Spotlight on Good People by Robert of Philadelphia
This is your go-to source for inspiration, shining a light on the unsung heroes of Naples and Southwest Florida. From heartwarming stories to practical tips, we celebrate the people who make our slice of paradise more connected, compassionate, and kind. In a world full of noise, we’re here to uplift, inform, and inspire — one story at a time.
Spotlight on Good People by Robert of Philadelphia
Faith, Ferraris & the American Dream: Helder Rosa’s Remarkable Journey 🇺🇸🔥
As the General Manager of Ferrari of Naples, Helder brings over 20 years of experience in the luxury automotive industry to Southwest Florida. Dedicated to delivering unparalleled customer service and driving business growth, Helder's passion for offering a bespoke customer experience enables him to lead his team with a focus on excellence. Helder is a big believer in the Law of Attraction and enjoys reading self-development books and listening to inspirational podcasts, just like this one!
Which one of these is best for you? Which one goes the best with espresso? This one? Or is it this one? Maybe this one's better for you. Could it be this one? I think this is the one you really may want. This is the famous F40. Our guest
Helder Rosa:today is Helder Rosa, the general manager of Ferrari Naples. And whether or not you're a
Robert DiLella:car enthusiast or a business leader or someone who's just interested in the psychology of luxury and the art of service, you're going to love what's under the hood today. Let's dive in. All right, good. Welcome back to another episode and a special guest today. Of course, Helder Rosa, who's a brilliant business mind, But also a really awesome family guy, too. You know, I saw something that I'll tell about in just a minute because I also want to point out that He's a really good-looking guy. He's got a great haircut. He's one of our special guests here at the salon. And we also have the honor and the privilege of doing your beautiful wife, too, who's a special person. And I know you're a real family guy. I watched a video you did with your kids for Father's Day. And one of the things your daughter said was that you instilled in her was always put God first and do the right thing when nobody's watching. I thought that touched my heart that you're— a true father in a special way. Yeah, the foundation's important. You know, the foundation, when it's built and it's rock solid, you never got to look at it, right?
Helder Rosa:Yeah.
Robert DiLella:It'll keep things upright. And that's what my wife, and I'll attest, beautiful wife indeed. Yeah. Very fortunate to be married to Laura. But yeah, the foundation, our faith is... is our north star so that's that's the most important thing yeah that was cool i like that well welcome thanks for coming thanks for giving up your time especially at season now it's uh you drive
Helder Rosa:from the south side to the north side i know it takes a little while for you to get up there so i appreciate you taking some time my pleasure thanks
Robert DiLella:honored to be on the show thanks um so a boston guy originally how how um what was your upbringing like what like How'd you be who you are? What was it like for you growing up? Yeah, so I grew up in Boston, a suburb just north of the city. My parents are immigrants from an island of Madera. Most people don't, never heard Madera Island, but Madera is off the coast of Lisbon by the Canary Islands and the Atlantic, so I'm parents of immigrants from Madera. I have two brothers, one of three siblings, the middle child. Hmm. Is the middle child usually the troubled one? No, I say the middle child's the golden child. I'm not sure about that. Yeah, so I grew up and ended up, after college, just kind of got into the car business. Just by accident. Always had a passion for cars? No, my passion, I would say, comes from serving people. I worked... Various jobs. Growing up, one at McDonald's, my first job. Is
Helder Rosa:that right? Yeah.
Robert DiLella:Working at McDonald's, serving people, right?
Helder Rosa:Yeah. How old were you?
