The Small Business Safari

More Balls than Brains can lead to Success with Rocco Sinisgalli

• Chris Lalomia, Alan Wyatt, Rocco Sinisgalli • Season 4 • Episode 102

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Journey with us as we dive into the life of a self-made entrepreneur and builder, Rocco, owner of Atlanta-based Oneida Builders. We explore his DIY attitude as a child, his relentless spirit to learn and fix things, from using a simple butter knife to building complicated structures, reflecting the bare-bones reality of his early days and the creative ways he maneuvered through. Rocco goes into how he got to where is today with the “copy others” mindset to get ahead and continually improve and outwork the competition! Did you know our amazing voices can go beyond just the microphone? Yes, we have video! Subscribe to our YouTube channel here!

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Rocco’s Links:

•  Website | https://oneidabuilders.net/ 

•  Instagram | @oneidabuilders1

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GOLD NUGGETS:

(02:52) - Family Traditions and Career Paths

(07:15) - From High School to HomeOwnership

(19:02) - Atlanta Olympics, Oneida Builders, and the TV Show

(23:24) - Mentoring and Building Profitability

(32:52) - Working With People and Finding Success

(39:04) - Love and Networking in Success

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Previous guests on The Small Business Safari include Amy Lyle, Ben Alexander, Joseph Sission, Jonathan Ellis, Brad Dell, Chris Hanks, C.T. Emerson, Chad Brown, Tracy Moore, Wayne Sherger, David Raymond, Paul Redman, Gabby Meteor, Ryan Dement, Barbara Heil Sonneck, Bryan John, Tom Defore, Rusty Clifton, Duane Johns, Beth Miller, Jason Sleeman, Andy Suggs, Chris Michel, Jon Ostenson, Tommy Breedlove, Rocky Lalvani, Amanda Griffey, Spencer Powell, Joe Perrone, David Lupberger, Duane C. Barney, Dave Moerman, Jim Ryerson, Al Mishkoff, Scott Specker, Mike Claudio and more!

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If you loved this episode try these!

• From the Rats to Riches – The Tales of a Tin Man | Paul Burleson

• Mastering Small Business Marketing: Strategies, AI, and Insights with Sarah Block

• Scaling a Moving and Junk Removal Business: A Candid Conversation with Roger Panitch

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Have any questions or comments? Connect with me here!

From the Zoo to Wild is a book for entrepreneurs passionate about home services, looking to move away from corporate jobs. Chris Lalomia, a former executive, shares his path, discoveries, and tools to succeed as a small business owner in home improvement retail. The book provides the mindset, habits, leadership style, and customer-oriented processes necessary to succeed as a small business owner in home services.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Couldn't stand not being able to do anything. My father had two tools a screwdriver, vice grips and a butter knife, and that was it and that was it not a lie.

Chris Lalomia:

We've done a lot of stuff with the butter.

Chris Lalomia:

Hey, right, right and then, and then I heard the slush my tires with the butter knife. Well, yeah, whoa, hang on. No, that's not what I'm talking about, but but it's not as hard as you think would know. I mean, they think so, yeah, after rock. So welcome to the small business safari, where I help guide you to avoid those traps, pitfalls and dangers that lurk when navigating the wild world of Small business ownership. I'll share those gold nuggets of information and invite guests to help accelerate your ascent to that mountain top of success. It's a jungle out there And I want to help you traverse through the levels of owning your own business That can get you bogged down and distract you from hitting your own personal and professional goals. So strap in adventure team and let's take a ride through the safari, get you to the mountain top, rock and roll, rock and roll, rock and roll. I'm certain it differed this time. I don't why because we got rock.

Chris Lalomia:

Oh my toes, yeah, because we got rock. This is galleon here. I can't even say it, right, he's a python.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

I just got back from Italy changed my life. I can't wait here about that.

Chris Lalomia:

We're gonna, in fact, let's talk about that right now. So Rocco's in studio, he is a. He is the owner of a night of builders here in Atlanta, which is an amazing Building operation. You can check out their website when we get to it. But before we get to Italy, we would said, said cheers, but we're supposed to say now in Italian Jindan 100 years of happiness.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

You. Add a boy on and I almost got the tattoo in Italy but I ran out of time. But I'm gonna get the tattoo Jindan with a cross, with all my kids named Rocco, galen and Corinne. They're gonna be branded on my arm and Jindan Oh.

Chris Lalomia:

I love that. So is that your first trip ever to go back to?

Rocco Sinisgalli:

the mother country. It is my first trip. I'm 57 years young and I know why I didn't go back because my father was dead, broke, probably lost it in a crap game. But I walked the streets of Missalona, italy, where my grandparents were. It's a little small town outside of Naples, life-changing, and it's just just can't wait to get back. You probably still a family there, right, you know I, they all moved out, but I did go to the cemetery and I found a Cinsigale in the cemetery. One of them, yeah, my grandfather's buried there because he would go back and forth a lot of stories about him. We probably can't mention on air right now, but but or could we, or could we.

Chris Lalomia:

Who's gonna get us now, man? Yeah, so who was the first in your family to immigrate over here?

Rocco Sinisgalli:

it was, i believe, my. My grandfather and grandmother came With three or four kids and then they had my father was born here, but they had three or four that were that came from Italy.

Chris Lalomia:

Wow Yeah, so did you grow up speaking Italian slash English, you know, i mean.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Unfortunately it was. There was Italian, my house, but I was the youngest of four and they never got to me, which It was disappointing. But like anything you know, i could change that. But no, i remember listening. My grandmother spoke no English and all she would come over on Saturdays and make fried dough pizza free Oh yeah, you know, and it's like a funnel cake, which I can't even say that, but it's not even the same.

Chris Lalomia:

No, she's come over.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

We watch wrestling and the only person she rooted for was Dominic Danucci at Dominic.

Alan Wyatt:

She would say right there with grandma watching wrestling, and that was classic. Yeah, good times, good times.

Chris Lalomia:

So rock you. You know you're a remodeler here in Atlanta, do high-end design, build. You actually also build that from ground up. I do construction all across the board. But when you're growing up doing this stuff and you grew up and you, you do you to New York, upstate New York.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

So the average snowfall there is a good bazillion inches, yeah, and it's 10, 10 below. When I was working guys, 10 below zero Was the was the normal. So if it's 10 below or warmer, we are working outside. There is no questions asked. That was the standard.

Chris Lalomia:

So growing up going to school, did you, were you good in school, or is this something? Is this a family tradition?

