It’s only 85 miles from Brooklyn, New York to Bethlehem, but to Robert Burns, it’s a world of difference.

“We were middle class, living in the hood,” Burns said of growing up in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

Life was often rough, and his life took some dips of his own making, but today Burns is owner of the Bethlehem-based Back to Life Flooring Company, a fitting name, as faith in God and a positive attitude are pillars of Burns’ life.

“Faith is a big part of my life – you have to keep the faith. Nothing happens without God,” Burns said, adding that faith played a big part in turning things around in his life.

Burns shared his story on a recent April morning at the Bethlehem home of the Reverend Jack Steltzer, pastor of Rosemont Lutheran Church, who started out as a customer when Burns was recommended to him, and has become a good friend.

Burns recalled as a fourth grader, he was in “smart classes” and did well in school, and dressed nicely in his older brother’s old clothes. His dad owned restaurants in Harlem, and his mother went to fashion school and is an interior decorator. His parents still live in Brooklyn.

Then there were the kids who hit and threatened the fourth-grade Burns, wanting him to bring them money. His dad and his brother and his friends chased the boys, and they didn’t return to school until two days later.

“In fifth grade, a guy named Sean mushed me in the head and said, ‘You’re a punk,”’ Burns recalled. “My older sister said I had to hit back.” Twenty people followed him home and Sean put him in a headlock. Burns screamed and his mother, who was at a nearby laundromat, heard and said, “That’s my boy.” She hurried to the scene, Sean let him go, and she told her son, “If you don’t whip his behind I’ll whip yours.”

“That changed my attitude,” Burns said.

As an eighth-grader, a classmate named Ernest had the same coat as Burns and took the wrong one by mistake when he left school early. The catch was, Burns had his house keys in his coat – and when he and Ernest swapped coats so they’d have the correct ones, Ernest never returned the keys.

Ernest wasted no time robbing the Burns home, stealing such things as cash and jewelry before walking out carrying a VCR.

“My parents went to his house and all of our stuff was in their living room,” Burns said. Since everything was returned, his parents didn’t notify the police.

The Christmas Eve when Burns was 17 is one he will never forget. It was 11 p.m. when he was in a store playing a video game, but the store was also a “weed shop” that sold marijuana. “These guys came in with masks on – it was cold outside – then a guy grabs my arm and is holding a .380 [automatic Colt pistol] in his hand. He took my $60 cash.”

The men threatened to kill everyone, and Burns, the owner and two others were forced to lie on the floor facing each other. They put a bag over the owner’s head, hogtied the four and placed a cardboard box on top of them.

“I thought we were going to die. I thought of my mom and prayed hard,” Burns said.

Burns was shocked when the thieves suddenly laid down with them, but soon understood why, when seven police officers came in and broke it up. Burns and the other three quickly told police it was the other men who were the perpetrators, even as they tried to disguise themselves as victims. A cab driver had seen one of the men pull his gun out through the glass and alerted nearby police.

Burns said his world changed when he went to high school an hour away at William E. Grady Boys and Girls HS. Taking the train to school, he had more freedom, which turned out not to be a good thing.

“Everything changed right away. I got in with the wrong crowd. There was a lot of street activity, drinking and gambling,” Burns said. “I got two women pregnant in high school, and my mom said I had to get a job to support them.”

So Burns got a job right out of high school as a construction worker, joining Union 287. “It was 1997 and every year we got a $5 raise.” He spent his second year in an apprenticeship as a floorman.

“The union guys taught me to become a man” when it came to managing his finances, as he was squandering his paycheck almost as soon as he received it.

His experience includes 15 years as a foreman and five years as shop steward. After the recession in 2008, the work slowed and Burns went to work for a private company, Long Island Concrete, where he learned roofing, sheet rock and molding in three years.

Burns’ life changed again when he met his girlfriend Stephanie, with whom he lives. As she hailed from Bethlehem, he made the move to Pennsylvania. He struggled to find side work, so took a job with Orbel Steel Company in Easton. “But they weren’t paying what I was used to so I started my own company,” he said.

Burns launched Back to Life Flooring Company on Oct. 28, 2017. “My first job I remodeled a whole house for $3,000 and never looked back. I just kept advertising for $2 per square foot.”

“I’m looking to become the number one flooring company in Pennsylvania.”

This June, Burns plans to begin a new company, Back to Life Home Improvement, in addition to his flooring company. The home improvement company will, he said, “do everything.”

Burns also inspires others to start their own business, like Marcus Rojas, whom he met on a job in Coatesville. Burns taught him to refinish floors and worked with him, but he didn’t have work for Rojas all the time. “He had a baby on the way and I encouraged him to start his own business.” Today, Rojas is owner of Rojas Renovations in Easton, and the two often work for each other.

Burns’ mother has always been a guiding light in his life.

“My mom has always encouraged me to do well. Every morning she sends me a Bible verse and says, ‘Have a good day.’

“My mom has been so important every day since day one. Even when I got in trouble, she never gave up on me,” Burns said.

He said his mother is a Baptist and his father is Muslim, and both have shared the teachings of their faith with him.

“I begin each day with a Bible verse of the day,” Burns said, emphasizing the importance of faith in his life. People may ask how to have a relationship with God, and Burns advises, “Just start talking to Him. He may not come when you call but always right on time.”

Burns’ family includes his son, 26, and daughter, 22, whom he sees and still lives in Brooklyn.

Family and friends are obviously important to Burns, and Steltzer is glad to be counted among them. While others had given Rev. Steltzer sky-high estimates for needed work on his new house and cautioned that much of the work would be “a problem,” Burns was different.

“Robert is so positive he made me feel good about buying the house,” Steltzer said, “and nothing was a problem.” His renovation work included the floors, painting the walls, crown molding, the mantel and a handcrafted staircase with petite white subway tiles.

Perhaps more important than the renovations, though, are the attitude and advice Burns shared. As Steltzer was going through some difficulties, Burns brought his upbeat, inspiring attitude to the table, encouraging him to get rid of the negative and enjoy the wonderful life he has.

“I adopted that attitude, and it made such a difference. He was a pastor to the pastor,” Steltzer said.

“Robert’s life story is inspiring, and he inspires others to pick themselves up.”

“When I meet people I just try to say if you have negative in your life it’s up to you to change it and pray on it,” Burns said.

Burns used to have a T-shirt line with Bible verses, then had the idea for See One, Lead One T-Shirts Careers Clothing Company. These shirts have career themes like, “Today I Am a Chef,” “Today I Am a Boxer,” and “Today I Am a President” with a design and dictionary definition of the career.

“I want to get kids to think about what they want to do,” Burns said.

It’s not surprising that this well of positivity wants to try to help inspire the younger generation, to aspire to help them in some way as others have helped him along the way.