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NO SIBLING RIVALRY HERE - MICHAEL AND STEVEN ROBERTS HAVE BUILT A BUSINESS EMPIRE TOGETHER.
by KEVIN M. MITCHELL - May 2009

Published in Business :: Business

When they were boys growing up in St. Louis, Michael and Steven Roberts would ride their bikes to the nearby Sears. There, they would gaze at all the things they couldn't afford and linger at the popcorn stand, hands in empty pockets. Today, the brothers arrive at the very same building each morning and pull into parking spots with their names on them - after all, they own it (and renamed it the Victor Roberts Building, after their father). The building is the headquarters of The Roberts Companies, an empire that brings in close to $100 million a year. Together, the brothers run more than 60 businesses and employ 1,000 people nationwide. And in 2007, Ernst & Young named them Entrepreneurs of the Year.

While they humbly call themselves "just a couple of guys from North St. Louis," the Robertses are the city's very own Horatio Alger story. "We were never really poor - we just never had any money," Michael quips.

Born in a working-class neighborhood, the brothers had little besides parents who loved and inspired them. It would turn out to be all they needed. Says Steven, "It was innately learned in our house that nobody was going to give you anything, but you can make ends meet with whatever skill sets you have."

Their parents' skills were in the kitchen: Their mother was a wonderful cook, and their father was a great bartender. On the weekends, they would cater for wealthy suburbanites, and the boys would see the fruits of capitalism in action: "They would make this food, go away for a few hours, and come back with leftovers and money! And I thought, this is a great business to be in," Steven says.

The seed was planted.

Michael recalls when Dad brought home their first gas lawn mower. The 12-year-old got an allowance of $1 a week for cutting the grass. "I started cutting my neighbor's grass, and they paid me $5 for it," Michael says. "Immediately, it dawned on me that what I did for my dad was a job, but what I did for my neighbors was a business." So the teen launched a landscaping company - his first employee being younger brother Steven, of course.

Both would go on to become lawyers, studying during the turbulent late 1960s. "Activism was all around, so it became about how to use your skill set to change your community for the better," Steven says.

Throughout the era, they refined and developed their ability to work together. "Because our experiences were the same, it was natural," Steven says. "We both wanted to give back to the community, yet we realized early on that the best way to do that was to make sure you yourself were financially stable. If you're struggling, it's hard to help other folks out."

Steven followed Michael into local politics, and both became aldermen - the youngest ever elected in the city's history (Michael at 26, then Steven at 25). When they moved into the private sector, their political experience made them more successful in business. "We came to understand service, patience and humility, and a lot of people never learn that," Steven says.

The Roberts brothers have always seen opportunities where others don't. "Our focus in St. Louis has always been mid- and north city, areas that most others have avoided," Michael says.

Their first big breakthrough was the purchase of the Sears building in 1982. Later that decade, they invested in a TV station, WRBU-TV. "We ended up with 12 stations before we knew it," Michael says.

In the late '90s, they got in on the cell phone boom. But first, they had to face a new challenge: borrowing millions of dollars. "When we went to New York and asked for that much money, the bankers laughed so hard I had to come around the table and put them back in their chairs," Michael says. Not discouraged, they were finally able to borrow $56 million. And a few years later, they were $380 million in the black.

From there, the brothers went into the real estate, aviation and hotel businesses - and their other family members are involved, too. Victor, a retired postal worker, works in the building named after him. "He's 86 now, and he comes in every day," Steven says. Brother Mark runs the growing hotel division and manages Hotel Indigo; sister Lori works in the real estate division.

Despite their success, the brothers are gracious and maintain a close working relationship. It's always "Steven and I" and "Michael and I," and they constantly quote each other. Cell phones ring continuously, and if one takes a call, the other jumps to take the next one, ping pong fashion.

And they are close outside of work, too, spending holidays together. Questions about examples of sibling rivalry or even honest business disagreements bring only smiles and chuckles.

The brothers' success stems from their inspiring fearlessness. Michael writes and lectures on this core point: What would your life be like without the fear of failure? "Every day you get 86,400 seconds to do something with," he says. "My belief is that to live life to its fullest extent, one needs to take their visions and pursue them with courage and conviction."

Because of this, they are moving ahead despite the troubled times. "There's a lot of gloom and doom, but we're not sitting back and crying in our soup," Steven says. Proof is apparent in a new 24-story luxury condo development called the Roberts Tower going up in downtown St. Louis.

"I see urban sprawl as passé," Michael says. "This tower will be iconic to St. Louis, like the Arch. And it will be green. These units will feature bamboo flooring and recycled carpet, and it will be heated with geothermal energy. Monthly energy costs that would normally be $340 will be between $40 and $70 in these units."

"Is it risky? Of course!" Steven says. "But one advantage is that these units will not open until 2010, and if the economy has turned around by then like we think it will, then we'll be considered geniuses."

As young kids who yearned for enough money to buy a bag of popcorn, taking such risks never seemed possible. But Michael and Steven Roberts have shown that success can be built on a foundation of an entrepreneurial spirit, hard work and family.

TAKE ACTION

IN MICHAEL ROBERTS' BOOK, ACTION HAS NO SEASON, HE COINS THE TERM "ACTIONAIRE." ARE YOU SOMEONE WHO TAKES MATTERS INTO YOUR OWNS HANDS? ASK YOURSELF THESE QUESTIONS:

1. Are you a producer rather than a consumer?
2. Do you put your visions or goals to work?
3. Do you make the seemingly impossible become possible?
4. Do you introduce yourself at parties and meetings?
5. Are you a good conversationalist? Do you take control over the direction of conversations?
6. Do you view negotiations as easy, stress-free or satisfying?

Published in Business :: Business

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