🎙️ Episode 3: From No Degree to 3 Thriving Companies | Shiggy Rosenberg’s Jewish Grit Story

no college education, being thrust into the business world, and figuring things out until you get to a point of success where you own three mega companies in different professional fields. That seems almost impossible. Listen to the story of Shiggy Rosenberg this week on Jewish Grit. [Music] Today we are extremely honored to welcome Shiggy Rosenberg. >> Morning. How are you? >> Got it. So now let's fast forward 17 years after you start working. Oh my gosh. Running three companies with Hashem's help. Just share with us a little bit what Shaggy Rosenberg's day looks like. >> So I'll tell you it evolved a lot over the years. When I started out, I was getting up early and learning every day was important since I was coming from that. learning Torah. >> Torah every day. I'll tell you an interesting thing about that. When I was in in Yeshiva in Israel, um before we had a Passover break, one of the rabbis gave a speech. He said, "Look, you're going home. One thing you're spending all this time in yeshiva and your connection to uh to learning. What's going to be? You're going to go a whole month and you're just going to like space out and it's going to take you a month or two to get back into it when you come back." Promise yourself, not even that you're going to learn every day. make yourself a promise that you're going to open a book every day just that you're going to crack the binding of the safer of the book. And I was like, this guy's so smart. He's not telling us to to learn anything. You just commit to yourself that you're going to open the book. And right then and there, I thought to myself, okay, that I could do, you know, and I think I think I I have a streak going almost since then. >> You've cracked the book every single day since that day. >> Yeah. That's amazing. >> It's inspiring. >> Yeah. I may have missed a couple of days but like very few and as it happened over that over that that vacation I remember it was like 2:00 in the morning one time after a day trip and I came home I was like oh man how am I going to crack a book now right I can't I can't study now come on it's crazy so I went to the the shelf the bookshelf and I and I just cracked the book and then I was like oh come on I can't just put it away without looking at something that was the message and it really carries through all over the years. Sometimes it was very light learning, sometimes it was heavier learning. Started learning the doth and I've been doing it. I'm almost on my almost >> one page of TAT every single day. And you're going strong. >> One page of Talmet every day. Come hell or high water, man. You know, that's the message. That's the idea. It's a matter of consistency in that in that endeavor. But the idea is that every day you're connected somehow some way. And there's always messages that are relevant. Do you feel that your definition of success, you know, changes as your life changes as your level of professional success changes? >> Definitely changes. You know, things are are put in perspective. I like to say that I'm I feel like I'm very connected to to God and I live a very spiritual life. No matter what you're trying to do, you end up getting backed into a corner or put in a box. Hashem wants you to accomplish a certain thing, you it's going to happen. And if your your goals as a child were to be a billionaire because that's what you think is success and you know you start working towards it and then you realize gh it's just not worth it right I'd much rather you know have a good relationship with my family you have to try to juggle that right and so the definition of success definitely changes I for one always wanted to finish Talmud and and Bible studies and all that stuff I want to be able to go upstairs after 120 and say I got through all of it. I don't know how much I know it. I don't know how deep, but at least I at least I put in the effort. So, that's that's a big deal for me. And it's I just chip away at it. I just chip away at it. I don't know if you even realize what you've been saying the last 25 minutes. You told us that when you were younger, you could barely get through a books. Books were not your thing. And you just keep coming back to how much you want to get through the book and you want to read those books. I do. So what is it that is there a difference when it comes to like to Torah and to spirituality that you read easier? >> Great question. I don't think of it as reading. I'm not reading. I'm not just committing things to memory. To me, you know, the Torah aspect of things is very for me very much uh something that has to resonate. I love learning about what we call hashkaf and >> philosophy. >> Philos one in particular I love perkas >> ethics of our fathers. Great book fathers. I you know if somebody asks one thing that they should pick up and study there's something in there for everyone on on a child's level on an adult level the amount of self-improvement that you could you know find and source in there and just you could apply it to everyday life tons of stuff to answer your question I don't consider Torah be reading >> it's has to be an understanding and has to be a connection and you know it resonates with me when I have when I hear a great vert or when I hear a message or a thought >> a thought that is really like wow okay cool I could that's why it makes sense that people do that or why that's why we things in the world a certain way every little thing of learning Torah is about connecting to Judaism and how we live our lives so that's really what it is for me we segue just to drop into your professional life >> okay sure >> you work for your father a little bit and then at some point you start on on your own >> did you just open a shop you just you know one day decide hey I'm doing something or you start working for somebody else or with somebody else. >> Okay. So, when I moved back from Israel before I went to work for my father, I was like, you know, I think I just want to like get rich quick. Maybe I'll do some real estate, make some deals, flip some properties, and, you know, doesn't happen like that. I have yet to see or find anyone who makes it rich quick. >> Even people who it seems like they did, they didn't. I took a real estate course. I was going to become a real estate agent so I could collect broker fees. It lasted very short. So, it's never it's not even on the radar. But for this conversation, it's it's important to note that I I didn't just jump in, you know, to, you know, to get a job by my father. I I am an entrepreneur. I have entrepreneurial spirit. I don't take no for an answer. I like to think big. In the process, I went to work by my father, but it wasn't necessarily the place where I would end up. And even there, I I jumped in. I got rolled my sleeves up. I got into it 100%. you know, when I decided to go to New Jersey, I