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Cropped photo of my dad's business card. This is part 2 detailing my career. You can read about the first half of my career at Fortune 100 Career Journey Narrative Insights. While I was performing strategic planning sessions in Peru, Brazil and Argentina for Warner Lambert and eventually American Express, a young Arizona University college student named Marty Levine was majoring in business. Marty was from East Brunswick, New Jersey where he had a neighbor named Ron Garretson. Mr. Garretson had recently retired as the college bookstore manager for CCNY (City College of New York). He had come up with a business idea to give students a pocket planner that contained bookstore policies and a calendar. The cover had a picture of CCNY and there were pictures of bookstore employees. University of Colorado Bookstore entrance. Picture taken complements of my niece, Brinley, who is just finishing up her second year. The students were handed the planner twice a year when they purchased their books at the beginning of each semester. Garretson called the pocket planner Term Planner, and his new company was Term Planner Inc. He had 5,000 printed and was happy to learn that students thought them as helpful and used them to write important dates for exams and parties. Term Planner was free to students. Garretson passed the idea along to his colleagues at NYU, Fordham, St. Johns and Brooklyn College and soon he was reaching a circulation of 50,000 planners. He got the idea to go out and solicit advertisers who were willing to pay $1,000 to get their restaurants, hair salons and clothing stores to advertise in the planners. When Marty Levine came home for spring break he ran into Garretson who told him he had retired and had started the Term Planner business. Marty was intrigued and asked Garretson if he could work for him and get business at Arizona University in Tucson and some of the universities in Northern Arizona such as Arizona State in Tempe, Arizona. Garretson agreed and they worked out a commission structure. So, for four years Garretson and Marty built up a business that had a circulation of 500,000 students and a one-page advertisement of $12,000 per page or about $120,000 per issue — $240,000 per year. Garretson was 70 years old at this point and wanted to move to Florida. Marty said he would like to buy Term Planner Inc. from Garretson, and they worked out a price of $300,000 and a payout of $50,000 a year for 6 years. The planner was printed by a local East Brunswick printer named Jack McNeil. Marty and Jack became real good friends and Marty asked Jack if he would like to work for him. Jack agreed and the two of them built the business to $500,000 and it had an office on Summerhill Road in East Brunswick. If you missed Tony's other recent posts, you can find them here at Papa's Corner. Meanwhile, it was 1981 and Tony Fiore was searching for an elusive job. The country was in one of its worse recessions in history; companies were cutting employees; hiring freezes were prevalent and employees were hanging onto their jobs and not even considering moving on to a new company. The only difference between current times and 45 years ago is that AI has compounded the issue and the term "Job Huggers" has emerged. As I mentioned in Part I my search was concentrated on finding a smaller situation. Back then there were no emails, text messages or cell phones. Resumes and cover letters were sent by mail and rejection letters were received by mail. Usually on Sunday the newspapers posted job openings... mostly low level. I was surprised to see one that said Vice President Marketing, Term Planner, Inc. I sent my resume and cover letter to Martin D. Levine, President Term Planner Inc. I got a call from Marty who said he would like to interview me for the job. So I drove to East Brunswick and entered a building that had the names of two dental practices, a law firm and a realtor. There was also the name Term Planner Inc. on the directory. Product shelf at University of Colorado Bookstore. Back when Marty started distributing the Term Planner, these products were not available for sale in bookstores. I walked up the stairs and into a small office where I met Marty and Jack. They asked why someone who had big titles in big companies would be interested in such a small situation. I was honest and told them the market was very bad, and I was having a tough time even getting an interview. I told them I had a number of friends I had worked with or for that I had a shot at getting a job, but their companies had hiring freezes. I admitted it would be tough having a big office in New York with a view of the Statue of Liberty and New York Harbor and having a much smaller office with a view of a parking lot but I wanted a smaller situation. I asked Marty how big his company was and he said you are looking at it with Jack and I. "What are your plans to grow the business" I asked. Marty said the college market is much larger than people think — 3,000 colleges and universities with 7,000,000 students — all hard to reach through conventional advertising because they are in class, working part time jobs, playing sports and going to parties. They watch about 10% of the TV their counterparts who do not go to college watch. Jack and I are thinking of launching a college magazine to attract bigger advertisers such as P&G, IBM and Kraft. If you are interested in the job why don't you think about our college magazine idea and come back and we can talk more seriously about the job. I agreed and I went to the library and got a crash course on the college market. I got my information from magazines such as Advertising Age and Promo Magazine. I learned that the 7,000,000 full time students spend about $300 a month on non-book items, such as snacks, movies, apparel and sporting equipment. That translates to about 250 billion dollars in non-essential spending a year. Much larger than I thought. I decided to go to my biggest strength — strategic planning and I got down to the basics of for the MarketSource growth strategy. Existing products in an existing market New products in an existing market Existing products in a new market New products in a new market The highest probability of success is with an existing product in an existing market. What can be done to get more out of Term Planner. The answer was simple — increase circulation and increase the page rate. The idea of a college magazine is a much lower probability of success. First off there were 5 other college magazines targeting the college market. Second, the cost of a college magazine would be in the hundreds of thousands and unless there was a unique point of difference why would an advertiser be interested. I met Marty and Jack for a second time, and they were anxious to hear what I had to say about the college magazine. I told them I didn't think they would like what I had to say and it would probably cost me the job, but I had to say it and also show them my strategic plan for their business. The plan's main elements were as follows: Table the idea for the magazine Double the circulation of Term Planner Leverage the college bookstore by getting them to stock the advertised product thereby creating a unique point of difference Change the name of the company. Term Planner is too limiting Hire a college store specialist to recruit new stores to increase circulation Marty took the plan and said he would get back to me. He did and offered me the job but for half of what I had been making at American Express. He added one caveat and that was if I could get the company from $500,000 to $5,000,000 in revenue, he would give Jack and I equity in the company. That was enough for me to accept the job and the adventure began. The first step was to hire Chuck Kochan to recruit store managers to distribute Term Planners. Next, I went out with Jack and Marty on sales calls to solicit advertisers. I called on everyone I knew from the four large companies I had previously worked for and got amazing results. In six months, Chuck with Marty's help was able to double the Term Planner circulation and we were charging $30,000 a page. We were also successful in getting the stores to clear out some textbooks and make room for new distribution of General Foods International Coffee, Hershey Chocolate, Trident Gum and other products. My friends from my other companies came through since we had a good story to sell in that college students had money but were hard to reach and we could get their product in the college store — a new channel of distribution. Now we were ready for our next product launch. Step II: A new product in an existing market — but it wasn't a magazine — it was a box of samples called Campus Trial Pak. A box of samples is a win/win/win formula. We go to samplers such as Kellogg's, General Foods and Wrigley's Gum and sell them on putting a sample of their product and a coupon if they wish at a charge to us of 15 cents per sample and 3 cents per coupon. We hire an outside firm such as Burke Research to do a pre/post research study to determine upon receiving the sample how many students went to the store and purchased it. In mostly all our sampled products which became multi-multi millions over time it proved to be a payout for the manufacturer. This was an advertisement that was distributed within the R Treat box. It was stuck to the inside of the box when I had the box shipped to me. Product companies like Cheer would pay MarketSource to distribute the coupon to a targeted audience, in this case to parents at Toys R Us. So, chalk up a win for the Kellogg's of the world. It also proved to be a win for the retailer (in this case the college store) as it brought in incremental traffic to get a free sample box. It was a win for the student who got $10 worth of products and coupons free. And, we, as a byproduct of the program made roughly 50 cents a box and since we wound up distributing 2 million boxes, we had 2 million in revenue and 1 million in profit. In addition, we were able to get more and more college stores to carry the product adding a new distribution channel for the manufacturing samplers. Marty was really happy with the successes so far and he called Jack and I into his office and gave us both equity. He also gave us a nice raise. The incentive to grow the business was greater than ever. Enter Eric Weil. The cash flow enabled us to hire two new salespeople for Jack and two new college store account managers for Chuck. I hired a real gem in Eric Weil, a former product manager who worked 24/7. Eric was given the challenge of developing an idea Jack came up with. It became known as The Campus Source, and it was a 4 foot by 5-foot electronic unit that hung on the wall of the student union. It had three components — a backlit visual of upcoming events personalized for each school; an LED that could be programmed by a designated school administrator to update students on an important event or date and a 2ft by 3ft backlit advertisement of a Dell personal computer, for example. The units were free to the colleges, and we wound up installing 1,200. Advertisers paid $500 a month to put their ads on the board. We were always sold out, and it was bringing us $6 million a year in revenue. Eric was a dynamo — selling schools and advertisers. We also teamed up with Sports Illustrated and had campus events involving 3-point basketball shooting, golf putting, and baseball pitching. We teamed up with CBS and had a Young and Restless tour around campus. At this point we moved into a 50,000 square foot building at 10 Abeel Road, Cranbury, NJ. At this point in 1987 we were by far the leading college marketing company. A few years earlier we had changed our name to MarketSource Corporation. We defined ourselves as a college marketing company. We were doing over 30 million in revenue and had won a number of awards for innovation. Marty Levine was named Ernst and Young's Entrepreneur of the Year, and receive awards from the College Bookstore Association for helping make the stores into diversified retailers and helping their business grow exponentially. It was time to take Step III: Existing products into new markets. This is one of the Blockbuster Bonus boxes. This was a massive deal for consumers at the time. You can read more about the story from Dinosaur Dracula Our first was to take our sample box into Toys R Us and we distributed 5 million boxes twice a year in all 1,500 Toys R Us stores. It brought in traffic during off periods — March and August and we wound up doing this program for 15 years. (Learn more about the R Treat from Dinosaur Dracula). Next, we distributed 7 million boxes through Blockbuster video stores for 12 years. 3,000,000 boxes through Medicine Shoppe Pharmacies. Campus Source boards were placed in thousands of high schools and hundreds of military bases. Events were performed in large malls throughout the country. We were ready for Step IV – New Products in New Markets. Our first venture was The Golf Link – a wall board placed in private and public golf clubs throughout the country. It featured illustrated golf tips from our partner in the venture – Lee Trevino. And, it included advertising from car, liquor and technology companies. Lee Trevino was terrific. He gave a golf seminar a couple of times a year and won our clients over with his skill and humor. We had a big meeting planned in San Francisco at the site of the US Open where we were going to pitch a 3 year sponsorship to Toyota. Trevino was the national spokesperson for Toyota and had invited top executives to dinner at Ernie's Restaurant. I was excited to sell the program to Toyota but unfortunately Lee Trevino bailed out. For the first time in his pro career he failed to make the cut and he was so dejected he went home to San Diego and the dinner was cancelled. Toyota never signed on and Lee resigned from the program. It was our first failure. We wound up selling The Golf Link to a magazine called Golf Illustrated and basically broke even. However, the next venture with a new product into a new market proved to be a big winner. Apple was a big client of ours as an advertiser on The Campus Source. Since college stores were becoming an important retailer for them, they asked MarketSource to hire salespeople under the MarketSource name and work the college store. We would pay salary and benefits, and Apple would pay us a 20% markup, so it was a very nice venture to get into. Marty hired a former VP at IBM named Don Clifford and he wound up building an outsource sales force that serviced IBM, Hewlett Packard, AT&T and many other companies. In ten years, Clifford built the business into a $100 million dollars in revenue. So, by 2001, exactly 20 years after I joined the company it was a $200M revenue company and one of the largest in the country. We strongly considered going public but Marty took ill and we wound up selling the business to two buyers – Alloy Entertainment purchased the marketing services sector of MarketSource and Allegis Corporation purchased the outsource sales division of the company. Allegis is owned by Steve Bisciotti who owns the Baltimore Ravens NFL football team. Alloy was a public company known mostly for popular youth oriented television shows such as Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars and Vampire Diaries. I joined Alloy's Board of Directors in 2004 and served on it for 10 years. In 2014 Alloy was sold to Warner Brothers where it still exists. Over the past 20 years since Allegis took over MarketSource Outsource it has grown to become a worldwide success bringing in over 1.5 billion in annual revenue and is an integral part of Allegis 15-billion-dollar business. Marty Levine passed away in October of 2003. He will go down as one of the finest entrepreneurs ever. I was lucky to have found that ad in the Jersey newspaper and worked alongside him for over 20 years. Jack McNeil also passed away about 7 years ago. He was a great salesman and very creative. It has been fun reliving my past through my son Steve's web site. More stories to come.