Rocco Sinisgalli:

I was terrible in school, terrible, you know. I was so terrible They kept me back in second grade for another year. I just never cared about school. And in like third or fourth grade We had a little meat, a little Event, and everybody got up and said what their father does for a living. You know, my father's a postman, my father's a mailman, my father's a salesman, my father works in the paper industry. I got up and I said my father's Italian and he doesn't work, and That. And they freaked out and they go well, what do you want to do with your life? I says well, i want to be a builder. And that was it. It never changed. Your dad didn't work. What did your dad do? That's a great question.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

You still don't know to this day. I do know well, back in the day Utica was called Sin City, if you Google it, okay, and you know, at the end of the Godfather one there was a meeting at the up in the Appalachians with the heads of all the families. Remember that, yeah, my father's friend was there, joe Falcone. So my father networked with that group, okay, but he a lot of big card games, crap games, stolen merchandise. You know, when we needed to buy a gift for a girl we'd open up the drawer, chris the drawer It had not. That was in here.

Chris Lalomia:

So your dad was involved with the mafia.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

But well, not, no, i that's a whole new level of networking.

Chris Lalomia:

Watch this right, this takes network, yeah, but I love how he just answered that question. Right, so your dad was about no, no, no, no. I remember asking my grandmother Yes, So we're all Sicilian and They lived in a, they had a duplex, but they always seem to have a little bit more money than well. Really, i thought my grandfather's dump truck business would be coming in. Don't, hey, don't, don't start categories and hang on. And I thought, maybe my great uncle. He had a sandwich trucks that used to run to all the shops and do the lunch trucks. So they always seem to have a little bit more cash in their pocket. And so I remember asking my grandmother once and she had broken English, she said, because she was born here, they're both of my grandfather grandmother, were both born here, but okay, but family now. And I said, grandma, are we, are we, yeah, are we in the mafia? No, the mafia, no, no, i'm like, okay, okay, yeah, so he was not.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

But no, yeah, he never filed a tax return his entire life. And in my family, you know, the women were and the husbands Were able to have the freedom to kind of do what they wanted. Now, some work for the city, some had restaurants, but nobody worked nine to five, i hear you Yeah but.

Chris Lalomia:

but you said, hey, that's, i'm not gonna go that way, i want to build her.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

I want to be a builder. So yeah, i used to, on Sunday nights, drive around on my little bicycle and garbage pick and pick up two by fours and Just start building stuff, fixing bikes. And you know, my father wasn't mechanically inclined, so you know oh.

Alan Wyatt:

Totally self-taught.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Yeah, i don't know why, just couldn't stand not being able to do anything. My father had two tools a screwdriver, vice grips and a butter knife.

Chris Lalomia:

And that was it and that was it not a lie. We've done a lot of stuff with a butter knife right. And then, and then I heard the slush my tires with a butter knife. Well, yeah, whoa, hang on. Now. That's not what I'm talking about, but but it's not as hard as you think, but no, i mean, but I take. So, yeah, back to Rocco. So so in high school you're going to school, but then you're working after school, high school, yes.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

So high school was life-changing for me. What's a Kennedy High School? typical high school. But then they had a vocational course over at UFA. Udicafri Academy was in a was in a rough part of town, so we get on the bus in the morning Which was the idiot bus, right, the guys that were carpenters and plumbers and electricians and masons. We get on the bus and we go to a different school. Junior and senior year. I built a house each year, literally. So what would happen is you'd get in, people would put their name in a program, they'd pick them, they would have to have the lot and pay for the building materials and we would build the house For free labor and our in our school for our school.

Chris Lalomia:

Yeah credits, yeah, yeah, that was our program.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Could you imagine we were in? how old was I junior year? What are you? 17? 17, you're building the house in the middle of winter, oh boy, so yeah, so great, great. So I would go there in the morning and then go to regular school in the afternoon vocational and and Fantastic education. But I didn't know how important it was until, obviously, i got out the world.

Chris Lalomia:

All right, so you get out in the world. Yeah, you start.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

You stay in Utica for a day to Utica, went to, went to a school in Delhi, new York, for two years. I got a degree in carpentry, aos degree in carpentry. Two years came out, i Started working building houses and my my first job I was a carpenter making 575 an hour on the books. Oh boy, after take home 40 hours was a hundred and forty one dollars after 40 hours of work. Wow, 1987, bro, that's that's I mean.

Chris Lalomia:

Think about that.

Alan Wyatt:

141, take home in a week take home and right now, and the 80s were so much fun and he had no money to enjoy it. Yeah, yeah.

Chris Lalomia:

I know it. So, unless he found dad's drawers and yeah.

Alan Wyatt:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, well, you thought you did say, well, he did say on the books.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Well, yeah, on the books. And then I Started. One guy came on the job one time and he said His name was Louis Moses, was in his 60s. He says I need a carpenter to help me after work. Anybody want to work. I raised my hand and that changed my life. Why did it change my life? because I was willing to do above and beyond what the average person was doing. No intelligence, more balls and brains to step out and say I'll work from five o'clock at night till 10 o'clock.

Chris Lalomia:

You know, a lot of people say, hey, i'll work out work. Anybody in fact guilty. I've said it before. Frankly, i probably won't anymore because I'm getting well, you're smarter now. Yeah, but there was a time but at the time you're right, you know more balls and brains And sometimes balls be experience every day all day the constant theme on this podcast.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Yeah, i mean yeah, yeah.

Chris Lalomia:

We got to start somewhere, right like it, so you get into the carpenter. Yes, you're doing it, but you're working for the man.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

I was working for the man Palmery construction great guy, father was a master carpenter. We built some big houses and worked for him for eight months and I says you know, i was doing side work with Louis Moses and I started building decks. I used to work in a trailer park building decks and sheds. I would get eighty five dollars labor to build a ten by ten shed and And two hundred fifty dollars labor to build a ten by ten Pressure-treated deck by myself to fit. How long would it take you to build one deck?

Chris Lalomia:

Um two nights. two nights, yeah, 250. Yeah, okay, man, i'm done today here in. Atlanta You can't get an undocumented Not saying I do any of that.

Alan Wyatt:

Sitting in home Depot. They work, they won't yeah for 200 bucks a day.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Yeah, yeah, so, yeah, so allegedly just the willing To go above and beyond and do what the average person isn't willing to do. I think that's that that's the big thing.

Chris Lalomia:

We all, we all say it, but you truly lived it and you can tell you did it because I have had to. I had to Rough, plumb my uncle's house in Buffalo, new York with my dad in that same, just brutal wind.

Chris Lalomia:

We did this This is my Christmas break, by the way, and I did this with my dad. I mean, it was like it was tougher cutting through the ice and it was the wood, you know, with the puzzle back in the day and your hands were just. I mean, anything that was exposed was done.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Absolutely, and so that's, that's a tough construction. It is, but you don't know any different.

Alan Wyatt:

You didn't know, you didn't know any different.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Yeah, i didn't know that, i just assumed you waited till summer.

Alan Wyatt:

Oh No, no you go broke. You do the inside. You do the inside the winter.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

I'll you try, but that's you know so I did so.

Chris Lalomia:

I didn't officially I didn't. You know, I wasn't in the trade then they obviously. But I had a buddy who went into it. He said he did say they bust their ass all summer to try to get it dried in and get it in before the winter Hit so they can work inside.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

I mean definitely, but I mean, i remember for hot water trying to build index and the ground was frozen, just getting hot hot water and melt in the ground to dig through the frost.

