Meet Patrick Robinson

We were lucky to catch up with Patrick Robinson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Patrick, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?

If I had to pinpoint where I get my work ethic from, the person that immediately comes to mind is my mother followed by my grandparents. My mother worked hard holding down multiple jobs to support the household, found time to help me with homework at night when I fell behind in school, and sold Mary Kay products as a side hustle. She made time to come to my orchestra concerts when she could, take me driving so I could get my hours in, and found a way to make sure I had everything I needed. I’ve never really thought about it until now but seeing how hard she worked motivates me to show up as the best version of me possible. I strive to finish the things I start and to achieve the highest level of success I can obtain in any role I step into.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

While thinking about how I want to answer this question I’m realizing that I don’t take time to reflect as much as I should. Thinking through what I do I would say I’m a consultant, a facilitator, a producer, a project manager, a business owner and ultimately an avid learner. Over the years and throughout my career I’ve learned and developed various skills through workplace experience, formal training through school and non-traditional training from other sources such as what my Wife and I call YouTube and TikTok University. I’ve practiced, honed and applied these skills at work and for others but never thought about how I could use these skills for my own benefit until last year.

September 12, 2024 I took what I learned to create Power Up Vending LLC, a vending machine service provider supporting Chicago’s Western Suburbs. We provide convenient, high-quality snack and beverage options for business owners in our service area. We take care of the vending machine delivery, installation, maintenance, and stocking based on location and owner preferences all at no cost. This allows owners to focus on running their business while we provide their clients with a convenient option to acquire delicious snacks and refreshing drinks. Interested business owners can visit www.powerupyourday.com to learn more about what we offer and submit an inquiry at their convenience.

What I’m most excited about is stepping out of my shell and starting something for myself that I am truly passionate about. I created a business from the ground up using all of the knowledge, skills, and resources I have acquired over the years. I created the logo, slogan, brand identity, website, brochures, business cards, social media accounts, apparel designs and marketing materials. I’ve loved every part of the journey so far and have learned so much about my business in such a short period of time. I’ve learned how to create a business plan, maintain financial records, obtain business licenses, file taxes, manage inventory and so much more. I’m more excited about the journey than the destination knowing I have so much more to learn.

My areas of focus right now are relationship building, inventory management, and machine acquisition and maintenance. Focusing on these areas will help me grow the business, increase profits and boost productivity. These priorities will help me achieve my goal of operating 10-15 machines by the end of 2025.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Looking back there were a few qualities, skills, and areas of knowledge that helped me get to where I am today. The first was finding something I was passionate about. I’ve always liked technology and working with electronics. When I saw an opportunity to combine “tinkering” as my Wife calls it with an excuse to always be around delicious snacks, I was sold. Another quality that comes to mind is resilience. Obstacles are inevitable. You will face challenging situations and have to find a way to pick yourself up and keep going. The last thing that comes to mind is critical thinking. Having the ability to analyze and evaluate situations for what they are and find a path forward is extremely important. It allows business owners to make informed decisions and solve complex problems.

To develop these qualities, skills, and areas of knowledge there are a few things that have worked for me.

I explored new interests by seeing how others got started, asked questions and tried them out for myself. I had to change my mindset from expecting the worst to exploring what’s possible.

The mindset shift I used to find out what I was passionate about also helped me build resilience. In my opinion, having a positive mindset can help you through any situation. There is always something to be learned from challenges and obstacles. It’s not always easy, but you ask yourself “what can I do differently next time to increase my chances of achieving ___” and insert whatever it is you’re trying to accomplish.

To help me build critical thinking skills I would raise my hand to lead complex projects. I would take the time to learn how processes worked within various projects and challenge myself to come up with alternative methods of accomplishing the same goal. I would take any size issue or task and break it down into smaller more manageable pieces that I could work through one at a time. This approach helped me better understand how things work and how to solve problems.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?

I, like a lot of people, deal with imposter syndrome and perfectionism which causes me to get overwhelmed more frequently than I care to admit. When I start to feel overwhelmed, I look to my critical thinking skills to get me through it. I take note of everything I need to get done, break everything down into more manageable tasks, then prioritize each task based on dependency. This helps me see things on a smaller scale and understand that by doing one action or task at a time I will eventually complete and overcome the things that overwhelm me. This approach may not work for everyone, but it’s definitely helped me. Another strategy that’s worked is to become more self-reliant when making decisions. It’s great to collaborate with others, but it’s also important not to become too dependent on others that it halts progress or causes self-doubt. To help with this I set goals, learned my strengths and weaknesses, practiced self-care, learned what was important to me, and started with small decisions before moving to larger ones. Every decision may not have the result you intend but you learn something from going through the process.

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Marcus Rosales

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