My Uncle Ray, my dad's brother, was a really nice guy. When I was collecting pictures for this story, I reached out to my cousins, Liz and Maryann to find a few to add to this post. During that exchange, Maryann shared that she used to set up her Barbie house and cottage on my uncle's billiards (pool) table, where he would have been playing the game of 8 ball. Maryann mentioned the table's green felt was the grass for her house. As you will read below, as important as billiards was to my uncle, family was more important. If you missed Tony's other recent posts, you can find them here at Papa's Corner. ---------------------- Brother Ray My Uncle Ray, playing billiards at a local pool hall. There is an old saying that rings true now and forever. "You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your relatives". I was lucky to have a brother who had my back his entire life. Ray passed away a couple of years ago, but he remains alive in the hearts and minds of myself and his two daughters Liz and Maryann. Ray's last couple of years were tough and the devotion and dedication of Liz and Maryann gave him the strength to hold on as long as he could. The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip: "Playing games and sports is a great way to bring family and friends together." I would like to pay homage to my brother in this the fourth installment of my writings. I am 4 1/2 years older than Ray. This is not an approximation but as real as it gets. My birthday is April 1 and Ray's birthday was September 30... 6 months to the day. Ray (left) and my dad, Tony as kids. When Ray was 14, he took an interest in pool. He watched it on television and marveled at the skill of the players. At 16 years old he started going to the pool hall at the corner of Richmond Avenue and Richmond Terrace. My parents weren't thrilled with the idea since the characters that hung around there had questionable backgrounds. Mom and Dad came up with an idea. Why not give Ray a pool table as a Christmas present. A nice idea but it wasn't cheap since a regulation pool table cost about $800... a lot of money back then. It seemed important enough to make such a sacrifice, and they wound up buying an old fashion pool table with tunnels, not a net. The sound of pool balls rolling through the tunnels could be heard from the basement where it was placed throughout the house. Also, the idea of separating Ray from his questionable friends wasn't working since they found a new pool hall at 252 Van Pelt Avenue... the home of Lou and Flo Fiore. Game of 8 Ball Handwritten story from the first of 6 pages that my dad sent to me. Ray loved the pool table, and he would play from early morning to late night. He became good enough to enter tournaments and win his share. Ray became well known in Staten Island pool circles and he got to a point where he could run 10, 15, 20, 25 balls in a row. Few players wanted to play against Ray so he started to go to bars in Manhattan and Brooklyn and he became a skilled 8 ball player for $5 to $10 a game. The game of 8 ball involves hitting the white cue ball into a rack of 15 balls. Of the 15 balls set up in a rack eight are solids (1 to 7) and the others are stripes (9 to 15). Players must pocket all balls in their designated group (solids or stripes) before pocketing the 8 ball in a designated pocket to win. When Ray aimed the cue ball at the rack he almost always got either a stripe or solid ball in the pocket. Then he methodically ran the other balls and then made the 8 ball. Ray became so good at 8 ball that few wanted to challenge him. Until he met "Sailor Bill". Sailor Bill My Uncle Ray playing billiards. Sailor Bill was sitting at a Brooklyn bar one day watching Ray polish off one player after another. Bill was a retired Navy man who was about 70 when 18-year-old Ray Fiore met him. He approached Ray at the Brooklyn bar and said "I would like to challenge you." Ray said "I don't want to take your money old man." Sailor Bill said "I'll take that chance. How much do you want to play for?" Ray said "One game for $5 dollars." Sailor Bill said, "Come on if its only one game lets play for $20." Ray said "If you insist." Ray said... "You can break". The old sailor studied the board picked out a pool stick and then proceeded to clear the table in a couple of minutes. Ray didn't know what hit him. After two rematches Ray was out $60 without taking a shot. They sat at the bar and Bill bought Ray a drink. He said "Ray you have a lot of potential. I can teach you a lot if you are interested." Ray said sure and for the next couple of months Sailor Bill was a frequent visitor to the Fiore house. Where Ray was able to run 25 balls in a row, Sailor Bill could run 100. He was right out of the movie with Jackie Gleason playing Minnesota Fats. Ray just playing around. Sailor Bill told Ray he saw the pool table in geometric terms, triangles, rectangles and squares and he knew where the cue ball was going to land 5 shots from now. After Sailor Bills lessons, Ray became better than ever. Throughout his life he never stopped playing pool and won many more games than he lost. The Final Hustle At Ray's funeral I gave a eulogy which was about one of Ray's last pool games. Tony (left) and Ray as adults, January 2014 It was great that at the end of our work careers we wound up at the same company... MarketSource Corporation in Cranbury, New Jersey. We had a Christmas luncheon and after it was over Ray asked a few of us to join him at this new restaurant in Cranbury that had a pool table. So about 6 of us joined Ray at this place and we sat at a table having drinks and watching this hot shot named Mikey polish off one player after another in 8 ball. So Ray approaches Mikey and says wanna play. Mikey says, "I don't want to take your money old man". Ray says no problem... How much you want to play for?" "How about $20... You can break". I'm thinking bad move Mikey. Five games later, Mikey is out $100 and he has taken only a few shots. He can't believe what happened to him. Then I look over and in the corner of the bar Mikey and Ray are talking intently. Then I see Ray hand over the $100 he just won back to Mikey... who leaves the place. As Ray returns to our table, we ask him why he gave Mikey his money back. Ray says Mikey told him he has a couple of young kids and the money was for Christmas toys. Then a bar patron who heard Ray's story chimes in... "You got to be kidding... Is that what he told you". Ray said yes and he even gave him $20 of his own money. The bar patron says... well Mikey is not married and has no kids. In fact, he is a big playboy. Ray's smile turns into a laugh. "Well, I guess the hustler got hustled". That was Ray... as kind a person out there. A great brother, husband, father and grandfather. I am so lucky to have him as a brother.

