We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kevin T. Robertson (KTR) a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kevin T., appreciate you joining us today. Often outsiders look at a successful business and think it became a success overnight. Even media and especially movies love to gloss over nitty, gritty details that went into that middle phase of your business – after you started but before you got to where you are today. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. Can you talk to us about your scaling up story – what are some of the nitty, gritty details folks should know about?

From the beginning, I was struggling my ass off as strictly an average run-of-the-mill motivational speaker because I didn’t know any better. We all have to come from somewhere. My “somewhere” start was a place called simplicity. I was passionate about speaking and I knew I could always influence people with my words. I had great energy and I also knew I was a natural-born leader who could always inspire others. So, I followed my gut instincts and responded to the calling.

Pursuing my dreams with blind ambitions around 17 years old, I was excited after graduating high school in May to get started on a new kind of journey. I turned 18 a few months later and I was paid by a church for my first paid speaking engagement. They took up a collection of $56 and some change.

It wasn’t a lot but I was happy to be getting paid even if I did not know anything about business, or the speaking industry. I had no knowledge about branding or marketing. I knew how to make the audience feel warm and fuzzy, but I did not know how to teach, transfer knowledge or facilitate. My humble beginnings and lack of knowledge would breed a deep-seeded desire to achieve higher levels of speaking success by any means necessary.

A pivotal moment very early in my career came when I was speaking at a church on a Friday night for very little money. In the audience, I see the one and only, Les Brown. I knew Les was an international keynote speaker and I could not believe he was in the audience. During my performance, I paid him a compliment and acknowledged his efforts as a mentor to many people. Les came out to the lobby after I finished the speaking gig while I was selling my books and told me he enjoyed my performance. He asked me if I was free for an event he was hosting called “Motivational Monday”. I didn’t care what I was doing or if I had plans, I was going to accept the invitation to speak on stage with a legend. Les offered me to be the opening act and gave me 15 minutes to speak on the biggest stage of my career at that point in my young life.

I didn’t understand the magnitude of what kind of blessing this would be until after my drive home from the night of the big event. Les had the power to put me on stage with several other international speakers. I knew that night my talents would get tested and be a true measuring stick to see if I could cut it with veterans in the speaking industry. That Monday, I did the gig and sold every single one of my books.

I got a booking by my first Fortune 500 client, pharmaceutical giant Bristol Myers Squibb. I also got hired by the Dream T.V. Network to produce an 11-part video series about leadership. I was on my way. All the hard work was paying off and I finally got my shot to experience next-level speaking success.

I was able to scale up after that night, because of the mentorship from Les. He gave me a shot at my first big stage opportunity and I was ready to seize the moment. I did not understand marketing on another level until I performed at Motivational Monday. This opened my eyes to how I could promote my professional speaking services in ways that I could never have imagined.

That was the reason why meeting Les was a defining moment in my career. He took me from the minor leagues to the major leagues in one chance meeting. That’s what I called being in the right place at the right time. Scaling is all about education… without that, you cannot earn more revenue and grow.

Kevin T., before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

How did you get into your industry? I was curious about how to become a paid speaker, so I started to investigate. This was before the internet existed, so I would go to the library to do some research. I pulled some publications and learned about “Walters Speakers Bureau” and discovered the late great, Dottie Walters.

I did not know who she was at the time. After doing some research I got her number and called her. She talked to me on the phone for an hour and helped me understand what I should be doing in the speaking industry. She asked me, “Kevin, what are you good at?” I told her I was really good at helping people achieve their goals and stay focused. She told me she had 30,000 speakers in the bureau at the time and not one of them spoke about focus.

Focus and vision are all about seeing things that other people are not able to see and then acting on your insights that you feel are right for you. After my conversation with Dottie, America’s Leading Focus Expert was born. She helped me understand branding in one conversation with the information she shared. I learned more about the industry through research and a pivotal conversation with Dottie led me down a path to learn more and become one of the best.