said, "Okay, I'm going to do that thing, that home health business in New Jersey." And to be honest, I was super bored. Um because to start a business, there's not much going on. I have to hustle the same things in every day, day in day out. So, I started looking for other opportunities within that realm. And it led to this opportunity and this type of business with within the home health arena. And I remember calling my father and asking him about what do you think about that opportunity? what about that opportunity? And he he said, "But focus on the one thing. You can't, you know, >> be all over the place. >> Be all over the place." >> I said, "Yeah, I could I could be I could be all over the place." I think that's one of the things that young people think they're invincible, both with their health and their ability to do what older people say they can't. I don't know if I'm ready to admit that I can't be everywhere, but um certainly um you know more laser focus on one or two things leads to more success in that specific area. So I started out doing home health. I got into some behavioral health. I got into skilled nursing through the home health business. We ended up buying some property. We ended up hiring people, expanding the business. And um now, thank God I have a team of people around me that I rely on heavily to do all the work that we do. And that's pretty much the the story of my professional life. It's littered with what we say hashkahaka stories. >> Divine providence. >> Oh my gosh. You can't make stuff up. It's just if you were writing a TV show or something like that, you wouldn't be able to make up some of the things that had to fall into place. I I talked to some friends sometimes about this particular thing for people starting out. Is the economy extremely difficult to get started doing things the right way? Industries in general. And you know I'm in a multiple regulated businesses and it's extremely difficult to start from scratch. It's almost impossible. It begs the question about like how do you do that? Like just how do you get started from scratch? The answer is what we say ala natural impossible. >> You got to do yours and hopefully things will fall into place. >> I can't explain it. I can't explain it. I meet people all the time who went to college and school and if you're trying to start a business that will not prepare you at all. You just got to, you know, roll the dice. just go with it and hopefully it works out. >> You know, our audience is young professionals, people just starting their career. They're you maybe 17 years ago. What would be your best piece of advice you could give them? I have not known one person who found his success or the thing that he calls his success in the thing that he set out to do originally. So, if somebody thinks that they're starting out as a young professional because they went to college for some sort of degree and they're going to get a job in finance, I could guarantee you right now that in 10 years or less, by the time you know you interview them, right? And you ask them, say, how was tell me about your career? Guarantee it has very little to do with what they think they're starting a job at now. That's just the way the world works. I don't know why, but maybe has something to do with what I was saying before about the serendipitous um things that happened, you know, over the years. You just end up Hashem always wins, right? You end up doing what you're meant to do. >> So, don't stress or don't sweat because >> Yeah. I mean, well, that's that's for everything in life, right? Don't stress, don't sweat is uh is a Jewish motto. We call it the right, you know, trust in God. >> We say we say too blessed to be stressed. >> Okay. Totally. >> I've heard things like that. and let go and let God and all these you know you know catchphrases >> but I think that people worry and have anxiety about where where that where they will end up and I think it's easier for people to get started if someone came in whispered in the ear don't worry it's going to work out right so you know my my father-in-law told me when I was you know just starting out he said you know that saying all's well that ends well right if it's not well it didn't end yet right That's that's a message to a young guy. You know, it all well that ends well, but it's going to be rough along the way. >> Got it. I'm sure you do a lot of business in the Jewish world. And I'm just You live in a very Jewish world, especially if you're involved in healthcare and all those other things. If I had to ask you, what makes you most proud of being Jewish? What's that thing that you're just like, "Oh my gosh, I'm so happy. I'm so proud. I'm a Jew." It's very interesting. I'll tell you, I actually don't do that much business with with many Jews. I do a lot of business with a lot of Jews, but it's not the core of my business. And there's a big world out there, like a really big world out there. And I find that I interact with people all the time that are unaffiliated, don't even know what Jews are a lot of times, never really had a relationship with a Jew. And I think that coming across to them, making an impression on them as just that you're normal, that you're you're that you could have a normal conversation with them, that you're that you're not out to lunch or crazy, I think is very meaningful. There's a little bit of a stigma unfortunately that you have to like kind of jump around. It's sad that it's like that, but the truth is we are blessed. And as soon as you have the opportunity to work with people, they see it. And if you're if you're true to what you're trying to work on, whether it's healthcare or real estate or whatever you're doing, generally speaking, Jews are considered to be trustworthy and good actors and good businessmen and or women and to be honest and a pleasure to deal with. I think that we have to be able to be honest with ourselves and who we are. uh we have our limitations and our imperfections but you know we approach every conversation like this with authenticity and I think that that resonates with people and it makes me proud that I don't have to sell you a Saab story of why you should you know do business with me I have something to offer and I hope you see that not give me the opportunity to convince you right >> but I think the Jewish element really shouldn't even play a factor right as far as business goes thank you so much for opportunity wishing you continued success in every single area of your life. Thanks for being here today. >> Amen. Pleasure. >> Thanks a lot. >> Thank you for listening to Jewish Grit, an Ol mentorship podcast. At OM Mentorship, we believe that everyone needs a mentor. What better way is there to tap into your personal and professional potential than with a Jewish mentor at your side. Learn more at ol.org/mentorship. Don't forget to keep listening on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.