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| About Book |
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From the Barrio to the Boardroom
Reaching out to help those who are chasing the American Dream
Author's name: Robert Renteria as told to Corey Blake
IB.com Catalog Number: 291
Description: "Don't let where you came from dictate who you are, but let it be part of who you become." These are the words of successful entrepreneur Robert Renteria, who today is Executive Vice President/Co-Founder of WashPro USA, but who grew up as an infant sleeping in a dresser drawer.
This poignant and often hard-hitting memoir traces Robert's life from a childhood of poverty and abuse in one of the poorest areas of East Los Angeles, to his proud emergence as a business owner today. Along the way, Robert paints a vivid portrait of the numerous people who influenced his life, both good and bad - on one side, his loving and supportive mother, who always believed in him; and the US Army, which showed him that persistence, respect, integrity, commitment and honor could lead to great rewards.
On the other side, he talks about the forces that dragged him down - gangs; doing and dealing drugs, an alcohol and drug addicted father that abandoned the family, a sometimes abusive stepfather and climbing the broken ladder of corporate America.
Today, Robert gives back - eternally grateful for how his own life turned around. This is a man who works with people who need a break, who takes their hand and shows them how to get out of the proverbial gutter, how to have the kind of life he has. From the Barrio to the Board Room is his way of reaching out to all the people he can't meet personally. It's smart, practical self-help advice wrapped up in the exciting and inspiring, sometimes funny, and always gripping story.
Only someone who actually came from the streets, someone who knows the specific obstacles that they face, can show them how to clear their path. The book drives home the point that there's nothing that any American - Latino or otherwise - can't accomplish through persistence, hard work, heart and soul.
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| About Author |
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From the Barrio to the Boardroom
Reaching out to help those who are chasing the American Dream
Author Name: Robert Renteria as told to Corey Blake
About The Author: Robert Renteria started his life in the Barrio of East LA, sleeping in a dresser drawer. When Robert was 3 years old, his father left the family in search of heroin and alcohol. At 6, Robert’s head was crushed by a carnival ride and he was forced to recover in a school for handicapped children.
Robert’s mother remarried a man who used Robert as a punching bag. Robert dropped out of school, ran with gangs, was shot at and stabbed and did and dealt drugs. But when Robert was 17 years old and his real father died on skid row, Robert went back to school for his GED and joined the military.
After honorably serving our country for seven and a half years, he climbed the ladder of Corporate America and became Vice President of a publicly traded company on the New York Stock exchange before starting multiple successful businesses. Robert has told his story in “From the Barrio to the Board Room” and has now dedicated his life to helping break the vicious cycle of poverty through hard work, determination and education.
He is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the From the Barrio Foundation and works with the English and Spanish versions of his book and curriculum in partnership with the Chicago Public School District and schools, youth prisons, churches and community based organizations around the country.
Robert has been profiled on Univision, WGN Adelante Chicago, WGN Midday News, on Chicago Public Radio and in papers such as La Raza, Hoy, Reflejos, and El Conquistador.
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| Excerpts |
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From the Barrio to the Boardroom
"I was born in East Los Angeles on October 13, 1960. My parents were factory laborers. Growing up in the early 1960s was a very humble time, and the focus was just on working, trying to pay the bills, and putting bread on the table. We lived in a stuffy single-room bachelor apartment with one small bed and a chest of drawers that my mother used as a bed for me. Our stove was a hot plate, and our entertainment consisted of either watching the big black hairy roaches climb the walls or my mother swatting flies with a rolled-up newspaper.
"I never truly came to know my father, who abandoned us when I was only three years old. The only legacy he left our family was a pile of bills and a couple of empty bottles of booze. In the end, the womanizing, drugs and alcohol would kill him at the young age of thirty-eight.
"My mother had a very rough time during my infancy. She worked at many different factories at night and then took on small jobs in the early mornings to make additional money. She tackled jobs on weekends, such as painting and cleaning people’s houses; she even did some janitorial work scrubbing floors and toilets.
"My mother worked as many hours as the factory would allow her, which sometimes meant a double shift of sixteen hours. The minimum wage back then was a measly $1.25 per hour, and it was difficult for her to keep up with the finances, let alone keep any food in the house, especially while my father was still around. As a drug addict and an alcoholic, he would steal things—pawn or sell whatever we had of any value to buy drugs—but because my mother loved him immensely, she tried to keep this dark and humiliating side of our lives a secret by putting up with my father’s addictions. There is no explanation as to why love allows you to tolerate someone else’s unacceptable behavior.
"My mother did not know when she got married that my father was doing drugs. She was very young, naive and smitten with his good looks and smooth-talking ways. My grandparents had sheltered her; she was raised believing in blue skies and butterflies and was clueless back then. Two or three months went by before she figured out what was going on. Eventually, she found vials of heroin and needles, wrapped in a plastic bag and hidden in the toilet tank and also taped behind the dresser. My mother was scared and too embarrassed (who wouldn’t be?) to tell anyone about the heartache we were going through." 11 |
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| Testimonials |
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From the Barrio to the Boardroom
“From the Barrio to the Board Room is a genuinely inspirational book which I wish all Latinos could read (and many whites and African Americans would do well reading it too). In some ways it reminds me of Booker T. Washington’s classic Up From Slavery and John H. Johnson’s Succeeding Against the Odds.”
-Professor Russ Nieli, Princeton University
“The book From the Barrio to the Board Room was the most motivating book I’ve ever read. This book has taught me that even though I’m small, I can hold a big place in this world. Also I have learned that there are no shortcuts on the road of life and if I take a wrong turn there is always a way to get back on track. I love this book and plan to read it again and again.”
-Sarah Bailey, 11 years old
“From the Barrio to the Board Room is an inspiring tale, bringing the quintessentially American story of triumph over economic and social adversity to a new generation.”
—U.S. Congressman Bill Foster
“For me, it is not even a book anymore…it’s a key! Through those pages, minds, possibilities, and opportunities are being opened at rates unimaginable!”
-Clayton Muhammad, Founder, Boys II Men mentoring program, Aurora, IL
“The beautiful thing about art (and this book is art because it came from the heart) is that even while you sleep, it changes people’s lives. Robert has left another mark on the world that no one can take away. Now we just have to reach as many people as possible, so we can let them know that it’s never too late to make a difference in their lives — whether you’re a young Latino, like Robert, or a middle-aged person who just feels like he hasn’t accomplished much. Robert’s message is universal, and it will endure.”
-Ken Kamien, Police Officer, City of Chicago Police Department
“Renteria’s book is truly inspirational. The book provides a clear, honest and personal example that can motivate young people to take the bull by the horns. Renteria’s story provides a call to action for those who live on the edges — whose success depends more than anything else upon their willingness to work hard, to accept challenges, to do the seemingly impossible, and to never, ever give up.”
-Trish Oberweis, Ph.D.m Associate Professor, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Dept. of Sociology and Criminal Justice Studies
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