Bob Roark's Story

Bob grew up in a small farm community in Colorado, USA, son of a TV repair guy, not a farmer. His father also owned a Radio Shack, which is where he got his first real touch with technology; in specific, computers. His father sold computers and Bob was instantly drawn to them. Not many people had them and those that did usually preferred playing games, but not Bob. He wanted to learn how they worked and began writing Basic programming. He was the proverbial “computer geek” in the basement—before it became trendy.

Then in his sophomore year of high school, the US economy took a bad turn and his father lost his shop. The experience jarred Bob, forcing him to contemplate his own future. Things could happen that were beyond his control, and that didn’t settle well with him. He decided to really apply himself and ended up graduating high school and then two weeks later, also graduated with an Associates Degree in Electronics from a local college.

Two weeks after graduation, Bob hit the road, eager to make his mark. Taking advantage of the nice summer weather, he began working as a golf pro shop assistant and worked at a CompUSA store that opened up in the off-season. That job brought him back to what he was most passionate about—computers.

As Bob’s positions in the field of technology shifted over time, he recognized that opportunities that he was qualified for with his current experience, were not ones that he could actually obtain because of one major factor—he did not have a bachelor’s degree. Bob wanted a job as a Technical Manager for his employer at the time and during the interview process for the position, the managers told him that he would only be hired if he completed a degree. Bob had a long history of on-again and off-again attempts at school. He’d go a half a year and then take time off. It was hard and there was always something “more pressing” that came up. But he wanted this position and the degree was a requirement, so he made it work, creating an arrangement in which he’d get that degree while working, and was even able to qualify for tuition reimbursement for his efforts. He was on his way.

It wasn’t easy, but he did it—and he wasn’t opposed to continuing his education and earning an MBA, so he did that, too. The result was, as he describes it “wow, the doors started opening—suddenly my experience and my degrees were giving me the opportunities I’d been working toward through my entire career. It was amazing.” Long gone were the days of being held back because he didn’t have a piece of paper.

Since then, Bob has gone on to earn over 25 technical certifications and has won multiple awards for his leadership efforts at each organization and across several disparate industry’s as well. He believes heavily in providing opportunities that give back to the community, elevate his staff, peers, and the industry as well. He has created multiple career development programs, internship development programs and mentorship programs that have resulted in his colleagues’ successful attainment of hundreds of technical certifications, countless career promotions, salary increases, and earning academic credit towards graduation of both high school and college programs. 

After completing multiple successful projects and growing his organizational purview and oversight, Bob was approached by a book publisher to share his knowledge in written form. Bob agreed and he co-authored “The Success Blueprint” with the legendary Brian Tracy and a group of leading professionals from all around the world. The book immediately soared to bestseller status and Bob was hooked. He understood that writing books and sharing his knowledge and experience at conferences allowed him to compound his efforts in helping others achieve their goals by reaching a much larger audience in a fraction of the time. 

Fascinated by the art of service management, Bob has spent the past 25 years delivering services in multiple industries and collaborating across all business lines to solve real-world problems. In his work, he has discovered some straightforward patterns for successfully delivering a no-nonsense approach for organizations to mature, gain a competitive edge, and take their service and support culture to the next level.

He recently wrote  Collaborating for Success: The Future of IT Service and Support Culture to help organizations understand how to successfully modernize enterprise service programs, optimize processes and efficiency, transform experiences and drive business results by empowering people and fostering a culture of collaboration and engagement.

As a global thought leader, Bob regularly speaks at industry events on innovation, collaboration, and successful service delivery topics. He is an AXELOS Ambassador, recognized as one of America’s PremierExperts™, and an MBA graduate of Western Governors University.