Rob Thompson is the founder of Value Check Cashing, based in Tulsa, OK, and has built a career spanning over 13 years in the financial services industry. A graduate of Oral Roberts University with a Bachelor’s degree in Organizational Communication, Rob is highly skilled in designing systems that enhance human capital development and drive organizational growth. His passion lies in providing resources and strategies aimed at fostering community development, making him a key player in initiatives that support both individual and collective progress.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
A typical day for me starts with waking up around 4 am to drink water, read the Bible and pray for spiritual development, exercise, read books or do a course for personal development, and then connection time with family while eating breakfast before everyone is off to work and school.
When I get to my office, I typically start working with our current community initiative (purpose), before jumping into our marketing and sales review (revenue drivers), and then operations (maintenance activities).
This helps me to make sure I get the things I value most done first in case something comes up to change things later. I usually have a time of silence to decompress and review the day, before reconnecting with family before and after dinner to end the day.
How do you bring ideas to life?
When I get an idea, I write it down, then I bounce it off of a few friends I trust to get some outside perspective. I take all of that info and I decide if I’m going to pursue it. Once the decision has been made to pursue an idea, I spend a small amount of time mapping out a rough draft of the entire idea with most of the detail focused on the next steps. Then I start taking consistent action, evaluating the plan as I go for any modifications that need to be made along the way.
What’s one trend that excites you?
Our industry is expected to grow from $29 to $44 Billion over the next four years.
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
Doing my most impactful/productive activities first thing in the morning helps me to make sure I’m always moving the needle on what’s most important to me and helps me feel accomplished even if my day gets hijacked in the afternoon.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Ask for help more. It’s better to be humble, admit you need help, and get things right than to be prideful, make a bunch of mistakes, then have to recover later.
Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you.
Prioritizing purpose or fulfillment projects that don’t directly correlate to increasing revenue will actually cause your revenue to grow.
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
I connect with my mentor weekly to openly share what’s going on in my life so that I can stay on track to hit my goals.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
When I feel overwhelmed, I usually do a combination of the following: pray, read my Bible, talk to one of my best friends, take a nap, or call it a day and start again tomorrow.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
One strategy that has helped me grow my business has been having a team that challenges me on my goals, sees my financial books, and looks at my calendar to see if my actions match up with what I say I want.
What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?
I accumulated a bunch of debt and got overleveraged. I had to be honest with someone and ask for help. They helped me get the right mindset to fight through the tough times, create a plan to get back on top, and tools, so I don’t get in the same situation again. The lesson I took away from it was to ask for help.
What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
My iCalendar is my productivity tool. I plug in my activities for the day at specific times and set alarms for when it’s time to move to the next activity. This helps me stay on task and accomplish more than I would have if it wasn’t written down somewhere.
What is the best $100 you recently spent?
It wasn’t $100, but this story stands out. My son recently lost a tooth. We typically leave $1-$5 under the kid’s pillow when this happens. When we looked under his pillow, he had a note next to his tooth asking us to leave him $20. I had the $5 in my hand but was so impressed that he asked for the $20, I went and got the $20 and left it under his pillow. Used it as a lesson to not be afraid to have a ‘Big Ask’.
Do you have a favorite book or podcast from which you’ve received much value?
One podcast that’s giving me some entertainment value lately is called Blurry Creatures. It’s an 80’s style vibe a deep dive into stories of Big Foot, UFO, and other creatures with a theological twist.
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
It’s not new, but I saw the Snowpiercer movie recently. It was like the Hunger Games before the Hunger Games. I enjoy Sci-Fi/apocalyptic thrillers.
Key learnings:
- I always try to bring a community development element to whatever I find myself doing in my career.
- Mentorship and accountability have been a major key to my success.
- Don’t be afraid to have a ‘Big Ask’.