A REAL LIFE RAGS-TO-RICHES

One man’s rise from poverty to entrepreneurship

By Stephanie King

For Robbie Odom, growing up in South Central Los Angeles was not as black and white as portrayed in movies like “Boyz N The Hood.” South Central Los Angeles consists of more than just gangs, drug dealers and crack heads.

As a son of a single mom living in a cramped, one-bedroom, one-bathroom house with six women, Robbie knew that when he grew up, he wanted a different life for himself. That included a big home with multiple bathrooms and preferably in what is known today as the Black Beverly Hills.

In the 1980s when Robbie was growing up, the only examples of making it out of the hood for young Black men were through sports or entertainment. Robbie was no athlete; however, he was a talented drummer and focused his goals on obtaining his bachelor’s degree in music. This would prove to be his ticket out of South Central, a steppingstone to traveling the world and into a future of financial stability and multiple home ownership.

Robbie was born in 1962 to Anna Davis, who primarily raised him as a single mom while his father played an intermittent role in Robbie’s life. Robbie describes him as an absentee father.

In early memories, Robbie recalls living with his mom, grandmother, two aunts and cousins, six women in total, in a small, one-bedroom, one-bathroom house in South Central Los Angeles. There were many days when food was scarce and, due to lack of space, the children slept on a makeshift bed under the dining room table. Money was scarce, and it was difficult for the women to make ends meet.

Davis worked as a clerk in an office and commuted in her car every day to Orange County. She eventually enrolled in a low-income first-time homebuyers’ program and saved $2,000 to buy a three-bedroom, onebathroom home in Watts, California. This was a turning point for Robbie and his family.

Witnessing his mother buy a home without help from his father was the example that would set the tone for his future successes. For Davis, it was important to provide a better life for her young son.

“I knew I had to provide something more for Robbie. I never looked at it as sacrificing. As a mom you just do what you must do without any regard for self,” Davis said.

Davis would prove this repeatedly throughout Robbie’s childhood. Robbie recalls the time his mother took her entire tax refund check to buy him a set of drums.

“I’ll never forget the time my mom bought me a set of drums for $300, which was a lot of money at the time. I knew she couldn’t afford it, but she knew how much I wanted them, and she believed in my talent,” Robbie said.

To this day, Robbie recalls that gesture with admiration and pride for his mother.

Robbie attended Locke High School and joined their world-renowned band as a drummer in the marching band.

This led Robbie to pursue a career as a musician. He was accepted and attended University of Southern California and majored in music, which was made possible through a music scholarship, student loans and financial aid.

One semester before graduating, he was offered the opportunity of a lifetime- to join the

Disney group in Japan and perform as a drummer. Although he was hesitant to go before finishing his degree, his mother convinced him to take the gig.

“School will always be here. You won’t always have the opportunity to go to Japan and do what you love,” Davis told Robbie.

Robbie took the gig and spent the next nine months in Japan. When he returned to the U.S., in the mid-1980s, the crack epidemic had taken over and drum machines were putting drummers out of work. Robbie quickly realized that things in his old neighborhood had changed drastically, and he would not be able to make a decent living as a drummer here in the states.

Robbie returned to USC, finished his bachelor’s degree in music, and began working as a social worker trainee for LA County. After a few years with the county, Robbie returned to school to obtain his master’s degree in social work from University of California, Los Angeles, and eventually worked his way up the ranks to Division Chief, earning an annual salary of $125,000.

With both degrees under his belt, and while maintaining his day job with the county, Robbie wasn’t done. He knew he wanted more for himself and his family.

Robbie went on to obtain his real estate brokers license and eventually purchased his first home in Ladera Heights, California. Ladera Heights, Baldwin Hills, Windsor Hills and View Park are affectionately called the Black Beverly Hills.

Historically, Black people were redlined and not allowed to purchase homes in Beverly Hills, California, a predominantly white area. Historic redlining in the United States was a systematic practice of denying financial services to lowincome and non-white communities which ultimately enabled racial segregation.

Black people created their own Beverly Hills, and to this day, these areas are filled with affluent Black families who take pride in their neighborhood.

This is where Robbie always envisioned himself living, after all: this is where he saw his favorite legends buying homes. Everyone from Magic Johnson to Tina Turner had homes in these areas at one time or another.

This was Robbie’s way out of poverty: real estate combined with the six-figure salary. Robbie’s portfolio grew bigger and bigger. Today, he has nine properties, including apartment buildings and an impressive stock portfolio.

Robbie has always been passionate about passing on his knowledge to others. His focus is with Black Americans. Robbie holds weekly meetings with a group of friends and family members, which includes his youngest daughter, Amani Odom, who is 30 years old.

“My dad is the smartest person I know, I’ve learned so much from him and have benefitted from his knowledge and guidance”, said Amani.

Robbie’s motto is “I don’t want to be the only one benefitting from what I’ve learned. This only works if I bring others along on the journey.”

Not one to just talk the talk, Robbie recently brought his friends onboard his latest venturean apartment building purchase in Hawthorne, California.

“I could’ve purchased this by myself and reaped the rewards, but I wanted to bring my friends into the deal so that we can all benefit,” Robbie said.

There’s so much to be said for Robbie’s story, a real life rag-to-riches. The wealth gap between Black and white Americans is wide.

This is largely in part due to the generational wealth that white Americans benefit from while Black Americans do not.

“Generational wealth refers to financial assets passed by one generation of family to another, simply put, those who inherit generational wealth have a significant financial advantage over those who do not,” according to a 2022 Investopedia article.

The fact that Robbie has been able to generate his own wealth that will be passed down to his children and his children’s children, creates generational wealth for the Odom family for years to come, breaking the generational wealth curse that so many Black Americans face.