Chris Lalomia:

Yeah, how about that? Yeah, that's More balls more balls, Yeah exactly, but he did it All right, hey, see how long did you work up there before you said Let's see, i got eighty from 86.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

I got out of college to 96. I work like you know I work that way bought two family houses. I Was had bought two, two family houses to duplexes and I rented three of the units out, lived in the fourth.

Chris Lalomia:

At 22 years old I was mortgage free now Let's talk about that for my Today's world that everybody's going to college and you're dropping anywhere between 50 and maybe 250,000. You could be a debt at 22. He's not only debt free, but he actually owned two properties that were bringing in.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Yeah, Yeah, it was fantastic. And then and then I was single and you know, after hours was at my house in. The craziest thing is my mother would come, italian mother, on the baby. She'd come every Friday morning around 5 am, clean, cook, do all my clothes by 8 o'clock in the morning. I'm having breakfast with my mother and she's God rest her soul. She's gone. I wish she wasn't. And then Friday night, friday night after hours at my house, all the girls would come and they would go. Rocco, your house is flawless. I'm like, yes, you know, i keep a tight ship and my buddies are like his mother did. I'm like these guys are jealous. They're. You know, dude, it was the best, the broco.

Chris Lalomia:

Kill it, Hi. Okay, we're having fun here in my. This is the hype shack.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

It was great, so, yeah, so the two family houses, duplexes, were just fantastic. I mean, i was, i was 21 years old. One of the houses ended up being a frat house, you know from Utica College, and these I was getting per room I was making a kill and I was 600 a month positive cash flow in 87 on fun house. And then I would keep all their deposits because they would trash it, yeah, and then the parents would say, oh, we're gonna sue you.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

I'm like all right, Well, send you the video video before your son moved in and after he moved out. I'm gonna sue you. a never had a video and B They never Responded that's awesome can't convince him, confused.

Chris Lalomia:

I like it.

Alan Wyatt:

You need to write that down we've got a list of gold nuggets. Yeah, yeah, more balls and brains. Yeah, i got that convincing. Yeah.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

I'll throw some rocker wasms in. When I used to be on the radio, i would. I would twist my words, so I like it Yeah.

Chris Lalomia:

All right, so you're living the dream man living the dream at the time. Yeah, i mean not knowing any better. Yeah, you know, you know you probably went on a vacation, went to somewhere over there. Actually, there was actually sun in February. Like what the hell's going on here? didn't know there was sun in February, was that possible? Yeah, yeah, and you went.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Huh, maybe there's somewhere else in the world like yeah, so in 96, hacked up the truck at a Silverado extended cab 94, silverado four-wheel drive to plow on it. Of course I didn't take the plow with me, put 10,000 cash in the truck And I went from Boston, massachusetts, all the way down the South Beach, miami, ended up in Atlanta. It was February 96, staying at a hotel over on Roswell Road in 285, and Saturday afternoon, february 72 degrees, i walked to a bar called the Good Old Days. Now, this place was rocking. It was over by American Pie. Yeah, there's probably some listeners ahead.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

So I walk in there. I'm 30 years old, with my Motorola flip-flop phone. People are in bathing suits and wading pools and this place is mobbed with everybody was gorgeous, guys, girls. So I'm trying to be cool, chris, because I don't want anybody to think I'm, you know, not from here. So I sit at the bar, order a burger, i order a club sandwich and a beer. A girl comes up to me and goes Are you alone? And now I'm getting nervous. I'm thinking she's gonna roll me, right? Am I alone?

Chris Lalomia:

Right.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Right.

Alan Wyatt:

She's gonna roll me.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

What girl comes up to you in a bar at two o'clock in the afternoon and says are you alone? This is, i'm from New.

Alan Wyatt:

York, it's not Vegas. It's not Vegas, right? What do I?

Rocco Sinisgalli:

got Right. So I go. Yeah, why She goes? why don't you come sit with us? I'm like where? And she points to a table, there's three girls and a guy. Now it's two o'clock in the afternoon, saturday February, whatever. It's 75 degrees. People are just rocking. It's like spring break in Lauderdale in the 80s, right, yeah. So I go, sit at the table and, within 30 minutes, shots of tequila. Just this was paradise. So he paradise.

Chris Lalomia:

So the I mean Vail had been lifted. Yes, it was like the clouds had parted And he went one, tequila two, tequila three, tequila four, and so.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

So I was sold on Atlanta And then in June of 96 Olympics, i was here, ended up getting back with my girlfriend at the time. She came here, she was my wife for 30 years And unfortunately that ended. But that's what got us here. Yeah, my sister moved here and we came here in 96 Olympics, worked for a home builder up in not far from here up in Seven Oaks Little father up the road from you and started building And then I couldn't, couldn't deal with, couldn't deal Building new houses. People were doing things that were just not normal Chris, Not good, Not right.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

I mean they were pouring concrete on top of filter and I couldn't deal with it.

Alan Wyatt:

I'm like I got it, bearing all the trash to the back.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Oh, I mean putting green board in the shower.

Chris Lalomia:

Oh, my God, how many times have I had to pull that out?

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Oh, i mean, yeah, i mean so. so I started a night of builders in 97. Actually, first job I did. I'm a carpenter by trade, so I physically did all the work. And then I landed a big job. It was referred to me by Canak. It was a cabinet company. They're called Founders now.

Chris Lalomia:

OK.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Right, billy Reeves. And so it was a big, big job. I had no subs So I sold the job big money job at the time. I would show up in the morning, meet with the clients and say, oh yeah, the crew will be here in about an hour So they would go to work. I would leave, come back in my work clothes, do all the demo, the framing, go to McDonald's on the corner at 285 and Powers Ferry Road, take an Italian shower in the bathroom, fix my hair, throw some clone on, go back at five when they were home and go. I'm just checking to see what they did Like. Oh, they did great. They cleaned up.

Alan Wyatt:

Oh, my God.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Never had a damn employee do it.

Alan Wyatt:

Can't convince him, confuse him. More balls and brains, did you write that down? I got more balls and brains. I got convinced, confuse. Oh my God.

Chris Lalomia:

He calls it the Italian shower, i call it the pits and pubes.

Alan Wyatt:

Yeah, That's a different one.

Chris Lalomia:

Eddie went back and he says I just want to check on the work the guys are doing. You know, i think Rockwell did a great job. Good, good, good. They're good guys, they're good guys. right? I get to see what you say of it too. Yeah, i'm glad to see that Good good.

Alan Wyatt:

Did you come to Atlanta because of the Olympics?

Rocco Sinisgalli:

I mean, so many people came here for that. No, i came here because it was warm and there was work And my sister ended up moving here And that was it. And that, because of you know the good old days, all the women in case I didn't have a significant other at least there was an opportunity here, because in upstate New York, you know there's, you know it's always a sausage fest when you go out to a bar. You know everybody knows what that means, right?

