Meet Rob Howe | Entrepreneur and Person with Diabetes

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rob Howe and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rob, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I recently took a quiz on a financial app that was supposed to gauge your risk tolerance. I scored a 10 out of 10 on the scale of comfort with risk, which I think is probably right. When you start a business and don’t have the luxury of seed funding or outside investors, you have to get comfortable with the idea of risk. In a services business, you often are working on good faith that the work you do will get you paid, but especially in the beginning there’s a lot of uncertainty around that. In moments like those, for me, I try to imagine the worst possible scenario. If everything went terribly, and I experienced the worst possible outcome, what would that look like? I think it was Balzac who said “Our greatest fears lie in anticipation.” So if you force yourself to really imagine what the worst possible scenario looks like, often it’s not so bad! So my risk when starting Recreation and Diabetics Doing Things was “Well, if these fail, I can go get a job somewhere and be fine.” That didn’t sound so bad, so I assessed that risk as low, so it’s all about perspective. I journey of 1,000 miles starts with a single step, so when people ask me for advice on risk my advice is usually to stop overthinking and get started and you’ll learn from experience very quickly one way or another. Those are the risks that I really love – where there’s a big opportunity in front of you and it’s up to you to go get it.

What should our readers know about your business?
I think there has always been an entrepreneurial spirit in my family. Both my parents have been entrepreneurs at different times in their careers, and I think growing up in that environment normalizes concepts like starting your own business or working for yourself or having a creative idea and running with it. In 2017 I co-founded my ad agency Recreation Dallas with my business partner Sterling Hayman, even though on the surface there was certainly no shortage of advertising agencies, especially in Dallas, but we felt that we could build an agency that was different enough to carve out some space, and that the market was big enough for us to bring our vision to life. I often think of the rifleman’s creed when I think of our agency “this is my agency, there are many like it, but this one is mine.” And I think Sterling and I really embody that concept – we’ve worked to create the agency that we want to work for. Is it easy? Absolutely not, but all things business are made easier when you have the right partner, the right family and the right team around you – and I’m lucky to have all three. I wouldn’t be anywhere without my wife Erica’s support. For Diabetics Doing Things it’s a bit more straightforward – when I was diagnosed with Diabetes in 2005, the internet was still really emerging and social media had not peaked, so it could be very isolating to live with Diabetes. In 2015 I set out to tell as many diverse stories of people with Diabetes doing the things that they do, in hopes that when someone who is diagnosed with Diabetes in the future googles “can you do X with Diabetes” they find an interview on my site that gives them hope and inspiration. We’re proud of the way we’ve worked to change some perception around what it’s like to live with Diabetes and I have big plans to do more in the local Dallas community as well. Biggest lesson in entrepreneurship is that no one has it completely figured out. Everyone is making it up as they go for the most part, so don’t overthink your business or stress over decisions. Be decisive and take action and follow it up with hard work and perseverance and inevitably it will lead you somewhere.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Things are a bit different post-COVID, but here are some of my favorite spots for someone visiting Dallas for the first time: 1. Perry’s Pork Chop Friday – lunch at Perry’s on Friday is a staple in my personal and business life. It’s one of the best restaurant deals you can find and I think it embodies Dallas: world class dining, great atmosphere and cultural melting pot. Avoid Perry’s to your own peril. 2. Deep Ellum – I lived in Deep Ellum for 6 years and spent most of my 20’s jumping from comedy shows to restaurants to bars and back. Start at Dot’s for Happy Hour and see where the night takes you. 3. Sandwich Hag – the name says it all. This restaurant has become one of my favorites because of their “no assholes” policy. That, and they have some of the best Vietnamese food I’ve ever had in my life. 4. Reunion Tower – Sure, it’s a tourist trap – but it’s one of the best out there. Go get a sky high view of all. of Dallas’ neighborhoods and learn a little about each of them in the process. 5. North Park Mall – What do we do better in Dallas than shopping and dining? I’d say those are our chief exports. North Park has it all, as well as an incredible collection of fine art – where else can you go shopping amongst Warhol and KAWS? 6. The Rustic – nothing says Dallas like a cocktail on the patio and the Rustic has been a staple in uptown for nearly a decade. Listen to live music and catch a vibe while you down a Hot Chicken and Cheese sandwich.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have stood on the shoulders of giants throughout my life. The people around me set me up for success in almost every way imaginable. It started with my parents Rob and Anita Howe, my brother and sisters, coaches, teachers, special shout out to my business partner Sterling Hayman and my dear friend Tanya Conovaloff who introduced me to the Diabetes community.

Website: www.recreationdallas.com and www.diabeticsdoingthings.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/robhowe21

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robmhowe/

Twitter: twitter.com/flyyabetes

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwX-O45TSe4cBWsjdjk8mog

Image Credits
Shot by Erica James Correas