Episode 48
I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with my good friend Eric Robinson, co-owner of Rise Realty, for an episode that reminded me why I started Successfully Unsuccessful in the first place. This wasn’t just another conversation about business growth strategies or entrepreneurial hustle—it was a raw, honest look at what happens when purpose, faith, and leadership intersect. Eric’s story is the kind that stops you in your tracks and challenges you to ask bigger questions about success, stewardship, and what it means to truly thrive.
Eric’s journey is as unconventional as it is inspiring. From his roots in Wisconsin to car sales and eventually co-founding a real estate brokerage, his career path was never about flashy wins or quick exits. What impressed me most was how Rise Realty came to life—not as a cash machine but as a community designed to empower people. He built a model that’s less about commissions and more about calling—right people, right support, right structure. It’s about building a tribe of servant-hearted, driven professionals who share a common vision and lift one another up. That’s real leadership.
But the part of our conversation that struck the deepest chord wasn’t about business at all. It was about life. About choosing to be home for dinner. About realizing your smartphone might be the biggest threat to your marriage. About the humbling, refining pain of a season where everything you thought was solid gets pulled out from under you. In 2023, Eric endured that kind of pruning. And instead of folding, he leaned into it. He called it the “sweet cut of the surgeon”—a painful reset that forced him back to his foundation: faith, family, and purpose. That’s the kind of insight you only get from someone who’s been stripped down and rebuilt with intention. Whether you’re an executive, a business owner, or a faith-driven leader trying to live with more meaning, this conversation will challenge and equip you. It’s not just about what you do, it’s about who you’re becoming.