Alan Wyatt:

So there you go, sword fight. Down here it's a completely southern hospitality is definitely, But you were in South Beach though, right, Well.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

I went to South Beach. but South Beach, i had a cousin there but it was just too, i think, good good feeling And it was too expensive. you know, south Beach I mean don't get me wrong it's beautiful, but I felt more comfortable here in Atlanta.

Alan Wyatt:

So the name of your company Oneida Builders.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

So people say they'll come up and they say, oh, we heard of you. And I'm like, yeah, we're all over. But Oneida comes from Oneida, new York, which originally comes from the Oneida Indians. But the quality is Oneida Silver. If everybody goes in their dining room, look up at your silver, it's probably Oneida Silver.

Chris Lalomia:

I've seen that, yeah yeah, so that's how you picked it, yeah, yeah. Did you have any other names in the run.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

I did. Actually, my ex-wife picked it, It was, it was R&S Builders, RS R&T, and then and she said, well, we just do Oneida, We're from Oneida and it's quality. And I'm like, yeah, let's do Oneida Brilliant. And it's been like that since 97.

Chris Lalomia:

Unbelievable. I'm just writing it down Silver quality Oneida I like that. Yeah yeah, what the best one's gotta be. How'd the guys do today? Great And the?

Rocco Sinisgalli:

craziest thing about it. I became a member of the home builders right And networking with all the builders and remodellers too, and they had these things called the professionalism awards. I'm like what? And they're like oh yeah, you put your project in there and this photographer's coming to take pictures and you enter it. We won second place. Wow, it was amazing. Then within a year, you know HDTV and all that stuff. Now that for the first started called Gimmie Shelter was Discovery Channel. They got my name and I did a 45 minute TV show. Really, i was building a house in a river mat and they liked my story. Remodeler, builder carpenter and I did a 45 minute TV show.

Chris Lalomia:

How was that?

Rocco Sinisgalli:

It was fantastic.

Chris Lalomia:

Did it drive business for you. It gave me the credibility.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

I've only been here a year and a half. I know nobody.

Chris Lalomia:

Nobody, But you had your license by then. Well, back then I.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

No, we didn't need it.

Alan Wyatt:

It just, it was no, you didn't have it. It was the kind of show What year didn't you have to have your license 97,.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

I mean, the license didn't come around to a 2013 or something.

Chris Lalomia:

Yeah, it was definitely an eight, because that's when I started.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Well, yeah, had.

Chris Lalomia:

I started the year before. I could have just gone out and said, yeah, i'm a builder Right, so Give you a license.

Alan Wyatt:

So was it one of those shows where they were trying to create some drama or Well, it was a 45 minute show And you know it's not like.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

So it was just me building a house, but they had a big crew and they had the talent, right. I didn't know what the talent meant. Well, that's the person, that's, you know, the talent. So it's girl named Lori, right, and she was like the big wig. So they said, all right, you're going to meet Lori, you got to be nice to her. You know she's the talent, she's going to ask you all. She's going to drive the show. I'm like, all right, so I, you know, i meet her and I say, hey, lori, i got some knee pads for you. And the whole crew, freaking, looked at me. I go, we're going to be doing laying some marble And I want to make sure your knees don't hurt.

Chris Lalomia:

Oh, thank you, Rocco, that is. That kind of got in the wrong way. Hey well, here's the title. Here's the title Right here, right Boar balls and brains. He says it, he got kicked off the damn show Like hey, today, today, you say that.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Oh, forget about it. I mean forget about it.

Alan Wyatt:

Life is too short.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

There was another instance. Oh, I lost my train of thought. Shit, Oh shoot. You shouldn't say that.

Alan Wyatt:

No, you can't. Oh, I got it. So is this with Lori, the other story?

Rocco Sinisgalli:

No, no, this is when I was on the radio called. I was on. I was the green guru for Dave FM Talked about energy efficiency here in Atlanta.

Chris Lalomia:

Right, so nobody sees your face, because that's why we do podcasts, because we have a face for podcasts. So your title was the green guru The green guru for real people.

Alan Wyatt:

Yeah, green guru for real people because I mean come on the mental image I've got right now The green guru Like it's not, rocco Like a superhero About being green, but like $100,000 solar panels, i mean, who could afford that?

Rocco Sinisgalli:

You know Ted Turner's daughter. I did a job for her. What was her name? Seydell? She was a big, big green advocate. The most horrible person I've ever met my entire life. She is the most. I can't even tell you how bad she is, he just did.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Treated me like Oh, really. So when I was on Dave FM, there was another radio station and they would get a lot of more famous people. Like what was that guy's name? He was a rapper, little John. So I was doing my show and the intern says oh my God, little John's next door. I go, really. So Little John comes out and he's in a waiting room talking And I said you want to meet Little John. He goes, you know him. I go, yeah, so I walk back. I go hey, little John. Little John turns over. He comes over. I say I want to, i want to introduce my. This is my buddy, he's an intern, he really likes you. Little John's talking to him and everything. I never knew Little John. I never knew who he was. That's awesome, right.

Alan Wyatt:

There you go, more balls, take risks, gotta take risks.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Everybody is human.

Chris Lalomia:

Yeah.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

I don't care if you're making 100 million a year, you're sweeping floors.

Chris Lalomia:

We're all human. Well, I think if you listen to this podcast, you clearly can tell that Rocco's very introverted, afraid to talk with people or take a chance or a risk.

Alan Wyatt:

But no, I'm glad we were able to draw him out just a little bit, just a little bit.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

We are rolling The risk we take every day working in people's houses. Yeah Right, that's right. So how big did you get? You know, i am probably in remodeling about two to three million in sales Today.

Chris Lalomia:

Today? Yeah, did you ever get any bigger and decide to come on back down to a level, or you?

Rocco Sinisgalli:

just quit. No, no, i'm very comfortable. I love. what I really like to do now is develop people Right, every knowledge I have meant to give away. I mentored a friend of mine. he was a client of mine's brother and he said you know what My brother's going to go into business? You want to give him some points? I mentored him. I gave him all the ins and outs. He says to me why are you doing this to me? Why I don't want, why not? Let me ask you this, why not?

Alan Wyatt:

I mean, you sound totally. You keep the professionalism up, but your story is of a self-made man. But you did go to the trade school.

Chris Lalomia:

Did you?

Alan Wyatt:

have mentors. Did you have some key people along the way? None, so it's really interesting that you have chosen to become one for other people when you never had them yourself. Well, because you wish you did probably, you know, would have helped, although you didn't.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

You know it would have. I could have definitely needed it. I needed it emotionally And you know. but like anything you play, the hand you're dealt. I mean, if you're not dealt good cards, well, you got to make the best of it. And so, yeah, i love to mentor people. What?

