We recently connected with Robert Reza Greer Sr. and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Robert Reza thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Success is often times measured in tangible wealth or an individuals popularity metrics on Social Media now-a-days. Although this has merit, what If I argued that success for most business owners and entrepreneurs who start out is truthfully more simplistic.

Would you believe me if I told you, the freedom to take care of ones family through the business we’ve started, is really at the heart of our success. Yes, of course we want generational wealth, which we’re all working hard to achieve, but success at its core is freedom.

ZaBre Inspire’s success started in the middle of the pandemic, as we found a way to grow our products and services within a multi-functional basement in our home. Months after getting started we were featured on the front page of our local news paper as experts working from home during the Pandemic.

Two years have passed and we are now operating out of a 500 square foot studio in Downtown Akron at Summit Artspace. Our success, like many was to initially get our business off the ground and sustain it. So today, you can share in the success in how we’re ever so close to the freedom of owning a business that will continue on into the next generation.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

We all tend to have dreams while growing up about who we planned to become. What our future would look like, even from our young point of view nothing seemed to be out of reach. One thing I always ponder, is what would the little boy in me think about where I am today and how bright our future looks from my older mature point of view. I believe we would be on the same page, smiling, happy that we have an identity in our profession, one that promotes encouragement and change.

Most people just call me Rob, but officially I am Robert Reza Greer Sr. , the CEO of ZaBre Inspire LLC. We are a Christian apparel brand in Downtown Akron, Ohio. We design and manufacturer inspirational clothing for those who are not ashamed to attract curiosity within their day to day. I started out to provide other people access to a different style graphically then what exist in our market and everything changed from there.

I am a multi-discipline artist who has a photographers eye, a writers creativity to go along with a degree in graphic design. I started creating moments in time when I was really young. My grandmother bought me my first camera sometime during middle school and I’ve been shooting ever since. I’ve been writing since the 5th grade, with a few published poems and short stories to my name. The graphic design part came into play when I discovered how hard it was to push forward in the photography industry without paring it with something else.

Today, I use these gifts to market, advertise and grow our brand. Which has gone from exclusively handling our own needs to now providing our services to companies looking for creation and fulfillment of their brand identity and apparel. What sets us apart is are ability to understand the direction of our clients and create allure within logos, websites and apparel that is authentic and original matching their forward mission as a company.

As we continue to grow this year, one goal I have is to personally create my own greeting card line. This was actually the first business idea I had growing up, but like the little kid in all of us, sometimes we just have to grow into the future.

How’d you meet your business partner?

So imagine a beautiful, intelligent, creative women who drives you to be your best and always reminds you that you can’t do it all by yourself. Some of you would be like, yeah my mom is dope too but in my story it’s Bre Greer; my wife and business partner. Bre also has a degree in graphic design so having two completely different perspectives in house has proven to be invaluable. This year marks our 20th wedding anniversary. I met Bre when she was 19 and I was 21 so you can almost do the math to our present day ages give or take a few years in between. Even when we were dating, life was not big enough to hold our dreams and aspirations for the future. We wanted to get married, start a family and then get money as we called it back then.

We started ZaBre Inspire with the notion of creating this family business so not only our kids could be contributors in it’s future but also to create a legacy from the gifts and talents God has bless and matured us with during our lifetime.

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

So far, when you read my story it’s full of inspiration and hope for the future but the reality is, we all have to deal with life. I say this knowing just a year ago we could have lost everything we set out to accomplish within a matter of months if our faith was watered down or our trust in God didn’t exist. Within a matter of 4 months we received two separate diagnosis, one for my wife and the other for my daughter that changed everything. Now, let me set some context for you, I have been living with Lupus for 15 years now and I almost lost my life several times in the beginning. I’m much better now, having learned how to navigate through its ups and downs. So put that in the back of your mind for a moment has I try and describe how difficult it was to operate a business with what felt like, my heart being torn apart.

Bre was diagnosed with MS, being short for multiple sclerosis. MS is a is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system that can affect the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. For her it is numbness, tingling, headaches and nerve pain. Okay, Okay I thought, we are going to adapt and give her a chance to process it all. Then, 4 months later while were out of town visiting our family in St. Louis for Christmas break, our 15 year old daughter Brenae gets very ill and has to be hospitalized in a city that we do not call home. Like me, Brenae was diagnosed with Lupus, an autoimmune disease that can cause inflammation and pain in any part of your body, which means that your immune system, the body system that usually fights infections attacks healthy tissue instead. It has taken over a whole year for Brenae to start coming into her own with her new normal.

I think back during this time frame of trying to run a new business and be present for my family and realized it was super difficult and an experience I would rather not endure again. I mentioned at the beginning of the story, how faith and trust in God was everything. Through it all, I just kept hearing; trust me. Considering I had my own story to fall back on, I’d say the endurance I built up doing my journey made it much more affirming while being a part of theirs. Probably, even vice versa knowing they were there for me going through a similar process. Never-the-less ZaBre Inspire sustained and growth has been the new best part of our story to date. Praise God, for all of it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.zabreinspire.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zabre_inspire/ & https://www.instagram.com/saved_life/
• Facebook: @Robert Reza Greer
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-greer-design/
• Twitter: @zabreinspire

Image Credits
JMROBINSON PHOTOGRAPHY