Roosevelt Purification has loved video games from a young age. But it wasn’t just the gameplay of his Nintendo NES that hooked Purification. He was intrigued by other aspects of gaming. Purification has now taken his love of video games to a new level. Roosevelt Games, LLC is his new start-up that is preparing its first product for the marketplace; and Purification couldn’t be happier.
Purification’s life hasn’t been just about video games, however. An engineer with NASA in the United States, Purification is building his dream business in his free-time. Although it doesn’t seem he has much of it available.
Purification is also an accomplished author. In October 2017, Purification published his book, “5 Pillars of Success.” and it has received raved reviews. It is the success he has enjoyed in life and business that Purification is now passing on to others.
Now, with Roosevelt Games, LLC preparing to unleash its first game onto the public, Purification sat down to speak to Totalprestige Magazine about his life, career and the future of his great new start-up.
Roosevelt, please let us know about Roosevelt Games, and what led you to create the company?
Roosevelt Games, LLC is a game development company I started in Maryland, USA. We are very new in the market and currently operating with just two developers and a few freelancers. At the moment, we are focusing on creating our first title, “Priyanka Chopra vs. The Zombies.” It is an action-packed, role-playing game, where your goal is to survive and do whatever it takes to fight off the zombies. We will be releasing it on Android and iOS devices by the Fall of 2018.
I conceived the idea to create my own game development company very early in my life. But it didn’t come full circle until recently.
When I was six or seven-years old, one of my uncles gifted me the Nintendo NES console on my birthday. And that’s when my love for gaming started. But it took a serious turn when I was around 11; I started playing a video game called “Black and White” by Lionhead Studios. And that’s when my obsession began to play games, make mods and, most importantly, create a fansite for it.
Building a website was much more complicated back then, and I was a kid, I couldn’t afford to hire someone to make me a site. So, I took the initiative to get into IT, learn computer programming, software design, animations, which eventually led me to work for NASA, and now I am back to where it all started!
If my uncle hadn’t gifted me that console, if Peter Molyneux never made “Black and White”, I wouldn’t be here today. So, in a way, video games can change someone’s life and shape your destiny. I started Roosevelt Games, LLC to make awesome games, to give the same amount of excitement I felt as a child and hopefully, our games will change someone’s life for the better someday!
“Priyanka Chopra vs. The Zombies.”
Please let us know about your book “5 Pillars of Success” and where our readers can purchase it?
5 Pillars of Success is a self-help book I wrote to help someone who wants to do great things in life, but has no clue how to go about doing it.
In this book, you will discover what sets a successful man or a woman apart than the failures, what motivates them, how you can set targeted goals, how you can be more productive and what you can do right now to deal with any negative experience.
Currently, you can get 5 Pillars of Success on Amazon.com in paperback, Kindle or an Audiobook on Audible.com.
You have a strong entrepreneurial spirit. Roosevelt, our readers would love to know more…
Almost ten years ago, I read a blog post by Matt Heaton; the president of Bluehost.com. He argued that entrepreneurs are born not necessarily made. Back then, I didn’t take it too seriously. I was not like other kids in middle school, high school or even college.
In middle school, I was making custom t-shirts from Cafepress.com and trying to sell them to my middle school friends; I created affiliate blogs to earn money from Google Adsense & Clickbank, I used to provide free website hosting to gamers, created a photoshop tutorial website and published numerous articles on various subjects.
While I was interested in those things, my immediate friends were going out, camping, doing fun stuff and doing whatever ordinary people do. I am not sure who or what motivated me to be so different.
But now when I look back at those things, I realized that Matt Heaton was right. That burning desire to create a community of my own, to recognize an opportunity, to give quality content or service to help someone, and working day and night with no regards to own health, was all because of entrepreneurship in my heart!
Roosevelt, what have you learned about yourself running your own businesses?
I used to be a perfectionist. I needed everything to be perfect before I would show it to the world or share it with my friends or family. It delayed my success significantly and even stopped me from taking action.
Over the years, I learned to have more faith in other people, because they are the real experts and you don’t have to do everything on your own. It is okay not to know everything, and it can change your life when you ask for help.
What has been your most rewarding professional experience?
Getting a chance to work at NASA Goddard in Greenbelt, Maryland has been a gratifying experience for me. However, NASA wouldn’t be possible, if Leonard Becraft of Vantage Systems Inc didn’t give me an opportunity to work for them after I finished high school. My colleagues back then, Leonard Becraft, Ronald Almeida, Garth Ogle and Emmanuel Cephas pushed me to my limits regarding technical skills and supported me significantly regarding my career choices. So, overall, I feel very blessed to get acquainted with them at an early age. They were not just my colleagues, but acted as my mentors as well.
