan Scott McMillan on Success

How do you define success today, compared to how you saw it when you were younger?

When I was young, success looked pretty simple. It meant getting out of North Las Vegas, earning good grades, wrestling well, and making my parents proud. Success was a checklist. Go to school, work hard, and climb out of the life we started in. As I grew older, I realized that the checklist always gets longer. You hit one goal and chase the next.

Today, success looks different. It is not about chasing new accomplishments. It is about having peace, purpose, and integrity in the life you are living right now. After losing my wife, I learned that success cannot depend on outcome alone. It has to be rooted in faith and in the way you show up for people. Success now means waking up with clarity, doing the work that aligns with my values, and helping others move forward after hardship.

What early experiences shaped your understanding of success?

Growing up in a small house in North Las Vegas played a big role. My parents worked nonstop. As the oldest son, I became responsible for my brothers before I really understood what that meant. I learned early that people depend on you even when you feel unprepared.

Another defining moment was the day my mother locked the door after a bully knocked me down. I was nine. I ran home crying, but she told me I could not come inside until I stood up for myself. It was confusing at the time, but looking back, it was her way of teaching me that success often requires courage you do not think you have yet.

Those early lessons taught me resilience, ownership, and discipline. They became the foundation of how I approached school, wrestling, and my career.

What role did education play in your path to success?

Education was my doorway to something bigger. At Arizona State University, I learned how to think differently. I studied political science and business, earned academic honors, and kept wrestling. Wrestling shaped my discipline. Balancing practice, classes, and leadership roles taught me how to stay focused when life gets chaotic.

Later, advanced programs at Harvard and the University of Texas helped me build a strategic mindset. Harvard pushed me to analyze complex problems and think long-term. UT Austin sharpened my understanding of marketing, customer needs, and competitive strategy. These experiences prepared me for a career built on complicated challenges and high-stakes decisions.

What does success look like in a business leadership context?

In business, success is not defined by one number or one quarter. It is defined by the people you develop, the value you create, and the direction you set when things get hard. Throughout my career, I was often brought in to rebuild or transform companies. Those situations taught me that success requires honesty with the data, trust in your team, and a willingness to make difficult decisions.

For example, during a turnaround early in my career, I spent weeks meeting employees across all levels. I wanted to hear what they saw, not what reports told me. That process exposed gaps in process and culture. Fixing those gaps led to growth, retention, and long-term stability. For me, success in business always starts with understanding people and then building systems that allow them to succeed.

What is one mistake you made in your career that ended up teaching you something valuable about success?

Early in my leadership journey, I assumed that speed was always the right answer. If you move fast, you win. If you slow down, you lose. That mindset worked for some seasons, but it caused real strain in others. I pushed too hard at times, and I burned myself out more than once.

Eventually, I learned that speed without clarity creates confusion. I started slowing down long enough to ask better questions. What problem are we really solving? What outcome matters most? Who needs support? This shift led to fewer mistakes, better teamwork, and stronger results. Success is not just motion. It is a thoughtful motion.

How did grief influence your understanding of success?

Losing my wife changed everything. Before that, success felt tied to achievement. After that, success became tied to meaning. I brought my children to The WARM Place for support, and that experience showed me how powerful community can be during loss.

It shaped how I spend my life now. I volunteer at The WARM Place. I serve at Camp Sanguinity. I founded Families with Holes to help families facing grief. Success today includes using my story to help someone else carry theirs. It is not about perfection. It is about purpose.

If you had to give one piece of advice about success, what would it be?

Success will change shape as your life changes. Do not hold on to an old definition when life tells you it is time for a new one. Stay rooted in faith. Stay committed to your health. Serve others. Build relationships that last. And remember that every chapter of your life asks something different of you.

Success is not about reaching the top. It is about becoming someone who can stand firm, stay grateful, and lift others along the way.