The Man Behind the Charity foundation: Robert Martinez and RM Cigars

I have spoken with many people throughout my years, but few have left as lasting an impression on me as Robert from RM Cigars. I am not talking about RM cigars themselves, nor about the fact that he is a veteran. I am talking about what Robert does that makes a real difference in the lives of young people. He made sacrifices to ensure that the country he lives in is a safer place, but what he did after — and what he continues to do today — is something children will carry with them for the rest of their lives. A contribution that I would almost dare to call heroic. More on that shortly.

Table of Contents

Who Is Robert from RM Cigars?

We are going all the way back to Robert’s childhood — a childhood filled with joy, and one that I believe laid the very foundation for what we today know as the RM Blue and Gold Gala.

Robert Martinez was born in The Dominican and raised in New York, where he was brought up by his grandparents.

May I ask, how come you were raised by your grandparents?

“From the time I was born my mom and dad lived with my grandparents. So from the hospital to their house. When they divorced we stayed with them. My mom remarried and I stayed with my grandparents until I left for the army. Funny part was, we lived in an apartment building in New York. My grandparents and I lived on the second floor, and my mom with my stepfather and my siblings on the 5th floor. We were all in the same area — just happened I stayed downstairs with my grandparents.”

Robert did not grow up in poverty, but he lived close to neighborhoods that were less fortunate. Seeing children who lacked the basic school supplies that most of us take for granted — I believe that left a mark on him. I cannot help but feel that it was precisely that which planted a seed for what would later become the RM Blue and Gold charitable gala, an event dedicated to helping children from less privileged economic backgrounds.

There is something important I want to highlight here, something worth sitting with. Children are easily drawn into the wrong environment, largely because of their innocence and naivety. But when financial hardship enters the picture — when poverty is a daily reality — crime can begin to look like a way out. It becomes a kind of ticking bomb made of naivety and desperation. We do not need to overwhelm these children with money to steer them away from that path. What we need to give them is guidance and a helping hand. Sometimes that single act of care is enough to give a child the strength to choose a better road, and give their parents the energy to fight harder to climb out of the situation that placed them there. When a child receives help, their parents often receive something too — a lift in spirit, a renewed sense of hope. It is equally important to acknowledge that in today’s world, things can change overnight. No one is immune. The loss of a family member, company layoffs, a business going under — any of these can push a family into hardship without warning. I have felt genuine frustration and sadness watching people look down on others because of their financial situation. That is precisely why events like the one you are about to read about matter so deeply. They do not only help children. They help entire families.

Army Here I Come — The First Experience with Cigars

At a remarkably young age — just 17 — Robert Martinez chose to enlist in the army, a career that would span nearly 20 years. Many might find it unusual to make such a life-defining decision so early, yet it is something both young people and adults can learn from. My curiosity grew. What drove Robert to choose the army so young? Does he regret it? What can civilian society take from the values the military instills? And another thought came to me: would we even know RM Cigars today if it were not for Robert’s time in uniform?

“I joined at an early age because at the time I felt it had plenty to add as far as experience to my life. I don’t feel it took anything away from my youth. If I had to do it over again I would. I’ve always said that we live in a society that is undisciplined and spoiled. I believe one of the greatest things civilians can gain from a military life is the characteristic of discipline. There are others such as time management as a great example. I believe that the average person does not do a good job of managing their time and prioritizing their lives. The military forces you to do that and without you noticing it, you implement it in your day-to-day life as a civilian. Efficiency comes down to control. Control of time, energy, and decisions.”

“My interest for cigars started in Europe. While I was stationed in Germany at the age of 18, one of my comrades smoked cigars and he introduced me to it. At first it made me dizzy but I loved the taste and at 18 I thought it looked classy and upscale.”

After completing his first three-year tour, Robert re-enlisted for another three years. As time passed and a decade had gone by, he felt compelled to continue. The years moved quickly, he says, and there is nothing he regrets.

That we in civilian life ought to practice more discipline, prioritize with intention, and manage our time more honestly — those words ring truer than most of us care to admit. Today, too many of us abandon our dreams the moment they become difficult, and blame the clock for it. But discipline is just as much about not giving up when things get hard as it is about organizing your schedule. The excuse of having no time has become something of a societal condition. I rarely see an adult sit without their phone, scrolling through someone else’s highlight reel, watching influencers build their lives on the backs of their audience. So let me ask you this: what matters more — your dreams, or watching others follow theirs?

