Pasta, Persistence, and Possibilities: The Daniele Family Story

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Speaker D: Uh,

Speaker B: Welcome to the David Milano Show. As you guessed, I am David Mamano. Appreciate everyone listening and or watching today. Uh, I've been podcasting since 2016. 10 years, folks. Uh, yeah, I was the fifth podcast ever. No, I'm just kidding. But, uh, uh, an early one. And, uh, I still love it. Uh, and today is really, really special because I have, uh, as you all know, I've been an entrepreneur for many, many years. Since 1995, actually. Uh, which is kind of said 31 years ago. Right? So pretty insane. And. But, uh, but as I got my, um, entrepreneurial, you know, kind of roots running and the machine running, like many entrepreneurs during the day, um, I ran my business. But those first few years, you don't make a lot of money, right? So. And I'm 25 at the time, and at night, I said, maybe I'll get a job as a waiter. And, uh, so I'm here today with the incredible gentleman and his family that allowed, uh, me to make money. As I was building my first entrepreneurial adventure. I was a waiter at night at a restaurant called Mario's Via Bruzzi at the time. Uh, and today I have here Mario Danielle, uh, the founder of Mario. So, first of all, thank you for being part of my entrepreneurial journey, not only supporting me, but, but being an inspiration. Mario, because you are the epitome on steroids of an entrepreneur. Ah. When you became an entrepreneur. I don't even know if they use the word entrepreneur. You were just. You didn't know what else to do. I got to start a business to survive.

Speaker A: Well, quite frankly, I did not know at the time that I was an entrepreneur. I only knew that I was working every day, and I had to work every day to go forward with my intentions.

Speaker B: Well, uh, you, like a lot of immigrants from Italy, et cetera, you said, I can either go work for somebody else or I'm gonna work for myself. And you obviously chose to work for yourself.

Speaker A: Well, quite frankly, to, uh, be honest, about it. I never dreamed about working for someone else in my adult life. Yeah, uh, since I was young kids in Italy, I worked for my family and we had equipment, uh, to uh, farm and we had the tractors and all the equipment required to uh, cultivate the land. So we were working for other people. But at the same time I had an obligation of going to school, which I wasn't too proud and wanting to do it, but I was forced by my parents, especially my mother, who insisted that I had to study.

Speaker B: Smart woman.

Speaker A: So I wasn't really thrilled to do all that because I enjoyed more. So they put me in l', Aquila, the city of l'. Aquila. And I was boarding over there and I went to school. But, um, while I was going to school, I was always looking to see a station where they were repairing garages, they were renting cars and what have you. So I started learning to be a mechanic. So I can tell you that at the time, when I was about 13, 14 years of age, I already knew how to drive a tractor. I knew how to cultivate a little bit of a land, I knew a little bit about studying. And of course I, uh, was learning about a mechanic. And I, um, did not know what I was to do in my life. So I knew I had to do a business. So somebody said to me, if I was interested in selling some kind of a small appliances, of course I took it over. And uh, the idea, took over the idea. And I opened up this small store in my hometown, Castel Nuovo, which is a province of l', Aquila in Abruzzo. And I started this little store.

Speaker B: You're an entrepreneur.

Speaker A: So here I am, I'm going to school, I'm teaching, not teaching, but at the time I was already very, uh, stewed in uh, fixing some cars. And I was doing that part time. At night I was plowing the fields and running the store.

Speaker B: And how old were you?

Speaker A: Okay. And at that time I was about 14, 16, 14, 15, 16, 17. And I was doing very well. So when I became over the age of, uh, 18 and a half, I got a call to go in the army. And uh, lucky enough I end up at the Air Force. At the Air Force, they took me in and teaching me on, uh, how to take care helicopters and other vehicles. In the meantime, they wanted to teach me on how to fly helicopters. Wow. But while I was doing the teaching, you know, the learning to helicopters, uh, I went home on a vacation and I encountered a friend of mine, long story short, who told Me, there was some kind of, uh, thing about Canada. And, uh, he said you should apply because you got to do another seven months in Italy, in the army before you free. You can go to Canada for seven months that you have left. And if you are approved, you can see another country and then you come back to Italy and continue what you were doing.

Speaker B: Right. Well, you know me, that did not happen exactly.

Speaker A: I took the option and, uh, I applied and I got called. We went to Rome to, uh, do the examination to whether I was capable of it. Long story short, I passed that exam as a mechanic and they sent me to Canada. But while I was in Canada, quite frankly, I never served any military. So at that time, I had to wait seven months before go back to Italy, so I could not start a business at the time.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker A: So I went to work for somebody for the first time driving heavy equipment.

Speaker B: Wow.

Speaker A: And I was making good money.

Speaker B: So even though, quote, unquote, you were in the military or whatever.

Speaker A: Well, legitimately, uh, I was in the military defending Canada. Physically, I was not.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker A: So I was earning money by driving heavy equipment. And, um, my mother was receiving the paycheck from the Canadian government because allegedly I was serving, but I wasn't and nobody asked for me or anything else. When the seven months went by, quite frankly, I received a promotion m and discharge, uh, legal discharge that I served in the army. Oh, beautiful. And so I got finished as a sergeant. I went in as a simple soldier, and I would get out as. As a sergeant. I got a promotion.

Speaker B: You could have stayed in and been in general or something.

Speaker D: Right.

Speaker A: So. But in the meantime, uh, I'm doing all this and I came to visit my relatives in Rochester, New York. My father had three brothers in Rochester.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker A: And so while I was doing the seven months waiting period, uh, while I had parents in the, uh, relatives, not parents, relatives in Detroit, Michigan, also, I was coming to Rochester. And when I came to Rochester, I saw a picture of my uncle house, which was Flora at the time. And so I got to know Flora. And long story short, I never went back to Italy because I can go on with the story. The less than two hours for me to say every details, but I don't think it's necessary. Yeah. And, uh, so legendary long after that, what a year. We got married and Flora moved to Windsor, Ontario, where I was okay.

Speaker B: And Flora's. By the way, everybody, uh, we're bringing Flora, his lovely, lovely wife, uh, in with the kids, Anthony and, uh, Danny. In a little while, we're gonna meet the Whole Daniel a family. But I just want to preview that for everybody. So we're gonna get to meet and see everybody.

Speaker A: Well, if they are not into, uh, the movie or, uh, the history, uh, recording it without them, it would not be valid.

Speaker B: Right, right. Very much a family affair to have

Speaker A: their story been, uh, publicized. But nevertheless, as we were in Windsor, my cousin kind of said to me, you know, you should remain over here. And, um, we wanted to go back to Italy. We tried, but it did not work. So we stayed in Windsor. And then my cousin John, who already had restaurants, I was helping him every once in a while on the weekend. Long story short, one night we got in a car. He got me in a car. And, uh, we went running around, and all of a sudden I could barely speak some English. But he asked me to give him a hundred dollars that I had in my wallet that his father gave me as a gift. My Uncle Sam. Yeah. And, uh, he asked me for that hundred dollar, and he gave it to the guy, and he left. He said, let's go. I said, well, why in the hell did you give him my hundred dollar?

