Meet Courtnie Hays | Business Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Courtnie Hays and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Courtnie, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
David and I have a long history of daydreaming and creative planning. We have spent countless hours together coming up with innovative ideas or business plans and prior to rOks, we had failed to put those plans into motion. It was clear from very early on that we wanted to create a family business that we were proud of but also one that allowed our kids to participate so they could learn the importance of hard work and the value of a dollar.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My career path has been quite the spider web of jobs and industries but the one piece of common ground is interpersonal relationships and community based work. Throughout college, I always worked in the service industry spending most of my time employed by Texas Roadhouse. Texas Roadhouse was an incredible company that promoted its employees based on hard work and not tenure. I worked there as an hourly employee and then went into management opening the San Marcos location as the Service manager. My original college degree was in Early Childhood education and teaching was very short lived because I realized it wasn’t all fun and creative anymore. I had this vision of painting and playing with kids all day and the public school system was quite the contrary. Two of my closest friends were nurses and I knew pretty quickly, that I wanted to become a nurse. I lived for their stories and loved the idea of the fast paced work environment that would allow me to help others. After working in the ER for a few years and staying home with our kids, I found my happy place as the school nurse at Memorial Drive Elementary, truly the greatest school in Houston. Throughout all of these “jobs”, the one thing that never changed was our desire to start the family business. One of our biggest regrets would be that we didn’t do this earlier in our life but in hindsight, I don’t know that we would have been mentally ready. I know that we are in the right mindset and stage in our life to handle the stress that comes along with business ownership.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I am truly one of the simplest people on the planet (borderline boring) so my greatest joys come from our front yard or TSA (Timbergrove Sports Association), our neighborhood ballpark. If we had friends in town, we would definitely go to an Astros game and probably stop at our new favorite BBQ spot, J Bar M on the way. For low key fun and happy hour we love “Down the street” a little neighborhood bar close to our house, Karbach brewery or even a quick stop by the rOks warehouse. I’m a fresh water gal, so for some fun in the sun, I’d definitely head north, to Lake Conroe or grab the girls for a day at Trellis. I’m recently, low key obsessed with playing 42, so really… anywhere that we can play dominoes is where I’ll be.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Wow… I’ve actually never been asked that question and in return, never really thought about it. It is virtually impossible to think of one person or thing that has been the driving force and its actually quite the opposite. When I think about how or why we’ve wound up where we are, the only think that comes to mind is our friends and family. It has truly been the ultimate group effort to get to where we are today from both, a success and business ownership perspective. From a foundation standpoint, my parents ran an incredibly tight ship growing up and made it very clear that nothing happens without hard work. Not only did they preach the importance, but they worked their butts off and were great examples of dedication and commitment for me and my brother. Throughout my education, both high school and college I was always very motivated by my athletic coaches and teammates. There was no place I’d rather be than on a field or court competing with my closest friends. Sports was always a driving force and positive influence for me and I frequently say that I learned most life lessons on the field. Post college/Adulthood is where the community and friendships transpired that have undoubtedly been our lifeline. Without sounding too much like Hillary Clinton… None of this was possible without our village and we have the BEST village. Truly INCREDIBLE people in our life that we are forever grateful for.

Website: https://www.roksusa.com

Instagram: roksusa

Facebook: roksice

Image Credits
kit peltier photography