STATUS Profile: Timothy Robertson, pt. 2

Dear Visionaries,

I'm excited to continue the STATUS Profile series with part 2 of the very first edition focused on my good friend, business partner, and visionary leader Timothy Roberson. If you haven't had the chance to check out part 1, you can click this link here to read it in full.

As the Chief Visionary Officer of STATUS International, Timothy leads a global trade partners program that empowers international brands to succeed in the US market and helps US brands expand globally through an exclusive B2B matchmaking program.

Currently, his work spans cities like New York, LA, London, Paris, and Croatia, as he builds meaningful relationships with leaders in advertising, wealth management, and government.

Now without further ado, our conversation continues.

I wanted to understand something about him that I could never quite grasp over the years.

I know his story. I was there for much of it but it still wasn’t clear to me exactly how he became the force that he is today.

His evolution can’t just be the result of some Darwinian process of environmental pressures and selective adaptation acting on his DNA. No, there must be something else.

I wanted, no I needed to know what he willed within himself, what he demanded of himself to become the visionary leader that he has undoubtedly proved to be.

The only way to truly understand was to track his journey back to the beginning from location to location.

These locations, these reference points on the map of his story are no different than stars in the sky. Perhaps if I trace the lines and connect the dots, the constellation of exactly who he is will reveal itself to us.

So let’s go back to the beginning, to where it all started.

The very first location: Baltimore, Maryland.

Location 1: Baltimore, Maryland

Baltimore is the only place we share. I call it home. He would call it his first home.

We’ve been friends since either of us can remember. Our fates have always been tied, neither of us had a choice in the matter.

Every milestone and everything in between, he was there and so was I. Some things never change, this is one of them.

With baby blue pin-striped Steve Harvey suits draped over our tiny bones, we graduated Kindergarten like kings. A core memory.

When I look at this picture, I can see the joy and comfort of unknowing in my eyes.

His are full of adventure and self-reliance.

Clearly, he knew something I didn’t and he had much bigger shoes to fill.

And though we would be in lockstep–side by side and back to back through it all, we would ultimately walk very different paths towards the same end.

This inevitable divergence is where my ignorance begins and where our conversation picks back up.

Me: Do people even know you're from Baltimore? Do you even tell people anymore?

*I ask half joking, half sincere

Tim: Yea, I bring it up all the time.

Me: How do people react?

Tim: Well, I'm aware of the public perception so I know what they’re thinking most of the time.

Inevitably, they bring up The Wire and the things they hear about the city. I'm like, yeah it's all real. It's all true. But that wasn't my experience.

I have great parents and I come from a great household. I didn't grow up in a traumatic scenario at all. You can't really tell I’m a product of the inner city but I was born and raised there, in the same house my entire life.

My experience of Baltimore is one of gratitude and appreciation. I'm proud to be from Baltimore. I want to come back and do much, much more work.

But at the same time, I want to let the world know that you can come from an environment like Baltimore and go international with it.

As long as you have structure, mentorship, and guidance, anything is possible.

What you did before, where you come from is only one part of the equation. It's not the whole thing. Only one part.

Me: I agree.

Location 2: Washington, D.C.

After Kindergarten, Tim and I went to different schools from then on. And though we were growing up and saw each other less and less, we could never really grow apart.

There were too many sleepovers, trips to Hershey Park, cookouts, and church on Sundays to ever truly disconnect. And over time, his genius revealed itself more and more.

Whether it was selling snacks and phone cases at school or running an eBay business for gently used electronics or becoming a more than proficient trumpet player and musician, it was clear that he was deadly serious about his dreams.

Before I knew it, it was time to graduate high school. And of course, we had to celebrate this milestone together–he and I, along with another close friend.

Our friend Jeremy was off to Ohio. I was off to Rhode Island, and Tim was off to Washington D.C. to attend the prestigious Howard University.

In many ways, Howard was perfect for him–the band program, the business school, the culture, the network.

Unfortunately, all these things came in the most undesirable package: an educational institution.

Me: So tell me. What was that conversation like when you called up your parents and told them that you were thinking about dropping out of college?

How’d you explain it? How’d you justify it?

Tim: To be completely honest with you, I don’t remember but I’ll tell you this.

I say a lot of things in conversation, jokes and half-hearted sentiments. But when I sit down and really tell you my dreams and what I’m going to do, you can count it as done.

Me: I can attest to that.

Tim: And that’s the thing, it’s not up to you or anyone to believe it or accept it. It’s up to me to prove it.

*the tone of his voice drops below freezing, turning colder and more serious

When it comes to my convictions, I don’t ask for permission.

It's too late. It’s already in motion or it’s already done.

And if I’m telling you, it’s only to make you aware.

...

Part 3 of our conversation will be available soon so stay tuned! And if you would like to be featured, please reach out to me directly via my dm's.

Talk soon,

Darren K.