Speaker B: To the guy, right?

Speaker A: He said, you just about to pitch real, right?

Speaker B: Oh, my God.

Speaker A: I said, what?

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Well, we just give him a hundred dollars.

Speaker B: You bought a pizzeria for a hundred dollars?

Speaker A: No, not. I didn't buy for. Under that. But he gave me the hundred dollars as a good faith deposit. Because the following day.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Or two days later, we're going to, uh, fulfill the obligation of paying.

Speaker B: And you had no restaurant experience. But also.

Speaker A: Well, I had a little bit. Not a restaurant, but I knew how to cook a little bit. Because.

Speaker B: Because you're Italian.

Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. So basically, uh, we bought a pizzeria. And at the beginning, my wife had to quit the job. Flora had to. That she was already working in Detroit.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: I quit my job as driving heavy equipment. And we start the pizzeria. And that is where, if you will, the history of Mario Danieli. The Danieli, that was the genesis. That was the seed business was officially born at that time with the pizzeria. Yeah.

Speaker E: Yeah.

Speaker B: And where now. And where was that?

Speaker A: This was in Farmington Hill, Michigan. Okay, so you're in suburb of Detroit, Michigan.

Speaker B: Okay, so that's where it started.

Speaker A: That's what it started.

Speaker B: And then what brought you here to Rochester?

Speaker A: When we were operating at the pizzeria, we were doing very well. I began. Which a lot of people never understood. They never. I never said it. But while I was in Detroit, I was doing very well financially with the pizzeria that I purchased, my first investment in real estate, I purchased a farm in, um, Fallowsville, Michigan, which is between Detroit and Lansing.

Speaker C: Okay.

Speaker A: At the time of Mr. Carter was the president and most of Jimmy Carter. Remember the economy, the situation over Detroit.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: So this land, I developed it, I sold parcels and sold the wood that was in the property and so on and so forth. So I made some money that, uh, guided me to invest, continue to invest in buying a shopping center. That was where the pizzeria was.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker A: So I bought the shopping center. Right. And so I began to invest in real estate while I am running the food business.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker A: So at that time, my cousins, they all left to go to Florida from Detroit and we remained basically alone, me and Flora. And by then we already had Anthony and Danny. They were already born.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: So, I mean, I can go in many details about that, but it's not important in the story right now. And so we decided to come to Rochester, New York. When we came to Rochester, New York, I purchased the Carriage Stop restaurant down west and Riera Road.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: That was the first restaurant that I purchased in New York state.

Speaker B: Mhm.

Speaker A: Which was very happy.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: I had a partner, Dante Yulio, which subsequently that partnership got dissolved. And, um, I started at Pizzeria on Monroe Avenue. Uh, okay. This is where the pizzeria.

Speaker B: This is where the Rochester legend really begins.

Speaker A: This is where the Rochester.

Speaker B: The way you test if anybody knows that they're a native Rochesterian, you talk about Mario's on East South.

Speaker E: Right.

Speaker B: And then.

Speaker A: All right, but this was a Mondo Avenue.

Speaker B: Oh, Monroe.

Speaker A: Oh, this was a Monroe Avenue by the Spring House.

Speaker B: That's right.

Speaker A: It was. It was a framing shop.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker A: Small framing shop. And I took it over and quite frankly, we became very popular in the community.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Believe it or not, show a pot hole.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: That was created on the road and every car they went by the par. The. The COVID of the wheel came off.

Speaker B: Oh, my God.

Speaker A: Um, so you hit the television side

Speaker B: business of hubcaps, right?

Speaker A: Yes. And I mean, there was a story that lasted a long time on the, uh, tv, and I became very popular with that subsequently. We bought a restaurant on Honest Avenue.

Speaker B: Yeah, that's the one.

Speaker A: Mario spits and pasta. Yeah, that's the one that really. Through the media and through a lot of friends and God bless all the people that worked with us, that really made us.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Famous in our community. And I'm so.

Speaker B: Well, that was, that was, uh, I mean, we would go there for lunch three times a Week at least. You had the famous buffet. You had the roll salad bar, the hard crust rolls. Yeah, the rolls will explain the story

Speaker A: over the hard crossroads.

Speaker B: Yeah, well, I'm sure she threw a couple at your head. Right?

Speaker A: So she's got the story because complaints on the roles, but then she fixed the idea over the roles.

Speaker B: Oh, they were, they were fabulous.

Speaker A: I'll let her explain that.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker A: Okay. So subsequently, while I'm in that business on, uh, East Avenue, uh, I continue to invest in other things. Stock market, real estate. You know, the other situation. Yeah, yeah. And it led me to do, uh, a study. And, uh, the study guided me to Monroe Avenue with the Italian restaurant. And now we have Mario's Viabruzzi. Yeah. Which was a massive recommendation. Go to Mario's by way of Abruzzi. Ah. That's what Via, uh, Bruzzi really meant.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker E: Yeah.

Speaker B: And where you're from.

Speaker A: Right. So, yeah, where we were from. And we were very successful. And that is where you came in.

Speaker B: Yes, Dave.

Speaker A: And, uh, quite frankly, your life started.

Speaker B: My life started right there in many, many ways.

Speaker A: Started financially right there as you were learning. 200. To other things.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Marius provided you a survival time financially.

Speaker B: Well, and it was great. I mean, I realized I needed a night job because my, you know, starting a business, as we talked about, uh, I had no investors or I'm 25, no money. And, uh, so I remember calling Anthony, uh, and saying, hey, do you need any waiters? And he used to call me Super Dave. He say, super Dave, come on down. I think I got hired on the spot.

Speaker A: Yes.

Speaker B: And the next night I was, I was.

Speaker A: By then, he already was finished with college and he was helping operating the business.

Speaker B: Yeah. 95, 96. And, uh, yes, I was there for. Are you. That's when cash was still king. Right. People still paid with cash. Great, great tips coming home. And then you were so nice at night. You fed me. You fed all of us because you put out the big vats of the leftover food that, that, uh, from the kitchen. Uh, and we, you know, 10 o' clock at night, we're, we're. We're eating ravioli and meatballs, et cetera. So it was beautiful.

Speaker A: That was nice. I enjoyed, I enjoyed the time. And Mario's.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Very successful and very proud of having that kind of business.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: But subsequent of Mario's, I opened Daniel Imports, which, uh, there was an idea of bringing espresso and cappuccino and all the necessary things for the coffee espresso business.

Speaker B: And that Was before, like, non Italians really knew a lot about espresso. Oh, my God.

Speaker A: It was very difficult because most people, whenever my salespeople went to a restaurant.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: They will come back most of the time with the same answer. Um, Mr. Danieli, I spoke with you under the restaurant. Then they told me that their clients do not drink the mud. Right.

Speaker B: A little tiny cup. What's this little tiny cup? Give me a big cup of coffee.

Speaker D: Right.

Speaker B: I know, right?

Speaker A: Some people call on the phone and say, I like to buy £2 of a cappuccino. How much does it cost? So this was the kind of a business that I tried to run, and it was not an easy thing.