Alan Wyatt:

are a couple of key things that you focus on when you know you're in a mentoring situation.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

The key thing is profit. How to be profitable? Because at the end of the day, as a builder or modeler, if you're not profitable, then you're not gonna give a good product. You have to understand what things cost And if you don't, you're gonna be, unfortunately, give our business a bad name. Well, we told you who our audience is.

Alan Wyatt:

So what are a couple of the things that people aren't thinking about that are killing their profitability?

Rocco Sinisgalli:

I think the biggest thing is they go into a situation, a project with allowances or just putting some budget numbers together. Allowances are deferred decisions. Take the time to know what they want. Don't go well? we think no, spend a little more time in the planning so you could put that number in there and then put a profit on top of that number And it just. You know, most guys like me are very anxious and ADD And you know I'm all of the above.

Chris Lalomia:

Surround yourself with people that are better than you Whoa, he keeps giving us kind of advice. I'm gonna have to take the title away, because now he's starting to sound like he has a little bit of brains in there. No, balls and brains is gonna get eyeballs.

Alan Wyatt:

What he just said, so many people can't do. They can't do that because they're afraid of looking bad.

Chris Lalomia:

Yes, and people looking bad, right They whether look good and just get slaughtered.

Alan Wyatt:

They're gone. Surround yourself with people are better than you.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

You have to. I mean people that work. People don't work for me. My employees and employees. They work with me. They are equal. They are equal to me because they can go and get a job. I can't do this business without them. I mean I'm great, but I'm useless without the people. So am I really good? It's a second.

Alan Wyatt:

He started up pretty well with those people. You know it depends. He did great. yeah, he's a lot better than me, so right now.

Chris Lalomia:

I guess it's the same thing Any agent or nor I don't care what you're doing.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Knowledge with the internet and the resources Say we didn't have it back then. I started this business in 97. And then five years later, i bought a book 10 things you should do to be a remodeling contractor. I did nine and a half of them wrong.

Chris Lalomia:

You had a boy, i didn't know my accounting.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

I didn't know my business insurance. I didn't know how to estimate, but I was able to overcome them because I didn't have fear.

Chris Lalomia:

You were able yeah, you're still charging ahead going forward, right, okay. And we're pretty skilled. clearly I mean without dying, you can travel.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

I had a good trade but education to me is critical And the person I was mentoring went to Cornell. I mean MBA. I mean this guy is a brain, you know, wicked smart. But what I was able to do is just give him the hands-on business experience for our industry. He was signing a deal to build a custom house. He never built a custom house before. He gave the guy a price. Whoa, i said. Lol, what happens if the framing costs more? Well, i don't know. I said change that contract to a fixed fee. You know where. You're gonna give him a builder fee. Plus he pays the sticks and bricks. He changed the contract. Eight months into it, covid hit materials tripled. He would have been bankrupt. Oh good Lord.

Chris Lalomia:

He would have been bankrupt.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Oh, this is wow, He would have been bankrupt because Oh, totally done, right, yeah, he would have been bankrupt.

Chris Lalomia:

Oh my gosh.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

So just that little bit of advice, you know, saved him. And I think in any business, get that education And it doesn't you know to pay for it. Mentors, networking groups, i mean you Google anything today?

Chris Lalomia:

So I think Rockwell also has another title. If you want to start another business, i am your F-up angel. I'm gonna keep you from F-ing up, yeah.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Knowledge is power, and if you don't have it, get it, pay somebody to do it. I mean, you know? I mean it's out there, it's out there.

Chris Lalomia:

Did you ever in your business you know we've all made mistakes when we go things. Did you say, you know, at one point you're like you know what two to three million, i don't feel comfortable, i'm going 20, 30 million, i'm gonna go nuts, i'm gonna go big. Did you ever go have that shiny object syndrome?

Rocco Sinisgalli:

For a short period of time, because I have to give up too much, you know. And it's time where, you know, i was able to go to Italy. I mean, how much is enough money? Sure, a little bit more, but you know, i lost my parents, i lost my sister, you know. You know, i got divorced And I've realized what's most important is healthy relationships and experiences, and I can do all of them with a comfortable salary. I, you know, i'm not. You know how much can I want? I lived in a three bedroom house and I thought we were rich. My house now is pretty damn nice. Yeah, so I've made it. I have no other financial goals to meet in my entire life. My goals are relationships and giving away what I've learned.

Chris Lalomia:

Funny. You should say that because we always talk about this on the podcast, about what is your definition of success, and you know, in my 20s it was 100%. Oh, sure, 100% Money, thank you, sure, i just didn't say it Money money money, money, No, no, no it was relationships, no fuck.

Alan Wyatt:

Yeah, different kinds of relationships, Yeah, exactly.

Chris Lalomia:

Yeah, but you know, and that's the thing, what I'm finding too, is, especially the younger set have are learning that earlier. They don't want to have the big houses that their parents or their grandparents had. They don't want that. They want experiences as well. Yeah, so I, you know, i applaud them for that, because you know we would all say well, they're just, you know, they're just lazy. That's the same thing our parents said about us.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

So well, not Rock was Yeah, no, no, no. My father said I was. He didn't know who I was because I was working. You're, you're, you're like, i don't know who you are, yeah.

Chris Lalomia:

No. My dad was always like oh, you always want something for nothing. I'm like yeah, dad, i do, i'm. I'm because I was a hard charger too. I mean, i worked hard. But but I'm like and you get promoted, he goes no, it takes 20 years. I'm like no, i don't have time for that.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Right, i like your story though, your story of your book and going from corporate to this world, i mean, that's that's, that's a great story.

Alan Wyatt:

So rock. Yeah, the book he mentioned your book. I didn't even plug it. What's the name of it? again, i can't remember.

Chris Lalomia:

I'm so glad you asked. From the zoo to the wild, your guide to entrepreneurial freedom and what Yeah, and you know, i And endorsed by the green guru. Yeah.

Alan Wyatt:

How on earth did you get the green guru gig?

Rocco Sinisgalli:

I mean did you?

Alan Wyatt:

did you know a damn thing about. I mean.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

I, i, I did a little bit. You know there was a lot of green movement here in the beginning Pam sessions, carl Saville, yeah, And I was part of that group. I surrounded myself with very, very intelligent people And you know I've been copying my whole life. I'm going to tell you a little secret, okay, so back. I grew up in Utica, new York, across the street from Jefferson school. I went to the school, so Mike DeZurra was the janitor He played. He's like a handball champion, new York state young, big guy, so good friends with my father. My father was Vito.

Alan Wyatt:

I tell him my father's name was Vito. No, no, no.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

I tell him my brother's name is Vito, no, and my brother's name is Pasquale And my nephew's Vito. And I'm Rocco And I got a Rocco in two angels. Did I tell you that? No, you failed to mention that. All right.

