Ep. #192. Joe Roberts, from Skid row to CEO

Joseph (Joe) Roberts also known as the "Skidrow CEO" is a Canadian motivational speaker, author, youth homelessness advocate and co-founder of The Push for Change Foundation. Roberts experienced drug addiction and chronic homelessness as a youth and entered drug treatment in 1991. Roberts worked in sales and web development before he became an inspirational keynote speaker. Roberts is the author of four books.

Joe Roberts was born November 25, 1966 and was raised in Midland, Ontario. Roberts’ father died in 1975 when Roberts was 8. Roberts struggled with low self-esteem. At the age of nine, he started using drugs and quickly moved on to alcohol, marijuana, LSD, cocaine, and eventually heroin. He left home at 15 due to family conflict and the inability to get along with his stepfather.[1] After being imprisoned at 16, he dropped out of Barrie North Collegiate at 18 and began regular intravenous drug use. At 19, Roberts relocated to British Columbia and found himself homeless on the streets of Vancouver's Eastside, pushing a shopping cart and collecting recyclables to support his drug dependency. Shortly before Christmas in 1989, Roberts contacted his mother (who was located in Midhurst, Ontario) and she helped him relocate back to Ontario. After a suicide attempt, prevented and intervened by Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Constable Scott MacLeod. Joe entered the Alcohol and Drug Intensive Treatment Program in Belleville, Ontario in 1991.

Roberts then applied and was accepted into the Business and Marketing Program at Loyalist College. He graduated in 1995, and then returned the following year for the Business Sales program. He graduated on the Dean’s list and won the Laurie H. Cameron Memorial Award for academic excellence [2] with a combined GPA of 3.94. Due to success in business, Roberts received the Ontario Premier’s Award for College Graduates (Business)[3] and as a result an annual bursary was created in Roberts’ name at Loyalist College: The Joe Roberts – Courage to Change Bursary.[4] This bursary is awarded to a mature student who has overcome life obstacles and returned to school.[4]