In this interview, Irv Robinson reflects on his life‑long purpose of making a positive difference, recounting how he and his father founded Robbie Manufacturing in an old horse barn in Kansas City’s Stockyards. He emphasizes the family‑centric nature of the business, its steady growth, and the remarkable achievement of operating for 46 years without a single layoff, even surviving the loss of a major customer. Irv describes how the company’s success allowed him to pursue community impact, leading to the creation of the Leadership Tomorrow internship, which equips college students with nonprofit leadership, entrepreneurship, grant‑writing, and presentation skills. He shares the emotional difficulty of deciding to sell the business, concerns for employees, customers, and his daughter Ashley’s role, and how the sale ultimately gave him the freedom to relax and focus on new chapters. Ashley confirms the decision was right for the family, and other speakers highlight Irv’s visionary philanthropy, the value of mentorship, and his encouragement to take risks and embrace discomfort. The narrative weaves together themes of purpose‑driven entrepreneurship, family resilience, community leadership, and the personal challenges of succession.
Chapters
I still don't know how it all happened. Well, I do know, that's not true. I'm just still amazed. I figured out at a very early age that once you figure out what the hell are you really trying to do while you're on this planet, which is just such a short period of time, you start living living your purpose. My purpose in life is to make a positive difference in the lives of others. That's where all the joy comes from. My dad and I started Robbi in an old horse barn in the old Kansas City Stockyards area. My main reason for starting Robbi was actually to build a closer relationship with my dad. I'm not sure I was totally aware of that at the time. My mom was the bookkeeper. Wow, I haven't seen that picture in a long time. And Ashley, my daughter, joined quite a number of years later, so it's definitely a family business. I'm proud of that. Robbie had steady growth except for certain years. There were times when we lost our largest customer, almost going bankrupt. Probably what I'm most proud of, we figured out how to do this for 46 years without ever having a layoff. We pulled together, everybody on the same team, and we grew our way through it and have grown most every year since. Having so many committed and really talented people, that gave me the opportunity to spend more time outside the business and do something in the world that'll make it better. Most people live their lives by or. I can do this or I can do this, but all the creativity and all the juice is where you when you do "and." I can do this and this. How do I be a successful leader and contribute to the community? When I had this idea, I brought it to 7 other of my friends and said, "Hey, let's do this together and let's go make a difference." Leadership Tomorrow is an internship where college students work at nonprofits. We teach them leadership, entrepreneurship, research, how to write grants, and presentation skills. I hope it's a meaningful experience. I hope it's fun too. And I hope that it will help you get a little bit closer to finding your purpose.
Irv is a visionary. He really has a vision for serving our community. Irv being a successful entrepreneur as well as someone who cares deeply about philanthropy has made Leadership Tomorrow so successful. Now that Irv has sold his business, we get to benefit even more, both because he has more time to give and more treasure that he continues to be incredibly generous with.
One of the things I was most excited for was having a mentor. I think it's very valuable to have an assigned official mentor to give you advice on your career, on your future prospects. When Irv was encouraging me to take risks and to embrace being uncomfortable, I did think maybe I should take steps towards that.
It was extremely uncomfortable when we started thinking about selling the company. When I went through the process of deciding to find a new owner for Robbi, It weighed heavily on me as to what was going to happen to the people. It was uncomfortable talking to the management team about it because they feel threatened just laying your heart and soul out. Would the next owner treat our people in the right way and our customers in the right way? The whole process was uncomfortable. One of the relationships that I was most concerned was with my daughter, and this was now gonna be a test of that. Right or wrong, I think there was an expectation that she would take over the business.
Without a doubt, during the process, there were challenging times. It's complicated when it's family, and we made, without a doubt, the right decision for our family. If my dad had not sold the business, he never would have actually been able to take a break. So it's very nice now to see him truly be able to relax and not be worried about the business. And it's a next chapter for my dad and also for me.
The decision turned out to be a good one for our team members. It was good for the family. It was time. I don't know for sure what my life will look like 3 years from now. I'll be spending more time with my kids and grandkids because that's a really meaningful part of my life and a whole lot of fun. Maybe Leadership Tomorrow will have been expanded to more parts of the country. I might write a book. I've already got the title: Getting Comfortable Being Uncomfortable. And... dot dot dot. Since we sold the business, I never had a moment where I said, "Well, let's see, what am I gonna do now?" I've never had one moment like that. I mean, my life is full, and I'm trying to make things happen and enjoy my relationships. Time for me is really something that you utilize, and it's all in the present. It's right now. I have more things I want to learn. I'll lead an interesting and meaningful life, I promise you that.
