Hidden Gems: Meet Marcus Scales of Scales Training Company LLC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marcus Scales

Hi Marcus , we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
First and foremost I am a proud dad to Addi and an extremely blessed husband to be married to my beautiful wife Avery and a son to my amazing mom Brenda…..

My career in health and human service started in the mid-2000s and was heavily influenced by my early years.

My mom, aunts, and grandmother raised me as an only child in a small town in NC. I never knew my dad, and like many young boys in that position, it created emotions and feelings that were suppressed to a point and started to show with my negative behavior. It took me until my mid-20s to accept the fact that I went through life without a dad for a purpose. I turned a lot of those feelings over into positive actions by working as a mentor to youth with an agency in Greensboro, NC. I worked my way up in that agency to become a crisis intervention instructor, training staff to work with youth in crises and complex environments.

In 2008, my life took a turn due to being hit head-on by a couple having a domestic issue while driving. The accident left me with a crushed hip and leg, a fractured back, along with some other injuries. My recovery was supposed to take over a year, with the possibility of having long-term physical disabilities. Due to some adverse circumstances, I was motivated to work as hard as possible to get back to what I felt was normal and regain my independence. My accident was on May 10th, 2008, and I was walking normally and driving by mid-July of the same year.

I then met a very important individual to my career, Neil Lindley, who is still a mentor and friend to me today. I spent the next portion of my career working with his agency that supported individuals with special needs. I had a double connection to the population due to understanding behaviors and also being physically limited for some time due to my car accident. I worked my way up from the bottom to becoming the Training Director for the entire agency, which spanned NC. I also became a member of the agency’s leadership team. Due to ownership changes in 2016, I began to build my own company based on my gift and passion for training staff.

My wife, Avery and I were married in 2017. She was the missing piece to my purpose in life. Once we got back from our honeymoon, we mapped out the beginning phases of the potential of starting the business. In October of 2019, after a year of building the company and working at my former agency, I resigned to become a full-time business owner. Then, the world shut down due to COVID-19 in March of 2020. Fortunately for us, our business is one that essential workers needed access to even during the shutdown. We have also already implemented a live instructor-led virtual option for our training courses because our company spanned the state of NC, and it was impossible to be in multiple places simultaneously. Virtual allowed us to meet many agencies at the same time. I would like to say it was a genius move, but it was simply a blessing in disguise, to be honest.

Once we established a more structured system throughout 2020, our business grew tremendously to the point my wife could resign from her full-time job and come work full-time with me in our company. Once she came on board, the rest has been history! We are in multiple states, training close to 4k staff a year in person and virtually. Our goal has always remained the same since inception: to be a voice for the sometimes voiceless. Also, ensure that everyone receiving the services we train for is treated like human beings. We strive to educate staff who want to be professionals and weed out those who want to be workers and not care for other humans.  I think a staff member who wants to be a worker is a bare minimum type of character, just waiting for a shift to end and a paycheck. Professionals are on a constant journey to educate themselves for themselves and the well-being of those they impact. The abuse rate in our fields of service is astronomically high, and it is due to having too many not-held-accountable workers versus intentionally hired professionals. Agencies hire warm bodies to help meet the bottom line……. Scales Training Company is in place to help prevent those things from happening from a training perspective!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I would say yes, it’s been smooth because I don’t see anything that didn’t work out like it should have

Errors happened, for sure, but I don’t see life as difficult…. I’ve always seen it as working out at some point…. You just have to make some adjustments, find some patience, or have a little faith. It’s been like that since I was a child.

I truly apply the tool in the curriculum we train; I understand that we are all human, and with that comes mistakes and challenges, but isn’t that just part of life that gives us more to have in common with strangers, different opinions to have independent conversations to gain a better understanding of someone else.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We are a husband-and-wife team passionate about positively impacting the lives of everyone we meet. At Scales Training Company, we believe in offering more than just training—we provide a personal touch that makes all the difference.

We are what you call a provider training support agency. We provide state-required training to those in the Special Needs/ Substance Use/ Mental Health Fields. We partner agencies work directly with individuals to live a more independent life. We provide leadership training, consulting, a full round of training, and support so the agencies feel confident in the services and support to support others.

With over 40 years of combined experience in the mental health, IDD, and Substance Use fields as direct support workers, CPI/NCI instructors, and in management roles, we take our careers seriously. We feel that we are a voice for a group of wonderful people who sometimes go unheard, and we’re honored to serve them with excellence.

Whether you prefer self-paced study or in-person training, we are here to support you. We are proud to serve our community in Raleigh and are committed to extending our reach across North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Massachusetts, and beyond.

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I asked my wife this question, and she said there is nothing people don’t know about you. I am an open book and one of the most honest people she has ever met. I communicate overly with people around me, so they refrain from using their perceptions about my body language or words, they know what to expect when interacting with me, and they know I will be honest with anything they ask, or information I give; they know exactly what I think and feel, even in my classes. I am an introvert to my core, but I love people. I will spend hours talking to a stranger, but I also will spend days in my room recharging from being around people.

I fully understand people but also open myself up to learn more about others daily. We are all different, but I am what she calls a “Unicorn.” In the world, I am authentically myself, 100%, no matter who I am around. I love myself, and I pour my passion for treating people with respect into every part of my job and life.

I am passionate about writing in my free time; I have written two books with my writing partner. I use social media as a reflection to look back on a year and see where I was. My thoughts dont stay in my head; I get them out by writing or posting. That is where I can speak and articulate my internal thoughts.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.scalestraining.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scalestraining/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scalestraining/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm0kEIA7cKt7BJwgXzzhw2g