Speaker B: You introduced at the beginning espresso to Rochester.

Speaker A: As you can see, everything that I've ever done. And it was never easy in our life.

Speaker E: Right.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: We had to fight for everything.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: So after about several years, I decided to sell m. The Daniel Imports business.

Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker A: And then I lost contact. I don't know what happened to that company, but I'm sure that the Picasso, the economy and the mercado, if you will, really grew a lot in the espresso and cappuccino. So right now, every restaurant and every place have espresso and cappuccino. So.

Speaker B: Well, now you can buy an espresso machine at Walmart. Right. Like, everybody knows espresso now. But.

Speaker A: So there was another success story.

Speaker B: Well, you're being a pioneer. You're introducing a new concept to America. Right.

Speaker A: And then, of course, from that point on, whatever we did, you know, was, uh, thanks to Anthony and Danny, who really, even if I had the idea, but they are the ones who made it happen back, starting with let them talk about the car wash business.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: You know, and now the shopping center with tofoods. Right. And everything else. So.

Speaker B: Yeah. Uh, I want to ask you some questions, too, because, you know, you know, so there are a lot of people that open restaurants. Right. But you. You had this, I'll say, this magic touch. Right. And I wanted to say, too, that, you know, like, I'm so glad that you're. You're my guest. And I'm emphasizing the word guest because you had the great marketing line.

Speaker A: You're not just a customer. You are my special guest.

Speaker B: Thank you for saying it. Yeah.

Speaker A: Well, for us, for me especially, that statement was not a slogan, but it was a way of being in the business. Yeah. And what does it really mean? That if a, uh, customer was unhappy, for whatever reason, the staff, whoever the staff happened to be in contact with that moment with their customers, that was unhappy. My statement was, you will do whatever it takes to make that customer happy. And I done many exaggerations. And I'll explain it to you, this type of exaggeration. I said, if they tell you that, that in order to be happy, they want to take their chair home, you do not question. You don't ask anybody. You say, where is your car? You pick up with a chair and you take them to the car.

Speaker B: Did anyone ever take a chair home?

Speaker A: Okay, well, that's an exaggeration, but you know what I mean by.

Speaker B: You hit the point home very well.

Speaker A: Right. And so even today, if somebody comes to me and says, what should I do to run a better restaurant? The answer is very easy. Remember one thing. The people that you are serving, they are the one who deserve the utmost service and respect. If you give them the service and respect, trust me, you will be successful. If you begin to take for granted that they have to come and spend the money in your place, you will not last that long.

Speaker B: Yep.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Yeah. Well.

Speaker A: And it's a very simple statement.

Speaker B: And that. And that was one of the cornerstones of why your restaurant succeeded, because, number one, you know, the food and atmosphere was fantastic. Yeah. But everybody felt special. Everybody just. They really. They felt like it wasn't just a, uh, a nice saying at the door. It was like, it. People lived it. It was part of your. Your DNA as a business, you know, And I think that's why, you know, you did a lot of advertising on radio and. And tv.

Speaker A: Well, I had no choice on the matter. And I tell you why, which is probably. It's really, um, unheard of it today, as you said before, the media at Marius East Avenue was coming over there every day.

Speaker B: Oh, yeah.

Speaker A: Well, at that time, it was this, um, this way of operating that they come in, they will not pay.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: So they would charge.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: And I advertised, and I did not pay. So what happened is they said to me, mario, we got advertising. I said, no, not now. Because I got too much business. I don't want you to advertise, but you keep on coming.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: So I got to the point, when I opened Mario's Viabruzzi, I had in excess of $70,000 coming from the stations.

Speaker C: Wow.

Speaker B: For advertising.

Speaker A: And I never used it because I kept on fading them, but I never used it. So when I started using it, it felt like, wow, it's on the air all the time.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.

Speaker A: Uh, of the reason. And I continue with that because it was a respect. It was a mutual respect between the stations and.

Speaker B: Oh, absolutely. Well, yeah, you had people like Pete Kennedy and brother, we got everybody talking about you. Right.

Speaker A: So, uh, I used to do. When we did the free lunch.

Speaker B: Yeah. Oh, Pete was your guy.

Speaker A: He was.

Speaker B: He taught me that stir.

Speaker A: They told you this?

Speaker B: Kind of roped him into it. He said,

Speaker A: the ultimate winner. I. I always announced. The man left. Yeah. The ultimate winning person. It will be a free flight from Rochester to Batavia non stop.

Speaker B: In your plane. In your Cessna.

Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. So we had a lot of fun.

Speaker B: Well, yeah, I was. We were talking before. I. You know, I, uh, was in radio for three years, so I was. I was part of that membership. And, uh, my last station I worked at before I started the magazine was. It was the oldie station, you know, wklx98.9.

Speaker A: Oh, I remember that.

Speaker B: And you called me and you said, uh, at the station, you said, dave, can you get the WKLX van to come down here right now, about an hour, uh, because we're gonna put the shovel in the ground for Mario's Viabruzzi.

Speaker A: Yes.

Speaker B: You know, mayor's gonna be here, all

Speaker A: the dignitaries, Everybody was here.

Speaker B: And so I. I asked the. The GM general manager, hey, can I borrow the van for Mario? Mario. Of course. So I'm driving the van down there, and I remember the shovel going in the ground.

Speaker A: Everybody was there. The county executive, the mayor.

Speaker B: Everybody was there. Yeah, everybody.

Speaker A: The. Actually, one of the person that I really respected a lot was, uh, Mr. M. Carballotto, because he's the one who gave me the loan to build that restaurant.

Speaker B: Carl was an intricate part of our city. Yes, yes.

Speaker A: There was a story about itself, because when I went to get the loan, the secretary said to me at the front desk, I'm sorry, sir, uh, this bank does not lend any money to the restaurant business. That was the flame in my heart. I said, okay, then I have to fight for it.

Speaker B: Right?

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: Which you're not.

Speaker A: So I insist. No problem.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: I insisted. Then, uh, one day I said, you know what? I want to speak with the board. M. So they gave me. After so many telephone calls and so many people who helped me, uh, we finally agreed that I was going to speak to the board.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: And I went up there, and everybody's sitting on these high chairs around the tables. It was very threatening. But thank God for Carol Lessi, which was still is our cpa. Not, uh, cpa, but, um, anyway, she has worked for us doing accounting, and she helped me prepare a financial statement about what this Mario's Viabruzzi was going to be all about and how we're going to create the business and the survival point and this and the other. So when I presented all this, um, one statement that I remember vividly, um, they all said, well, the restaurant business is kind of threatening. And I said, well, let me ask you a question. Can somebody tell me which business in United States today provides the most revenue, generates the most revenue? And one guy said, the other industrial. So I said, well, I think it's the hospitality.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: I said, I appreciate if you guys will make the statement. And saying, we do not lend any money to the hospitality if the person is not qualified.

Speaker B: Right, right.

Speaker A: But you should first see if the person is qualified not making a statement.

Speaker B: Category huge. Absolutely.

