Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Rob Mckee. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Rob thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
The mission of TriYou is to create an online community of rabid movie geeks, book nerds, and music lovers–and to give them a platform devoid of politics, religion, negativity, and distracting minutiae. We want to create real, profound, and human to human connections that last, with a strong foundation of shared interests.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I am a lifelong lover of music. books and movies. I grew up with a guitarist as a father and started playing the drums at an early age. Music is something my father and I have always bonded over and that spilled over into books and movies too. When I was 18–I consider that the age I became a serious reader–I started reading Orwell, Huxley, The Beats, Vonnegut, and Henry Miller. That was and contiunues to be a life changing thing for me. The same thing can be said when my dad gave me my first Led Zeppelin tape when I was 9 years old or the first time I saw A Clockwork Orange.
I want to provide our members with these types of experiences on an exponentially larger level. Many times life changing books, albums, or movies found there way to me by strokes of good fortune and I easily could have missed them–AND I’m sure there are still so many out there that have eluded me. The goal of TriYou is to bring these types of experiences, through introductions to new and possibly life altering movies, books, and albums, and along the way making new and lasting friendships in the process.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
The idea for TriYou has been stirrting in my head for many years. It’s first inception it was just a website, and it was very close to being a product that we could release to the public and try and gain some traction. The developer could not get over the hump and dropped out. I was devasted and took a break entirely from the project. A few years later a coworker told me about goodreads, which was developed just about the same time TriYou was tyring to hit the market. I saw the potential of what we were trying to accomplish and decided to go harder and get it built’
I went through two more failed developers and thousands of dollars and we finally found a capable, trustworthy, hardworking, and motivated developer that joined our team as part owner of the company and he is now building the platform I have always had in mind. He also introduced us to an equally talented and genuine coder who also joined the team.
I should mention before we found what is now our CTO a stroke of good fortune introduces my first business partner and I quite possibly the most important piece of our puzzle–that is an exremelty intelligent, accomplished, and talented business/marketing man that joined our team, and it was through his connections and stellar reputation we were able to land the our CTO.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
In 2019 I went through an unexpected divorce that at the time felt like I was left with nothing and no path forward. I made the decision to pursue TriYou harder, no matter the cost. If I would have folded then I’m sure TriYou would be no more. What at the time I thought was the worst thing that ever happened to me, ended up quite possibly being the best. I relocated and reonnected with my cofounder and without the split happening I’m quite certain I would not have met the people I have met and found such a solid team to accompany on this journey.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://triyou.com
- Instagram: @triyou
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-mckee-374993183/
