{"id":1055,"date":"2019-02-16T22:38:00","date_gmt":"2019-02-16T22:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/preprod.realtrends.com\/blog\/2019\/02\/16\/leon-robinson-iv-tenacity-drive-ambition\/"},"modified":"2025-03-13T02:14:11","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T02:14:11","slug":"leon-robinson-iv-tenacity-drive-ambition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/preprod.realtrends.com\/blog\/2019\/02\/16\/leon-robinson-iv-tenacity-drive-ambition\/","title":{"rendered":"Rising Above : An Interview on Tenacity, Drive & Ambition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leon Robinson went from living a hard life in Baltimore’s inner city to become a successful, ambitious college graduate to Coldwell Banker real estate professional<\/em><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Leon Leon Robinson\n<\/div>\n

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Growing up in the inner city of Baltimore, life was far from easy for Leon Robinson<\/a>, a 29-year-old sales associate with Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate in Baltimore. In fact, most people would find it difficult to rise above; yet, Robinson did so, but not without some hiccups along the way. \u201cMy parents were addicts, so they struggled not only with independent responsibilities but with taking care of their children and providing them the necessities that they needed to live a stable life,\u201d says Robinson.<\/p>\n

In fact, Robinson says, they moved from shelter to shelter, even living in abandoned buildings, before landing in Section 8 public housing. \u201cWe were living in the projects and got evicted. The rent was only $100 a month and my parents didn\u2019t have the means to pay for it.\u201d That\u2019s when the stability Robinson craved came in the form of his half-sister and her mother.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember vividly [sleeping] in that abandoned public housing unit for at least one night, and then my sister’s mother and my sister, thank god, stepped in. My sister, Kishawna Robinson-Bryant became my legal guardian,\u201d he says. At that time, his father was in rehab (he was an alcohol and drug abuser) trying to clean up his life. He couldn\u2019t take care of Robinson because \u201che was battling his own demons.\u201d Robinson\u2019s mother wanted him to live with his father.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up in the inner city and not having both parents together working to build a solid foundation was something that, at a young age, I didn’t really have. When my sister, who was only 20 years old and had a baby of her own, and her mother, Bernadette Brown, took me in, they were there for me at an instrumental time in my life. If it weren\u2019t for them, I would have gone into a foster care group home.\u201d However, the truth is Robinson\u2019s outlook was responsible for much of his success. \u201cI always knew that there was something better for my life,\u201d he says. He also knew he wanted to be a businessman and graduate from college. And, he focused on doing well in school and playing basketball, which served as a positive outlet for Robinson.<\/p>\n

Going to Prison<\/h4>\n

\"LeonHis insistence on being successful was what got him to University of Maryland, Eastern Shore in 2007. However, according to Robinson, he was making the same bad choices he had been making most of his teenage life\u2014selling drugs, hanging out with the wrong people and participating in risky actions. It all caught up to him in 2008, when he was 19 years old and charged and convicted with attempted robbery. \u201cA few guys from Baltimore and I went to rob some people, and it backfired on us.\u201d He was a sophomore in college, partying and gambling. After losing money, the group decided to rob people to make up for the loss.<\/p>\n

He was ultimately sentenced to three years in prison. Robinson says he didn\u2019t expect to get prison time since it was his first offense. While there, he says, he reflected on his life and stayed away from the gangs and drugs on the inside. \u201cI was paroled after six months for good behavior and was on home detention for 90 days,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

You would think that would shock him into good behavior, but says Robinson, it was very difficult to bounce back. \u201cI was still making bad decisions while out on parole, but I knew the pathway for me would be to get my credentials and [graduate] from college.\u201d So, finally, in 2011, Robinson made a choice. \u201cI finally understood that my life isn’t just about me. It’s not about my selfish desires, my selfish decisions. I realized that I went through this experience and it gave me the motivation to start from the ground up and finish what I started,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n