Special Guest Bobby Steele PT1

Hey, what's up everyone? Just wanted to let you know that today's grind

cast is going to be partnered with Nash Nutrition. They're known for their all

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wife duo Chad and Hannah. They combine Hannah's background as a nutritionist

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Count money, man.

I'm trying to try and told them I'm a beast.

What's up gang? Welcome to another episode of the grindcast. Get ready. It's a new day.

Of course we got big permanent house. We got another special guest, my really good friend.

Bobby still from RJ still in the house. What's up, Bobby? What's up, Bobby? My dog, my dog,

Bobby. Thanks for having me guys. Man, it's a pleasure. It's a pleasure. I know how busy

that you are as a husband, as a father, as a business person, as a board member, at

inspiring minds that goes above and beyond the call of duty, you know, for everybody, man,

I'm just grateful to have you on here. I know you're going to add a ton of value to the

listener. So, you know, I was somebody was asking me downstairs for I got up here.

You were like, you know, how did you guys, how did you guys meet? And I think was cool

about how Bobby and I met is through really the youth program that we both support right

now, inspiring minds. And so, I had a golf outing in Youngstown, a fundraiser years ago

for Inspire Mine, Youngstown. And I tried to get people to come out to support. We had

a decent, you know, decent group that came out. But what's crazy is, you know, people

that you that you think would come that are close, you know, don't show up. And then

I had a group of people, you know, that I barely knew, you know, and Josh and the group,

they drove down from Pittsburgh all the way down to Youngstown, to golf and in the golf

outing and it blew my mind, you know, of how down to earth they were, you know, I knew

of, you know, Bobby, you know, through others, you know, we had casually met before but never

really had the opportunity to talk and Emory who owns our mean of stone was there and Josh

and all of them came down with all the exotic whips. Oh, that's the day, right? All the exotic

whips and the orange ones. You came out. Yeah, that was nice. That's how we that's how we,

you know, we linked up and we met that day. And then over time they would just support

they would just always support be charitable anytime they needed, we needed anything and we

started to just help people in Pittsburgh together, you know, and stuff and then from

there just evolved into why don't we open up, you know, a youth program like that here

in Pittsburgh and, you know, Bobby has gone above and beyond, you know, the call of duty

like times 10 hands on with it, you know, he's hands on with the kids comes down to the

Stowe Rock School helps. He's taken a bunch of our kids to Sarasota where he goes and has

a place and knows everybody's like the mayor of Sarasota and he's taking all the

inspire minds chapters. There's like 100 kids coming down and Bobby's like set it up and

he got a he got a hard, hard a goal. So Bobby, I'm looking forward to having you share

some of your story and your journey, you know, with with with the listeners. I know the

thing that you're most proud of, you know, is being a husband and being a father and we'll

get to that. But why don't you give the listeners a little bit of your background and your story?

I appreciate that time and thank you for having me guys.

I appreciate it. It's a little background about me. I grew up in Washington County, down

and went to Charter's Houston High School and graduated in 1993 from there, went to the

Marine Corps, got out of the Marine Corps. Thank you for your service.

Oh, thank you very much. Thank you. It'd be proud to see you're still in uniform.

Yeah. That's it. Still.

Any of this what I love about Bobby, you want to talk about keeping it real? We can go

to a seven star restaurant and I'm like, Bobby, you in uniformed up. Black T shirt,

camo shorts is what they go get out of you. So they get every time and everywhere we go.

Camo shorts are the black T shirt. So after after I got out of the service, you know, I came

home and a little bit before I went to the service, you know, I was about, it's like

15 years old and you know, kids are starting to get jobs and stuff like that. We didn't

know what we was going to do. And my buddy's mom was like, Hey, you guys want to sell

some weed for me? I was like, sure, I didn't know much about it. But I was like, yeah,

what do we do? So then she started showing us like, she's showing us how to bag it up and

stuff. So we started doing that. And man, I'll tell you, I got really good at it, you

know, like real good. Yeah.

Like so good at the Mexicans from Arizona came up to meet me and was like, Hey, what's

this kid doing? Right. You know, so we get we get going on that a little bit later on.

