Bleier Outruns Tacklers

 

For Rocky Bleier, passion and hard work have led to success. They are what earned Bleier, admittedly never blessed with great size or speed, a football scholarship to Notre Dame, where he helped lead the team to a national championship and earned a degree in business management. Passion and hard work are also why he won four Super Bowl rings with the Pittsburgh Steelers after a stint in Vietnam and a long rehabilitation from leg wounds received from rifle fire and grenade fragments. And they are why he owns two small businesses today-Rocky Bleier Inc., a motivational speaking and marketing firm, and RBVetCo (www.rbvetco.com/), a nine-person general contracting company with offices in Pittsburgh and Chicago.

 

"Running a small business is all about passion-discovering what you want to do and taking a leap of faith to actually do it," he says. Bleier learned from his parents. "My dad opened a bar/restaurant at the age of 25. He borrowed money and took a leap of faith. It became his life and his passion." Bleier waited tables, washed dishes, and cleaned out the bottle chute. "I met a lot of great people working there, but I also met the would'ves, could'ves, and should'ves of life. I made up my mind right there never to look back and say 'if only.'"

 

During his NFL career, Bleier formed Rocky Bleier Inc. to handle his speaking requests. After his football career ended in 1980, he became a partner in an investment banking firm and a sports broadcaster but lacked passion for either. "If you don't want to be the very best at what you do, then you have to ask yourself what you're doing in that business."

 

While continuing with his passion for public speaking, Bleier sought additional challenges. "If you don't challenge yourself, you become stagnant," he says. Eight years ago, he started a development company with family to build and purchase cell towers. Four years ago, he started RBVetCo to take advantage of government contracting opportunities afforded to service-disabled, veteran-owned companies. That company does business with Veterans Affairs, the Corps of Engineers, and the Department of Defense.

 

Bleier says that being a celebrity has not made business any easier for him. "Sometimes you are not taken seriously, and expectations are definitely higher." He says that he faces the same challenges as every other small business-health care benefits, payroll taxes, competition, capitalization, and bonding-but he credits his success to hiring and empowering good people and having exceptional business practices.