Speaker A: You do not lend money to this industry, to this business.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: So then once I show them all the stuff that I prepared, Mr. Uh, M. Gabriela said, quite frankly, we have never seen a small business preparing such.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Document so intense and so clear and so, um, vividly on how you be able to make this operation. Yeah. And he said, let us talk about it. You can go. So I left. By the time I got back to Mario's on his avenue, the phone ranged, and it was Mr. M. Carbolada saying that I had the loan approved.

Speaker B: Oh, so you changed the way they did business. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. What is. You know, if you were to say, this is. This is my one specialty of, Of. Of my success in business, what would. What would that be? Is it, you know, people, numbers? I mean, what is. What is like, your thing?

Speaker A: No, let me. Let me tell you. First of all, you personally have to believe in what you're doing.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Because if you have a doubt, but you trying to hide that doubt and trying to explain to others what you believe it could possibly be, but the doubt still in your brains. Stop. Because you better change because that business is not going to work for you.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: You have to be committed and you have to believe in what you are saying deeply inside. And you have to do whatever it takes, whatever it takes to make it work. And that's what we did with. Especially now with the latest investments with Whole Foods and what have you. We know that we were going against Iraq.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Okay. But because we were persistent and we won on the fact that we provide a reality of what exists and not an opinion.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: There was not an opinion. What we were presenting. It was a reality, and we won in base based on that reality.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: So.

Speaker B: And it wasn't for the faint of heart. Because especially that whole plaza with Whole Foods.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: Uh, but I mean, we're talking about from. From just starting out. There's always been roadblocks. There's always been challenges.

Speaker A: Yes. Well, the car wash was the same thing. The business over the car wash. I mean, in Brighton, every time we had a meeting, there were people telling us that that business in their corner over the first car wash was nothing but killing people every day. Right. You will be killed. There will be people dead with auto accident every day in that corner.

Speaker B: How many people have died?

Speaker A: Well, so far, none.

Speaker B: Well, knock on wood, but yes. Okay, well, I remember people challenging you on. When you're opening up Mario's Via Brutsy, that it was such a busy, uh, intersection. People could turn in there, you can only turn right, blah, blah, blah. And people would be turning around in the middle of the street to get there. I remember all that.

Speaker A: Yep. Yep.

Speaker B: And you guys just fought through it. So. So, I mean, essentially what you're saying is that your passion, you know, for the business has to be so strong. Yes. That it's going to overcome. Yes. All the negative challenges. People, uh, press, etc. You got to keep on going and find a way. And that's what you've done every step.

Speaker A: The other thing is, yes, some people would like to start the business, but financially, maybe they are not that strong. So they may not every opportunity of fighting as much as it requires to win it. But I believe that every business is level of doing it. Uh, in other words, if you talking about doing a small business, obviously it's going to be in a small building. Small building requires a lot less money. We always try to do the most. The largest possible way that we can put a building on a piece of land.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: And so that in itself causes some consequences of aggravations.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker A: And you have to accept that.

Speaker B: Yep, yep.

Speaker A: Uh, but don't be discouraged. Yeah.

Speaker B: Yeah. Well, Mario, this is a great segue because we're gonna bring in what we'll call. We'll call her Flora.

Speaker A: Yes.

Speaker B: Is it safe to call her the magic behind the curtain Without. Without Flora, what happens?

Speaker A: Yep. Right.

Speaker B: So we're gonna bring in your lovely wife.

Speaker A: Thank you.

Speaker B: And Flora was my grandmother's name, so I. Yeah, very special name to me too. Uh, and we're going to bring in your sons, Anthony and Danieli. And we're going to. We're going to have, uh, them, um, kind, um, of counter everything that you're saying. No, I'm just kidding. We're going to, you know, Florida's going to say, that's not what happened, Mario.

Speaker A: No, no, what I told you is my reality story.

Speaker B: Yeah, no, no, no. But I think it's a great, great way to.

Speaker D: To.

Speaker B: To take it to the next level about some of the experiences, too, and. And doing what you're doing today, which. No more restaurant business, right?

Speaker A: No, no.

Speaker B: Real estate mostly. So. Yeah. But, uh.

Speaker A: Right. Retired. And, uh, I'm helping. Whatever I can help. Uh, yeah, not much physically, but socially, we have a beautiful home in Florida. We spent the time over there. And, uh, yeah, that's what I do.

Speaker B: You know, I'm gonna laugh that you say you're retired. You're the type of guy that retires, that says, man, I'll work half days, 12 hours a day. Right? Yeah. Is that your retirement?

Speaker A: Well, yeah. Well, actually, I'll be working more than that.

Speaker B: I know retire guys like you don't retire.

Speaker A: Not because I have to.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.

Speaker A: That is the distinctions.

Speaker B: Yeah, that's not.

Speaker A: Have to.

Speaker B: Yeah, That's a big, distinct. Absolutely. So cool. We're going to take a quick break. We're going to bring your family in. We'll get part two of this beautiful podcast. Excellent. All right, and here we are back with the Danielle family. And I am so excited about this. I mean, we have history. We all grew up in Pittsburgh together. I'm much older than you guys. Right.

Speaker C: You should be very honored. This is the first time the four of us are in a production together.

Speaker B: Well, you know, I really wanted to make it happen. So, Danny, you called me about maybe a month and a half ago, and Danny's like, I want you to interview my dad for your podcast. And I'm like, I would love to, but we got to do the whole family. And, uh, he's like, well, let's try to make that happen. Uh, because like I said before earlier in the podcast, your family has been part of my journey as an entrepreneur, supporting me and feeding me in many ways since, uh, I've, uh, been an entrepreneur. So I appreciate that. Um, uh, and then I've been coming to the restaurants, uh, two since I was in radio in 1991. So I got to experience apparently, uh, the roles that you had something to do with, which I want to talk about.

Speaker C: Yes.

Speaker B: But, uh, let's do a little, little quick round of, uh, introductions here. We'll start with, uh, we're going to call you the Magic behind the Curtain. But nothing happens without Flora. Right?

Speaker D: So I like that.

Speaker B: You like that. Right?

Speaker D: Very humble.

Speaker A: I like that.

Speaker B: I just I met. I met a. I met. When I was at an engagement party one time, I met this old Jewish couple. And I remember his name. He was Bernie. And, uh, they'd been married. He was like in his 90s, and he'd been married for like 70 plus years. Right. And I said, bernie, I said, what's the secret to the long marriage? Happy marriage, David. The secret is I wear the pants in the family. And then he paused and he goes, now this little lady over here, she tells me when I could put them on. Is that a similar scenario over here?

Speaker D: Pretty good.

Speaker B: Uh, pretty good.

Speaker D: I keep saying my application for sainthood kind of got mixed up.

Speaker B: We got to keep Flora happy. We got it. That's rule number one.

Speaker E: She's taking good care of us along the way.

Speaker C: And, I mean, when the business started in Detroit, which I know my dad told that story, but, uh, you know, my dad was the face of the first pizzeria. The face of the restaurant.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Uh, but my mom was the cfo. She was the bean counter in the back, and she also host, hostess, and, uh, you know, the smiling face at the front door. And so she, uh, she played a very active role, especially early on.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Uh, in the customer relations and.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: You know, and keeping track of the bills and the money and everything else.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: I remember walking into East Ave. And you were. You were always at lunch. You were always at the front. I was smiling. You know, maybe Mario was in the back, uh, you know, screaming at the cooking. But you were smiling, right?

