Born in Shreveport. Robert earned a degree from Dallas Bible College. Returning home, he joined Core Lab in 1976, a business that ventured out into the oil fields to retrieve 60-foot core samples for lab analysis. In September of 1981 he started his own enterprise with a business partner, Dan Farmer. Their Delta Core Analysis was located at 222 Spring Street. Eventually, the company grew to seven employees. Two of them, Dale Hall and Scott Martin, bought the business in 1999.