Reality Show

I like your confidence, but settle down big guy. I have a feeling you are young. I think hype is okay but don’t let it effect your image. I can’t wait to hear more!

I like that shit! you goan win!

Hey Robin,

I'm intrigued by your CONFIDENCE!
It's borderline COCKINESS, but only if you can't back it up. Can you? There is another side to you isn't it? I would like to hear the actual process you went through in auditions. Do you mind sharing in a more personal way?

‘Entrepreneurs’ The Reality Show… How did it all begin? I guess a little background information to start would help.

In August of 2004, my mother received an e-mail through her work describing what would be a local, business related reality show where the winner would receive a $75,000 business package or $50,000 cash. At the time, I had just recently come home from playing football in Canada and had submerged myself in my other business. A group of friends and I had partnered to own and operate a nightclub the previous year and we were eager to possibly expand our ownership to a few other establishments. To do that, we were going to need money and my mom, knowing this, thought the reality show would be a great avenue for us to pursue. We were all young, driven, highly ambitious and very outgoing, so it seemed like a no-brainer. One of us would almost certainly get chosen to participate in the show.

Me personally, I had grown up playing sports. I enjoyed the competition, the team concept and the excitement that comes from performing at your best, as an individual and as a team. I played football, basketball and baseball through high-school, Division 1 football in college and then at the professional level in two leagues. I was really looking for an opportunity to be competitive, be a part of a team and perform on a different stage. I had just dipped my toe in the business world and I was thirsty to see if I could use the skills that I had developed in college and through sports in the realm of business. I was eager to awaken the intellectual creativity that had been resting in me for way too long. I was not nervous to put myself in front of the camera and under the microscope. I had done that for years in sports. What I was nervous about was doing it in slacks and a tie rather than a helmet and shoulder pads. This was going to be a whole new ballgame. I wanted to get the experience, so I decided to put my trunks on and jump in.

The day of the auditions was a Saturday morning and the Friday night before, I’m sure everyone knows, is a busy night in the nightclub business. I had been reminding my partners of the date of the auditions for the entire week and the night before they all decided that 9am was way too early to get up, since we were just closing the doors of the club at 3am. I, on the other hand, was not going to let a few less hours of sleep keep me from fame, fortune and stardom. I ironed my clothes at 3:30am and was off to bed.

In the morning, as I arrived to the audition, I noticed that I wasn’t the only one who was up for the challenge and up earlier than me. I parked my car and firmly planted myself in the eventual middle of the pack, surrounded by a diverse group of people of all ages and with all types of experiences and backgrounds. Surprisingly, with all of that diversity, I learned that 5 of the people surrounding me where from my hometown, 3 of them attended the same high school that I did and 1 person was a college classmate! Just goes to show you how much people really do have in common once you’ve shaken their hand and taken the time to talk for a little while.

After 2 hours of sharing stories and waiting, it was finally my time in front of the camera. I had brought a few pictures and bits of information about me that I had planned to incorporate into my interview, as I fluently explained how perfect a choice I would be for this show. Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans. As soon as the camera guy said “Okay, Go.” The interviewer threw me his first question. “Why do you want to be on this show?” Easy enough right? Well, off the top of my head, I went into a brief debate about how I wanted to prove that young people in America today were capable of doing great things and how I was here to prove that. Not a bad answer, but not quite the passionate response I had planned. Then he asked “Why should we choose you over all of these other people?” and instead of telling him how I was a proven leader, a risk taker, up for any challenge… I basically told him that I was an out-of-work professional athlete, experimenting with the bar business, that I was eager to gain some business knowledge and had plenty of time on my hands. It seemed as soon as the interview had begun the camera guy said “Okay, Got it” and we were done. 3 minutes! We waited 2 hours… for 3 minutes. I thought for sure I didn’t give my most inspired answers, but as I left the room and surveyed the crowd, I sincerely hoped that it would be enough to move me to the next round of judging. Luckily, it was!