Rob Minnick, CEO and President of Minnick’s Inc.
Having a passion that ignites at the age of five and continues to this day speaks volumes about Rob Minnick and the continued growth of his family-owned and operated business, Minnick’s Inc. of Laurel, Maryland, founded in 1954.
As a young boy with a dream, drive and a drum kit, Rob always knew he wanted to be a musician. After acceptance into the prestigious Musician’s Institute in Hollywood, California, Rob parlayed his talent and drive into living a “dream come true, incredible and amazing” but admits “it’s a challenge for a career path.”
Continuing Rob said, “I was living the dream and having a blast and then it was you know I can go home. I can probably rise up faster in the music scene. I have a family business there where I could actually have a job and make some income and I don’t have to deal with all this traffic and smog.”
But this really wasn’t a tough transformation from future rock star to regular hours and routine for Rob who began working for his family in 1982. “I was already in the business working from the bottom up but knew music was my passion. I was fortunate and able to do it (go to California) and pursue that because I didn’t want to regret it. Dad was very kind in letting me do that; he was very supportive.”
Still in his mid-thirties Rob kept performing gigs and would return to Minnick’s because his father provided an accommodating environment to keep up with his passion and to continue learning the family business. 
In fact before Rob left for and came back from California, he was learning mechanical engineering for residential homes and really took a liking to that part of the business. He kept learning more and received numerous certifications which came in very handy when speaking with architects and builders.
“When I was starting to grow in learning, it was easy to explain to them because I was talking to a very inexperienced person. If you talk knowledgably, just like anything, they’re going to listen. If you try to pull the wool over their eyes and they get a hint of it you might as well forget it,” he added.
“Around 2005 I realized I’m in a family business and I have two younger brothers in the business. All of us were working in the field, each doing different things – me doing the mechanical engineering, another one concentrating on service and install – we’re all out in the field. I realized our dad is not getting any younger. One of us is going to have to come in here and learn the business.
“We had a meeting, my brothers declined and they looked at me and I said okay, I would love to do it which wasn’t hard to do. But then Rob asked, “Now what?”
Rob knew what his grandfather, who started the company and dropped out of school after the third grade, would say, “Just show up. Don’t think, how do you make it work, just show up.” “It was that old school mentality, you know just come in and do the right thing and do what you’ve got to do. And keep going, said Rob.
Rob said they had nothing put in place – no processes or anything. It was time for Rob to figure this out and he decided there must be something different than the status quo. Minnick’s belonged to associations and Rob went to a few meetings and conferences and he started to hear a lot of new thoughts. He asked his dad a bunch of questions but he had no idea what Rob was talking about.
It was Old School.
“I felt like it was something we needed and I kept searching until I finally met Tina. The knowledge expanded from there. I have known Tina since her days with The Alternative Board (TAB) and I was a member with her there,” Rob said.
These days Rob is a member of LXCouncil and as he continues to learn along with his other council members; he remains passionate about the family business and his music. With a nod to his grandfather and the Old School, not only does Rob show up but he can draw from a board of like-minded business owners and advisors.
Welcome to the New School.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
If you’re ready to take your business and leadership skills to the next level, and if you think your business could benefit from more insights like what’s offered in this article, let’s start a conversation. LXCouncil may be the perfect next step!
CONNECT WITH LXCOUNCIL ON SOCIAL MEDIA