This is the third installment of my dad's stories, which are quickly becoming fan favorites from my audience. I have pulled my dad out of retirement to find a new career as blogger! To catch you up, the first story, Family Storytelling Tradition With Papa Fiore, is worth reading to give some context to this 3rd story. The second story, Discovering Staten Island Roots Through Family Storytelling, gives a bit more color about growing up in Staten Island. --------------------- Family Storytelling As I mentioned in my first article a few weeks ago my grandkids got bored with me reading children's books to them and they asked me to make up stories hence the creation of Little Johnny stories. If you missed Tony's other recent posts, you can find them here at Papa's Corner. These stories weren't entirely made up. Little Johnny was a classmate of mine in Mrs. McCarthy's 5th grade class at Public School 44 (known as PS 44) located in Mariners Harbor, Staten Island. The cast of my stories centered on 4 characters: Little Johnny Mrs. McCarthy Bully George Little Papa Little Johnny: He was only in my 5th grade class for one year. He transferred to PS 44 from an elementary school in Manhattan and lived a few houses from me. His father was a cameraman who filmed commercials for a large New York agency called BBD+O. One of their larger clients was Campbell Soup and they became famous for their "Mmm Mmm Good" slogan that became an integral part of every TV, print and radio commercial for many years. My dad's rendering of Little Johnny So, one day Little Johnny's dad thought it would be fun to take Little Johnny to an actual commercial shoot for Campbell's Soup. The premise of the commercial was to show an average family at home waiting for dinner. There was Mom, Dad, big sister and little brother looking somber until Mom announces that they are going to have Campbell's chicken noodle soup for dinner then the frowns all turn to smiles that get bigger when the soup is actually served. A voiceover then says, "That's why Campbell Soup is Mmm Mmm Good." The young boy who has been cast to be in the commercial has taken ill and cannot make the shoot. The director in desperation asks Little Johnny's dad if he can take his place. His dad says Little Johnny has never acted before and the director says there is no dialogue, all he has to do is wear a frown until Mom announces dinner and then he smiles, tastes the soup and smiles wider joining a very happy family setting. Little Johnny's dad tells him what he has to do and he says "Dad, I don't like chicken noodle soup". Little Johnny's dad says you will be getting $50 an hour, most shoots take 5 hours that means you will be making $250. I guess you didn't realize how much you suddenly got to like chicken noodle soup. Little Johnny says, "Right on Dad". So Little Johnny became a quasi-celebrity at PS 44 as the Campbell's commercial he was in played countless times on television. He became a favorite of Mrs. McCarthy who never had a TV star in her class before. He also became a favorite of Bully George who kept asking Johnny to get him into commercials. The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip: "Even if it doesn't feel like it, there are always alternatives to difficult situations." As for me Little Papa I liked walking to school with him because he was fun and upbeat and he didn't let his instant fame go to his head. Mrs. McCarthy: My dad's rendering of Mrs. McCarthy Mrs. M was a typical old schoolteacher. She had a big sign on the wall that said: M Y O B Mrs. M also use to call her students out if they misbehaved. Her favorite line was: We have our General Eisenhower's and our General McArter's but you George are a general nuisance. Bully George had to repeat 5th grade because his grades were terrible. Mrs. McCarthy dreaded another year of him in her class, but her retirement was near and she figured she could tolerate him for a few more months. The rest of the class not so much. Bully George: My dad's rendering of Bully George His favorite saying was "If you don't do what I ask I'm going to deck you". He was about a year older than everyone else in the class, about a foot taller and about 40 pounds heavier. His frustration about getting left back made him take it out on the rest of the class especially the boys. He methodically singled out one boy a day to meet him after school and then before a decent crowd of onlookers would wrestle the boy down and make him say I give up. He never involved any girls. The only boys who were immune from this ordeal were Little Johnny because of his celebrity and George wanting to be on TV and Little Papa because I gave him my homework to copy, a small price to pay from having George sit on you. Little Papa: My dad's rendering of himself as a kid in his own stories In order not to confuse the grandkids, I kept the name Papa in all my stories. They only knew me by that name and to introduce Anthony or Tony (my real and nickname) would have created more confusion. So, in all the stories, I was Little Johnny's sidekick and I was "Little Papa". As I mentioned in my other stories, I lived in Mariners Harbor and went to PS 44 for 8 years. Ironically, many years after when I was in the business world, Campbell Soup became one of my company's biggest clients. More about that in future writings. Now that readers would be familiar with the cast after presenting their biographies, here is one of the grandkid's favorite Little Johnny stories. Bully George was getting bored with wrestling the boys in the class to the ground. Nobody even showed up to watch the show anymore. One day Bully George was walking to school with Little Johnny and I and he said I have an idea that could be profitable for me. "What's the idea" asked Little Johnny. Bully George proudly says I'm starting a company called Bully George Protection Company. As you know every day in the afternoon Mrs. McCarthy makes us take a 15-minute break to have a cookie and a container of milk. The cookie is free, but the milk money is 5 cents for a carton. We have 13 boys in the class. I will not include you Johnny or you Papa and of course myself, so that leaves 10 boys who will pay me 50¢ a day or $2.50 a week for protection. "That means they can't have milk with their cookies Bully George," said Little Johnny. I know Little Johnny, but it means they won't have to worry about being on the ground seeing my smiling face. So let me get this straight Bully George you are asking for money from the boys to protect them from you. If Mrs. McCarthy found out, she will march you to the principal's office and you might be spending another year in 5th grade. I know there is some risk but no risk no reward said George. So, George pursues this enterprising venture and is pleased to have all 10 boys participate. He doesn't feel sorry when their mouths are watering for milk to go along with their cookies. Mrs. McCarthy is clueless as to what is happening and thinks the boys might think the milk is sour. After a month, Bully George celebrates his 10 dollars by buying a fancy yo-yo and a Spalding ball. Little Johnny is not so amused by Bully George's business acumen, so he approaches the bully and details a plan for George to consider. He says George "Congrats on your business but if you want it to grow you are going to have to invest in it." "What do you mean Little Johnny" says George. Little Johnny says well you are going to need a salesman to get you new clients. I can do that job, but you will have to pay me 20¢ a day. Then you will need an accountant (Little Papa) to take care of your books and pay your taxes. And, you will need a marketing manager to develop an advertising campaign Bully George Protection Company. That will cost you another 20¢ each for Papa and the marketing manager (Little Sally). George says, "Great idea Little Johnny but I will be losing 10¢ a day". That's what happens to start-up companies George, but the investment will pay out over time. So, George follows Little Johnny's plan and in 5 months he is forced to declare bankruptcy. Little Johnny has outsmarted Bully George once again. Little Johnny and Little Papa returned all the money plus interest to the 10 classmate boys who had to contribute to George. Everyone in the class enjoyed their milk and cookie again- except Bully George who spent milk and cookie time in the principal's office.

This is the second story from my dad, Tony Fiore. If you missed the first one, Family Storytelling Tradition With Papa Fiore, it became a fan favorite. Below, my dad shares a bit about growing up in Staten Island along with his days in college. Staten Island Roots I would like to give a bit of a prelude, to my second story by telling about my family life growing up (Staten Island Roots). I was born and raised in Staten Island, New York. The smallest of the five boroughs of New York City, Staten Island is most known for its scenic ferry ride with views of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline. Fiore Bros (you can see the name on the two pillars) circa 1950 maybe. If you have a relative from Staten Island that is older than 60, they will know of Fiore Brothers and the orange trucks. I was raised in a modest home in Mariners Harbor... known for its shipyards. My house on Van Pelt Avenue had more visitors than the local diner because my mom, Flo, always had something cooking that was homemade. If you missed Tony's other recent posts, you can find them here at Papa's Corner. My younger brother Ray was a great billiards player, and he and his friends headed to our basement where an old-fashioned pool table was located. The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip: "Sitting around the kitchen table, smelling the scents of home cooking and great conversations, can elevate the sensory experience." My dad, Louis, was known as Louie the Bookkeeper. He was one of five Louis Fiore’s, all with different nicknames to distinguish them from one another... Louie the Oilman, Louie the Salesman, Louie the Dispatcher and Louie the Bossman. All worked for Fiore Brothers Fuel Oil Company, a firm established in the 1920’s by my grandfather Anthony and his two brothers... Ferdinand and Michael. They also had a sister Rose who was not involved in the business. Rose's husband Frank drove an oil truck for Fiore Bros for 30 years. This was not an easy job as many of the roads in Staten Island are narrow, winding, and have lots of hills. Page 4 of 6 from my dad's handwritten story Fiore Brothers survived the Great Depression of the early 1930’s by becoming a barter company and eventually rose to be the largest fuel oil company on Staten Island with 12 large oil trucks, a few coal trucks and 40 employees, mostly family. Anyone who married into the Fiore family was guaranteed a job which was a testament to the family values of the company. My dad preferred to be called Louie the Accountant, but Bookkeeper stuck for his entire life. When Fiore Brothers customers received their oil deliveries, they usually preferred to pay the Fiore Brothers delivery man after the oil was pumped into their tank. Some preferred to pay at the company office in Elm Park. One of those people was a Mr. P. His son was a Big Man on Campus at the local Staten Island college called Wagner College. His son, Al, was captain of the football team and President of one of the larger fraternities—Alpha Sigma Phi. So one in the early summer of 1959 Mr. P came into Fiore Brothers to pay his bill and he and my dad started chatting. My dad told him that his son Tony had just graduated Port Richmond High School and was enrolled to go to Wagner College. "Great" said Mr. P, "I'll tell my son Al about him, and he will get him into his fraternity." Sounded good but unfortunately it doesn't work that way. Fraternities and sororities have membership drives the beginning of each semester and then the members vote on who should get a bid to join. The President cannot dictate who becomes a member, so I am sure that when Al was told about me, he let his father know the procedure. However, Al's father never said another word about it, and I walked onto campus thinking I was a lock for Alpha Sigma Phi brotherhood. Alpha was one of 7 campus fraternities and what distinguished it from the rest was that 90% of its members were on the Wagner football team—I was a baseball player. The Wagner College Experience The other fraternities, Phi Sigma Kappa was for the brainy guys; Delta Nu was our Animal House, etc. So Al, with the pressure of his dad, tried to sell me to the Alpha brotherhood. It wasn't easy but he didn't want his dad to have to face my dad and say "I'm sorry your son doesn't have what it takes to be Alpha Sig." Al took on the challenge and somehow persuaded the Alpha brotherhood of 70 members to vote me in. I proudly accepted my membership and made some lifelong friends because of it. More about my friends in future writings. This was the winning fraternity, Phi Sigma Kappa, which is not the one my dad joined. Even Delta Nu, which was considered the Animal House of the college fraternities, came in second place with barely any practice. The biggest day of the year for fraternities and sororities is Songfest... a big singing event that is held every May and it packs the Field House and is a worthy fundraiser for various Staten Island charities. Winning is a big, prestigious deal and I couldn't believe how many practices would be held before the big, nighttime event with an orchestra and spotlights. Each participating fraternity was assigned a professor from the music department to coach and mentor us. The song we chose was "Carolina in the Morning" originally sung by Al Jolson. It was a catchy upbeat song, and our fraternity was confident we could win with it. So we are having our first practice and the music professor assigned to us, a stern bespeckled man in his late 50's Mr. Denby, summons me to talk privately with him. He says, "Mr. Fiore I know this means a lot to you to sing at Songfest, but your singing is throwing others off. I am requesting you get up on stage with the rest of the group but please only mouth the words." I protest to no avail, and I sheepishly get back to practice, and lip sync this fun song. Mr. Denby, after a few weeks of practices feels we are ready to go and that we have a chance of winning. The night of Songfest arrives. I didn't have the heart to tell my parents who were attending that I was banished from letting a sound come from my mouth, so I put on my tuxedo and stuck my carnation in my lapel and went off to the big event. The crowd is at capacity, and the orchestra starts playing the prelude and all of a sudden, they start singing: "Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina in the morning. No one could be sweeter than my sweetie when I meet her in the morning." I can't take it. All of a sudden, I start singing the words and I see looks of dismay from my brothers next to me on stage. I can't believe I defiantly disobeyed our conductor's request. Neither can my fraternity brothers who look like they lost a football game on a last second pass. We wind up finishing 3rd and I became the scapegoat. For years after that at every fraternity reunion someone greets me and brings it up. "I can't believe you would do that Fiore. It is so unlike you. We hardly knew you existed until that night." Oh well, I'm not going to let a bunch of sore losers ruin what could have been a great singing career. Till the next episode, Childhood Lessons and Family Storytelling: A Papa Fiore Memory, which is now posted.