Robert DiLella:My first job was at 16. Yeah. And we had a family friend who ran several franchises, and I had the ability to get to work, and that was my first job. And from there, I worked in the supermarkets. And again, customer facing, customer service. And then when I got out of school, it was just kind of like, what am I going to do now? I was a business major, but just had a passion for dealing with people. So I actually applied for a job. The company was called New England Copy Specialists. So I was an outside sales rep selling copiers and fax machines. in and around the Boston area. And my territory that was assigned to me had this giant Mercedes dealership on the outskirts of the city. And I went in and was looking to establish that account. And the general manager at the time, it's hilarious, I walk in there with my black velvet suit, thinking I'm a hot shot in my briefcase. So I... They asked who was in charge of the copiers and fax machines and that sort of thing. So they put me in touch with him. Long story short, that day I was offered a job. I think I was there for several hours, offered a job to sell cars. You went in to pitch them on copiers and fax machines. Yep. And you interviewed them. They interviewed you. Yeah, this guy totally put me together. Great salesman. That's awesome. He says, look at that showroom. Look at those beautiful cars. Do you want to do that or do you want to come knocking on doors trying to sell boring fax machines
Helder Rosa:and coffee
Robert DiLella:machines? I said, well, he's got a point. I said, well, I have no experience. He goes, you don't need any experience. So that was the start of my journey in automotive.
Helder Rosa:Wow, that's cool.
Robert DiLella:I worked for that company, if I remember, I think it was less than two weeks. I resigned and they're like, where are you going? I'm like, I'm going to get in the car business. And the rest was history. Wow, that's awesome. So where, and this is outside of Boston. Yeah, it's a suburb north of the city, Linfield, Massachusetts. Linfield, okay. Where's that from Wellesley? That's the only part I know because I had a cousin who lived there and we used to go up to Wellesley. Is it near? Wellesley, yeah. Wellesley was more centrally located in the city. Okay. Linfield, which is where I worked, was more of the north end. Okay, okay. Tell me about that region, because the north end is where the good stuff is? All the Italians, of course. The good stuff. The great food.
Helder Rosa:Great food, okay.
Robert DiLella:Those that have last names that end in a vowel and drink a lot of espresso. So where is the area where the bakery is? Michael's Bakery? Yes. That's in the north end. That's in the north end, okay. Yeah, so the north end is all the Italians. Okay. South end, all the Irish.
Helder Rosa:Oh, okay, okay.
Robert DiLella:And then the Portuguese, like me, we're all out in Fall River, New Bedford. New Bedford? New Bedford. Every once in a while, the Boston accent comes out. So Fall River is where in relation to that? So Fall River is more north, or south rather, closer to Rhode Island. So like right there on the Rhode Island border, you got Fall River, New Bedford. You got some big... Portuguese population out there still today.
Helder Rosa:Okay.
Robert DiLella:All the fishermen.
Helder Rosa:Oh yeah. Okay. Do you ever go back?
Robert DiLella:To Madeira? Yeah. Where are your family from? Yeah. My parents now spend, I say unfortunately, love to see them more often, but they now spend about eight months out of the year. So in fact, we're working on hopefully going to Europe in June to visit my folks. Oh, nice. It's been a couple of years since we were there the last time. The kids love it. They love and enjoy going out there. Do they? Yeah. So we can get out there once every couple years, and then in the interim, my parents will come to Naples. Do they come here now when they're not there, or do they go back to Boston? They'll go to Boston because I still have two of my brothers in Massachusetts, so they try to split up the time. Okay. And then when you go over there, you stay in that area, Madeira? Yeah. Yeah. We stay in the city, and their house is more up in the northern part. of the island. Madeira's an island. They're more up in the middle of the island and the city's down in the marina area. Some big commercial hotels. The Ritz-Carlton is there. So they have some really nice properties there in Madeira Island. All the big cruise liners come in. It's a little fun fact for anyone listening is Google, or I should say YouTube, Firework Display in Madeira Island. They've won the Guinness World Record of, I think, the longest or the best firework display in New Year's. It's pretty impressive. Oh, is that right? Yeah, yeah. I didn't know that. And what else are they known for there? Shellfish? Is shellfish a big deal there, or is that a different part of Portugal? Yeah, it's the wine, Madeira wine. Most people are pretty familiar with Madeira wine, which is an after-dinner wine, more of a dessert wine. It's like a port? It's like a port wine, exactly. Okay. Yeah, real sweet. And bananas, believe it or not. Really? Yeah. It's tropical looking there? Very tropical. Really? Okay. Yeah, tropical islands. You know, winters get around 60s and summer in the 80s. So what are the months your parents are there? They usually leave right after Christmas time and come back around June, June, July. Okay. They spend the summers here and then they're back there during the holidays. And so you, let's go back to that first job. That was a Mercedes dealer, the first one? Yeah, that was a Mercedes dealer. I was selling cars. So what was the experience like for you to sell your first car? That's funny. I think most dealerships still have this tradition when you first, you know, your shirt and tie. You know, that's your uniform, so to speak.