I will share something I live by: the 15-minute rule. No matter how demanding the day has been, no matter how quickly the hours slipped away, I dedicate at least 15 minutes each day to pursuing what I believe in. On the hardest days, I find those minutes right before I fall asleep. If you have 15 minutes to scroll your phone before bed, you have 15 minutes to invest in your deepest dream. And here is the quiet bonus — after a while, you will begin to find more time without even trying. You start to rewire your mindset toward the positive without realizing it.

There is another lesson here worth naming. It is about the fear of following your dreams. A soldier runs toward gunfire, toward drones overhead, toward grenades that could cost him everything — for your sake and mine, so that we may live in safety. Yet many of us are too afraid of failure to even try. The worst that can happen when you chase your dreams is that you stumble, learn, and get back up. When a soldier stumbles on the battlefield, he may never come home. The fear you carry is internal. It is not life-threatening. Chasing your dreams is one of the great gifts life offers — and most of the time, what frightens us is simply what we have not yet learned.

The Beginning of RM Cigars

An evening at your local cigar lounge is something special. It fills with ease, good laughter, and conversation that goes somewhere real. One particular evening, when Robert found himself at his local lounge, it ended differently than all the ones before. That was the night the idea of RM Cigars was born.

“Creating my own brand was interesting. While at a local lounge I was with two other friends. There was nothing that inspired me — I didn’t have a moment because of something I saw or heard. We were speaking about life, just three guys enjoying a cigar and having a conversation. Out of the blue I said, I’m going to start my own cigar. They looked at me and said, ‘Oh, that’s cool.’ Kind of like that ‘yeah, if you say so’ reaction. I don’t think they took it that seriously at first.”

“It was a hard road because I am a first-generation tobacconist. So there is a lot of learning on the job, there are a lot of mistakes that are made, and when you are a small brand trying to launch, the consumer doesn’t give you a lot of wiggle room to make mistakes. I think the hardest part was also learning how to come up with the blends, and that is something that is never learned 100%. The great thing about this industry is that every day you learn something new — and that’s what keeps it alive.”

That evening changed everything for Robert. Starting your own brand today might seem straightforward — contact a factory, pay someone to develop a blend, and let production begin. But that is not how it went for Robert. Like most, he began with outsourcing. What happened next, however, is a testament to genuine passion and commitment to the craft. After two years of dedicated study, his first vitola finally saw daylight. That same passion drove him to open his own factory and become a Torcedor. But even that was not enough. Robert’s mastery has reached a level where companies like Rolls-Royce, Patek Philippe, BVLGARI, the Dubai Yacht Club, the major hotels in Dubai — the Marriott, SLS, The Grand St. Regis, The Shangri-La — and Glenfiddich have invited him to showcase his cigars and roll them live at their events. I am not sure what you feel reading that, but I know this: you do not stand on stages like those without having refined your craft to a point where you can honestly count yourself among the very best.

I want to step in here — and yes, I know what you are thinking, I always do. This is the moment many people give up. Most of us build our lives around the approval of others, needing validation from outside to feel worthy. But the most important thing you can do is walk your own path, regardless of what others say or believe about you. At the end of the day, you brush your own teeth, lay your head on your own pillow, and sleep beside your own partner. This is something that truly sets Robert apart — he follows his own road, no matter what. A quiet, unshakeable will to see his goals through. Even when few believed in him, he proved the world wrong, and today stands at events most of us only dream about. Never underestimate a person’s dream.

Is there something you wish cigar smokers understood better about the industry?

“I feel the average person buys a cigar, cuts it, lights it, and a lot of times it’s just a style. The average cigar passes through an average of 200 pairs of hands before that product is actually in the hands of a consumer. I think that consumers need to understand that this is a premium product that is to be honored. It is to be enjoyed with class and given the respect that it deserves. If I had to give advice to a new aficionado, it would be: take your time. There is no rush. Find the cigar — as far as size, as far as taste meaning flavor profile, and as far as strength — that suits your palate. What is good for you is not necessarily good for someone else, and vice versa.”

What gives you inspiration for new blends?

“Imagination. I think about what I want the outcome to be and go from there. However, probably most importantly, I listen to the customers. When I go to lounges I listen to three things:

What they like
What they don’t like
What they wish they had

That’s the key. Once you have those three things, imagining what to create becomes much clearer.”

This, I would argue, is craftsmanship elevated to an art form. A chef can walk into a nearby store or market and find the ingredients for a new dish. When it comes to creating a cigar, there are far more dimensions to consider than most of us could imagine. The tobacco needed may exist only in another country. It may have been aging for three to five years. Then comes the delicate work of finding the balance between each leaf — that is the art in itself. From concept to finished product, the process commonly takes anywhere from one to five years. The next time you hold an RM cigar by Robert Martinez, remember: you are holding something that began its journey years before you ever touched it. You are holding passion, and a form of craftsmanship rarely seen in any other trade.