Stuff starts to happen and we get into some trouble and I left and went to the Marine

Corps. You know, got out of town, went to the Marines and my other buddy went to prison

for four years. You know, so I figured a change of pace, get out of there, get that done,

got into the Marine Corps. Everything was going well. Sell, you know, sell and got

meritoriously promoted from private Lance Corporal to a corporal. Things were going well,

you know, got out, came home when I came home. It was the same thing. I didn't know anything,

didn't really, you know, have anything else going on. So picked right up where I left

off, got getting in trouble. You know, hustle and again. This time we moved up from, you

know, meant lead to selling some other stuff, met back up with our guys from Arizona. Things

got real big, real quick. And then 2003, everything all crashed down on me, you know, got

arrested, got sentenced, did 10, almost 10 years in prison for it. A decade. Wow. Almost

10 years, you know, it was crazy. It was, it was, it was an eye opening experience. I thought

I was running a legit business. We had like stealer tickets. We had like meetings and had

dinner, you know what I mean? We had everything but a 401k. I thought it was legit, but I

guess you know, they thought otherwise. So I'll tell you is January, I got arrested January

to 2003. I'm still in dependent entry just, you know, acting up. I'm young. It's all

I knew. It's all I was going to do. And July 6, 2006, I was talking to my father on the

phone and he told me that I was going to see my daughter grow up in pictures and that I'd

never, you know, mount anything. And I was the path that I was on and that he accepted it.

My daughter got on the phone with me the same day, same time. And I'm talking to her and she

told me she was going to be a doctor so she could fix me because I was broken. Wow. Wow.

Yeah. So that moment, and I'll tell you that moment, and I mean this from all to my

heart, that moment, I went back up into my cell, shot the doors and just, you know, me

in pretty much ask her why? Why? Why can everybody else see it? Not me, you know? What's going on in

my life? I picked up the Bible and I read it. Didn't understand it. You know, didn't understand it.

Couldn't, you know, it wasn't making sense to me. I was reading it and flipping back to something else

that I read and was like, wait a minute. I read this makes them sense why was it saying? And then I

came, you know what I mean? And I just came through and from that moment on, I've changed my life.

I stopped counting my time and stood up and started making my time count in that moment. I went

and I got into like some drug programs and some counseling programs and took some college classes

and just I'm talking from that day forward, I stopped taking and started giving back. And fast forward

to where we are. I get out of prison June 1st, 2010. I got to go to this gateway, halfway house

in Pittsburgh over by Kenny Wood. I get a job. They hire me at this gas and oil company and I put

on my application, you know, when they'd ask about a felony, I said, I would discuss it the interview. I'm

on a work release program and I'm out working. So we're out working one night. It's like late at night

and they're like, hey, you know, I mean, we can't go home. And I was like, when over to Supervisor, I was like,

I got to go home. I mean, I'm on a work release program. I got to go and either go home or they're

take me back. So then he's like, what do you mean, everybody? He starts getting all upset. And then

I can leave for him though, but they, they take me back the next morning, I got to go into the

Operation Manager's office. He takes me in and he's like, hey, what, uh, you know, I mean, you didn't disclose none

of this. We should fire you right now. And this and that. And I said, but, sir, I did clearly said on my

application, we'll discuss that interview. I said, had I been the interviewer, I would ask that question,

but I wasn't the interviewer, you know, and he was like, oh, you're right. You mean, you've got a point.

And the Supervisor that brought me home that night was like, hey, don't let this guy go. There's something about him.

Don't let him go, you know, and to that, I made it to Supervisor, then to Superintendant and operations

manager, then vice president of operations and the company all along, you know, just still had that

that stigma on my back about like been in trouble, felony convictions. Notting to I came home,

my driver's license was, was suspended till 2052. You know, wow. Yeah, 25 to I started writing all these

letters. You know, I was tired of taking the bus everywhere. Like I, I get up at five o'clock in the

morning, this back when I was in shape, I was working out. So, I came home. So I'd take a bus from

