Romone Robinson: Master of his own destiny
Published:Friday | February 1, 2019 | 12:00 AMVanessa James/Gleaner Writer
‘Just do it’ is the slogan for the Nike brand, but Romone Robinson uses it as advice to the youth who want to be successful.
Robinson is the epitome of ‘millennial success’, in that he has done well in education by achieving a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing and a master’s in business management, and is making strides in entrepreneurship and creating a brand for himself.
According to Robinson, his drive and interest in being an entrepreneur comes from his parents who are owners of the Barbecue Restaurant, Father Bull, located in Walderston, Manchester and Greenwood, St James.
Robinson’s goal is to be the leader of the business sector. “I want to be the top entrepreneur in Jamaica, and make a worldwide impact,” he said.
He has taken well-thought-out steps to achieve his goal of world impact. With a five-year plan in his arsenal, Robinson started by creating Instagram and YouTube videos for viewers. These consist of comedy bits and parodies of popular songs, artistes and scenarios.
“The reason for starting the videos tie in with my passion for entrepreneurship,” he said. “I realised that people are usually quicker to support you if they know you, and this was one of the ways to get exposure.”
Robinson believes that if you can make people laugh, they are quicker to love and appreciate what you do.
CLOTHING LINE
As part of his entrepreneurial activities, Robinson has a clothing line under the ‘Own Never Envy’ brand.
The brand’s name was influenced by international artiste Drake’s OVO brand. “I wanted something like Drake’s OVO so I took the last syllable in my name, ‘one’, and started coming up with acronyms for it,” Robinson shared.
He admits that some of the acronyms did not make sense, but ‘Own Never Envy’ stood out and his friends liked it, so that one stuck. The clothing line currently consists of shirts, crop tops, tank tops and hats with phrases on them.
The 24-year-old, who hails from from Manchester, is also considered an influencer of the youth, and on this premise, has been the brand ambassador for a few companies. For Robinson, leading a life of success that others can use as an example is his greatest achievement to date. This achievement is also something he is very proud of. “It is a good feeling to know that people look up to me. It is a goal that I have achieved,” he stated
“I don’t look up to one specific person; successful people influence me, what they do and how they think is fascinating,” Robinson stated. “I even get influenced by people who are not well known because I look for the best in people and learn from them.”
Robinson’s advice to the youth is to stop procrastinating. “Many people may age want success, but they want easy money, and success isn’t like that,” he implored.
He further advised that the content on social media is made to look good, so that should not be followed and be used as the standard for success. “Social media make things look richer than they are so you cannot focus on that. You have to make sacrifices, work hard and be consistent.”
Robinson encourages everyone to create a plan and follow it. He shared with The Gleaner that he has a five-year plan and while he was not specific with the contents of the plan, he is happy with the progress thus far and cannot wait for the remaining two years of the plan to unfold.
Robinson’s progress can be followed on his Instagram page @oneromone and on YouTube at Rom1tv.