If you are following along with my family stories, I recently shared about how I helped Matthew and Michael start small businesses while they were in high school in a 2-part series (Part 1 and Part 2). Papa with Emma, Michael, and Matthew on a hike, October 2009. I share all this as a backdrop to my next topic, family storytelling, which is my dad, or as the kids call him, Papa. I have shared a few mentions of him in my stories, most recently, about our trip to California last week and the connection to us buying the most comfortable bed. If you missed Tony's other recent posts, you can find them here at Papa's Corner. During this visit, I was sharing with my dad some additional details about this website and his interest to learn more. On the plane ride home, I came up with the idea that he could be a guest writer on the site. My dad is a great storyteller, though it is sometimes hard to determine where the real story ends and the exaggeration begins. I also think that each time my dad tells a story, they have gotten a bit more exaggerated, always keeping us wondering how real or how imaginary his stories are. As I was pondering what angle I could have him share his stories, nestled in the Rooted & Refined Living lifestyle section, I initially thought his 60 and 70-year-old friendships that started in high school and college respectively could be a great starting point. The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip: "Don't worry about accuracy. Preserving family history through storytelling can be a great way to pass on memories and feelings of nostalgia to future generations." We bounced around a few ideas and within a few days, my dad shared his first story, and true to form, he wrote about an imaginary person that was born from real life events of his childhood. My kids heard these stories all the time and now they will be chronicled as a part of this website as my dad shares his stories growing up in Staten Island through his friendships today that have lasted 60 and 70 years. With no additional introduction, here is my dad's first story. There will be more to come. One last thing. My dad writes all of his stories on yellow legal pads and then takes pictures. I then use AI to convert it to text which is a huge time saver for both of us. Papa's handwritten notes. He also writes in all caps as you can see. I used Google Gemini to translate this photo to the text below. Papa's Introductory Story Hi, my name is Tony Fiore. I am Steve's Dad and I live in Orange County, California. Steve lives in a small town west of Boston. He recently came to visit me and enjoy some sunshine after enduring some very cold periods in the Northeast. His web site, Rooted & Refined Living, is doing very well and he asked if I would like to contribute some articles based on my life experiences. I agreed and this will be my first contribution. Steve and his wife Marybeth have 3 children... Matthew 23, a recent Bryant grad and currently employed in Human Resources. Michael, 21, a senior at Keene State College and Emma, 19, a sophomore at University of Connecticut. About 15 years ago, I was visiting Steve on a cold January day and the kids who were 6, 4 and 2 wanted me to tell them a story. So I made up a story about a young boy named Little Johnny. I introduce other characters who interacted with Little Johnny such as George, the school bully, and Mrs. McCarthy, his teacher. The stories became so popular with the kids that when I finished one they wanted another. I got a kick out of how much laughter they got out of these made up characters and stories. Little Johnny was always in trouble but somehow figured a way to come out on top at the end of the story. Then, on a cold wintery day as I was nearing the end of my visit, Marybeth said Matthew would like you to walk him to the school bus stop. I said sure and bundled myself up for the walk to the bus stop with little Matthew who was in first grade back then. When we got to the bus stop there were about 10 moms and dads and their sons and daughters waiting for the bus to arrive. I exchanged a few hellos and stood in line for the bus. At that moment Matthew in a clear, loud voice says "Papa (that was my grandfather name), my mom says 'All your friends are imaginary'." Everything went silent and I could see moms and dads yanking their kids hands and pulling them away from me. I'm thinking, OMG what must they be thinking? Should I try to explain that I have real friends? How the heck does a 6 year old know the word imaginary? When the heck is this bus coming? So I did nothing – just stood there looking guilty waiting what seemed like an eternity for the bus. Here is a visit to Lake Mead on our trip to Las Vegas. We flew out and my dad drove to meet us. Then, the bus came and as Matthew was boarding he said "Papa are you going to pick me up when I get out of school?". Before I could answer some woman with a scowl on her face says "I hope not". I'm sure those parents had a good chuckle at my expense. Anyway, that's my first contribution. I have a few others and maybe some of my imaginary friends will pop up. If you enjoyed Papa's first trip down memory lane, you can read his next story here: Discovering Staten Island Roots Through Family Storytelling Do you have a funny story that your parents or grandparents tell over Sunday dinners? If so, please share in the comments section below.

"Nothing About This Nest Is Empty" “Empty nester” is a phrase we use without thinking. Which is probably why no one stops to question what it actually implies. It’s a strange phrase when you really stop and look at it. Loaded with assumptions we rarely examine. The word “empty” doing most of the work—suggesting absence, loss, something finished. And more often than not, it lands squarely on her. Why her? Because the “nest,” whether we say it out loud or not, has always been hers. The one who kept it running, filled it, managed it, held it together. So when it’s “empty”…what exactly is that supposed to mean? That something is over? That something is missing? That she is? *** If you missed Amy's other recent posts, you can find them here at Kitchen Table Conversations. I’m speaking from experience. I’m the “her.” My nest has been empty for a few years now. I raised daughters, and like many families, we went through those in-between years—college, summers home, back and forth. A kind of emotional whiplash where they’re gone, then back, then gone again. And then one day, that chapter closes too. It’s bittersweet in a way that’s hard to fully explain—watching, knowing, feeling what it means to have launched two young women into their lives. Out of the proverbial nest. And like any transition, there’s a honeymoon phase. Instead of your days spent freezing on a soccer field, or your butt numb from sitting on bleachers, or mornings full of chaos, or those unexpected calls in the middle of the day—the broken bones, the colds, the heartbreaks, all of it… You now have, well…time. To do whatever. You. Please. Imagine that. It’s real. It’s energizing. And then, like anything, it settles. The novelty fades. Real life returns. And what you’re left with isn’t empty. It’s spacious. In a way that can feel wide. Open. And, at times, unfamiliar. And you might not know what to do with it. So I’m sharing this from that place—not as good or bad, just honest—some of what that spaciousness can hold. ________________________________________ There’s spaciousness in the relationships. What’s left is…well, you. And whoever you still live with. Probably the person you built this life with. And they’re navigating this “empty nest” too—in their own way. Their own shift in routine. Their own sense of freedom, or loss, or something in between. Things have changed. Even if you did all the “right” things along the way. Even if you had date nights. Even if you stayed connected. You can’t really prepare for this. Because for years—decades, really—your relationship existed inside something larger. A shared focus. A constant motion. A life being actively built and managed together. And now, that layer is gone. That phase of life is behind you, and the way you operate together changes. And what’s there now has more room. More visibility. Which can feel good. And unfamiliar. And, at times, a little exposing. Not because something is wrong. But because you’re both seeing things more clearly—without the buffer of everything that used to move between you. Don’t be surprised by that. But it doesn’t mean something is broken. It means something has shifted. And like anything that shifts, it asks something new of you. ________________________________________ There’s spaciousness in the house itself. Rooms that are still full—but no longer in use the same way. Closets, drawers, corners that hold more than just things. The high school sports gear. The art projects. The crafts. The stack of poster board you always kept on hand because someone, inevitably, needed something the night before. The swim goggles and cap from junior year. The ballet shoes still tucked into the pink bag you thought she might go back to. The jibbitz from the purple crocs she wore to Disneyland. All the Webkinz—some still with the tags on. And, of course, everything an American Girl could need, want, or imagine. You know they won’t need any of it anymore. But that doesn’t mean you can just throw it out. Because it’s not just stuff. It’s time. It’s memory. It’s entire seasons of your life—and theirs—sitting quietly on a shelf. Tangible, but holding something you can’t touch anymore. Versions of them—and of you—still there, but not accessible. Almost like little ghosts of a life that isn’t lived that way anymore. Not waiting, exactly. But not fully gone either. And you will be tempted to do one of two things. Or both. Clear it all out, or keep it all there. There’s no wrong answer. For me, there was something freeing about clearing space. And something unexpectedly hard about being the one who had to decide do it. ________________________________________ And then there’s the spaciousness that belongs to you. This one is big. If you’re like me, it might feel disorienting at first. Not bad. Not good. Just…different and unfamiliar. You’re still a mother. That doesn’t change. But you’re no longer needed in the same constant, immediate way. And that creates spaciousness—real spaciousness—for something else. And that “something” isn’t always clear. The questions start small. What do I want (like, for dinner)? And then, without warning, they get bigger. What do I actually want (like, for the rest of my life)? And you may not have an answer to either. That doesn’t mean something is wrong. It means something is opening. This is where you start to trust yourself. And actually listen. Because you’re not just adjusting to a quieter house, or a different rhythm, or even a different relationship. You’re face to face with a version of yourself that hasn’t had much room—until now. And just like any good relationship, there’s no shortcut for that. ________________________________________ So no, it’s not empty. And we should probably stop calling it that. Because this phase isn’t about what’s gone. It’s about what’s here now. Spacious. Open. Alive in a different way. And maybe that’s the point. Not to rush to fill it. Not to define it too quickly. But to let it be what it is— And see what has room to emerge.

