About Robby.

Hi, I’m Robby White, husband to Kim, proud father to Elle & London, steward of The Nine and SmartSource Solutions, co-founder of myCast, and host of Portland’s White House.

I envision a world where every person coming out of homelessness, addiction, or incarceration finds belonging, healing, and the dignity of meaningful work, because every person is worth rebuilding. I’m called to nurture people’s talent so they can make a meaningful impact on those they serve, and my mission is to live in alignment with Jesus’ teachings in all that I do.

Through The Nine and SmartSource Solutions, I strive to create amazing jobs for incredible employees who leverage their skills to design a life they love. And through SproutWorks, our venture studio of mission-aligned businesses, we’re building companies that employ, equip, and elevate people coming out of homelessness, addiction, and incarceration, starting with Portland’s White House, a historic estate where every booking funds restoration.

Origin Story

You might be wondering how alleviating houselessness became my vision for the world. Maybe you think it sounds a little crazy and totally impossible—trust me, at first, I did, too.

Matthew 19:26: “With God, all things are possible.”

I didn’t start as an entrepreneur determined to transform our nation. I founded The Nine for the same reason many solopreneurs do: to earn money on my terms, do something I love, set my hours, and have the time freedom to be there for my family. Looking back, all my business ventures, from vendor credentialing to clothing companies, were mostly about me: MY American Dream: my house on the lake, my cars, my business, my success.

That all changed one summer morning in 2010.

I was getting ready for church at our home in Tuscaloosa when I audibly heard God say,

“Through the means and resources I bless your business with, you will alleviate houselessness in this country.”

When God speaks, I aspire to listen. I began helping the unhoused in my community, finding temporary homes, and trying my best to live God’s message. Mostly, though, I was an enabler, hurting instead of helping.

I had no idea how to change people’s lives in this way, and for years I was overwhelmed, frustrated, and discouraged. After all, who was I to fight this epidemic?

Then a crisis much more significant than my spiritual one hit. The COVID-19 pandemic brought life to a screeching halt and made Kim and me rethink everything. In March 2022, we felt called to leave Tuscaloosa and take our family of four onto the open road. We had no idea where we were supposed to go, only that we were supposed to go. That June, we sold our home and everything that didn’t fit into our RV, and we volunteered our way through 28 states.

During those long hours of driving, I devoured audiobooks. Rusty, our Marketing Director, told me about “Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools.” The book struck a chord instantly, reminding me that prayer is powerful, reconnecting me to God, and reminding me of the message I’d received - to alleviate homelessness in America.

I found the book so life-altering that I encouraged my wife and kids to read it. They prefer paper to audio, so one night in April 2023, parked in Redding, California, Kim, Elle, and London read “Chapter 2: Be Still.” That night, all three of them broke down and cried. Everything we were doing was so much fun, but it was exhausting.

My kids are the great pride of my life. They know what they value and who they are, and they told me they, too, were ready to be still. Together, we agreed that when we got back from Alaska in September, we would slow down and focus on the few cities we had decided would be good places for us to move: larger cities with homeless partnerships we had volunteered with. The very next day, we headed out of Redding, and just up the road in Weaverville, our truck’s transmission went out. We crawled our way into an RV park there.

When I checked in at the front, an older woman looked me dead in the eyes and asked if I believed in Jesus.

I told her I did, and she said, “God has a word for you. Be Still.”

Through my kids and a total stranger, God sent a message - change the plans, slow down, be still. Our family was stranded in that RV park for almost 3 weeks, searching for a replacement truck so we could make our next move. It just so happened the one we finally found was in Portland, so London and I managed a ride there to pick it up.

On our way out of Portland, witnessing tent after tent along the street filled with people without houses, I heard a voice again.

“This is where you’re meant to be.”

As soon as we returned to the RV park, I told my wife about this gut feeling. The week after Easter 2023, we rolled into Portland to visit for a while and explore being still in an unknown city, letting go of all our plans once again.

Kim and I had planned to finish our trip in Alaska that September and then narrow down where we’d settle. I’d planned to be an entrepreneur just long enough to sip mai tais in retirement. We’d planned to leave Portland after 2 weeks.

But as the saying goes ...

“If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.”

Now, Portland is our home, and though I look forward to mai tais and sandy feet one day, there’s far more than mini umbrellas driving me to grow my businesses now.

Within a matter of weeks of deciding to be still, I met the leadership at CityTeam. I shared my vision, and we’re now working diligently to bring it to life. The Nine has grown tremendously since then, including acquiring SmartSource Solutions, driven by my renewed clarity on what this growth means, not just for me and my American Dream but the dreams of hundreds of thousands of people like me.

People like me who need someone to serve and see them as equals. People like me who’ve fallen on hard times. People like me, ready to serve the world through their God-given talents.

People like us.

That’s what SproutWorks is all about, built on a simple belief: every person is worth rebuilding. Not charity that manages need, but enterprise that ends it. Our goal is nine Do Good Industries businesses by 2030, starting with Portland’s White House, a 1911 estate in Irvington that’s now a home for belonging, healing, and meaningful work.

First, one city, then one state, then one country.

This time, it’s not my plan. It’s His.