Today we’d like to introduce you to Raymond & Analyn Scott.
Hi Raymond & Analyn, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Analyn, can you briefly walk us through your story — how you started and how you got to where you are today?
We’d still say yes. To all of it.
That’s the short version. Here’s the longer one.
We met on a blind date in November 1997. Three months later, Raymond’s kidneys failed at age 29 — from high blood pressure he thought was under control. He had no symptoms. He went to the doctor for what he thought was a stubborn cough, and came home on dialysis.
I was 23. We had been dating exactly three months. Raymond gave me an out, but I knew he was a good man, and I stayed.
That decision — that yes — is where our story really begins.
What followed was 28 years of navigating the healthcare system together. Dialysis. A kidney transplant from Raymond’s brother Rome that lasted five years. Emergency open heart surgery for a dissecting aorta in 2007 — from years of high blood pressure and the stress dialysis put on his heart — the same week I discovered I was pregnant with our daughter Brooklyn. He survived sepsis twice. And finally, on January 25, 2025, Raymond received his second kidney transplant.
Twenty-two of the past 28 years on dialysis. Raymond has outlived the statistics by decades. And thankfully he does not look — or feel — like all that he has been through.
In November 2014, I left a six-figure, 14-year corporate IT sales career after a vision I simply could not ignore. Behind Raymond, our children, and two mentors stood the silhouettes of millions of people as far as I could see. The message was clear: ‘we’ve been waiting for you.’
I knew this chapter had to end for a new one to begin, so I leaped. Without a safety net. At the peak of my career. A few months later we founded 1in9 Charities with three pillars: awareness, prevention, and regenerative medicine. We didn’t know at the time that a regenerative discovery — a missing link puzzle piece in the fight against kidney disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, microvascular dysfunction, sepsis, and COVID long-haul — would come our way a year later.
That discovery helped Raymond reverse Type 2 diabetes after 14 years on insulin. He survived severe sepsis and respiratory failure, regulated his blood pressure, and reversed the narrowing of an artery — which ultimately qualified him for his second transplant.
It’s not enough to say I have my husband here, that our children have their father. We have an obligation to share this breakthrough with other individuals, families, and communities — so we founded Breakthrough Health Solutions, a social enterprise that donates a portion of all revenue back to 1in9 so we can continue reaching and impacting the millions of people who are waiting — and those who don’t even know it.
Despite all we’ve been through — we’d both still say yes.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Raymond, has it been a smooth road? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The road has been anything but smooth. And we wouldn’t trade a single mile of it.
My health journey alone would fill a book — and eventually will. But some of our hardest moments weren’t in the hospital. They were in the quiet spaces in between.
Here’s something we see too often: I was at stage 3 kidney disease when I finished my military service. I learned later that my records showed it, but nobody told me. My kidneys failed less than a year later. Had I known, I might have been able to slow the progression or improved my kidney health. I might have avoided kidney failure altogether.
Like many others, I had no idea that diabetes and high blood pressure are the two leading causes of kidney disease and kidney failure. I didn’t know to ask for a baseline on my kidneys, to continue monitoring them, and to know what the numbers mean.
That’s not an individual failure. That’s a system failure. And it’s happening right now to millions of people who are declining without knowing it.
We’ve also learned that fighting for a mission while living the mission — Analyn helping to manage my health (and maintain hers) while we build the infrastructure to help others — is a particular kind of exhaustion. One we push through every time we think of the 37 million Americans, and 850 million people worldwide who have kidney disease — and the 90% that don’t even know it.
But every obstacle gave us experience, knowledge, wisdom, and solutions we now bring to empower the people we serve. That’s the trade we’d make again. That’s the yes we keep saying.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Analyn, what do you do, what do you specialize in, and what are you most proud of? What sets you apart?
We close the gap between what people don’t know about their health — and what could save their lives.