Helder Rosa:Mm-hmm.
Robert DiLella:And when you sell, after you sell your first car, they cut your tie off.
Helder Rosa:Oh, is that right?
Robert DiLella:So I remember that day. And, you know, back then we're using flashcards. So just when I think about, you know, we're going back now 20 years, you know, you didn't have all the technology that you have today. You had a little Rolodex of flashcards. That's how you manage your client base.
Helder Rosa:Oh, okay.
Robert DiLella:But yeah, it's been a great, great business for me.
Helder Rosa:Yeah, so you started at the top tier. You started in the luxury, Mercedes being, you know, one of the nice brands. Yeah, I
Robert DiLella:was very fortunate, like I said, just kind of walked into that opportunity, being able to represent a brand like Mercedes. And I worked, you know, I sold Mercedes from, that was back in early 2000s, and we made the trip out to Cleveland, which... You know, we discussed and that was Mercedes up until 2019. So, you know, three quarters of my career have been representing the Mercedes brand. So what was, was it the same owner that you moved to? So you were working for, Marino opened in Cleveland. Right. Yeah. Bernie, Bernie opened up the Mercedes dealership. In Cleveland in May of 2005. And that's when you moved? That's when I moved. Okay, because you were working with him. I was working with Bernie in Boston for a former dealer. And that was about four years. I think I was hired sometime in like 2000, 2001.
Helder Rosa:Okay.
Robert DiLella:And Bernie at that time was running about a dozen dealerships for the company we worked for. And he spent a lot of time at the dealership that I worked at.
Unknown:Okay.
Robert DiLella:Did a lot of training with me and the team. He was very present.
Helder Rosa:Yeah.
Robert DiLella:And then he just one day decided to resign from the company. Which was a big deal. Which was a big deal for many people.
Helder Rosa:Yeah.
Robert DiLella:He was very influential in the company. And we all were just like, what happened? And then it was several months later when everything came back full circle that he bought a dealership in Cleveland, Ohio. A Mercedes dealership. Yeah. And that's kind of famous with his story because he leveraged everything that he had in his life, right? He just put all he had into being able to buy this dealership. It's all about taking risks. He took a big risk. Yeah. And yeah, he left a company that was paying him really, really well. It was very successful. But found out about that opportunity in Cleveland that was up for grabs and he went all in. And then he was choosing Thoroughbreds to work for him and he... Yeah, he never actually approached me directly. This was through another acquaintance that had reached out to me. Okay. Probably saw me as a young Boston guy. No kids, other than my family, right? Yeah, yeah. Pretty easy pickings, I guess.
Helder Rosa:Yeah.
Robert DiLella:I was honored. And I thought about it and spent a whole lot of time thinking about it, to be honest. You know, as I said to you, when I thought risk and reward, risk is... I go out there, it doesn't work out. I can jump back in the U-Haul with my furniture and drive back. And it's not gonna change my life. The reward, in my eyes, was endless. And I would never look back. It worked out well. What was it like making the transition from the Northeast to the Midwest? I mean, two different markets. Two different markets. It's funny, as I sit here and I look back and I think about when we first got there, as it wasn't only me, it was Bernie, and there was actually in total five or six of us that moved from Boston to go work under Bernie's leadership. So here we are, the five or six of us from Boston, Northeast, Midwest, never stepped foot in Ohio. I remember at that time, my brothers are like, where are you going? I'm like, Cleveland. They're like, oh, yeah, the land of LeBron James. Which at that point, I... Was never really kind of in tune with, you know, LeBron James, I guess. Yeah. But that was a big deal. Yeah. And so anyway, here we are in Cleveland. And what's funny is it's much more laid back and passive. Mm-hmm. You know, and you're from the Northeast. Yeah. Folks from the Northeast, a little bit more vocal,
Helder Rosa:move at a
Robert DiLella:faster pace with a sense of urgency. Yeah. And when we first got there, and here we are interacting with clients, they're like, wait, guys, slow down, slow down. One, you're talking too fast. Two, what's your agenda? You guys, you're trying to pull something off? It's like, all right. It took us a while to really just take two steps back, slow it down. So that was an adjustment. And not pronounce my ahs like that. It's funny, when I listen to You know, someone from Boston. I'm like, man, is that really what I sounded like? So I had to refine my speech. To fit the Midwest culture, right? Yeah, I had to slow down. Don't pronounce my ahs like that. And everything worked out. Does it come back when you go up north, when you go back to New Jersey? Yeah, because you feel like you've got to be part of the circle, right? Right, right. They'll pick on you. They'll pick on you.
