This week on SHLTMM, hear stories of Robert (Bob) Boog and his mother Joan. My guest's mom and dad opened a real estate business in California in 1978 and Robert still runs the business today. His mom affectionately referred to him as a SOB (son of a realtor). As Robert says, "my mom was more of the readers are leaders, be creative, stay positive and say yes to adventure type." Hope you enjoy this episode.
Robert is the middle child of nine, five girls and four boys. Because of his mother's health, the family packed up and moved to California from Minnesota. The warm, sunny weather of southern California helped with his mom's chronic pneumonia. But the many lakes in Minnesota played a crucial role in Robert's relationship with his mom, one that he'll never forget.
Robert says, my mother had a sunny personality, really cheerful. She looked at real estate as a matchmaker-match people together with a beautiful home."
Joan lost her mom, Robert's maternal grandmother, when she was four years old, so she never really knew how to cook. So she didn't have the traditional family recipes to fall back on each night. However, she had a solid positive outlook and she truly knew her son really well.
When asked if he and his siblings had plenty of freedom and were off on their own and knew when to come home for dinner Robert says "everyone else kind of new when to come home for dinner. I was kind of the devious one." The thing that hurt him more than anything was when his mom would say "I'm very disappointed in you." To this day Robert says " I didn't want to disappoint my mother."
Believe it or not, it was Robert's mom who busted him for shoplifting as a young boy. Robert says "I was a master shoplifter when I was a kid. "I was always hungry" continues Boog. But my mom eventually asked me for the receipts. she knew and put a stop to it. Again, he didn't want to disappoint his mom.
Robert's a smart guy. As a kid he skipped a few grades with the support of one of his older sisters. He got a scholarship to USLA and graduated with a BA in Literature . He's written a few books, including real estate books as well as "Shakey's Madness - Does A Mental Disorder Reveal The Real William Shakespeare" and "Hang Shakespeare. Robert also likes to dabble in song writing.
As the 5th of the 9 kids, smack dab in the middle, Robert became a good negotiator. He shares some fun stories of what it was like at the dinner table and who had what chores and responsibilities.
Joan had a profound impact on her son. So much so, that he's still successfully running the business that she started way back when. She offered her son a ticket to go see the legendary sales trainer/realtor, Tom Hopkins, and it changed Robert's life. He realized that there was quite a bit more to real estate than he thought.
Fortunately or unfortunately it was out of fear that motivated Joan to start working when Robert was a teen. Due to traumatic family circumstances, she realized that she needed to get a job. If anything happened to her husband, she needed to be able to put food on the table and take care of her children.
Robert lives in Valencia, CA.
There's so much more to this story. Hope you enjoy the listen.
https://robertboog.com/-about his book on Shakespeare.
All his books on amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Bob-Boog/e/B000APFUXC%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share