"Paying Attention to Birds" Have birds changed or are we just noticing them? Because I’ve been fascinated with birds lately. Not in a “this is my new hobby” way. Just in the morning, with coffee, looking out the window, and somehow getting pulled into whatever is happening out there. There’s a feeder. It’s squirrel-proof, but there’s always a squirrel getting into it anyway. And then there are the robins, already out there doing whatever it is they do this time of year—which, apparently, is figuring out where to nest. Around here, that starts now, and by June there are hungry babies. None of that is new. So why does it feel like it is? ________________________________________ If you missed Amy's other recent posts, you can find them here at Kitchen Table Conversations. Maybe it’s just spring. This is when birds are the most active. That part is real. But the more you pay attention, the less random it sounds. What I used to think of as just background noise is actually more specific than that. Some of it is territorial—marking space. Some of it is about mating. And they don’t just have one sound—they change it depending on what they’re doing. When you sit and really listen, eyes closed, it’s obviously intelligent. Even the timing of it—early morning isn’t random. The air is quieter, the sound carries further. So what feels calm on our end is actually a lot happening on theirs. And then you realize you can actually figure some of it out. There are apps now that will listen and tell you what bird you’re hearing. You hold up your phone and suddenly it’s not just “a bird,” it’s a specific one, with its own patterns and habits. Which is a strange thing to find yourself doing. And once you know even a little of it, it’s hard to go back to not hearing it. ________________________________________ Or it’s something else entirely. There’s also the part people don’t always say out loud. That birds can start to feel… meaningful. Certain ones show up and it doesn’t quite feel random. A hawk circling overhead. A cardinal landing nearby. And then your brain goes a step further than it used to. You start to wonder if the hawk means something. If it’s someone. You think about your dog—gone a few years now—and then, there’s that cardinal again. Is that a coincidence? Only if you believe that it is. And maybe you do. Or maybe you don’t. And that’s new too. At the same time, there’s actual science behind the idea that they’re responding to things we don’t see. Magnetic fields. Air currents. Subtle shifts in the environment. They’re navigating with information we don’t consciously have. So they are, in a real sense, tuned into something else. Not in a way we need to define. Just… something we’re not part of in the same way. ________________________________________ Or maybe we’re just noticing. Maybe nothing changed. Maybe we’re just noticing. And there’s a part of that that’s easy to resist. Because paying attention to birds feels like something that belongs to a different category of person. People with time. People who aren’t in the middle of everything anymore. Not us. And yet. They are kind of incredible. And we’re standing there, watching them, having thoughts about them we probably wouldn’t have had before. So maybe the category was off. Maybe it was never about “old people liking birds.” Maybe it was about something else that comes with time. ________________________________________ Because this has all been happening the entire time. The same patterns. The same movement. The same songs, every spring. Generations of it, right outside, whether we were paying attention or not. The whole time. And our attention was somewhere else. On what was next. On what needed to get done. On everything that felt more immediate, more important. And now, for whatever reason, it isn’t. Or at least, not all of it is. Now there’s space to see this too. Not as a replacement for everything else. Just alongside it. The fact that there’s this constant layer of life happening—organized, active, repeating itself—right outside. And always has been. ________________________________________ So no, I don’t think birds have changed. But I do think it’s worth paying attention to the moment when you realize you have.

"Your Stuff Is Not Just Stuff" There’s a moment—usually when you’re not even looking for it—when your things stop feeling neutral. You pick something up, or even just look at it, and instead of seeing what it is, you feel what it carries. The memory. The association. The version of you it’s tied to. Because your environment is never neutral. It’s in constant conversation with your nervous system. And that’s when you realize—this was never just about stuff. ________________________________________ If you missed Amy's other recent posts, you can find them here at Kitchen Table Conversations. A lot of us grew up in a different kind of world. Buying wasn’t frictionless. You went to the store. You thought about it. You saved for it. Marketing was something you passed on a billboard, not something that followed you, studied you, and learned you. Now we can have almost anything within hours. And the people selling it to us often understand our desires—and our insecurities—better than we do. So we buy. We build lives that look full. Closets, kitchens, drawers, shelves—all filled with things that were supposed to make life better, easier, more complete. And for a while, it works. Until it doesn’t. It becomes too much. Not only because of how much we have—but because of how often we’re being affected by it. Every object is asking for something, even if it’s just a reaction. Overwhelmed. Overstimulated. Out of control. Tired. Not enough. ________________________________________ There was a dress I used to love. Black and white houndstooth. Tailored perfectly. The kind of dress that made me feel capable, prepared, pulled together. I wore it to an important business meeting. And that day became one of the worst professional moments I’ve ever experienced. The dress didn’t change. But what it holds did. Now when I see it, I don’t think about how it fits. It reminds me of that day. That moment. That version of myself. And I have to ask—why would I keep something that takes me right back there? Maybe you have something like that too. ________________________________________ Some things I’ve let go of in ways that might sound extreme. I’ve burned clothes. Clothes I wore on the days I had to say goodbye to my dogs. Days that held a kind of love and weight that doesn’t need explaining—if you’ve been there, you know. Those clothes carried it. Not just sadness—but the magnitude of that moment. And I knew I couldn’t wear them again. They weren’t meant to be worn anymore. Not because I wanted to forget—but because that kind of moment doesn’t belong in an ordinary Tuesday. ________________________________________ And then there are the things that show up differently. Not tied to one moment—but there, every day. The KitchenAid mixer. The one that reminds you of the person you think you should be—the one who bakes from scratch, who shows up with something homemade instead of something in a box. The jeans that technically fit—but only if you’re standing. Close, but not quite there. Exercise equipment you don’t use. Unread books. Recipes saved for someday. Or the things you keep because you spent too much money on them—quiet reminders that you got it wrong. You wasted money. You believed something you shouldn’t have. None of it demands your attention. But it’s always there. And every time you see it, something in you responds—even if you don’t consciously notice it. A slight tightening. Something in you bracing, just a little. And over time, that adds up. ________________________________________ We’re often told to ask, “Does it bring you joy?” But that question doesn’t always go far enough. A better question is: What does this make me feel? Not in theory—but when you actually see it, touch it, live with it. Because your body answers that question before your mind does. Because sometimes the answer is simple. Not enough. Not yet. You should be more. You got this wrong. And once you start noticing that, it’s hard to unsee. ________________________________________ Living intentionally, in a world of stuff, isn’t about having less for the sake of it. It’s more than just finding your keys, or the best closet organization system, or the right baskets and containers. It’s about creating a space that supports you. A space that reflects who you are now. That means keeping what feels like alignment, and letting go of what feels like pressure. It means paying attention to what in your space feels grounding—and what feels like it’s keeping score. It also changes how you bring things in—not from restriction, but from honesty. Do I actually want this? Or do I want what I think this says about me? ________________________________________ Because the way you live starts to change when you make decisions this way. You bring in less of what you don’t need. You hold onto fewer things out of guilt, cost, or expectation. And what’s left starts to feel different. Not empty. Not minimal for the sake of it. Just… intentional. A space that supports you. A space where the things around you feel like you—how you live, what you enjoy, what you reach for without thinking. Things you actually like. That you chose. That feel good to see, to use, to live with. Things that carry something positive. Or nothing at all. ________________________________________ And that changes the experience of being in your space. You’re not managing it. You’re not reacting to it. You’re just… in it. If you missed Amy's other recent posts, you can find them here at Kitchen Table Conversations.