Gateway to downtown at like 430 in the morning and then go to the gym for two hours and then go to

work, catch a bus to Mount Washington and the Canisburg workout day, get back on the bus, go

back down to the city, go back down and then usually miss the last bus. So I have to run down the

train tracks to get into the into the center before my curfew time. And I'll tell you there's one

night stands out, I'm running down the tracks. It's raining. It's miserable. I worked all day and

right over the hill, you can hear like live club music and all that and people were just having a good

time and I'm like, man, it's all worth it. Am I doing the right thing, you know, am I doing the

right thing? But in my back of my mind, I always got my daughter telling me, you know, she's going to

fix me. So I'm like, all right, so just keep running, keep running back to the, uh, back to the center,

get back in, get signed up. You know, things are going good. I'm at night writing letters to all these

places that had my driver's license suspended. Just telling them where I've come from, what I've

done and where I'm going and what I want to do and slowly but surely, and they just sent,

started sending letters back, lifting, you know, lifting them, lifting them, lifting them. Then I had

like two real tough ones. I saved up some money, reached out and got this, uh, attorney,

driver's license attorney paid him. He did his thing. I got my license back in six months. You

know, you got out six months. Yeah. Wow. So literally from 2052 to six months later, December of 20,

of 2010. I got my lessons all over the place. And it's already, it's the first lesson is just

because you see something that somebody tells you doesn't mean that you can't change that. A lot of

people would just say, I'm done 2052. Except if you're persistent with it. And then, you know, a lot of

people would have came out, you know, with those circumstances, you know, taking the bus, you know,

coming home after 10 years, whatever and just chalking it up and saying, what else am I going to do?

I'm going to go back to the streets going back to do stuff like that. And you said, I'm going to

grind it out. I'm going to grind, I'm going to grind it out and start to work your way up through

this company. They told me what it did that. But something changed, man, something changed in me,

you know, and I would have done it. I would have gave up and I would have went back to that easy,

bro. But I figured, you know, nothing good comes easy. I got to work and I got to work hard for it.

And then I started, like, I started realizing that there was more that I needed to do than just

take care of me, you know, I needed to give back. I needed to show that there is a way, you know,

that having a felony conviction and that being independent century for him is 10 years. And

that all the stuff doesn't define who I am today, you know, it, I just used that just more motivation

and more motivation to give back. Then I started, I started speaking at prisons. I go back to prisons

to this day and I speak on, oh, and that there is life after prison and don't let them hold you down.

Don't let your past be, be, you know, who you are, change it. You know, go, go, get out and work hard

and get a job. And, you know, take these steps, slow steps, small steps, you know, not everybody's

going to get out and run a company. Not everybody's going to get out and have, you know,

everything handed to him. It just doesn't work that way, you know, you've got to keep going.

How long were you out before you started your company? I was out for five years. Five years.

I had taken me, that's what people don't see. They, right now they just see Labra Gini's beautiful

family Lamborghini's living life must be nice, Bobby. It must be nice. Was it nice taking the bus?

Yeah. Was it nice? Was it nice with no license for six months? Was it nice five years before you

own, you know, you started that company and then that had to be a journey. From the time you start

the company to, to now, to now, to now, to now, to now, you know, and that was the thing too, you know,

So with everything that's going on, every step forward,

you worry about the three steps back.

You mean you worry about setbacks and stuff,

but I just kept telling myself,

I'm just gonna keep grinding,

I'm gonna keep moving forward,

I'm gonna keep helping as much as I can.

I looked at it like whenever I was selling drugs

and doing all that, I took for many, many years,

just took my time to give back as much as I can.

And the thing that you just hit in and on,

it must be nice.

I hear that all the time.

All the time, double, yeah.

It must be nice.

And most people would say to me,

don't even know, don't know my story,

don't know what happened at my life.

You know, I do have a, I'm blessed.

I do have a beautiful family,

which keeps me grounded and keeps me humble.

How many kids you got?

I have four kids.

I have three daughters and I have a son

who are everything to me.

I want them to be, I don't ever want to hear again

that they're gonna fix me, you know what I mean?

I'm here.

I was put on earth to protect and provide for them

and fix the things that they needed.

I wasn't put here for them to fix me,

but they did, but she did.

My daughter, Haley, who just turned 21

and me, I'm so proud of her.

She has her own house, you know.

It's 20 years old.

Finance her own house.

Her and her boyfriend are doing great.

Living good.

I'm super happy.

The oldest is 21, huh?

21, yeah, just turned 21.

And then I have a 14 year old and a 13 year old daughters,

two daughters who are amazing young ladies.