Unknown:Right.
Robert DiLella:Yeah, I remember hearing stories from my father because when we moved here from Philly, this area was predominantly from the Midwest because I-75 came from the Midwest, 95 came down from the Northeast, so they were on the East Coast, the Northeasterners, and Midwesterners were on this coast, which now it's a bigger mix, a better mix of Northeast and Midwest. But he would say the difference was in the Northeast area, or people from the Northeast, if they didn't like their haircut, they would tell them, I don't like it. Fix it. This is not what I like. And in the Midwest, they might say, oh, it's fine. It's very nice. And then they never go back. It's fine. Yeah, it's not so fine. Yeah, so that was it. Something to get used to for sure. But yeah, you know, you know where you stand with someone from the Northeast, right? A hundred percent. Yeah. Some can appreciate that.
Helder Rosa:Yeah. I'd be one of them. Let you know. Yeah. Yeah. Just, you just, no, no questions asked. This is where we are.
Robert DiLella:Yeah. So that was a big adjustment to make. Weather-wise, not, not so much. Was it colder in, in Boston? It's pretty cold too. I mean, Cleveland. Yeah. The difference, Cleveland, you have this, this term that they, they, they call the lake effect. So when that weather, the snow comes in because of the lake, we were northeast Ohio. So when the weather, that snow belt comes in, it sticks around for a while. It just goes in circles. So when the snow comes, it'll sit and linger for days. As opposed to in the northeast, you know, the nor'easters, as they used to call them, they would move in. drop a pile of snow and then move on. Okay. Yeah. And, um, in Ohio, the difference in Cleveland anyway is again, the snow just sits and lingers for days. Yeah. The other thing is very little sunshine during the winter months. Yeah. Which is brutal. Yeah. In the Northeast, it was again, climate similar, but more sun in the Northeast. Yeah. Right. And who doesn't love the sun? You need that every once in a while. Oh, you do, after living down here. That's why we live in Naples, right? I know, yeah. So, but yeah, so weather was predominantly, you know, very similar outside of the gray skies and, you know, snow that would just sit and linger. And what's that like for a dealership with snow when you have cars that are outside? It's the worst. Yeah. It's, you know, you talk to anybody up in the Northeast or, you know, the climate where there's snow.
Helder Rosa:Yeah.
Robert DiLella:Cold weather. it's tough. So we're very lucky to be here in sunny Naples, Florida.
Helder Rosa:Yeah. And when you get dumped on with snow, I mean, you gotta go out and clean them. Gotta clean them all, right?