The iconic red dot at the TEDx BryantU event. I had watched a few TED Talks over the years, but it wasn't a regular practice of mine. If I watched 10 or 20, it was a lot. Of the one's I watched, a few that stood out were How I hacked online dating by Amy Webb, which I used to teach in my Introduction to Information System and Analytics class at Bryant University back in 2018 and of course, Simon Sinek's Start with Why, which I think everyone has seen. Amy's session was used to help relate dating to analytics for students that weren't necessarily going to become data scientists, and based on the student feedback, I think it worked. When the opportunity for me to apply for and ultimately become a TEDx speaker, I jumped at the opportunity. TEDx Speaker Experience This post, however, is not about how to become a TED or TEDx speaker, but the emotions that were felt before, during, and after the Talk. I have enlisted the help of a few other TEDx speakers; John Boccuzzi, my son Matthew, as well as my perspective, where we all share our TEDx speaker experience. As I was preparing for my presentation, John had a direct influence which I will detail below. Mary Beth and I, both Bryant graduates, met John, also a Bryant alumnus, along with his wife Cynthia during an alumni reception during orientation for our kids (Matthew and their son John), who attended and recently graduated from Bryant as well. John and I have stayed in touch ever since, with it now being almost 6 years. Also, if you are in the Newtown, CT area, Cynthia and John run a small business, BD Provisions, which was founded on the idea that consumers are ready to move towards more sustainable lifestyles, and everyone moves at his or her own pace. The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip: "Opportunities can appear from preparation, silence, and despair. The win is to be open to the possibility of what could be." These stories are a more behind the scenes look and will cover the before, during, and after the TEDx Talk. We are going to start with John's story. John Boccuzzi's Someday In 2006, I watched my first TED Talk and said one word to myself: “Someday.” Someday turned into 11 years. Until Fall 2017, when Jake Zimmer, a Bryant University student I had met the prior year reached out and invited me to apply to speak at the first TEDx at Bryant University. No more excuses. This was the sign. I Was Seduced By Exceptional Customer Service by John Boccuzzi, Jr. - TEDxBryantU I spent weeks asking myself a hard question: After watching 100+ TED Talks…What could I possibly offer? The answer was my passion: customer experience, and one unforgettable story about Ruth, a pair of glasses, and how exceptional service can change a life. When I shared the title idea with my wife Cynthia, she said it needed to be bold. She suggested: “I Was Seduced by Exceptional Customer Service.” It felt provocative. Maybe too provocative. But what did I have to lose? I applied. I interviewed with the committee. I was selected. And that’s when the real work began. TEDx is structured. Two in-person rehearsals. Hard deadlines. Tight timing. I wrote the talk. Rewrote it. Practiced for weeks. Lesson #1: Talent is optional. Preparation is not. Two days before the talk in February 2018, I came down with a terrible fever. Instead of staying overnight in Providence with my wife and two kids, I stayed home and tried to recover. We drove up early the morning of the event. On that drive I had every thought you can imagine: What if the fever derails me? What if I forget my talk? What if the slides fail? What if the audience doesn’t react? Backstage, every speaker wore the same expression; excitement mixed with anxiety. Then it was my turn. The lights were so bright I couldn’t see the audience. Probably a gift. I couldn’t even see Cynthia and the kids. I started. It was flowing. I felt great. With less than a minute left, my internal voice started celebrating. And that’s when it happened. I forgot my next line. Time froze. Instead of apologizing or panicking, I paused. It felt like an hour. It was probably three seconds. I refocused. Turned off the celebration voice. Delivered the ending. The applause was incredible. Hugging my family afterward was even better. Lesson #2: Composure beats perfection. After the event, I shared the video with friends, colleagues, and on LinkedIn. It took off. the art of Seducing your Customers by John Boccuzzi, Jr. Within months it was recognized as one of the best Customer Experience talks of 2018. Seven years later, it’s approaching one million views. And in 2024, I followed it up with a book: The Art of Seducing Your Customers. Lesson #3: One courageous “yes” can compound for years. From “Someday” in 2006…To TEDx in 2018…To nearly a million views… To a book. If you’re sitting on a “Someday” goal… Maybe it’s time to remove the excuses. What’s your “Someday”? The Fiore Overview Giving a TED or TEDx Talk is exhilarating but also comes with its challenges. I think when I was giving my Talk, my family held their breath for the entire 15 minutes as they were watching me. It was a different feeling for me watching Matthew speak. I had only heard one early draft of his speech, but just with that one early version, I was confident it was going to go well. As Matthew was giving his Talk, Mary Beth and I both had the same feeling that he was offering hope to people that were dealing with autism, either the individuals themselves or the families that were supporting them. Even to this day, Matthew doesn't see that perspective; it was just a speech to him. When you get to the end of this page, I will post an excerpt of one of the notes we got following his speech on the impact he made to at least one person. Matthew's Story Giving a TED talk was never something on my bucket list, and honestly, it became even less likely after watching my father give one. Seeing him on stage made me so nervous. But that feeling only lasted about a year, because soon enough, I was giving my first TEDx talk at Bryant University. I won't go into the full details here since you can hear that in my TED talk; but I was diagnosed with Autism late in life, during my freshman year of college. Receiving that diagnosis sent me through something similar to the five stages of grief as I tried to reconcile this newly defined reality, even though nothing in my life had actually changed. Deep down, I always knew autism was part of me, but the formal diagnosis made it real in a way I had never faced before. Navigating Life With Autism by Matt Fiore - TEDxBryantU The theme of the TEDx event was Through My Eyes, which felt fitting for my story. I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to say at first; I mostly saw it as the final step in my journey toward fully accepting my diagnosis. Like I'm doing now, I started by simply typing my thoughts with no particular structure- just whatever came to mind. I worked with my parents and a close mentor to turn those thoughts into a cohesive story. I wanted to share my personal experiences while still creating something that anyone, not just autistic individuals, could connect with. Beyond my own reasons for doing it, my hope was to impact a last one person such as a parent, a family member, or someone on the spectrum who could take something meaningful away from my talk. During the writing process, I remember feeling overwhelmed at times, but I kept chipping away at each draft. The talk was definitely happening, so I locked in and focused on refining it one iteration at a time. Memorizing the speech ended up being the easiest part for me, I learned my 15-minute talk in just over a week. I know that's not exactly relatable to most people, but let's call it one of the perks of autism. As for actually giving the talk? I barely remember it. I essentially blacked out on stage. I remember the moments before and after, but the entire time I was speaking is a complete blank. Afterward, I celebrated with my family and friends over pizza and dessert. The next day, I felt accomplished and relieved that the four-month process was finally over. I went to work as a substitute teacher like I normally did on Mondays. My morning routine felt normal, but something was off. I became dizzy and light-headed, and no amount of water or deep breathing helped. Because I was in an elementary school, the staff became concerned and called an ambulance. I found myself lying on this tiny hospital bed clearly meant for a seven-year-old, crying because the school had ordered a stay-in-place lockdown just to move me safely. I felt awful for disrupting everyone's day, but eventually I ended up at the hospital, where they diagnosed me with vertigo. Long story short: my body had completely crashed from the pressure and excitement of giving the talk. I can laugh about it now, but at the time, I was definitely net amused. In the end, l am glad I gave the TEDx talk. It felt like the right conclusion to my journey toward accepting my autism. I have only rewatched the YouTube video once, I just can't do it, but I'm glad it's out there and hopefully it makes a small impact on someone every now and then. My Story I applied to be a TEDx speaker because I thought it would be pretty cool. I know TED and TEDx have a great reputation but as I mentioned above, I really wasn't a big watcher of the Talks. I brainstormed several concepts but kept coming back to one specific period in my recent career. I was transitioning between roles at my company, performing both my old and new jobs simultaneously, and surprisingly, that was when I was highly productive. I started to analyze why I was productive and it started to become a long list (many of which are chronicled on previous posts, including Blue Zone Inspired Smoothie with Black Beans and Garbanzo. After I had a rough outline and early draft, I enlisted the help of a speech writer, Jennifer Woodbury, who was on contract with my company and I had participated on a few of her training sessions. Armed with my initial training, Jennifer and I worked on making my speech better aligned to a college student audience. How Drinking Olive Oil and Curiosity Changed My Life by Steve Fiore - TEDxBryantU Working with Jennifer was fantastic. I had to record our sessions as she had so many ideas, it was hard to write that fast to capture everything she was sharing. Working with her was great as it made my speech so much better, but at the same time, it made my preparation that much harder. The words didn't flow off the page because they weren't mine as I was speaking them. I remember vividly as I was practicing that there were sections of the speech that were mine and there were sections or lines that were hers. This was really hard to get past but after about 6 weeks of daily practice, the words finally became mine. I also called on John Boccuzzi for guidance as he had recently performed his TEDx Talk. John shared his comments (as he did above) that he was so close to finishing his speech but blanked at the end. I do credit John with the idea of the act of taking the shot of olive oil in the very beginning. I had the words in the speech, but John actually suggested taking the shot (as it is a bit full circle, John's son was one of the student organizers for our event and was the one who removed the shot and chair when I was done). This is where it gets interesting for me. With 3 lines left in my first section (as I memorized all 5 sections of my speech), I blanked. Not like John where he stated it was 3 seconds that felt like a lifetime. I blanked for a full 30 seconds (which I timed when I got the raw video). I know I gave my family, who were in the audience, a heart attack as time slowly passed by. Thank goodness for video editing (which was the only edit for my video). When you watch it, you will never know that I blanked. I ultimately decided to move on to the next section and hope for the best. The rest of the speech went off pretty much without any other issues and I was very excited to finish and proud of my accomplishments. However, I couldn't get those 30 seconds out of my head. For what should have been a great moment of success, I couldn't get past how I messed up those 30 seconds. I decided to rewatch Jaime Diglio's WAR Room speech and made the decision that it was time to forget about the 1 mistake and focus on all the great things that happened before, during, and after the speech. It's been a few years since I gave my speech. It is closing in on 4,000 views (not quite as many as John's) but very respectable in my own mind! Excerpt from someone who watched Matthew's TEDx Talk This excerpt meant so much to us. It was from Matthew's speech therapist when he was 1 1/2 to 3 years old. Ironically, Matthew didn't talk for the first 2 1/2 years of his life. My oldest daughter, (now 17 and a senior next year) is going through a similar situation. Over the past 10 years, I’ve had my concerns with multiple doctors regarding her sensory, social, and communication skills and needs. Multiple test results indicate “inconclusive to support an ASD diagnosis”. It has been a frustrating battle to get the support she requires and for family members to accept it. I found a psychiatrist a few months ago who is able to give my daughter an ASD diagnosis and was surprised how she wasn’t diagnosed earlier. There has been an influx of 16-18 year old girls getting diagnosed at this time and the psychiatrist is baffled on why this is happening so later in life for females. So here I am, 10 years later, shedding tears of joy knowing my daughter will have to support she needs when she turns 18. Anyways, Matthew’s speech has been another way for me to get through to my daughter to have her understand that she CAN find success and not see ASD as a label or a disability. Our motto is “See the able, not the label”. It’s okay to be unique and to love and accept herself for who she is. I feel Matthew’s message has sunken in because she has asked me for updates and “Is Matthew famous yet? He has inspired me to help me understand who I and accept who I am.” As with all TED and TEDx Talks, they are designed as powerful ideas worth spreading. If you like these stories or TEDx Talks, please share. For Transparency: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I truly love and use myself.

