Meet Robert Ruvalcaba | Pet Transporter & Expedited Package Deliverer

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

Hi Robert, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
The balance is what I love the most. Work and life are one. I’m available 24/7, and if I’m not working, I’m with my family. And if I’m not with my family, I’m working. No pressure. Able to take the time off when I want to, and able to put in as much work as I want, when I want.

What should our readers know about your business?
In 2011, after get paid pretty good working at a hospital as an emergency room receptionist, I had enough. Enough of the boredom, forcing myself to go to an environment I hated, and being around people who were content with just being another random employee. I’ve always been creative and always had aspirations to do something more with my life. No more 9-5’s or office jobs I told myself. Found my first driving job on Craigslist – as a process server/court courier. From then on I was hooked. It wasn’t easy, risking my life delivering papers in the hood and also in upscale neighborhoods where I would daydream of one day owning a house like that. I turned down many social events and spent many sleepless nights searching for better job opportunities and applying for them until the sun came up in the morning. Fast forward to 2016, where I started working for a start up courier company. They filled our heads with the hopes of becoming the next UPS & FedEx and that we would be able to work our way up the ladder. Less than 2 years later, they lay everybody off and move to Texas because it’s cheaper for them. Disappointed and disillusioned, I told myself I would never work for anybody else again and that I had the experience, tools and passion to create something on my own. Inflate 2019, I invested in myself and bought a Ram Promaster Cargo/Sprinter Van. That my was my start from scratch. I had a tough times getting jobs and didn’t want to pay to market myself. I partnered with a company that did home deliveries of boxed meal prepped dinners. It was cool, but the money and work there was limited. The food came from Northern California, and I seen the trailer trucks delivering it to the warehouse and wondered if they had opportunities for cargo/sprinter van “linehauls”. It took me a couple months, being persistent (and annoying) the warehouse supervisor about if their are any available opportunities yet and if I could speak to the boss about it. Finally I received a small piece of paper that had the details for my first long distance run from Stockton to Buena Park. I did that with ease and soon got to 2 runs a week. After a while I got a third run in, this one was out of state to Glendale, Arizona. Things were going well, pay was good and then a couple months in – COVID-19 hit. I was actually on a run from Stockton coming down the 5 freeway when I saw the news on social media about Rom Hanks getting infected. Now, for most people and industries this was bad news. A lot of people passed away and lost their jobs. I was considered an essential worker since I’m in the trucking industry. People were scared to go to the grocery store and what do you think they did? Order more and more of these food and grocery boxes that I was delivering to Southern California. Things were going so good, but too good as a matter of fact that I was outsourced by the volume. Instead of the weekly 3 or 4 pallets I would bring down, the demand tripled and would be brought down by a semi-truck since they wouldn’t fit in my van. So I lost those runs just like that. Back on Craigslist I went and saw an ad for a long distance per transportation. Was hesitant about it when I got the call back for a ride along, to the east coast, with someone I’d never met and in the beginning stages of COVID. Not to mention being away from my kids from the first time, which ended up being 5 days which seemed like an eternity. I completed the journey and jumped in the pet relocation game in the Summer of 2020. After that juggled in emergency airplane part deliveries. And shortly after that also fit in imported international freight deliveries regionally. Today those 3 fields are the base of my business and I balance those to the best of my ability. Some lessons I’ve learned along the way are to stay humble, to stay in my own lane (literally and figuratively), and to trust the process. I have to stay down and believe in myself because 99.9 percent of the people around me, family and friends, don’t. People who graduate college or who join the armed forces get all sorts of praise, celebration parties, applause and all that, and in my experience all I get are “look at what Robert’s doing now” or “look at he turned out” or this or that, lots of looking down and speaking down on this brand I’ve build with blood, sweat and tears. F*ck ‘em! To Live & Drive In LA isn’t going anywhere and will be the vehicle to give my kids, my family generational wealth. And it doesn’t mean monetary all the time, definitely the time of being able to move freely how I want with no boss breathing over my shoulders, with no same routine daily forced hours, and being able to vacation whenever I want without accumulating enough hours or having to deal with seniority.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
In Los Angeles, I would recommend In-N-Out. Haha. One of the reasons I could never leave the city. Or the state of California. Weather wise it’s also beautiful. Any of the beaches in the South Bay would be worth a visit. And in the nighttime even a nice stroll at the Redondo Beach Pier. Not a big drinker, but if you’re into the clubs and bars I would say Downtown Long Beach or Hermosa Beach for the locals, for tourists tourists there’s always Hollywood and DTLA. If you’re into sports there’s hockey and basketball at the Staples Center, football at the Sofi Stadium, baseball at Dodger Stadium, and for soccer as a Galaxy fan I can only recommend you catch a game at Dignity Health Sports park. Also, Los Angeles is clutch for concerts and festivals. ThTs where most of my money goes.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My parents for instilling me with my work ethic. My Grandma for always keeping me in her prayers. My kids for giving me the strength when I’m tired. My beautiful, soon-to-be wife Yojana who understands the vision, holds the house down when I’m on the road for days at a time due to this spontaneous enterprise I run, and who always has the my back, and if she doesn’t have my back it’s because she’s by my side passenger seat with me on our out of state adventures helping me drive along the way. And who the shoutout goes towards Hip Hop. It saved my life. Tupac was the inspiration for the name of the business, I just flipped it, To Live & Drive In LA. And Nipsey Hussle was the foundation and one who motivated me as a creative to start this business. Ownership. Cut out what needs to be cut out. And run my own marathon, which I am.

Instagram: toliveandriveinla

Facebook: Toliveand Riveinla

Yelp: To Live & Drive In LA

Youtube: To Live & Drive In LA

Image Credits
My dog Champ. My family. My work.