The People Who’ve Shaped Me

Malcolm Gladwell said it best in his book, Outliers. “We are not self-made, instead, we are made, partly by ourselves, but crucially, also by the times and society we live in as well as the influence of the people we’ve encountered along the way.”

Why am I referencing Gladwell?

Because I often hear the phrase ‘self-made millionaire, billionaire, overnight success, wonder’ tossed around various forums, accounts, news outlets, which frankly irritates me. Even for the truest of introverts, we do not exist or live in a vacuum. We are directly and indirectly shaped by our environment, and ignoring that fact posits that success and fulfillment can be achieved in isolation.

By no means I’m I suggesting as I write this, that I am self-made…… (insert your favourite noun). I am far from it, nor do I want to be considered self-made, as that discounts the considerable impact of the people who have influenced me over the years.

Who are those people?

Obviously, my parents, Teresa and Olavo, they immigrated to Canada in their 40s, with the sole purpose of providing a better life for their children.

Olavo taught me the importance of organization, and in turn, the value of time. Furthermore, he instilled an idea of social responsibility centered around generosity. He often remarked “Robin, Canada has been so good to us, don’t lose sight of what it has provided our family, don’t forget it is our responsibility to give back to those who need it”

Teresa made sure at every turn that I knew that I could accomplish anything. She also made me realize (and continues to this day) that failure was just as important as success, if not, more important

My parents are the very reason why I work as hard on myself as I do on my businesses. I could have never made the decision they made; to move to a foreign country and start over, literally from the bare bones. I am not that strong. If I do not become the best version of myself then I know (although they may disagree) that I have let them and their life efforts, down.

I could not have asked for a better partner in my ex-wife, Cassie. She was there countless times when I came home defeated, from what I thought, at the moment, were tremendous failures, and she challenged my mindset. She made me realize that despite things not going my way or how I had hoped for or planned, they did not have to define me. Cassie was the main driver for me to launch this business, likely because she was probably tired of me babbling about financial freedom, hehe, but I believe she knew that I could have an impact on positively influencing people’s lives. And yes, Cassie is still very much alive, we are just no longer together.

After spending a blustery Saturday in Feb writing the outline for what would now become the “Beginner Course”, I was in search of how to disseminate this information effectively. I came to the stark realization that I would have to build a website (a nightmare scenario for someone who is as tech-illiterate as me). I reached out to a colleague of mine, Emma, who has created a very successful online presence and brand, @pressplayphysio to pick her brain about her website and platform. She raved about her experience working with the very talented @Lex Lancaster. Lex did not disappoint! I cannot thank her enough for helping me navigate the process of creating a website. I’d likely still be fumbling through creating one if I did not have her guidance.

With the product created and the website process underway, I knew there was tremendous value in having a recorded version of the course for those individuals who prefer that method of learning. However, I was not sure how to host such a course online. Remember, I struggle with computers. I’ll back up a bit before I continue.

At the height of the pandemic, with the clinic closure, I had seemingly countless free time on hand. I stumbled upon @darrylyardley and his webinar on how health professionals could navigate the pandemic. After a few back and forth messages over the course of the summer months, Darryl graciously introduced me to Maggie @maggiebpt to talk about launching a golf-specific rehab course for health professionals!

Yes, I know, I was originally going to build out a golf rehab course.

Returning back to 2021, I reached out to Maggie inquiring about whether the platform she co-founded, Embodia, would host my course. I shot this request out on a complete limb as I knew the platform was geared towards educating health professionals on certain niches of healthcare, not really on financial literacy and that I’d likely be turned away. However, I was shocked and surprised when Maggie, took a bet on me and offered to host my course(s). I am forever grateful to her for allowing me the opportunity to educate on what we both agree is extremely important yet missing information, to our peers. Thank you Maggie.

Okay okay, now I have the course, the website, and the hosting platform, all that was missing was my social media presence. Let me gently remind you that my tech illiteracy includes my ineptitude with social media. Fortunately, I met Emily Watson and Acorn Studio Marketing who had the very challenging job of taking my face and voice and making them palatable. I have learned a tremendous amount from Emily and would definitely not have the community I have without her.

I hope it’s clear by now that I am in this position, not due to my intelligence, my work ethic, or my attitude.

I’m here in this position because of the aforementioned people and their influence on my journey. Contrary to what you may hear, nobody is ‘self-made’.