fbpx
Connect with us
Apply Now

Community

How Eric Oberembt Went From Jail To Inspiring Others

They say it’s never too late to change your life. But, at times, you may feel that things will never change if you’re struggling with addictions, divorce, or being broke. Maybe you have a failed business and have lost hope of becoming successful. The fact is that it’s never too late to change or turn your life around. Do you believe that? 

Read on to learn how Eric Oberembt went from jail to becoming a successful entrepreneur and an inspiration to others. 

Eric’s journey 

Today, Eric is a successful owner of multiple businesses. He is the owner and CEO of D&M Roofing and Siding in Omaha, NE. Eric is the co-founder of “Roofers in Recovery,” a non-profit that sends people with addiction to treatment centers to get the help they need. He is also the author of two books, a coach at “Commercial Roofing Academy” and a co-founder of the National Vendor Network “Advanced Roofing Technologies.”

Eric hosts a podcast, Be Authentic or GTFO. He is a keynote speaker and has spoken at D2DCon, and SRC Summit. This year, Eric has a Mainstage Keynote at Roofcon and he has his own keynote where he teaches leadership and helps companies build a cult-like following within their business by using the “TEAM” method. 

Eric is a father, a diver, and a golfer. This is a man who is dedicated to helping others by sharing his personal journey. 

Addiction & Jail 

Eric grew up with his grandparents and learned about the roofing business from them. He started working on hot tar roofs from an early age and eventually began selling. By his mid-twenties, he owned 50% of his grandfather’s business. When his grandfather passed, Eric bought the rest of the company and started his entrepreneurial journey of scaling his business and learning how to help others. 

Although Eric was making progress in business, he was battling alcoholism. After two failed marriages, he got deeper into addiction and ultimately risked jail time. Eric started selling cocaine at age 28 and got arrested for a 4th offense DUI while narrowly dodging drug charges. He became open to seeking addiction treatment because he faced significant jail time of one to five years. He knew he wouldn’t do well in prison, so his lawyer recommended that he go for treatment. 

Eric says that he zoned out in the first two weeks of rehab because he didn’t want to be there. However, he got an ‘aha’ moment when he realized he was in rehab. It hit him that normal people don’t go to rehab. They don’t get DUIs, and they don’t go flushing down cocaine at the precinct so that they don’t get additional charges. At that moment, Eric became willing to try and work on his recovery. 

Overcoming obstacles 

Like most people who complete addiction treatment, Eric relapsed after he completed therapy. He remembers that he experienced resentment towards something, which led him to go out with a friend and start drinking. The road to recovery was fraught with challenges. Yet this is not the only obstacle that Eric had to face. This entrepreneur had to overcome a failed business, losing people in business and having to rebuild, divorce, being broke, and losing a close family member. 

Yet through all these challenges, Eric transformed his life and launched a platform for helping others. He has been sober for over 13 years. As the co-founder of the non-profit, Roofers in Recovery, Eric has managed to send over 30 people to treatment through this non-profit. 

Becoming a success and an inspiration 

Eric is an inspiration to many people as his transformation proves that anyone can change their life. His podcast, “Be Authentic or GTFO,” proves that Eric is an entrepreneur who values authenticity. He encourages anyone facing addiction or other obstacles, to be honest with themselves by facing the truth about their lives. 

Eric is an inspiration to those struggling with alcohol and drug addiction. He tells his story through his podcast and invites honest speakers to his show to cover the issue of recovery. Aside from overcoming addictions, Eric is a highly sought-after keynote speaker and business mentor. He coaches other roofing company owners on how to get into the commercial roofing space at the “Commercial Roofing Academy.” Considering all these accomplishments, plus his positive effect on his community, we can conclude that Eric Oberembt truly wants to help others. 

You can learn more about Eric by connecting with him via his socials:

 Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, YouTube

Continue Reading


Copyright © 2022 Disrupt ™ Magazine is a Minority Owned Privately Held Company - Disrupt ™ was founder by Puerto Rican serial entrepreneur and philanthropist Tony Delgado who is on a mission to transform Latin America using the power of education and entrepreneurship.

Disrupt ™ Magazine
151 Calle San Francisco
Suite 200
San Juan, Puerto Rico, 00901

Opinions expressed by Disrupt Contributors are their own. Disrupt Magazine invites voices from many diverse walks of life to share their perspectives on our contributor platform. We are big believers in freedom of speech and while we do enforce our community guidelines, we do not actively censor stories on our platform because we want to give our contributors the freedom to express their opinions. Articles are not commissioned by our editorial team, and opinions expressed by our community contributors do not reflect the opinions of Disrupt or its employees.
We are committed to fighting the spread of misinformation online so if you feel an article on our platform goes against our community guidelines or contains false information, we do encourage you to report it. We need your help to fight the spread of misinformation. For more information please visit our Contributor Guidelines available here.


Disrupt ™ is the voice of latino entrepreneurs around the world. We are part of a movement to increase diversity in the technology industry and we are focused on using entrepreneurship to grow new economies in underserved communities both here in Puerto Rico and throughout Latin America. We enable millennials to become what they want to become in life by learning new skills and leveraging the power of the digital economy. We are living proof that all you need to succeed in this new economy is a landing page and a dream. Disrupt tells the stories of the world top entrepreneurs, developers, creators, and digital marketers and help empower them to teach others the skills they used to grow their careers, chase their passions and create financial freedom for themselves, their families, and their lives, all while living out their true purpose. We recognize the fact that most young people are opting to skip college in exchange for entrepreneurship and real-life experience. Disrupt Magazine was designed to give the world a taste of that.