Confidence. That is exactly what Steve Robinson, a small town boy from southeast Oklahoma, possesses.

Steve Robinson was raised in Bokchito, Okla., where he worked at his father’s grocery store and developed a strong sense of responsibility and business knowledge. During high school, Robinson showed Limousin cattle and served as president of the Bokchito (now called Rock Creek) FFA chapter. In 1981-82, he served as the Oklahoma FFA’s southeast district vice president. He is a 1986 graduate of Southeastern Oklahoma State University.

“The biggest thing I got out of the FFA was confidence,” said Robinson.

Today, Robinson lives in Columbia, Maryland, where he is CEO of The Cleaning Authority, a multi-million dollar corporation. Robinson bought the company in 1989 when it was a small house cleaning business, local to Howard County, MD. He steadily increased the business from 400 houses to 800 houses in less than 10 months. Today, he has turned that small company into a huge corporation that services 31,000 households across 37 states. He employs 2,500 people.

Robinson has taken advantage of a growing opportunity. One of the most dramatic shifts in the American economy over the past few decades has been the growing number of working women. Last year, nearly 10% of all U.S. households paid a professional service to clean their home. Within the next few years, the U.S. Department of Commerce expects 80% of 2-income households to use an outside housecleaning service.

Robinson has achieved success in the cleaning industry through innovative and creative managing practices and a high interest in technology. The Cleaning Authority invests over a million dollars in the informational technology industry on an annual basis to develop technology that increases the productivity and efficiency of business.

Robison knows that his success depends directly on the success of his employees and franchise owners. “Any deal I make, I try to make it a win-win situation for everyone,” said Robinson. “You will succeed if you can make the person on the other side of the table succeed.”

He knows that his business has become a success through the hard work of himself and others; however, he believes he could still be happy without any of the success. Robinson said he knows people who make $250 dollar a week, and they are the happiest people in the world. “At the end of the day, all of the money doesn’t make a difference,” said Robinson. Steve is happily married and he and his wife are busy raising three daughters.

Robinson has not forgotten the support he received as a young FFA member. He has generously contributed $15,000 to the Mission That Matters campaign to help the Oklahoma FFA Foundation in the effort to hire a full-time executive director.

From the grocery store in Bokchito to a corporation headquartered in Maryland, the theme to Robinson’s success has been hard work and a strong desire to succeed. He learned many of these values watching his father deal with the customers and vendors in Bokchito. He took advantage of his on-the-job training and created his own success.

“Being your own boss, you’re either going to succeed or you’re going to fail,” said Robinson. “Failure is not in my vocabulary.”