Speaker D: That's right. Somebody had to.

Speaker B: Yeah. And, uh. But, uh. So, Flora, how has. Would you change anything? How has the journey been for you? I mean, this has been incredible. Beautiful family, beautiful businesses, major impact in Rochester and beyond.

Speaker D: Exactly. I wouldn't change a thing. I am one proud mama and grandmother and even wife.

Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker D: After 56. Almost 57 years.

Speaker B: 57 years. Wow. That's fantastic. Now, when you married Mario, did you have any idea that it would turn out like this? What were you thinking? Or maybe that's the question. What were you thinking exactly?

Speaker D: Well, I knew that we'd have a good life because we are from the same town in Italy, even though you could say we met in the States. I came as a nine and a half year old in 1955. So, um, I knew who he was in the town. But at nine years old, you're not thinking romantic anything, right?

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: Yeah. So.

Speaker D: So, uh, but I knew his family, and I, um, knew him a little bit of what he had been doing. So I Knew we'd be okay.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.

Speaker D: And I knew myself, so I knew we'd be okay. And then these two little handsome, um, guys came along, and they made the world better.

Speaker B: That made it more interesting. Right? How long were you guys married before you had kids?

Speaker A: Well, before we get to married in

Speaker D: 1969, about 17 minutes.

Speaker B: I think.

Speaker D: Technically, back then, it really took nine months for a birth to happen. He was born in September, 1971.

Speaker C: Well, so a couple years.

Speaker D: Two years. And son.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker D: Uh, and then two and a half years later, our other little angel came along.

Speaker C: Everything was going perfectly until 1974.

Speaker A: And then

Speaker B: they wanted to have a

Speaker E: really good son, and they had Anthony. They realized that isn't going to work, so they gave it a second shot.

Speaker B: Better and better, Right?

Speaker D: That's right.

Speaker E: The second pancake came out perfect.

Speaker B: Uh, I love it. And what. And Flor, if you're to sum up your role in the journey, uh, what have you been? I mean, have you been more. I know. Massive support offering your brains and talent. I feel like you've been more of, you know, like the rudder of a sailboat. Just kind of keeping things in line. Is that. Is that safe to say or.

Speaker D: Ah. The humble person that I've always been when it comes to my family. I like to think of myself as the loving wind between, um, under their wings and, uh, supporting. I truly believe in guardian angels and being the medium between them and the good Lord.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: That's fantastic.

Speaker A: I love it.

Speaker E: I mean, the whole time growing up, I remember my father working every day, seven days a week. He'd leave early in the morning, almost before school, and he'd come home late, right around dinner.

Speaker A: I see them on Saturday morning for a couple hours.

Speaker B: M. But my mother.

Speaker E: Every morning we woke up, I mean, there was eggs, scrambled eggs, sausage, toast, orange juice. Of course, we would take one bite and leave, and I'd feel guilty, but.

Speaker D: Oh, you ate pretty good. I knew they loved their breakfast, so I made it as nutrition and packaged.

Speaker E: Every morning we had a full breakfast. She made her bag lunch, you know, with the tuna fish coming out of the brown bag.

Speaker B: I remember that myself.

Speaker E: That's fantastic. So she always took care of us.

Speaker D: Oh, yes.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. So really, the glue definitely would do it again.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: And Mario. I mean, both of you, actually. It's hard sometimes for couples to work together in business. Right? I mean, marriage is one thing, and family is one thing. Business is a separate thing. Right. So there could. There's books about, you know, success in family businesses. What. What do you attribute being able to be successful in both?

Speaker A: I believe that in every marriage, there is the positive and negatives. So the question is. Is filtering all of it, the positive and negatives. And at the end of the day, when you summarize your judgment, it has to be equal to going forward, because without that, nothing works. Because I don't know any couples who have had no argument in their life. Not one that I know, but. And I also can say the same. No couple is always smiled every day. Right.

Speaker B: No problems, no opportunities.

Speaker A: So the question is being able to obtain, uh, the resolution over the disagreements and going forward and, uh, keep on fighting. Just like getting an approval for business.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Not different.

Speaker B: Keep it going.

Speaker D: The love of, um, the success of the family and keeping the family together, that's always been my force. I could have strangled him many, many times.

Speaker B: In fact, this morning, I.

Speaker D: But then I have to stop and say, okay, what about Anthony and Danny? I put up with him, and I did it 57 years.

Speaker C: And I, you know, I do think, you know, one of the questions we all get asked, and especially my brother and I, you know, I mean, I've had to work next to this knucklehead for now, 35 years. Yeah. And working with my father and my mother and, uh, you know, I mean, it's. It is not easy to be in that environment all the time. The success has come because when we do have disagreements, when it's not a perfect day, you know, everybody goes home, you relax, you go to bed, and you wake up the next day and you forgive and forget and move forward. And what I've noticed in a lot of family businesses is the inability to do that.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Because if you're going to hold a grudge, because, I mean, just like a marriage, just like working with your brother or, you know, working with a business partner is the same thing. And if you're going to be together every day of your life for that many hours, you're going to argue, you're going to disagree, you're going to, you know, there's going to be times where it feels impossible, and you got to wake up the next day and say, okay, well, yesterday was yesterday. What are we going to do today to move forward and not hold the grudge and just, you know, and the other aspect is that with. With our dynamic, when there were big decisions to be made, uh, you know, my father would allow my brother and I to have a say in it. You know, there were basically three votes, the two of them, my brother and myself.

Speaker B: Even as. Even as younger kids.

Speaker C: Even as younger adults. I mean, maybe not kids, but when we got out of college and as long as two of us, with conviction and well, thought, uh, decision, wanted to go a certain direction. The third, whether it was the two of them, him or myself, would just shut up and get on board.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker E: Yeah.

Speaker C: And. And work towards the common goal. Not sabotage, not work behind the scenes, because it wasn't my idea or that's. Wasn't my choice.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: Uh, you know, you hold a little resentment for about eight seconds, and then you shut up and you move forward, and that's how you end up successful.

Speaker E: Right. It's. It's a healthy mix of compromise and acquiescence.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker E: You know, we. I think we all have veto power over any decision we're making, but you hold that tightly. Kind of like American, uh, Idol when they have the, you know, if you really don't like something, you can hit the button or however the hell it works.

Speaker B: Right? Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker A: I mean, we all have, you know, in conversation, doesn't look like it's possible.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: But you could just visualize the three of us, mostly because she was home. M. But in many cases, when we debated a type of a business or conditions of a business or the investment of the business, and we had to debate the three of us living in the same space the whole day long.

Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker A: Coming, uh, up with a solution. So that's why we agreed that two. I do agree. Doesn't matter what the third.