I grew up listening to stories of my dad's career. This is part one of his journey. ------------------------------ My business career was one of extremes. The first half of my career was working for Fortune 100 companies - Colgate Palmolive; Johnson & Johnson; Warner-Lambert and American Express. The second half started with a 3-man company. I graduated Wagner College with a degree in Business Administration specializing in accounting. I received an MBA from Pace University in Financial Management. Fortune 100 Career Journey I started out as a cost accountant with Colgate at their Jersey City, N.J. plant. I worked in a bullpen area with the sound of old-fashioned calculators throughout the day. Most of the accountants graduated from nearby St. Peters College. Two years after I joined one of my Colgate associates got a job with Johnson & Johnson in New Brunswick, N.J. A few months after he joined J&J, he called me up and said they had a job opening and to give it a shot. I did and I got the job making a few thousand a year more than at Colgate. I worked five years at J&J and my last boss got a job with Warner-Lambert in Morris Plains, N.J. He called and said a job working for him as a senior accountant was mine if I wanted it. My Fortune 100 Career Journey continued and I took the job in the Consumer Products Division doing P&Ls for each brand in the division... brands such as Listerine, Efferdent, Trident, Dentyne, Rolaids and Halls Cough Drops. I worked very closely with the Product Managers on each brand. The largest brand was Listerine, a market leader product that dominated the mouthwash category. The Group Manager on Listerine was a man named Steve Rothchild. He had a degree from Columbia and an MBA from Harvard. All the product managers had MBAs from the best universities. One day Steve approached me and says marketing a product is so much more than making commercials and going to sales conferences in Florida or Nassau. There is day to day involvement with market research, trade promotion, consumer promotion, shipping, costs, etc. I need someone who can work the numbers for me... "How would you like to become a Product Manager on Listerine?" I said sure Steve, but I don't have the MBA credentials. He said the ones who have these MBAs don't want to get involved with the numbers. They want to go to New York City and work with J. Walter Thompson, our ad agency, developing TV and print commercials. Then they want to go to the Palm with their agency counterpart for a steak dinner. I need someone who can get me the numbers I need accurately and on time. Steve was a real up and comer at W-L and was able to sell his Division President to give me the job. Current view of the competition between Listerine and Scope, sitting on a CVS shelf. I couldn't have joined the Listerine marketing team at a more critical time. Procter and Gamble had recently launched Scope mouthwash, and their advertising campaign was built around the fact it had the same germ kill efficacy but with a fresh minty taste. Listerine's typical user was older and skewed male by 2-1. Scope's was younger and skewed women by 2-1. Scope was beginning to erode Listerine's dominant share. A big meeting between the Listerine marketing team and J. Walter Thompson account executives took place. They came up with an ad campaign for Listerine that ranks as one of the greatest of all time. The campaign for Listerine took on Scope head on. It recognized Listerine tasted like medicine, but it worked. It also addressed the fact that Listerine users mostly gargled once a day in the morning, so the campaign drove home a simple message: Listerine Antiseptic—"The Taste People Hate Twice A Day." The commercial went after usage over users. It helped stabilize the brand and give Listerine the time to develop a sister brand... Listermint. You have to love YouTube as I was able to find this commercial from 1973 My job was to develop consumer in store Listerine displays, sweepstakes, coupons and trade incentives to keep from going out of stock. An interesting sidebar to this is that I worked with a lower-level creative person who was just starting at J. Walter Thompson. His name was James Patterson who has become one of the bestselling authors of all time. Patterson rose up the ranks at JWT and became Creative Director. He left the agency when his first novel featuring Alex Cross became a best seller. At Warner-Lambert I was offered the position of Director of International Marketing. I went to every Latin American and Asian company in the 5 years I had the job. My main claim to success was as a strategic planning facilitator. I would ask the questions regarding all the internal and external factors affecting their country business. Then we would develop 5-year growth plans and action plans to meet timetables. Page 1 of my dad's story. Internal factors are personnel, products, assets, liabilities, R&D. External factors are competition, government regulations, technology, legal, environmental. Internal factors can be controlled for the most part. External factors cannot be controlled (an example is COVID). My work in International Marketing attracted some suitors... the most interesting and lucrative was American Express where I worked for three years as Vice President of International Marketing. Then the man who brought me into the company and was my boss left and my new boss and I didn't connect. So, for the first time in my 18-year business career I was out of work. Compounding the situation was that the job market was one of the worst ever. At that point I did a strategic plan about myself. I analyzed my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. I came to the conclusion maybe it was time to join a smaller company. In Part II of my career, I'll go into the second half of my story. The second half of this story is now published and can be viewed at Experience MarketSource Growth Strategy Executive Review.

During the workweek, my current daily routine for selecting footwear is pretty basic, unlike the Allen Edmonds Leather Quality dress shoes, belts, wallets, and shoe care accessories I will review below. I walk downstairs to my home office in the basement and slip on my very fuzzy slippers to keep my feet warm. Roughly 8-10 hours a day, they are on my feet during the workweek acting as a barrier between my feet and the cold basement floor. The basement is finished but the thin fake wood floor sits on top of a concrete slab that never seems to warm up, even in the height of the summer. Me working a few years in 2020 with Franklin (left) and Lincoln. There was a time in my career where I wore dress shoes on a daily basis. In fact, I wore them so much, I had to find a cobbler to fix the soles as I had put holes in them. I actually miss the times having to get dressed up and go out every day to meet customers (I have been in sales for most of my career). I have a closet full of dress shirts, dress pants, and dress shoes sitting in the closet collecting dust. Speaking of dust, my son Michael is graduating from college in a month and needed some dress shoes for the occasion. We went into my closet for him to try on some of my shoes, as we have the same shoe size. When I went to pull out the shoes, I ran my finger across the front only to find a layer of dust. It had been a while since I wore the pair that he ultimately borrowed for his big day. I am a bit embarrassed about it as I could write my initials in the dust. I used to have covers for my shoes but since I was wearing them every day, I ultimately discarded them. The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip: "Take the time to take care of your shoes with polish, shoe trees, and a shoehorn. Your feet will love you for it." Given Michael's planned career choice of being a high school wood shop teacher in combination with being a white water rafting guide in the summers, I don't think dress shoes will be high on his list of things he needs for himself. Matthew currently has a corporate job and there may be a time where he will get more dressed up and we did buy him a pair of nice shoes last year following graduation (more on that in a bit). Emma and me at Bring your Child to Work day in 2015 (with me wearing my Allen Edmonds shoes). We were in the Link at Travelers Insurance, who was my customer. A few years earlier on the 50th anniversary of the Travelers Red Umbrella, they decorated the link (passage way connecting two buildings in Hartford, CT). It was so well received, they decided to keep them there, even until this day. Growing up, I remember my stepdad, Bill, talking about shoe care. He worked in a warehouse so he didn't need them every day but on special occasions, he would put them on, such as for a wedding. The dress shoe was a popular brand, which is still around today as a premium footwear company. He also would talk to me about using shoe trees to help keep the shape of the shoe and using a shoehorn (which I thought was the coolest thing when I was little). For most of my childhood and into my college years, the brand he referenced I always viewed as a high-end shoe brand. When I got to college, my dad and stepmom took me out the store to buy a nice pair of shoes for me to go on interviews. I was probably 20 or 21 at the time. I remember it vividly as we went into Nordstrom and the salesperson picked out a pair of black Allen Edmonds. There were a few things I specifically remember about that pair of shoes. The cost was one that stood out, I believe at the time was about $200. This was a lot of money for a pair of dress shoes, especially as I worked at Kinney Shoes during high school and the most expensive pair was about $35. The second thing I remember is they were super comfortable. 212 Steps to make Allen Edmonds Dress Shoes! Fast forward a few years. I had just started a new job and was working in an office, visiting customers. This meant I needed to add to my collection of dress clothes. I don't recall exactly what happened with the Allen Edmonds shoes I had but one thing I remember is that specific shoe was really narrow and really didn't fit me as well as I had hoped. As a result, I think I donated them and went and purchased two more pairs of shoes. My friend and I went to one of the popular mall retail stores and I got a pair in black and one in burgundy. They were timeless styles as I had planned to wear these shoes for a long time, especially for the amount of money I spent on them, which was $140 each. I remember that because I didn't want to spend the $400 for two pairs of Allen Edmonds and I thought $140 was a great deal, especially since it was a reputable higher end shoe company. These are my black classic Allen Edmonds. They have to be close to 25 years old or more. I also purchased the shoe trees and shoe polish to keep them clean, even though that process never came close to going to a shoeshine guy in NYC or the airport. By the way, you may have a better chance of winning the lottery than finding a shoeshine person nowadays, but 30 years ago, it was still very popular. My very popular brand of shoes (remember I bought two of them), were pretty stiff and weren't easy to walk in. But I thought that this was a really good brand and it just takes time. After months of wearing these shoes every day, typically rotating between the two colors, they still felt as stiff as they day I bought them. As you can imagine, this was a big disappointment. I was out $360 of my own money plus the $200 my dad and stepmom spent on the original pair. My favorite pair. I think I have had to get them resoled a few times over the years. I had a few choices in front of me. I could either suffer or hope that someday the current shoes I had would break in. I could buy a pair of shoes from the brand my stepdad had, but honestly, I associated those with the older generation and not something someone in their early 20's would wear. Or I could look back at Allen Edmonds and make sure I purchased a pair of shoes that actually fit. Allen Edmonds Leather Quality I ultimately decided on a classic black dress shoe from Allen Edmonds. They were about $200 but I made the decision that these were going to be a shoe that lasted a lifetime. And it's true as I still have them today. They were very comfortable from the start without having me to break them in. Recrafting shoes is an art. This is a fun video to watch if you love to learn how things are made. After a while of wearing them, commuting on the train from NJ to New York City, and then walking the streets of Manhattan a few days a week, the shoes got their workout, many times walking about 2 miles a day for each trip. After each trip in NYC heading back to Grand Central Terminal, I would often stop in the spice shop, although never purchasing anything. Here is a look at my first experience to spices at the end of my New York City workdays. My three Allen Edmonds dress belts to match my shoe collection Because of my daily wear, two things happened next. First, I wore out the soles, probably after about 5-10 years and had to get them resoled. I used Allen Edmonds service first and the quality was great. I remember the full package was about $100 at the time (or at least to my recollection) and did that once or twice over the years. I did ultimately find a local cobbler to repair the shoes at about half the cost, but finding one is like winning the lottery as well. The second event that happened was I was so happy with my purchase, I bought two more pairs, one in brown and one in burgundy, both in the same classic style as the black. Since then, I have purchased 2 more pairs of dress shoes from Allen Edmonds, both loafers. I found that I wear my black loafers more than any other due to the easy slip on an off. My boat shoes. I also purchased three dress belts to match the three original colors as I was always told that your tie and socks should match/complement each other and your belt and shoes should match. Not sure if that is true but that is the adage I have lived by all these years. My belts really need a polishing which I only think I did once for all the years I have owned them. I used to polish my shoes every few months but now, it's more like every few years given the infrequency of wearing them. I have two other Allen Edmonds products. I have a pair of boat shoes that I wear when we go to Aruba, as well as my wallet, which I think I have had for 20 years now. I couldn't be happier with my decision 30 years ago to buy Allen Edmonds, and I became a repeat customer over the years, with my most recent purchase for my son, Matthew. If you are in the market for a pair of dress shoes, and honestly, a nice pair of stylish and comfortable shoes, I highly recommend Allen Edmonds. Don't make the same mistakes I did early on. Frequently Asked Questions How long do Allen Edmonds products last?? A few of my shoes are close to 30 years old, with just the soles refinished a few times. They look good as new. Does Allen Edmonds offer shoe repair? Yes, Allen Edmonds offers recrafting services. You can access them on their website. Do you recommend a leather or rubber soles for your dress shoes? Personally, I like the leather soles, but we purchased the rubber soles for my son who I knew would appreciate the longevity and grip. Start Your Own Allen Edmonds Sensory Experience If you have a passion for looking good and being comfortable at the same time, step into a pair of Allen Edmonds shoes. They will elevate your sensory experience. Try it today and let me know your thoughts in the comments! For Transparency: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I truly love and use myself. As well, since most of my collection is from the past, I have selected products that are similar in style in the links below.

