We were lucky to catch up with Rob Lihalakha recently and have shared our conversation below.

Rob, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

My entrepreneurship journey was a lot different than your traditional journey because I’ve always been an out the box guy. I started my entrepreneurship journey after leaving McNeese State University as a graduate assistant women’s basketball coach. To begin with, I decided to leave because we had won two conference championships in my first two years of coaching and I told myself I do not want to stay because knowing myself and personality, I knew I would get bored.

I came back to Houston and thought I want to coach basketball but also I wanted to do something legendary so I started personally training athletes in basketball skills development and started the company Showcase Houston. Showcase Houston was a commemorative all-star event that honors Texas HS basketball players on an annual basis by hosting an all star game for elite HS basketball athletes regardless of their classification. Simultaneously, I wanted to teach them branding, public speaking, & financial literacy.

So as I was training the hand picked athletes, I was attending 5 to 6 games a week to scout athletes to be in the all-star game. I was traveling back and forth from Houston to Dallas every week just to watch different athletes. I considered my entrepreneurship business more of a conglomeration of businesses because they were in the same industry, but dealing with different dynamics and business models.

I had to setup an LLC for one model and get designated 501c3 for another. It was truly a test of organization and persistence. The most important thing I learned along the way was that I had to work on my business and not in my business. I had to delegate.
When you start a business and try to wear all the hats you end up growing slowly. The idea is to hire highly qualified individuals so that you can scale up and grow. That’s what allowed me to go from local to International. I was able to grow my personal brand to across America, China, Australia, France, Dominican Republic and in Kenya.

Rob, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I got into my industry by marketing my accolades. Social media played a big part because you can reach many people at one time. I started also marketing my services and events on my own. After my events started getting notoriety due to the level of professionalism as well as the high quality product, media sources started to organically cover my event. ABC13 became a media partner as well as 97.9 the BOXX. I was later featured on ESPN Houston, Yahoo, & a host of other media outlets.

My discipline throughout my journey ironically came from the sport of basketball. I learned many skills from all my old school coaches. Punctuality being the first skill, attention to detail, high level work ethic, integrity, and a vast amount of other character traits that allow me to carry them over to business. I’d probably say networking, or relationship building is the number one skill that has got me to where I am now.

I am most proud of the impact I have made on so many young lives. I’ve been out in the Houston community shopping or visiting a venue with my family and get pulled to the side where a parent or even the actual youth state that they learned a piece of information and/or they appreciate me assisting their loved one in obtaining a scholarship. Those are some of the warm moments that help me persevere during challenging days.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Pivoting has become a way of life for me these days. So much so that I never create a plan without creating an exit strategy. I have had so many things fall threw that in the beginning I thought maybe business isn’t for me. That maybe I should get into passive investments and call it a day.

But through the journey, including times like Covid, business partners ending up being fraudulent and burning bridges, I realized that you have to create a contingency plan and/or and exit plan.

I think any up an coming entrepreneur should have contingency or exit plans when starting a new business. It allows for less of a shock when something unexpected comes up.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

Funding my business was very simple. I used to work in schools as a P.E. Coach and Athletic Director. I simply LIVED BELOW MY MEANS as I was starting my business. I took 20% of my monthly salary every month for 3 years and poured it into social media advertising, photo shoots, flights to industry events, as well as certifications that afforded me the credibility I needed in my industry to be able to in turn, market my skills back to my community.

It’s never easy to get funding but I decided instead of asking a bank or family and friends, I’d rather do it myself. That way I didnt have to deal with strings being attached to the funds. It ended up paying off in the long run. You have to invest in yourself before anyone invest in you. I believe that people innately know when a person who considers themselves an entrepreneur, invests in themselves. That’s what makes them what to use your service or product.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.coachrob.net/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/official_coach_rob/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReasonCamp

Image Credits
Mike Branch Gold and Eyes Photography