Speaker E: And it helped knowing that we were all on the same page. We all wanted the train to keep moving forward.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker E: So it may have been his idea. Her idea. I should look my brother. Her idea. But at the end of the day, if it wasn't your idea that you went with or it was a disagreement, you knew that, uh, at least I'd always know that Anthony's heart or my father's heart was to get us where we were. And you never have to look over your back. Um, why is he making that decision? Is he doing it because he's got some alternative motive? Yeah, it was. It was always 100 certainty that we were all trying to get to the same destination.

Speaker B: You guys need to run our government, I think. Right?

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: Well, no sabotage. And our dinner table.

Speaker D: That's. That's the answer.

Speaker C: We can only do that if there's only three votes in the government or four votes in the government. That's right.

Speaker A: That's right.

Speaker E: Yeah.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: Well, um, you know, it is. You know, and it probably is true in Some other cultures, but knowing, you know, coming from Italian culture myself, that Italians are famous for, you know, if there's a disagreement, just, you know, explosion, screaming, but then get it out. And then 10 minutes later, everything's well. Okay.

Speaker A: All right.

Speaker B: Now we'll go. Now we'll move forward.

Speaker E: Right?

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: And then it's like you said, it's done. Right. We move on and we'll unite and go forward.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: But, uh, but a lot of people can't let it go. Right. They have their grudges, they want to win, they want to sabotage. So I think that's. You guys can write a book about how to handle family businesses.

Speaker D: Well, that's one thing with our family. And I am extremely, extremely proud of the four of us and the extended family that we've never been jealous of any one of us or any others outside of the family. We have always been proud of other people making it in business, Whether it was the restaurant business or any other business. We've always had appreciated the hard work that goes into success.

Speaker B: Yeah. Yep. So celebrating your other people's success and your success.

Speaker D: Yes.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker D: And, uh, we've been blessed by the Lord, I think, for thinking this way, having no malice within the family.

Speaker E: Yeah, we've been very blessed to have amazing people around us as employees, part of our families.

Speaker C: I mean, Super Dave included.

Speaker E: You remember?

Speaker B: I love being Super Dave at Mario.

Speaker E: I think you met your wife at one of my reunions.

Speaker B: Uh, was. It was a happy hour for young Italian Americans.

Speaker E: Oh, that's right. I'm sorry. You're right.

Speaker B: And I met Tom Galisano because of. Of. I ended up waiting on a table where Tom Galisano's executive assistant was eating. And I had. I. You know, I said, oh, my God. You think Tom.

Speaker A: I remember that day.

Speaker B: Uh, you think Tom will meet with me? She goes, oh, I don't know. He's pretty busy. He's running paychecks at the time. Right. I said, where's my brand new little business card? You know, can you ask him? Calls me about a week later, and, yeah, he'll. He'll meet with you. So we met for lunch, and he's. I'm at the Galisano Institute today helping out. Helping him out now.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker E: I think my father was the number one or number two client when Golisano started.

Speaker B: Yeah. You guys are practicing.

Speaker A: He came to me at the carriage stop. I mean, you can believe it or not.

Speaker B: Oh, yeah. I heard the story. I want to hear it.

Speaker A: You heard the story?

Speaker B: I want to hear it again. It's a great story.

Speaker A: He m came to me. It was at the time when I owned the Carriage Stop restaurant. And he used to deliver every Friday at 2:00 in the afternoon. He would show up, wait, I'll never forget a rusty green station wagon.

Speaker C: Wow.

Speaker B: This is what, early 70s, right?

Speaker A: With this brown envelope giving to me and say, okay, this is the checks. Which is a long story on why he end up making us the check.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Okay. Because my secretary that I had at the time, John Contento, she almost killed me that I took that job away from her in writing the check for the employees. And I gave her two times.

Speaker B: So you were one of Tom's first clients?

Speaker D: Yes.

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. So he came to me and he said, mario, I am going to, uh, open up a business. And, um, what was the name of the, uh, paycheck. Paycheck.

Speaker D: Going to go public.

Speaker A: I said, well, what's paycheck? Yeah, you want me to invest in paycheck for what?

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.

Speaker A: So I didn't understand the concept, to be honest about it. And he asked me for $2,000 investment. This is before he went public.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, that would have been.

Speaker A: This was the word I used. I said, tom, if you want m to screw somebody, find somebody else. So now that's the story moving forward 10, 15 years. No more than that. I am, um, at Mario's Via Bruzzi. He calls me on the phone and he goes, mario, I'm going to Detroit. Because he knew that I had a shopping center in Detroit and it was not too far away from where he had his office of a paycheck.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: So he was going to Detroit. He called me, said, you want to come with me to Detroit? I said, yeah. When? He said, today? I said, what do you mean today? When are you coming home? Yeah, I said, tonight. I said, tom, do you understand that to go to Detroit in a six hours drive?

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker A: He said, oh, you don't know then, uh, I have a plane. I'll pick you up in an hour and a half if you're ready. Okay. I said, okay, I'll come. So he picked me up in Mario's.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Took me to the airport, we got on a plane, we took off. We were not yet in Batavia.

Speaker D: Right.

Speaker A: He said, would you like a cup of coffee? I said, sure. So he picks up a cup of coffee, gives to me. He said, let me ask you a question. How much money did you make on the $2,000 that I asked that I'm not going to tell You. I said, I told you that then, and I'm going to tell you right now the same thing. And I would have known.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker A: But I know today.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Not only I will give you the 2000. I would have sold my house.

Speaker C: Yeah, I saw Tom do that a few times where he would see my dad and he'd pull out his calculator. He had a calculator at the time, maybe, let's see, 2,000. That would have been $26 million today. Well, whatever it was. But there were a lot of zeros in whatever he was telling a good

Speaker A: friend, you know, with Tom and his wife. And then, uh, yeah, you know, he moved away and everything else, so my relationship is kind of diluted.

Speaker B: Well, he's on the other side. He's in Naples now.

Speaker E: Right.

Speaker C: So.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, you know, but, uh, you, you, you. You made your own fortune anyway, so you did okay.

Speaker D: But we probably would have been so spoiled because we were still young and

Speaker B: there's a reason back.

Speaker D: Um, so now we appreciate what we have a lot more with dignity.

Speaker B: And you did it on your own back.

Speaker D: Than what?

Speaker B: No one's starving. You guys are doing okay.

Speaker A: So we're doing good. But I tell you many times I think about that moment, you know, in my eyes, I can hear him saying it. I can. I remember emotions.

Speaker E: Yeah.

Speaker A: It was an amazing thing.

Speaker B: But you never know, right? You never know.

Speaker A: Take me to Detroit on his plane and tell me that story. Yeah, it was amazing.

Speaker E: The 25 years of cleaning tables and making pizzas and cooking pasta, we learned a lot. And we learned a lot about culture and employees and teams, and I think that helped us tremendously. And a lot of the other business we've done since then.

Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, you guys got your MBA at, uh, Daniela University. How was it for you guys, though? Was it, you know, I mean, was it kind of expected that you guys would get involved in the business? And, uh, I mean, it seems like you weren't the type of family going to Disney every year growing up. You were working. Right. And it was a kind of expected that you would get involved in the, uh, uh, the Danielle, uh, empire, I

Speaker C: guess I would say my father. You know, one of the things that I will give them a lot of credit for, my parents is both of us went to Auburn University in Alabama.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: You know, that's a whole nother story.