What is your best advice for the aficionado?

“Respect construction over hype. Burn line, draw, ash, strength — a clean build keeps people smoking a cigar more than branding ever will.

Cut and light properly. Straight cut for most cigars. Toast the foot first. Take your time on the first light. Rushing the light ruins the experience.

Pace your smoke. One draw every 45 to 60 seconds. Too fast overheats the cigar. That leads to harsh taste and uneven burn.

Pair with purpose. Connecticut with coffee or light whiskey. Habano with bourbon. Maduro with dark rum or espresso. Match strength levels — don’t overpower the cigar.

Build relationships in the lounge. Keep your circle clean. Surround yourself with people who respect the culture. No loud distractions, no chaos. The cigar space should feel controlled and intentional.”

The Gala — A Foundation Against Poverty

There is one thing that truly sets RM Cigars and Robert Martinez apart. One thing that, in my eyes, elevates not only the brand well above the crowd, but Robert as a human being.

There is a sentence Robert said that reveals much about how he sees people and the world.

“There is a lot of discrimination in the world, but poverty does not discriminate. It does not care if you are from Switzerland, America, or Africa. Poverty does not care if you are black, white, brown, yellow, or green. Poverty is poverty. I never connect poverty to a specific ethnicity — I connect it to a person. That, for me, is the big picture. Ever since I was in grammar school, I have gone to church and volunteered. We have always been a giving family. I always said that if I ever find myself in a position — in whatever company I am in — I will start a foundation to give back. I know we will never be as large as the Red Cross or one of the big organizations, but we can do what we can to give. I am not trying to change the world all at once. But if I can help even one child, then all the work will have been worth it.”

“You cannot spend your entire life complaining about injustice, saying it should not be this way, and then go on with your days doing nothing about it. We spend far too much time complaining. I said to myself: I have had enough of that. We are good at identifying the problem but not at doing anything about it. I told myself — either I do something about it, or I stop complaining about it. Everyone complains about the problems in the world, but few try to find solutions. At some point, we need to stop telling the world what is wrong and start showing a path for how we can help one another — how, together, we can create change.”

“We either shut up or we make a difference.”

Some might find it unexpected — particularly those outside the cigar world — that a cigar company would be built on philanthropy. Robert owns RM Cigars and runs a Foundation to help those around him. A portion of the revenue goes directly to that Foundation.

The Gold and Blue Week

A significant part of the Foundation’s funding comes from the Gold and Blue Week — a carefully organized and multi-layered experience.

“RM Blue & Gold Week is a multi-day luxury experience built around cigars, culture, networking, philanthropy, and elevated entertainment. Hosted by RM Cigars and the Roberto Martinez Foundation, the week brings together business leaders, cigar enthusiasts, sponsors, and supporters for a series of upscale events across Philadelphia.

The experience includes the RM Golf Invitational, exclusive parties, premium cigar experiences, and the signature RM Gala. Every event carries the RM standard of sophistication, class, and opulence while supporting community initiatives through the foundation.

Blue & Gold Week is where luxury meets purpose. Cigars. Relationships. Business. Community. All in one unforgettable week.”

When I sat with Robert in conversation, a feeling came over me — the kind evoked by that legendary night when the world’s greatest artists gathered in one room to record a song for humanity. We Are the World. Fighting to make a difference in people’s lives the way Robert does is something that should never be taken for granted. It must be celebrated. He does not do it for himself. Not for his country. Not for his neighbors. He does it for strangers in need. The RM Gala has previously raised enough funds to partner with Hands Across, giving young people the opportunity to buy books to study, to go on field trips they could never have afforded, to simply be children — rather than being forced into adult hardship before their time. These are the acts I wish more people in the world would carry out. If everyone did their small part, the world would change profoundly.

What also stood out — Robert’s understanding of poverty revealed something even deeper about how he sees humanity. No person on this earth, regardless of ethnicity, is worth less than another. At a time when questions of race and inequality so often dominate the conversation, Robert simply shows up and demonstrates that we all carry the same value. He stopped complaining and started doing. We know the problems. Now it is time to show the way.

Robert, I genuinely do not know how to thank you enough for the opportunity of this interview. Before this, RM Cigars was a brand with cigars. Now, RM Cigars is a brand with deep meaning — a meaning I connect to hope for change in the world, and hope for a better life for the younger generations. A brand that deserves to be celebrated for its sacrifices and for lighting the way for others.