We recently connected with Robert Roth and have shared our conversation below.

Robert, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

Yes — I’m absolutely happy as a business owner. I knew it pretty early on, actually. I think I was around 16 during a school break, and I took this one-month summer job. It was at a company, connected to their bookkeeping team. It wasn’t really about what I had to do there, it was more about observing how the typical employee life worked.

You get up early, 6 or 7 in the morning, jump in the car or on the train, clock in, and then basically spend your whole day doing what other people tell you to do. Then you clock out, commute back, and by the time you’re home, your day’s pretty much gone, and so is your energy. I remember feeling like, “Wait… this is it? This is what people do their entire lives?” To me, it just felt like a massive waste of time.

After maybe two weeks, I made a clear decision: I will never have a job in my life.

That was way over 20 years ago, and so far, I’ve kept that promise to myself. Being a business owner means I decide what matters, and I get to put my energy into that. That freedom, that sense of ownership over how I spend my time, it’s priceless. So yes, I’m not just happy. I’m exactly where I’m meant to be. Funnily enough, that decision I made back then is exactly what I now help others create for themselves, a life on their own terms.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m an investor, a business mentor, and a rock and roll piano player. And honestly, my path has been anything but conventional.

I made a big decision early on in life: I would never get a regular job. That decision got tested when someone asked me if I could help with a programming project. I’d taught myself how to code, so I said yes, and they offered to pay me for it. That was the first moment where I realized, “Wait a minute… I can actually earn money doing what I enjoy.” That one freelance project, at age of 17, turned into the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey.

Not long after, I became part of building what became the market-leading corporate health software in Austria. I was only 21 or 22 at the time, leading development and sitting across the table from managers at major banks and insurance companies. It was surreal, and it taught me a lot about business, leadership, and communication.

After about seven years in the software world, I felt it was time for a shift. That’s when something completely unexpected happened. I was at a ball and saw a guy playing piano, with his hands and feet, and just lighting up the whole room with rock and roll, blues, and boogie-woogie. Everyone was dancing. The energy was electric. I watched him for hours and knew: I want to become one of those piano players.

Even though I hadn’t touched a piano in 10 years, I dove back in. Practiced six or seven hours a day, every day. Eventually, I started playing concerts, organizing my own events, and even launched a festival that grew to around 1,000 attendees, which in the boogie-woogie niche is pretty big. I invited international stars from all over Europe and the U.S., and was getting booked myself on festivals and concerts all over the place.

Around the same time, I got serious about professional coaching. I traveled across Europe and the U.S., learning from the best in personal development. And little by little, I started coaching others, helping them create lives and careers that actually felt aligned with who they are.

When I hit my early 30s, I’d achieved a milestone: playing the main stage at the biggest boogie-woogie festival in the world. On the flight home, something shifted. I realized I was ready for the next chapter, more entrepreneurial, more global.

I left Austria with a one-way ticket, moved to Africa, then spent time traveling through Asia and eventually settled for a good 3 years on a Caribbean island. While travelling, I shifted gears again, diving deep into online marketing, launching my own digital projects, failing, learning, and eventually figuring out what actually works. That experience became the foundation for the business mentoring I now offer.

Today, I’m 40 and I work with driven entrepreneurs who are serious about growing their business, but without selling their soul. I only collaborate with people who are ambitious, passionate, and willing to act on what they learn. In many cases, I invest my time and energy as a mentor in exchange for a stake in the business. So when they grow, I grow, and that alignment creates something powerful.

Alongside that, I still play rock and roll piano on cruise ships and some festivals or concerts for part of the year. I bring my laptop, do my mentoring from anywhere, and keep living the kind of freedom I once dreamed about at 16, when I swore I’d never settle for an ordinary life.

That’s what I help others create now too: a life built on passion, freedom, and ownership, financially, emotionally, and creatively.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

For me, it’s clearly my network, that’s number one. A lot of my clients come through referrals, either from current partners or past clients who’ve gotten great results working with me. When people are genuinely happy with the transformation they’ve experienced, they naturally tell others. And that kind of recommendation is gold.

Another strong source is my social media presence. Some people follow me for a while, and at some point, they hit a moment where they realize they need guidance, they need a business mentor. They usually reach out with a question or ask for advice, and I’ll often help them out without expecting anything in return. At some point, when they’ve tried to do it alone but realize they’re stuck, they’ll ask, “What would it look like to actually work with you?” And that’s when the real collaboration begins.

The third path is a bit more unexpected: Sometimes, during one of my ongoing projects, we’ll need to bring in a service provider, a copywriter, media buyer, designer, whatever it is. And every now and then, one of those providers ends up asking for mentoring themselves. Or we realize there’s real synergy and we partner up to grow their business, either with me investing personally or together with my second consulting company, which I co-own.

So at the core of it all, it’s really my network, existing clients, past clients, trusted partners, and the extended circle I keep investing in and nurturing. I genuinely care about those people. I refer them, support them, stay in touch, and I think that’s why it keeps working. It’s not just business. It’s real connection.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Simply by creating as much value as possible. For my network in general, but especially for my partners and clients I’m actively working with, there’s always a goal they want to achieve, and there’s always a role that I have, and I try to do the best in my role in order to help to achieve their goal. If that works out, awesome. And if it doesn’t work out for whatever reason, then I try to, even if something goes completely wrong on my end, and it’s my fault, I would go ahead and do the best to fix it. So if I achieve fixing it, that’s awesome. Then I would go ahead and make it even better until the goal is being achieved. If that’s not possible for whatever reason, I would try to find the best solution possible together with the partner or client. And whenever I have another opportunity to provide value, I would get in touch and offer that and provide value again. And do that over and over and over, provide so much value that they remember you for that.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://robert-roth.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rockandrollyourdreams/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rockandrollyourdreams
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-roth-entrepreneur/