Speaker B: Which we won't get from Rochester, New York. You're like, right.

Speaker C: It's like witness protection program. Question mark. But, but, uh, is you.

Speaker B: I Tell you.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: And that's what it was like down there. But, uh, you know, they allowed us to branch out and see some of the rest of the world. And. And when we were in college, before we graduated, they were very much like, hey, you know, we have. We have to make a family decision, uh, about whether or not we're going to. Whether my mother and father were going to keep Mario's M on East Avenue, which was very successful. Smaller restaurant.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: And the plan was, if you guys don't want to come back and work in the family business, we'll keep Mario's on East Avenue. We'll do that for another 10, 15 years, retire healthily. And. And that would be that. And you guys can go, you know, get a job after college like everybody else does. Or if you want to come back and work in the family business, we'll take Mario's on East Avenue and we'll do something bigger. That way it can support the family. And that's how Mario's Via Bruzzi started out. And, you know, I mean, we did think about it, but, um, it didn't take long before we knew that we wanted to work for ourselves. We wanted to work in the family, uh, business. And so we both made the commitment to come back.

Speaker D: Let's put it this way. We used reverse psychology without knowing that it was reverse psychology.

Speaker B: You're so smart, you didn't even know it. Exactly.

Speaker D: Not nobody

Speaker A: to say, you sure you gotta work in a restaurant business?

Speaker D: Yeah.

Speaker A: It's so heavy, difficult. Get a job at least you work eight hours a day and don't worry about it.

Speaker C: Yeah, but they allowed it to be our decision.

Speaker D: And it was your decision.

Speaker E: We had the conversation. You asked me the same question, and I said, I don't know if I want to be in the restaurant business for my whole life, but I do want to work with the family. And there's other businesses that we already started talking about.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker E: That was a springboard to many other things we did. We didn't know it at the time. And I didn't know we'd be cleaning tables for 25 years.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker E: If I'd have known that, maybe I would have gone to work at the IBM or something.

Speaker B: Right. But you got. You transitioned. The restaurant business is very different these days. Right. With all the chains, et cetera. So, you know, you knew even remember. I remember Basil's was another restaurant. You had quite Bay and the Crab Shack. Remember Crab Shack? I was there and, uh, uh, but you said, enough of the restaurant business. And Car washes and real estate. And that's kind of where you guys really started getting involved.

Speaker E: And there was a segue before the car washes too. Like my father mentioned earlier in his life, in his story, even before we were still, while we were still in diapers, he started to buy real estate. He was getting into purchasing land, and he continued doing that in Rochester. Anthony and I would watch and see and learn from how he did that.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker E: And we, my father had started purchasing additional properties. So we understood real estate, we understood entitlements through the years and years of having the restaurants. We understood employees, uh, training, how to attract them, how to maintain the happiness culture. And when we jumped into the car wash business, that's a whole other story. Again, uh, it was a random company business. We knew nothing about car washes at the time, but little did we know we knew how to find the price out land. We knew how to get entitlements, we knew how to create teams, and we figured out the car wash piece.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker E: And that was the easy part. The, the hard part is, is creating the culture and creating the business. And we didn't know it at the

Speaker A: time, but you guys have to share. When we, uh, got a loan from the bank and they told you, what do you know about car wash. Yeah,

Speaker C: so we, you know, we were getting a loan, multimillion dollar loan to build our first car wash. And, you know, we're restaurant guys, and we did a good job at the restaurant. And our loan officer, we were at Mario's Via Bruzzi having lunch with him. And he was like, you know, uh, not for anything, guys, but, you know, when I go to the, to the loan committee and tell them that these restaurant guys want millions of dollars to start this car wash business, which again, traditionally at that time was not a very profitable business, or at least it took a long time to become profitable.

Speaker D: Right.

Speaker C: You know, what do you guys know about washing cars? A car wash business? I said, Mike. His name, Mike Maliber. I said, come with me. And we walk in the kitchen and we walk around the corner to the dishwasher. And I grabbed the dirty plate and I put it on this side of the dishwasher. And it was a conveyor dishwasher. I go put, uh, the plate here. I said, here, watch. And on the other side, I said, look, clean car. I said, it's the same thing. It's just a bigger dishwasher.

Speaker E: And he looked at me, I go,

Speaker C: I've been doing this my whole life. I said, no big deal. I Said it's just a bigger dishwasher.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: And he laughed. But at the end of the day, you know, and, uh, to my brother's point, it is not about washing cars. It's not about making pizzas and selling.

Speaker A: Exactly.

Speaker C: It's not about selling espresso machines, pasta sauce. You know, a successful business is about the culture, the training, the people.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: And yes. I mean, you have to have a formula that ultimately yields profit.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: You know.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Uh, but the profit doesn't come first.

Speaker E: Right.

Speaker C: And that's the mistake most people make is that, you know, you do a pro forma and look, this is a business that makes money, so I'm m going to go do it. Well, there's a couple big steps you're missing in the pro forma.

Speaker E: Right.

Speaker C: Uh, and that's the culture and the training, and that's what we focused on at the restaurants. That's what we focused on in the car wash business.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: And even in real estate, you know, we're building apartments. We have the Bellagio apartments on Irondequoit Bay. We're building apartments in Pittsford. And you know, our differentiating factor with our apartments is the building of a community.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: Uh, and the customer service and the, the, the experience that people will have living in an apartment. Because at the end of the day, it's just an apartment.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: You know, it's not that special.

Speaker E: Right.

Speaker C: Uh, but the community and the culture and the way you feel, you know, bringing the experience into the building and encountering other people, that's the total difference.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: That's why people spend eight bucks and a cup of coffee at Starbucks. Because they're paying for the experience. Right, Exactly. Yeah. And, uh, so it's almost like you guys have a Danieli way. You have like a kind of a formula, whether it's car wash, real estate through statement. Right. You know, it could be any business. Right.

Speaker C: And I mean, Danny, you know, my father's wearing a pin.

Speaker B: Oh, yeah, yeah. Tell me about the pin. And we have to talk about your book, too.

Speaker A: Wit.

Speaker B: Yeah. What does that stand for?

Speaker E: WIT stands for whatever it takes.

Speaker A: Whatever it takes.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker E: Like my father mentioned earlier, we were listening in for the first half and, uh, you know, if you're going to get into business, anyone can get in the business, but in order to make it successful, my father said, you need to persevere through the hard times.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.

Speaker E: And that pin came from a part of that where sometimes you have to

Speaker A: remember what I told you about the chair.

Speaker B: Absolutely. Whatever it takes.

Speaker A: Whatever it takes for customer satisfaction.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.

Speaker D: And you have to respect your clients, your customers, your patients, whatever it is, your employees, your vendors needs to come through. It's not just, oh, uh, pay me now and the heck with the other word with the heck with you, you know.

Speaker B: Well, yep.

Speaker E: Yeah.