How do you find inspiration?
My inspiration comes from Mars. No, not really. Sometimes I get inspiration while talking to someone or from some other medium. I am a big fan of the movies, games and I read a lot as well. And you will always find something that will grab your attention or spark an idea. Sometimes, I want to create something better or incorporate a plan with my spin on it.
In some dire situations, I use creative thinking tools to create my inspiration or to come up with ideas. Read the book Thinkertoys by Michael Michalko. You will never look at any problem or a challenge the same way ever again.
What is the most challenging part of your work?
Game design or IT related work requires a tremendous amount of dedication and technical skills. With new technologies, new devices and fierce competition, there is always someone setting that next bar. So, the primary challenge we have is to keep ourselves educated with the latest technologies.
What do you have your sights set on next?
Currently, my focus is only Roosevelt Games, LLC and the games we are building. So, releasing “Priyanka Chopra vs. The Zombies” to the mobile device is the priority. And recently, we started testing with HTC Vive for VR Gaming. Thus, AR or VR is something we want to explore soon.
Were you ever influenced by other entrepreneurs?
Absolutely! People like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Grant Cardone, Tony Robbins, Eben Pagan, Frank Kern and Brendon Burchard helped me greatly through their talks and their training programs.
What is a day in your life like?
I tend to wake up early in the morning and if time permits do transcendental meditation. I try to do meditation daily, but I usually see its benefits when I get overwhelmed or stressed out. Afterwards, I head to NASA and do my eight hours there. Next, I get home, take a break and get to work again. So, typically for Roosevelt Games, LLC, I am checking our plans to review our goals, tasks, make adjustments, work on 3D-modeling or game design, and take a break for dinner. After that, I read or listen to audiobooks related to business, marketing or a technical book related to game design. I tend to keep my weekends for my family and try not to do any work on the weekends.
What makes you smile?
Love and support I receive from my wife and my family make me smile. No matter how bad things get or how far behind I am with my goals, if they are happy, I already won.
What scares you?
I grew up receiving lots of love from my family, uncles, aunts, and cousins. And my wife is to die for! So, waking up having nobody around, all by myself scares me the most. Being alone can give you serenity, but I prefer a little chaos.
What has been your greatest achievement?
At the time of doing this interview with you, I’d say getting the opportunity to work for an organization like NASA is one of my most significant achievement. I wasn’t born in the US. We arrived here after my dad won the Diversity Visa. If I were still in Bangladesh, I wouldn’t be where I am today, let alone working for NASA or perhaps even starting my own business. So, coming to the US, getting an education here, and being able to put my name on NASA is a significant achievement for me and also my family back in Bangladesh.
What is your secret talent?
Photography! I am quite good at taking photos, cleaning them up in Photoshop and telling visual stories.
Which historical figure do you most admire?
Leonardo Da Vinci. He was a polymath, and he excelled at everything he touched. The drive, the work and the things he achieved with no access to the Internet and the present day technology, still puzzles me.
Roosevelt, do you have any hobbies?
I enjoy creating instrumental remixes of popular music and love cooking steaks.
What are you never without?
I am never without my Phone. Other than that, I also carry a pocket prayer book and a rosary in my wallet. God works in mysterious ways, and when he’s literally with you, you will do great.
Choose two of your favorite quotes and write them here.
This is a tough one. But I think these two quotes influenced me very early in life.
“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it, you will land among the stars.” – Les Brown
“Whether you think that you can, or that you can’t, you are usually right.” – Henry Ford
Instinct versus expertise: Which is more important and why?
I want to say both, but I think expertise nowadays has more weight than your instinct alone. Intuition can help you make careful decisions, but without knowledge, you won’t be able to survive in today’s marketplace. So, if you want to win in today’s market and be the best, you have to aim for expertise.
What advice would you give to anyone starting a new business?
I believe the best advice I can give anyone starting a new business right now, is that you must fully commit yourself to your business. Starting a business might take a lot less time, but you need serious commitment and dedication to see tangible results. Working more than 12 or 14 hours to support your business shouldn’t surprise you. Learn the art of marketing and salesmanship, and pitch your ideas to various investors early on to gain that critical skill.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
I want to add that I am very grateful to you and the Total Prestige Magazine for doing this interview. I hope that your readers will benefit from my experience and if you want to stay in touch, you can find me on twitter.com/roosevelt or my blog https://roosevelt.pro.
For more information on Roosevelt Games, LLC please visit the company’s official website https://rooseveltgames.com.