Chris Lalomia:

But I will say before you tell the rest of story when you Google, rocco's is golly, there are probably 400 of them out there, and Alan Wyatt, so they were going. No way. Chris, i'm like I know it's almost like John Smith, there's like a million of them out there. Really, i did it. When you Google your name, it's all over the and there's quite a few in Italy. So yeah.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

So all right back to what you both did. So Mike DeZurra, handball champion I'm, so I don't know. I was born, so this is probably 75, right, it's probably 10, 11. So I go help Mike DeZurra clean the school. He'd open up the school. So now this is a 25 year old man, latin, 11 year old boy, right, clean. So we'd clean, pull all the desk out, dust mop. So I'd go into my class, i'd sit in a teacher's desk, i'd get the teacher's edition and copy all the answers for the year.

Chris Lalomia:

Ha, ha ha, ha ha.

Alan Wyatt:

You've managed it for yourself, or did you sell it Well?

Rocco Sinisgalli:

you know, i definitely gave it to Mike Gumbaz right.

Chris Lalomia:

So answer this So that's smart or is actually learning the subject matter and then passing the test? smart Answer that.

Alan Wyatt:

Smart right, Yeah, right.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Yes, exactly.

Alan Wyatt:

What do I?

Rocco Sinisgalli:

care about social studies and science. Nobody ever spent any money.

Chris Lalomia:

Nobody ever said that wasn't the game right. You tell me the game I'm. maybe I'm playing on this edge. Maybe you're playing on that edge.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

So was it wrong Technically, but that's what worked for me. That worked for me. Then we'd watch. We'd order pizza with pepperoni and watch the Ranger game until 10 o'clock at night and go home. So today do I copy. Well, sure you get on. You know design. Well, who's doing that, what's doing that? I mean, we're all bouncing off one another.

Chris Lalomia:

Isn't it? It's funny because when I went to college you know, hey, eyes on paper, right. I went to engineering, i got an engineering degree And then you had to start doing team projects at the end And we'd have to do all new projects where you had to work together. oh dear.

Alan Wyatt:

God, yeah, there was always that one slug here. You just want to beat the living.

Chris Lalomia:

You get it up Like dude how about you do something right And you just wouldn't do it? And then what did you learn? when you get out and you get in a corporate world, you have to have people to get things done. What happens when you, if you want to be not just a solopreneur, you want to be an entrepreneur who has a business, what do you find out? You got to work with people. Yeah So you don't have to be the smartest guy in the room And there's always going to be a slug in every group And there's always a slug in another group.

Chris Lalomia:

But that's what they're missing. Huge And we talked about this before in college is they're missing that To be successful in life, you know, sometimes figuring out how to copy the questions before you get started and sharing it with your buddies maybe the way to go, because if those guys probably figured out an edge to win the game later, right?

Alan Wyatt:

Yeah, i feel like he'd pass some sort of like I don't know Navy SEAL, whatever you know, just the creative way of problem solving.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Yeah, i mean it is problem solving. My oldest daughter is a Georgia Tech grad, highly intelligent, i mean off the charts 5.0, all for her year.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

She's an end. She's in the water industry as far as engineering, and when she was, she'd study all the time. So I say, katelyn, what are you studying for So I can go to college? I'm like, so I get a good college? I'm like, all right, what are you going to do there? I'm going to study and get good grades. I go OK, where's that going to bring up? Well, one of the good grades in a good career. I'm going to be able to get a good job and make money. I go well, how come if I could skip all the education and just teach you how to make money? Would you like to do that? Well, no, dad, it's not supposed to be that way. My point is, that's the way she's wired And there's nothing wrong with that, and I commend her.

Chris Lalomia:

And she'll be wildly successful. And wildly successful, Yeah, she will, But you know? but there's another way.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

There's another way And I want my kids and anybody in my tour to understand all the ways. There's nothing wrong with working with somebody. the corporate world if that's your choice, here's my choice. is that the right? it was the right choice for me.

Chris Lalomia:

Yeah, you can tell It's the right choice for me. Yeah, we said this before we got started. Rocco is 1,000% unemployable. There is no way.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Yes, right, right.

Chris Lalomia:

Hey, Rocco, I think you should work in this system.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Hey, I don't think you kind of listened to my story, Cause I don't do systems right And I had a chance recently to join a franchise in this industry and it was a fantastic opportunity. But I just couldn't give up. You know answering to somebody and you know having to follow these rules. It just didn't work, so obviously I chose not to.

Alan Wyatt:

Yeah, I mean now, do you tend to hire people who are like you or who are more rule followers?

Rocco Sinisgalli:

You know I have. Let's see. What was that, Chris? What did you say?

Chris Lalomia:

Chris, he said I said good question, i have a question.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

That was a good question. I have a person, my estimator. He's a Georgia Tech grad. He's a pilot by nature, very intelligent. I have a carpenter 17 years. He's 56 years old. I have an admin she's young. Cfo she's an authority's young and a project manager woman. So they're highly intelligent. Are they rule followers?

Chris Lalomia:

Yes, So you did hire a different than you?

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Yes, and do we have rules?

Chris Lalomia:

No, But you do though right, But we do but it's not. You have expectations, right, but it's.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

I am not a micromanager. I'll give you all the freedom I trust. Sometimes I trust a little too much and I get taken advantage of. But there's a movie called The Bronx Tale. I don't know if you ever saw The Bronx Tale, chaz Palmitir. It's a mafia movie And Robert De Niro's in there. And there's a point where the mafia guy is telling he's got this young kid and he says you know, see, my men fear me. And C says well, i would rather have people love me. My point is is it better to be feared or loved? Well, i feel that love is better than feared, because love they will do anything for you. And the world my father came from was feared And you either end up dead or in jail. That's the only way you're going in that world.

Chris Lalomia:

Yeah, so I totally.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

And love is and you can be loved as an entrepreneur and you could give opportunities, because there's not room for everybody at the top, but there's room for anybody And it's your choice where you wanna be on that ladder.

Alan Wyatt:

And you can be taken advantage of if you go that route. Yes, you have to guard against that, and I have.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

And you know what. It's okay. You know, you learn and you learn from that experience. But I would rather be known for being taken advantage of, for taking advantage of.

Alan Wyatt:

But it sounds like over time you've developed this team. It's been with you that they would never take advantage of you to appreciate it. They probably enjoy watching the Rocco show.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

It is great, and you know I mean the more success I get, the more they can be successful, and financially too. And just you know I love to share and have good times with the people I care about. Cause what else, what are you gonna do with it?

Chris Lalomia:

Yeah, no, he had on two big things. I think loyalty comes from that trust and love part versus the fear Cause fear doesn't engender loyalty, fear engenders, and I've worked for those kinds of bosses in the corporate world, yeah, especially in the corporate world, that you fear them, oh yeah. I mean That's cause they don't know how to lead. No, they're horrible leaders and never trained to lead.

Alan Wyatt:

And the Peter principle plays out in just in spades, especially in corporate America about you, but some people think that that's what you're supposed to do, and it's just, it's ridiculous.

Chris Lalomia:

I know.

Alan Wyatt:

It's so counterintuitive to me. Well, it's an easier.

Chris Lalomia:

I tell you it's a quicker path.