They are just super sweet and caring

and loving and giving and it's just so overwhelming

to see them give back, you know,

without any question.

They're just there to help and anything.

And I throw all kind of stuff at them.

Don't give it.

I throw everything out of them.

I call them out and be like,

hey, we got this thing with Jamie's dream,

which is another non-profit that we help out,

which is for terminal young children we go

and give them their last dream, you know,

whether it's Rod No Horse or going

to Jelly Stone National Park

or we're gonna try to get a couple of them

at Helacopter, whatever we can do for them.

So my little girls are like, let's go.

We're right here for you.

We'll do whatever.

So five years, you started that after you left, right?

Five years.

Now, how did you come up with your name?

So the name RJ Still construction,

my name is Bobby, but my real name is Robert John Steele

and my wife's middle name is Josephine Megan Josephine Steele.

So we can bind the R and the J in our last name

and made RJ Still construction.

I love it.

So that's how we come.

I mean, it's great.

I always wanted to be a part of what's going on.

Not always listen to it, but I always wanted to be a part

of it, you know, and not.

Great woman too.

You can't do this type of stuff and all that

without that type of supporting, you know,

cast supporting woman at home like that.

It is crazy too, because they don't get enough credit

for what they do behind the scenes.

I mean, we're always out here, you know,

doing what we're doing, but the women behind the scenes,

you know, all of them.

They do so much for the children,

so much for us.

They support all the things that we do when we come home.

We're like, hey, we're taking 100 kids to Sarah's Hota.

You know, pack your bag.

Let's go.

Yeah.

OK.

All right.

OK, no problem.

Tell me, tell me, when people say, you know,

must be nice.

What are a couple things that, you know,

to people that don't know, you know, you and what you've

been through that you would say that people don't see

when they say it must be nice.

Like when you could think of moments of how you got to where

you are.

Oh, I think it's like, it's the moments like, you know,

they say it must be nice when I'm sending out emails at like 10,

11, 12, 30 at night and still answering the phone at 5 a.m.,

you know, I mean, like, we're, it must be nice.

I'm always work.

I'm always trying to think and try to do more, always sacrifice

and time with my family and my kids so that I can be out there

and do more, looking at jobs out like a late at night.

You know, because most people get off work at 5, 6 o'clock,

you know, send our superintendent Roger and all them in our

office staff go home, I go in and make that happen.

I'll go out and check it out, look at them and take them notes.

Usually my notes are wrong.

They got to figure it out.

But you know, I figured this one out for me.

But like all the other things too, like they don't realize,

like the stress and the worry and, you know, it's not for only

me, it's like 50 employees, you know, that we worry about that.

If I make the stress, their families and their lives are

affected by it.

So I need to make sure that I'm always trying to stay one step ahead

to keep everybody going, you know.

And I don't think too that a lot of people realize how personal it is.

Like I care.

Like if I see you out, I want you to be like, hey, that's a good guy.

I don't want you to be like, oh, look, that's good for not, you know,

I mean, like I always want like, I was like, put that out there.

I want everybody to be like.

But you won't make everybody happy.

No.

You can try.

You could be as good-hearted as you want, but not everybody's always

going to approve.

Like you're human.

I love you, Bobby.

Sure.

So how do you handle that?

So the, you know, the hardest part about I think it all was me learning

and having to accept that the best decisions aren't always the most

popular ones, you know?

Like, and I got to make a decision and sometimes it's going to affect

people and they're not going to be happy about it.

So I just do my best, you know, I pray a lot.

I look for guidance.

Simon, I mean, I know.

How much does faith play to a part in your journey, do you think?

Oh, it's played a major part in my journey.

And I'm going to be the first to admit that my walk with God has been a roller coaster ride,

you know, some days it's up, some days it's down.

But at the end of the day, it always ends with him.

You know, my faith is strong and it's unwavering, you know, and it's faith and family and

country and, you know, everything is at the above.

We just keep moving, keep grinding, keep rolling forward, you know.

It's really cool that they throw at us.

That's one thing about me.

I don't try to go around him anymore.

I meet him all head on.

Count money, man, money, that gritches.

Five times old, trying to told him I'm a beast, but...

What's up, gang?

Welcome to the grind, Cass.

Simon, areas here.

Get ready, it's a new day.