Through 1in9 Charities and Breakthrough Health Solutions, we are on a mission to share what was very costly for us to learn over nearly three decades. 1in9 brings the awareness and the community. Breakthrough Health Solutions brings the solutions that get to the root of chronic disease and help people prevent, address, and even reverse it. Together, we are empowering individuals, families, and communities to ‘be in the know’ and take charge of their health — before it’s too late.
What sets us apart? We are the story and the solution. Raymond is living proof of what’s possible. Together, we are taking our lived experience, knowledge, resources, and engaging campaigns and programs — like our upcoming It Takes A Village Health Empowerment Tour & Docuseries — a national RV tour through select cities empowering communities to ‘be in the know’ about the triple threat of kidney disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure through the 1in9 Do You Know? Challenge, and the SMASH The THREAT Pickleball Tournament and Pop-ups.
We also speak. Our talk — I’d Still Say Yes — is a two-person presentation we bring to churches, community events, corporate wellness programs, health conferences, and coffee shop / Breakthrough Health Tea Talks. It’s 28 years of lived experience, a little science, and a clear invitation to every person in the room to take one step: know your numbers.
What we’re most proud of — honestly — is the difference we get to make in the lives of others across the U.S. and around the world. From our family and community to yours. We’ve helped empower people to ‘be in the know’ in order to take charge of and improve their health.
We’ve helped immediate family members, friends, and others improve their kidney function, regulate and improve their blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, and type 2 diabetes — survive sepsis, recover from acute kidney injury, improve diabetic eye issues, and microvascular health. Including a friend who has been a type 1 diabetic since the age of 10 improve her kidney function from stage 3 to functioning at 100%.
Without change, 80 million Americans are predicted to have kidney disease by 2030. We are changing that — and you can help. The first step is knowing your numbers. Take the Do You Know? Challenge at 1in9doyouknow.com — it’s free, it takes two minutes, and it could save your life or the life of someone you love.
That’s the full circle we get to live in. That’s why we’d still say yes.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Analyn, do you have any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Our best mentors have never looked like mentors.
They showed up when we least expected it, and provided knowledge, insight, or support that guided us along our journey.
One of the most pivotal moments in our journey came through my great-aunt Joyce — who walked us across a room at my grandmother’s funeral, introduced us to her son Bob Long, said the word ‘kidneys,’ and walked away. She didn’t explain herself. She just knew. That introduction changed the course of Raymond’s health and the entire mission of what we do today. Their story is woven through our documentary, A Dance With Destiny, and it’s something we share whenever we speak. The lesson it taught us: the connection you almost dismiss may be the one that changes everything.
What we’ve learned is this: the mentors you need often arrive in the form of a conversation you almost didn’t have, a connection you almost dismissed, a room you almost didn’t walk into. Show up. Be honest about your mission. Lead with what you’re for, not just what you do.
We’ve also found that the clearest path to the right relationships is generosity. Give first. Share what you know. The right people find you when you stop hiding behind what you haven’t figured out yet and start moving with what you already have.
And often those that showed up as mentors for us we have been blessed to be a mentor to.
Pricing:
- Do You Know? Challenge – FREE. It takes about 2 minutes and could change everything. Start at 1in9doyouknow.com
- Mention “Voyage” for BOGO offer on GlycoCheck microvascular health screening. Contact Analyn or go to breakthroughhealthsolutions.com for more details on GlycoCheck and more breakthrough health solutions.
- I’d Still Say Yes – available for live and virtual bookings Sliding scale for nonprofits and faith communities Contact Analyn or go to idstillsayyes.com for more details
- Breakthrough Health Solutions donates a portion of all profits to 1in9 Charities, Inc.
Contact Info:
- Website: 1in9doyouknow.com
- Instagram: @1in9kidneychallenge @breakthroughhealthsolutions
- Facebook: Analyn Brown Scott
- Youtube: @1in9Tribe
- Other: breakthroughhealthsolutions.com & Idstillsayyes.com