Speaker D: Respect. And I think we've all about, especially these three who have dealt with so such an array of people in the public eye that their um, respect for people and that, that's the compliment I get the most and that's how I become so humble about them, is that, um, they are so respectful.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: But I will say this, I will add to all this, uh, this program that we have encountered today, this recording, it will be heard probably by some peoples in the future. And uh, one of the things that I cannot miss to say our success. Yes. Was in lieu of the fact that we knew most of the time what we were doing. But I need to give credit to a lot of people who were under our wings, who obeyed in our orders, who supported in our hard times and managed,

Speaker D: what can I say, well trusted in you also because they knew you wouldn't, um, believed in you stick anybody without being.

Speaker A: Without them, we would not be what we are today.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Yeah. Or at least not the way we are.

Speaker B: Yeah. Well, and it's because of, it's because of who you all are and what you've given to it becomes a two way street. You build a reputation. You said respectful, and then you become respected. Right. And so when you need something, people are there for you and you've been there for people too.

Speaker A: Right?

Speaker B: So it's a, you know, it's, uh, uh, it, it, you know, I think the beautiful phrase is, you know, being an entrepreneur, like, don't. It's hard to go at it alone, right? Nobody, nobody does it alone. Right, right. And, uh, and you said too, you respect everybody, even you, you know, you respected your vendors, the people that, oh my God. You know, and then, and then, you know, and then when it came time to build a new restaurant, I bet that was a very, oh my God, uh, great relationship.

Speaker D: Well, speaking of vendors, that's exactly. We were always loyal. If they were good to us, we were good to them. We never changed a vendor because a new vendor came along for 5 cents less.

Speaker B: Right?

Speaker D: Now, if the vendors that we had was not doing the right job, of course we would go with a new vendor. But if they've always provided us with excellent products, they've always, if we had a hard time paying this week, don't Worry you've got another week, that kind of stuff. So when somebody else came along cheaper or whatever. No, David has always been our guy. Uh, we have no reason to change.

Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. Well, yeah, I don't want you ever, as a family, to go on anyone else's podcast. Come on.

Speaker E: What my father was saying, too, about the people helping, uh, along the way, obviously, it's very true. And, you know, a lot of that, I think, was, in a way, karma. When my father started Mario's East Avenue in Rochester, you know, where you're not just a customer, you are my special guest. He literally lived that. So along the way, when we had to go in front of a town board or we were up against, you know, town of Brighton, and we're trying to do Whole Foods, or we're trying to do all these things, and there's. There's a lot of weight going against us. There was always someone along the way who knew my father, who knew Mario, and had a story along their life where Mario touched them, meaning he stopped by the table one time, and they remember that there was a problem, and he took care of it really nicely, and it didn't charge him this. And all the beautiful little nice, warm, sincere things he did over 30 or 40 years slowly came back and helped get us over those little humps so that we could cross the finish line to whether it was the first car wash that the town didn't want because it was too dangerous, or Whole Foods because everyone thought it was a disaster. A few people thought it was a disaster.

Speaker A: Just to get every day those statements.

Speaker E: The marina, you know, when we tried to expand into the marina and it took seven years to get more docs, all these really difficult things that required all this, uh, extra effort. It was that extra push that we got the benefit of from him touching people for 40 years and letting them know who Mario was and giving the Danieli name a better reputation, uh, a random name would be.

Speaker B: And then the legacy lives on, right? You guys, your family and everything. So, uh, and I, you know, and this is why I wanted you all together, right? Because you have been a special part of, uh, not only my journey, as we've talked about, but. But Rochester, you know, I mean, I don't think you could talk about Rochester the past 50 years without talking about the Dan Ellie family. Right? And, uh, so that's why I want to get you guys all together. So I'm so glad we did this. Now, Mario, I promised you, uh, if people, like, love this so much, which I'm sure they do. They want to learn more. You have a book?

Speaker A: Yes.

Speaker B: What's the book called?

Speaker A: Yes, that, uh, one of the book is obviously the cookbook.

Speaker B: Yeah. Oh, you got a cookbook.

Speaker A: Which I have is Mario's the American Dream, which that book I basically have explained some of my life up to about what, 10 years ago? Yeah. Quite frankly, I should be at the time to write another book because all what happened the last 10 years is not a new book. Yeah.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: But I am proud to say that, um, anybody who reads it and it wants to learn from. There are enough paragraphs that one can pick up and learn from the specific one.

Speaker B: That's great.

Speaker A: The wonder that I really cherish the most is the statement that I make to everybody. While you're encountering and you have decided to do something, if it comes the moment that you no longer like it, do not procrastinate the change.

Speaker B: Move on.

Speaker A: Change immediately and don't procrastinate.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.

Speaker A: That is the statement that I make to everybody.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: There's a lot of people, well, I don't like what I'm doing, but what am I going to do? I might as well keep on doing what I'm doing, although I don't like it.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: That is the wrong statement you make in life.

Speaker B: Well, was it Albert Einstein? The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Right. So, yeah, yeah.

Speaker A: But I'm proud of having the book. And, um, we'll show the.

Speaker B: If you're watching this on YouTube, we'll show the book cover. Where. Besides meeting Anthony behind Thursdays on a Friday night. Where, where can they. Where can they get the book?

Speaker A: At the office on, uh. What is 2851?

Speaker C: Email us. Uh, or I. I think you can get it online if you search it. There are some venues that are selling, uh, selling some copies.

Speaker B: All right, good, good.

Speaker C: Uh, but just reach out to us and we'.

Speaker B: We have the books available and I'm happy to make the connection. Anybody?

Speaker C: Absolutely.

Speaker B: Email me davidavidmilmano.com and I'll, uh, connect you with this beautiful family.

Speaker C: And, uh, thank you, Dave, for honoring our family and absolutely.

Speaker B: Thank you, Rochester legacy. So thank you. And, uh, and I'm excited, too, because, uh, I. I envision your great, great, you know, grandkids watching this someday, right?

Speaker D: Someday.

Speaker A: I hope so.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: So. All right. Hey, thank you so much, everybody. Appreciate you. Danielle. Family. Beautiful family, beautiful people.

Speaker D: Thank you.

Speaker B: And yeah, let's do it again next year. I mean, we would love.

Speaker A: We'll have more stories.

Speaker B: I'm sure you will. I love a part two coming up. So thank you everybody. And I want to thank everybody for listening and or watching to the David Mamano Show. This is one of my favorite episodes because I've been part of the journey. And, uh, I really appreciate you guys. So thank you.

Speaker C: Super Dave.

Speaker B: Super Dave.

Speaker E: I love it.

Speaker A: Super Dave.

Speaker B: Maybe I should change the name of my podcast to Super Dave.

Speaker D: All right.

Speaker A: Thank you, Dave. Thank you.

Speaker B: Thank you, everybody. Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. Now, I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited Premium Wireless for $15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills, but it turns out that's very illegal. Uh, so there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a try@mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment

Speaker A: of $45 for 3 months, $90 for

Speaker E: 6 months or $180 for 12 month plan required. $15 per month equivalent to taxes and fees. Extra initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes. Me slow when network is busy. See terms.