Alan Wyatt:

It's easier to be a dick It is. And it's quicker to get results. Yeah, True When you're a fear leader it's quicker to get results, no doubt about it. Sprint results It's longer Sprint results. Rocco's got marathon results In an industry.

Chris Lalomia:

it is really hard to get that kind of loyalty, and I've got some pretty good loyalty too. I also have a damadol which I pull out every once in a while, and I actually want to talk about the damadol in a while, yeah.

Chris Lalomia:

So my office manager, who's been with me for 14 to my 15 years, bought me a damadol because she was sick of me watching me kick trash cans all over the house, all over the office. So she's fair. Hey, if you do that, maybe we can save a few more trash cans, because if I got, i may be a little passionate as well, And that can tell you you're passionate as well.

Chris Lalomia:

Absolutely So. She got me this damadol. So when somebody screws up, i just pull it out of the drawer And I just start slamming it on the desk. And so my quality assurance manager comes in And he says look at this job, look at this job. I'm like no, you could have bought that piece. He goes I didn't know that piece existed. I said that's right there. And he came back and he goes you know what You're right? I said OK, hang on, grab my damadol. I go damadol. I said OK, we done. That's OK, go back and keep going.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

That's what I call a healthy coping skill.

Chris Lalomia:

So yeah, also I've had to go to many years of counseling to get this done, that is correct Because the damadol had to come to do that counseling.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Listen, nobody teaches you how to deal with this stuff Right. I mean, you're going to school for all the basics, but no one's teaching you how to deal with the person that isn't productive, how the client that's taking advantage of you. No one's teaching you these life relationship skills And I think it's far more needed than anything. It's far more needed than anything.

Chris Lalomia:

Those little soft skills we talked about a little bit And you know, when you listen to this podcast, you pick some of that stuff up And, as we want to get back to kids who are in school, what are some of those success habits? Well, you know what? It's pretty funny. You don't need to go to school to figure this out. Show up on time, do a little bit more work than everybody else around you Good attitude. Have a good attitude, stay on task.

Alan Wyatt:

Do things, keep your eyes open, smile, big hands, yeah, and then outside of it, how about a little networking? How about going out to do this?

Chris Lalomia:

Oh yeah, That's how I met Rocco Originally, because we're both part of a really nice organization, right, i wish more people, consumer-wise, would know more about what these guys do and what we all do, and that is pledged to work ethically and responsibly and work in houses and do things right way for your literally your number one asset. So I met Rocco that way. I tried to tell my daughter, who's in health care, that she needs to learn on to network Sure.

Alan Wyatt:

You understand It doesn't work like that.

Chris Lalomia:

And I'm like, literally the next day I'd met a guy and his son is at Emory School finishing up his whatever they call it when they become a doctor.

Alan Wyatt:

The residency Yeah.

Chris Lalomia:

And he said this kid was the kid who had a 2.8 in college. He said, networking got him in, got a chance And then of course he turned it around. A really sharp kid, you could tell. Now my son, the lawyer. He is literally working in a law firm as a junior and a rising senior in college And I just found out that doesn't happen, wow.

Alan Wyatt:

Because of networking.

Chris Lalomia:

Yeah Well, all I did. So I said, hey, what do you want to do? So I sent out some feelers, sent out some notes. It was up to him to go make the deal happen And he did. He made the deal happen And he's having a blast, But he's doing stuff that other people said no, you can't do that And he has to be a law student.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

I said, well, he's not. My son's going to Kentucky this fall. And I says I'll pay for your school and everything, but I'm done with your frat costs and all this. I says I'm not giving you a nickel. We got a pressure washer. I says here's my list of clients and friends. Start texting, start emailing. We're killing it.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

We got an apartment complex to pressure wash him And he's now hired his buddy. That's a big job, yeah. But my point is is just be willing to do the basics and what you put into it, what you get out of it. I mean, i'm 57 years old, i have a great career, but I'm still doing deals after work in real estate and mentoring and networking, because that's the enjoyment, that's the drug for me, yeah.

Chris Lalomia:

That's the drug for me. So we did a summer entrepreneurship academy. We're going to get that gen up again next summer And I was trying to do that to give back to college students. Sure, and you know what? I ended up getting more than I gave. Sure, because you're so fired up talking to these kids, right, and just seeing their eyes open up And you start talking about stuff that they just don't talk about.

Alan Wyatt:

In college We talked about just those basics for one, and it was kind of reassuring how much they dove into it And they appreciated it. Because I'm wondering, when you put this whole thing together, if you were wondering, ok, is anybody going to show up? And if they show up, are they going to? care Because everything you hear about kids today right, right, it doesn't care. Yeah, yeah, and they were sucking it up.

Chris Lalomia:

They did, And to this day, literally. I just had one text me this morning Hey, Mr Lalamiya, I'm at Northwestern Mutual. I'd like to talk to you about your finances.

Alan Wyatt:

Yeah So.

Chris Lalomia:

I was like I fired back. I'm like, hey, buddy, great call. I said I'm all set with finances, but let's talk more about how you can build your book of business.

Alan Wyatt:

Sure.

Chris Lalomia:

Sure.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Right Yeah.

Chris Lalomia:

Because, what's the one thing that I think young people miss is that, as old people, we want to help them Absolutely, especially an entrepreneur, an entrepreneur's world And you can tell, rocky, you've got that. Servant hurt too, but Alan and I do the same. If you ask me a question, dude, i'm not going to ignore you. In fact, i answered his question in text faster than I answered my own employee right. Because I was like hey man.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

I'll call you next week, let's talk. I mean, i had a good client of mine and we're still friends today And he calls it. This is the most word that everybody uses is you know, we hear the word equity, right, and what do you think? Money, right, equity in your house, right, equity? yeah, he builds human equity. He puts his time in people Equity in you and you and what you're doing and your employees, and that, to me, is what it's human equity. Let's build our equity with each other. And that just blew me away. So I guess that's kind of a tagline. It's human equity.

Chris Lalomia:

Yeah well, we won't put that in the tagline.

Alan Wyatt:

Tagline still needs to be balls and brains.

Chris Lalomia:

More balls and brains. But you know I'm in a mastermind group and we're gonna start wrapping up here in a minute. That talked about the fact that when we get together once a month and we start talking about it, we all share a lot of problems, right? And most of our problems are rooted with people leadership and people, that's exactly right.

Chris Lalomia:

It's not about finances, again. the finance you gotta have that. I mean that's, but you gotta have that. And then you, but you gotta be able to work with people and build into them right And be able to handle criticism.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Oh, that was something I had. That was a few years of counseling for that, chris. Yeah, i had to handle criticism in a healthy way because I grew up my mother said I was the king, i was her. Diamonds, rubies and emeralds Oh cause you're on the baby, you're the baby.

Chris Lalomia:

Right That Rockwell did no wrong, Oh yeah. I was the number one of the number one, So I was the first king and my grandmother's my grandmother's jewel set but, i, could do wrong later.

