Today we’d like to introduce you to Frankie Staropoli.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I moved to Summerville from New Jersey when I was in 8th grade. Graduated from Summerville High School in 1999, went to culinary school and worked as a chef for a couple of years. I then went into the wine industry starting as an entry level employee and worked my way up ending my career after 20 years as Division Manager of Net Revenue for the East Coast. I am now the Director of Business Development for a local company in the construction industry. In my personal life I am married to my Bridgette for 23 years and we have two daughters. I formed a nonprofit specializing in mentoring young men and women in our school district. We go in once a week and sit with our 2 assigned students to speak support, accountability, fellowship, and encouragement into them all. We started 4 years ago with 12 men and 1 campus. Now have 178 men and women serving 17 campuses. I also serve on 3 other community boards made up of the YMCA, Italian Feast, and Dorchester First Steps.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not. In high school I watched my parents close their business and lose a lot. My father had to go work two jobs to support the family and that work ethic motivated me at an early age. I also placed myself into very competitive and stressful career choices. In order to excel in those environments, you have to work harder and longer than most of the others. I sacrificed a lot of family time and leisure opportunities to make sure I remained one of the strongest. I put myself in a lot of situations to grow that now looking back, I am not sure were totally worth it.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am now a Director of Business Development for a company in the construction industry. I work for the corporate entity that has companies in multiple facets of the industry. i work to secure jobs, build and grow meaningful relationships to our company. I am a true believer in the word partnership and really do believe that every partnership in our life deserves mutual effort and respect. I want to be the one that people feel confident doing business with. I want them to know without a doubt when they call me that they are going to get a timely response, respectful consideration, and a vested interest in its timely and successful completion. I am proud of my ability to build relationships and instill confidence in my leaders and partners to know that I am constantly working on their behalf and advocating for everyone’s prosperity. Building a better community and leaving some place better than I found it is one of my goals in life.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I struggle with confidence more than most would believe. I dwell on the right decisions and if it’s going to be the best choice in the end. I spend a lot of time giving thought to if people are going to be happy or not. The weird part is I believe it attributes to my success and downfall. What I spend a lot of time agonizing over will end up being the right choice and so therefore I shouldn’t give as much thought to it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.paragon.build/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/black-diamond-ind/?viewAsMember=true
