From The Desk Of Robin Robins
Learning How To
Receive Recognition
By Robin Robins , Founder & CEO – TMT and Big Red Media
The following is the speech I delivered at the opening night of the MSP Titans Of The Industry Awards Gala . I heard from MANY people that they found this to be inspiring , so I decided to share it here .
As an aside , if you weren ’ t at the MSP Titans Of The Industry Awards Gala , you missed a truly magical , industry-changing event . More to come on that later . But now , here ’ s what I delivered to the 450 MSPs and channel champions in the audience that night ...
Early back in 2021 , I received a curious email from one of my mentors and someone I deeply respect , Dr . Nido Qubein , president of High Point University in North Carolina . If you ’ re not familiar with Dr . Qubein , let me just say that he is one of the most driven , intelligent , high-integrity entrepreneurs I ’ ve ever met in my life . He took a sleepy little Methodist college and turned it into what High Point is today — one of the most successful , fastest growing , most profitable and unique universities in America . If you are an entrepreneur , it ’ s a MUST on your list to go and visit .
In his email , Dr . Qubein told me to block off the first week of September for “ something special ” he had planned for me .
What I later found out is that he wanted to give me an honorary bachelor ’ s degree from High Point University .
Some of you know my story ... you ’ ve seen my documentary ... and if you have , you know that when I grew up , going to school and securing a higher education wasn ’ t something that was ever discussed in our house . My parents went through a really ugly divorce when I was 12 years old , and at 14 , I was homeless . My mother was raised in , and belonged to , a cult-like church , and those were the people who took us in .
And while they were very good people and I am grateful for their help , they took a very literal interpretation of the Bible and had a lot of rules about how to live .
For example , they didn ’ t believe in saving money , owning a home , or building wealth . They practiced faith-based healing , which meant they never went to a doctor and wouldn ’ t take even a simple aspirin to relieve a headache ... and they absolutely were against going to a university or getting a higher education to try to further yourself in life .
So for me , getting a degree never even crossed my mind because my life back then was all about survival . How do
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