Alan Wyatt:

It makes me kind of wish I had an Italian mom.

Chris Lalomia:

Oh bro, yeah Well, you know my mother always felt like I mean, i mean, you know, and again, my mother is past as well, But she often told me she goes. Christopher, I think you could be the president of the United States.

Alan Wyatt:

And she truly believed that She.

Chris Lalomia:

I mean she was the only one in the world, including me. She's the only one in the world, especially now. I'd vote for you, Chris. Thank you, but.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

I'm still not running. There's a song and I know we got, but there's a song called I think it's Toto. It's too much love, you get too high, not enough, and you're going to die. So I grew up with so much love that I thought we were filthy rich because of the love. Until I got older I realized how financially strapped we were. Yeah, but love, that love. You didn't even know that right, that was just didn't know, just didn't know.

Alan Wyatt:

My dad said that to me.

Chris Lalomia:

He says if your grandfather saw how you live now, do you think he'd even comprehend it? He goes, i go, no, no, because I remember him saying those are the castles on the hill. Yeah, that was his, but he said it in a really odd Sicilian, sicilian's. So much weirder too It was. It was something on the hill And I can't remember what he said, but those houses, those, those those guys.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Rocco man this is awesome, this has been great.

Chris Lalomia:

Love you guys, man, but we can't let you go Uh-oh Without Four questions Four questions Oh boy. Come on, you love giving knowledge. We got to give knowledge. What is a book you'd recommend to all of our listeners?

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Oh my God, i'm not a big book reader.

Alan Wyatt:

What was the one you mentioned? one earlier.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

So well, there there is a, the only book Rich Dad, poor Dad. There you go.

Chris Lalomia:

That was a good one, Cute And then and then relationship wise.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

And if you're in a marriage or any type of relationship called the love dare book, that chains my life, relationship wise, the love, the love dare book. Yeah, it was, yeah, yeah.

Alan Wyatt:

Give us a nugget on that?

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Basically, it's a biblical perspective on how to treat each other in a healthy relationship. Blew me away Solid Changed my life. Also changed my life.

Chris Lalomia:

A lot of life changing. All right, here we go. Okay, now we're going to get into it. I fear that our fortune is not going to be such.

Alan Wyatt:

You still kind of diminished my question. No, it's great, Now we're going to get into it. The next three questions are more important than that one. You know what you have that look on your face, you're so busted.

Chris Lalomia:

No, you know what. So I'm going to buy the love dare book of you and me.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

I don't think it'll work between you. I think we need to have a couple of therapy brother, And there's the gold on it right there, all right All right.

Chris Lalomia:

What's your favorite feature? Question B. Question B All right, love dare.

Alan Wyatt:

Definitely going to buy that for both of us. I'll sign you the copy, all right.

Chris Lalomia:

What's the favorite feature of your house?

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Oh, my word, Dude. My house is like the crib man I built it. So the favorite feature of my house, i would say, is the pickleball court.

Alan Wyatt:

Nice, that's awesome.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

It's so crazy, man, People freak out. We have a blast Wednesday night pickleball in my house. Show up, man, We just play pickleball. It's awesome man. Look at that.

Chris Lalomia:

He builds community with pickleball. I do, right, i do. That's really cool Building community with pickleball. All right, here we go, all right. So one of the things that we are is we're definitely customer service free. Hello, we love about customer service. So when you're out there, you're the customer. What just drives you absolutely insane? when somebody doesn't deliver great customer service, what is a problem? you see That peeve.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

And so I'm the customer and what I'm giving to my customer.

Alan Wyatt:

Right.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Man, i think the biggest thing is just not doing what you say you're going to do. I mean, how simple is that? Show up and do what you're saying and do, and the other thing is making excuses.

Alan Wyatt:

Oh God, that's a good one.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

So I got to say I got a guy that says to me, rocco, it's a plumber. One time He says I can't get this done, i don't have the right part and it probably be a couple of days. So I says, jeffrey, i'll give you $500 today to get that done today. Do you think you could do it? You know, rocco, i think I could cut this end and put a Healy Coil on it and do it. And you got the tools to do it right now. He goes yes, i do, i go, do it and I'm not giving you the $500. Your sinful self was lying to me. You made an excuse because you wanted to go home. Now you're going to benefit And you don't care about making your $20 million an hour, you just want to make an extra $500. So no, do it now, don't make excuses.

Alan Wyatt:

How about that one That's a great turn. It is such a good one. That is a huge one. Rocco, That's one of my favorites.

Chris Lalomia:

I love that.

Alan Wyatt:

Just tell me what's happening. I don't need to hear the drama. Right, i'm going to be late, cool.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Quick story Run a job Generator dies. We got the house power off on the house We're putting in. We know Generator dies. Friday afternoon Everybody says, oh, we're leaving, we got no power. I blocked them with my truck. I walked five houses up Landscape truck, gave the guy $20, five gallons of gas, put it in a generator, started it up. Get back to work. Genius, solve the problem.

Alan Wyatt:

There you go, solving problems Balls and brains. Yes, that is definitely Cash help to $20.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

But this was before gas was $6 a gallon. That guy actually got your $5. The $20 went to his pocket, not his bosses Yeah Hey. Maybe it was $50.

Chris Lalomia:

I don't know Who cares. All right, so obviously you're a pretty skilled carpenter, but we want a DIY Namer story, not one on your projects, one where you do it yourself and you're like whoops. I impaled myself. I ripped my finger off. I shocked a crap out of myself.

Alan Wyatt:

I got shot across the yard, temporarily blinded.

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Oh man, diy, DIY, doing a roof, and it started to rain. And this was I was 19. It was my parents' roof, so we put plastic on the roof, but I didn't realize, once I stepped on the plastic I would slide down, because it was a slip and slide And I slid down and smashed the deck And I was 18 years old How stupid is that Plastic on a roof?

Alan Wyatt:

It's with water.

Chris Lalomia:

Huh, oh, that's pretty All right. And that one, rocco, you've done it. Rocco, how can people find you here in Atlanta?

Rocco Sinisgalli:

Oh, just google onitabildersnet. Onitabildersnet.

Chris Lalomia:

And we'll make sure we put that in the Insta account because they put some beautiful pictures out there for you guys to follow And if you're not in Atlanta, you always want to see what a good builder looks like and what they do. Man, go check that.

Alan Wyatt:

There's some great photos on your website. Oh, thank you, and that's my crew.

Chris Lalomia:

They do great stuff.

Alan Wyatt:

So that's awesome. Rocco, thank you so much for being here. Thank you guys. You guys, you need to pick something up today.

Chris Lalomia:

You missed out on some great gold nuggets because you've got to have balls and you've got to have brains. You've got to put them both together And sometimes you need to have a little bit more of one than the other. You just got to decide when to use them. All right, we're out of here, let's go. Cheers Later.

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Chris Lalomia

Host
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Alan Wyatt

Co-host