I can remember my conversation on the airplane with a 10-year-old girl like it was yesterday. She shared this was her 10th time to Aruba and she went on to tell me all about the island. She talked about the how friendly people were, Arikok National Park, the California Lighthouse, and the certificate she was getting this year for her 10th consecutive year being in Aruba from the Aruba Tourism Authority. A view on our Aruba Jeep Safari from ABC Tours, Arikok National Park This 10-year-old girl spoke with such conviction for the island, it made me feel like the choice Mary Beth and I made to visit the island was the right decision. Taking a step back, I shared previously that we went to Hawaii on our honeymoon when we were both 24 years old. Here we are a few years later making a decision on our next vacation. We both loved Hawaii but one of the things I had expected at the time was to walk in the calm crystal-clear turquoise waters where you walk out what feels like miles and you are still only up to your ankles. At least, that was the vision I had in my head. Serene waves of Palm Beach, Aruba The reality for our trip to Hawaii is that as beautiful as it is, the islands are in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and the waters are mostly rough. We were still looking for that Caribbean experience and had narrowed our decision to the Cayman Islands and Aruba. I remember my college roommate visiting Aruba and speaking very highly of it and based on a few other individuals we spoke with, Aruba kept coming up as a great place to visit. I always loose track on how many times we have actually been to Aruba now. I usually have to count on my fingers and believe it is 21 times with this upcoming summer being 22. The kids, with Matthew being 23 years old, Michael 21, and Emma, 19 have been to Aruba 20, 19, and 16 times (if my math is right on the piece of paper I just calculated it on). Similar to the 10-year-old girl at the beginning, we were all privileged to go to Aruba 10 years in a row, and we all received the same Certificate of Appreciation when each of us hit our respective 10-year anniversaries. Does soon to be 22 visits make us an expert on the island? Probably not, and especially because we do the same things over and over again. But it is that Groundhog Day feel that makes the experience so enjoyable year after year. The Rooted & Refined Living Expert Tip: "Tour companies are a great way to see a new location or to experience the same location in a new way." There are so many amazing things about the island, such as the weather, the activities, and the food, but we need to start with the best one, the people. Aruba is called "One Happy Island" for a reason. The entire population of almost 110,000 people are super friendly and do an amazing job with tourism being their number one industry. I will probably share more posts about specific vendors and products about Aruba in future posts. There are so many I would like to talk about such as the Jolly Pirates sunset boat ride with their rope swing, the world class food from so many amazing vendors including Eduardo's Beach Shack and getting gelato from Gelato & Co. in the lobby of the Marriott hotel. Emma jumping into the cave. It is not as scary as it looks. Mary Beth took the picture which she was very comfortable at the top not venturing down to the jumping area. As well, I will share more in future posts about the experiences we shared while being in Aruba. We own two timeshares, one at the Marriott Ocean Club and one at the Marriott Surf Club. They are right next to each other, and we now go for 2 full weeks, transferring between hotels mid trip. Because the timeshares sleep 8 people, we have had the opportunity to bring our moms and Mary Beth's aunt for many of those years, my dad, multiple sets of our friends, and now, the kids friends, with each one getting to bring someone. Eating dinner off our balcony at the Marriott Surf Club. Because we have brought so many people to Aruba over the years, we love to share some of the great things about the island, so they get to experience it the same way we do. As we are planning for this trip, we usually pick a few activities to enjoy. One of those is to rent a car for a day or two and explore the island visiting the donkey farm and some other beaches. This year we will try the winery for the first time. One staple of the trip for many years, and especially when we have someone new visit, is to visit Arikok National Park which encompasses 20% of the entire island. Early on in this post, I referenced the whole reason why we wanted to visit Aruba was because of the Caribbean turquoise waters walking out for miles only up to your ankles. Aruba absolutely offers that experience, especially where we stay in the Palm Beach area. However, the other side of the island, the area of Arikok National Park, is completely different. In Palm Beach, there are small 6-inch waves crashing where the ocean meets the sand. In Arikok National Park, there are 100-foot cliffs and waves sometimes that reach that high. The park is volcanic and rocky. Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention one big thing. Aruba is a desert island getting about 15 inches of rain per year. That means two things. 1) the terrain is very dry with many tones of clay red and dirt brown, and 2) you will have an amazing vacation because it is always sunny. Arikok National Park. It is such a different part of the island than the calm waters of Palm Beach. The first time we went to the park, we rented a car to tour the island. When renting a car, the terms and conditions are crystal clear, similar to the turquoise water. Rental cars, and even 4x4's are not covered for damage if you enter the park. That is how rough the terrain is. The first time we rented just a small sedan and quickly realized how serious the rental associate was. It was painful driving the car, just even to get to the visitor's gate with the drops in terrain on the paved part of the road to allow for the water to flow through every 50 feet or so. This is one of my favorite photos. Michael took it in Aruba about 5 years ago. It is a 3-inch space within the volcanic rock of the Arikok National Park. The white in this photo is sun dried sea salt that was left after the water that splashed up on the surface evaporated. I initially posted this in my salt story. Driving a SUV is a bit better but still challenging and you can only go to certain parts of the park, not truly experiencing the breath and beauty of what it has to offer. Enter ABC Tours: Aruba Jeep Safari ABC Tours offers two main tours, one is on an ATV Safari where you are the driver and a second on an Aruba Jeep Safari, driven by one of their staff members. For a variety of reasons, mostly due to the kids ages at the time or going with our parents, we have opted for the Jeep Safari tours. I think over the years, we have been on the tour about 10 times. The tour itself is so much fun. You get picked up by ABC Tours at your hotel, but not with a big tour bus. They pick you up in the actual Jeep Safari vehicle you are going to be on the tour with. You get your first taste of how much fun it is going to be as you whip around the roundabout a few times (Aruba has many of them all over the island and they are actually proven to be safer and more traffic efficient than the red/yellow/green light system we use here in the US in most places). We then arrive at ABC's facilities for some initial check-in and then off we go. The tours usually go in pairs as we enter into Arikok National Park. The great thing about this massive open-air Jeeps is that they are able to go into places within the park that are only accessible with their vehicles, ATV's or by horse. One of those special places is the Natural Pool, which is fun to swim, snorkel, and even jump off the rocks (although that is not something I have tried). Additional spots are two cave visits and if you go on the full day tour, you will also visit Baby Beach and San Nicholas on the southern part of the island. For each of the tours, they offer an authentic Aruban lunch which is very good (as well as alcohol at an additional charge). Me, Matthew, Emma, Michael, and Mary Beth on one of our ABC Jeep Safari tours While you have no control over which Jeep is in the front, my hope each time is to be the one in the front. Remember earlier in the story, I mentioned Aruba was a dessert island with less than 15 inches of rain a year. That means that the first Jeep with their very large tires is kicking up lots of dust, dirt, and clay. My advice is to bring clothes you don't care about as they will get so dirty on your 1/2 day or full day excursion. Recently, probably a few years ago, there were a few locals who were exploring the national park and found a hidden area to jump into, just off one of those 100-foot cliff areas I described earlier. The jumping part is just a few feet (maybe 5) into a pool of water tucked away into one of those cliffs. The tour usually stops in this spot as well for people to participate in the fun. I do recommend having some type of footwear to use, because otherwise, you will be walking barefoot on the volcanic rock which is not fun. In addition to the amazing views of the cliffs, watching the waves crash into those cliffs, and the awe of the beauty of the dessert national park, the staff at ABC Tours is one of the best. They are really friendly and of course, the tour guides are a lot of fun. Frequently Asked Questions What is your favorite area to visit in Aruba? I love the Arikok National Park because of the breathtaking views from the cliffs and the contrast from the serene nature of hotel/tourist side of the island. My kids are picky eaters. Will they eat the lunch that is provided? My kids are picky eaters too (actually 2 of the 3). Yes, ABC Tours does a great job in offering a kid's menu when you book your tour. How rough is the Jeep Safari Tour? It is definitely bumpy. According to their website, "guests with back, neck, heart issues, recent surgery, or pregnancy should avoid rugged tours". If you have a medical condition, please reach out to ABC Tours to consult with them to make an informed decision. Start Your Own Aruba Sensory Experience with ABC Tours If you are looking for an exciting adventure for your Aruba vacation, ABC Tours will deliver. It will elevate your sensory experience and provide memories that will last a lifetime. Book today and let me know your thoughts in the comments! For Transparency: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I truly love and use myself.