When Laking Harris left the Marine Corps after eight years and returned home to Texarkana, Texas, he felt a sense of emptiness. Having once signed a contract to fight and, if necessary, give his life for his country, he began to wonder how he could continue serving others in a safer way.
That question led Harris to launch Creating a Lasting Legacy LLC, a youth-focused self-defense program designed to build confidence, teach practical skills, and encourage healthier lifestyles. Based in Bowie County, the startup reflects Harris’s passion for helping others — particularly kids — while blending his military discipline with a strong sense of community service.
“Kids are resilient,” Harris said. “They fall down and get right back up. They’re new to the world and have their whole futures ahead of them.”
Harris first began volunteering his time teaching self-defense informally, but he struggled to see how it could become a sustainable business. “I was giving so much of my time that I realized I couldn’t keep doing it for free forever — I’d end up broke,” he admitted.
That’s when he connected with the Entrepreneurship Team at Communities Unlimited (CU), supported in East Texas by the T.L.L. Temple Foundation. Referred by DeAnna O’Malley from CU’s Community Sustainability Team, Harris began working one-on-one with Management Consultant Trent Thomason.
Together, they evaluated Harris’s two initial ideas — teaching financial literacy or self-defense — and focused on building a path forward. They started by working through Harris’s family budget and business planning exercises to narrow his focus and clarify his mission. Harris then sought feedback from his personal network, which pointed clearly to self-defense as the most in-demand service. From there, the pair identified children and anti-bullying as his ideal target market.
Harris said Thomason’s approach stood out from past experiences with other consultants.
“Working with Trent is comfortable but motivating. He doesn’t just read from a book. He says, ‘Here’s what I recommend and why,’ and if I’m confident and ready, he’s not going to waste time rehashing basics. He listens and meets me where I am.”
— Laking Harris, Owner of Creating a Lasting Legacy
One major breakthrough came in restructuring his pricing model. Instead of a flat fee, Harris implemented a sliding scale based on class size — a move that gave him flexibility and room to grow.
Harris then took bold action. He reached out to four kid-focused summer camps across the region — and landed a $1,500 contract to teach self-defense at one of them. Though communication with the camp later paused and the session ultimately didn’t move forward, the experience gave Harris a much-needed confidence boost.
“Me and Trent had role-played beforehand, and when I brought up payment at the meeting with the summer camp, it wasn’t as scary as I thought,” Harris said. “I walked out sweating but proud of myself. That confidence has carried over into everything else.”
Rather than dwell on the stalled camp contract, Harris chose to enjoy summer with his family. Now, with his kids returning to school, he plans to reconnect with the camp — which had expressed interest in a year-long program — while also reaching out to other camps and organizations interested in his youth self-defense offering.
In addition to guiding him through pricing, CU is helping Harris set up banking and accounting systems, while supporting the development of a marketing plan to build on his early success. His efforts recently earned him a spot as a featured panelist at the Texarkana Business Success Summit on May 31, where he shared his entrepreneurial journey with other local business owners.
Looking ahead, Harris hopes to grow Creating a Lasting Legacy to the point where he can pay himself full-time — and eventually bring his wife, a teacher, into the business.
“My goal in the next two years is for my wife to be able to leave teaching and join me full-time,” he said.
For now, Harris remains focused on building momentum, with Communities Unlimited continuing to walk alongside him.
“Trent has been like a business therapist,” Harris said. “He listens, he pushes when I need it, and he helps me see what’s possible.”
"What impressed me most about working with Laking is how fast he would implement the things we talked about each week. He’d come back each time with major progress and that momentum helped carry him to a big breakthrough. He has a hunger to improve and was honest and real about the places he needed more clarity, which is why he got results quickly. He’s an action-taker with a heart for his community. I think his mission of empowering kids to be ‘bully proof’ is fantastic and positive.”
— Trent Thomason, CU Management Consultant
From serving his country to serving his community, Harris’s mission has come full circle — this time, on his own terms.