What type of products/services do you provide?
I work with corporations and associations to magnify success in their personal and professional vision. The products I provide are hour-long keynote speeches, two-hour educational keynotes, half-day and full-day training programs.

What problems do you solve?
My professional speaking services help remedy corporate dysfunction. I assist with employee engagement, diversity, equity and inclusion issues. The number one problem in the workplace is communication. 82-97% of all problems stem from low levels of communication, blocked communication, miscommunication or non-at all.

I help frontline employees, mid-level managers and executives improve the mechanics of effective communication. I also enhance the company’s vision & mission statement, I help clarify company goals and organize the team’s focus. I turn workplace chaos into organizational workspace clarity.

What are you most proud of?
I am most proud of my level of resiliency and work ethic. I have faced unique adversities during my life which has allowed me to learn the game of business in so many ways.

Resiliency taught me to never quit. My work ethic has propelled me to overcome insurmountable odds. All of this helped me excel to the next level without quitting. I have learned to accept no substitute for hard work and to practice this habit every day. Resiliency and the positive energy I put into my work ethic will always be a driving force in my life.

What sets you apart from others?
I feel very strongly about branding. You are your brand and your brand is you. What sets brand KTR apart from other speakers in my space is authentic messaging. I believe leadership should be a shared experience of accountability and I demonstrate my actions through the integrity of my character. Leading by example is what I do best. Illustration beats conversation. If you are really good at your craft, you do not have to say much, but they need to be able to see it in your actions. I get my client’s results because I have tested out the strategies on myself first. My character is on full display and it shows up in each and every part of my brand.

What do you want your clients to know about your brand?
When clients work with me, I do not take the typical slimy, scumbag salesman approach trying to let them know how great I am. I listen to my clients first, then walk them through a “needs assessment process”.

This discovery session is all about seeing whether or not we are a good fit for each other. If there is a good fit, we can proceed. If there is not a good fit, I will make a referral. I believe that you attract the right kind of clients you want to do business with by the way you think.

I attract people who really want to put in the work to achieve next-level success because my work ethic speaks for itself. The kind of clients that hire me want to see results and my past track record lets them know I have the ability to deliver their desired outcomes.

When meeting planners want real change, we put the work in together and have a stellar event. I tell my clients upfront when you hire me… I tell the unadulterated truth and I’m going to shake some shit up with real facts. I am not everyone’s kind of speaker. My services are not designed for everyone. I want to work with the people who really want their team to reach new heights and put the work in.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I can recall going to record my television series in the early 90s, “Blueprint for Success”. I was going through a foreclosure at the time and found it very hard to focus. Although, my brand was all about focus. I had to go back and take some of my own advice that I was sharing with my viewership.

It was a very stressful time in my life, but for some reason, I was still able to come to work and produce 8-10 shows a week. Going to work allowed me to find clarity and drive although my personal life was falling apart. I felt like producing this T.V. show was going to take me to the next level in my life and it did.

The skills I learned about discipline helped me grow to another level, taught me to deal with failure head-on and to keep going. If I gave up every time it got hard I would have probably given up on speaking and all my other entrepreneurial endeavors as well.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

Every business I have ever started has been undercapitalized. I did it off a shoestring budget and I was good at raising capital from friends, family, and investors. When I was starting out, people believed in me and would loan me money so I could invest in marketing, attend seminars, and complete other training I needed to grow.

I took every seminar you could imagine. When I raised the capital, it let me know that people believed in my ideas and saw the vision I was trying to accomplish. That gave me a great deal of confidence. My mom was one of my primary investors. She would allow me to use her credit cards like they were my own. I knew I had to take some risks, educate myself and take it one step at a time.

Those early investors taught me how to manage a business and with their help and trust some really good people made me what I am today. Building a network of strategic partnerships is one of my biggest assets along the way when raising capital for all of my business ventures.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kevintrobertson.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevintrobertson/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kevintrobertson1
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevintrobertson/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/KTRFocusTour

Image Credits
All image credits: Morgan Miller