Robert DiLella:Yeah, maybe it'll melt after, again, there's no sun. The sun isn't melting the snow. It takes a while. Then you get ice. That's even worse. The windshields are all covered in ice. So I remember when I had to break the news to my three children that We're moving from Ohio to Florida. And the first thing I said to him is, guys, there's tears and they're crying. I said, you never got to put on a winter jacket anymore. Not that they were shoveling snow anyway, but you will see. You'll never have to deal with the snow anymore. And for them, of course, they love it. Building snowmen, going sledding. Yeah, that's all fun, but you never got to put on a winter jacket. And you're going to have a pool. Yeah. You can use the pool all year. It was the tears were months. Tears were gone. Moving near Mickey. Moving near. Yeah. So that was an easy sale then. It was an easy sale. Yeah. And that was COVID year. Yeah. That was during COVID. And the dealership, the Ferrari store was at that time. So we sold everything. the company in 2019, late 2019. And I had worked under the new ownership who bought us, who bought the dealership in Ohio. And then I had found out about the opportunity here in Naples. So in 2019 when we sold, I want to say late 2019, I think COVID was just kind of starting to make its way. Hmm. And then in 2020, early 2020 is really when it hit full force. It was very unfortunate. We had a furlough, lots of people, and let people go. So here I am working for this new company. And then we had to deal with COVID. And it was different there than Florida in terms of being able to be open, right? Yeah, I hadn't been to Florida. The dealership down here wasn't even... At that time, in early 2020, which we're talking January, February of 2020, that's actually when I had just found out about the Ferrari's dealership opening here in Naples. I mean, I had been to Naples previously, but this was all pre-COVID. Yeah. So I wasn't really sure what was happening in Naples during the COVID or Florida in general. And then it wasn't until... April, May of 2020, when I was told about the opportunity to come to Naples. I couldn't fly down. My wife and I couldn't fly down, but we had been here previously and we knew we loved the area. So we just, we made a decision. We didn't really think too much about it. We said, one, it's COVID. Nobody was leaving the house. And quite frankly, the opportunity was just too good to pass up. to move down here. So we bought our house sight unseen, enrolled our children into still two at St. Anne's. Great parish, great school. In fact, at that time, all three of my children went to St. Anne's. So yeah, we did everything from afar and it all worked out perfect. And the dealership here didn't open up when you first moved here? Were they already open when you moved here? No, they weren't open. So we were under construction. So when I decided to join the company, they had said that there was an opportunity to go and operate the Ferrari dealership in West Palm Beach. So under our rooftop, we have another sister store, a Ferrari Maserati dealership in West Palm Beach. So at that time, they had asked me to go and operate that dealership while the Naples dealership was under construction.
Helder Rosa:Okay.
Robert DiLella:So we actually moved from Cleveland. to West Palm Beach. And we're very grateful. We had a friend of ours who had a condo in Juneau Beach, which was just kind of north of West Palm area, right on the water. It was beautiful. So we made the trip. We went from Cleveland to West Palm. We were living in Juneau. I was operating dealership in West Palm Beach. Meanwhile, the Naples dealership was under construction. Our home was under construction. So I actually worked in West Palm from May through the end of the year, right around December. And the dealership was able to be open. We opened in, yeah, we actually officially opened in January of 2021. Okay. Yeah. And when you were working in West Palm, the dealership during that COVID year could be open. You were allowed to be open. Yeah. Right. They didn't close down because hair salons closed in May. We were closed for 56 days. I remember that. And I don't remember how the other businesses opened. In 2020. In 2020. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So the Naples location hadn't been open. I was worried that the, you know, construction was going to pause and that. Right. You know, we had workers from all over the country here working.
Helder Rosa:Yeah, it's a beautiful deal. I mean, they did a phenomenal job. It's a beautiful building. Yeah, thank you. First class. They did a very,
Robert DiLella:very nice job. It doesn't look like a typical car dealership. Not at all. More of like a museum. Yeah. And that was the intent. So, yeah, so we were open. West Palm, everything was wide open while everybody else was under lockdown. Yeah. And I think that's what triggered most of that migration during that time, right? Absolutely, yeah. Yeah, I was so grateful. to Ron DeSantis. I remember the day that he announced we had been closed for 54 days and he announced on a Friday, it was my wife's birthday, May 8th. He said, on Monday, the
Helder Rosa:10th, you can open back up again as hair salons. And there were no
Robert DiLella:restrictions. You know, it was up to each individual. It was up to us to decide how we wanted to do it our way rather than saying you have to do it this way. And so it was, you know, we were blessed to be here as everybody was, you know, that's what, caused everybody to come here because we could we could make our own minds up and determine whether how it was going to go and how we were going to operate so forever grateful for that because i still know so many salon owners around the country that were stuck in states that kept them closed for so long that they had they ended up closing losing all their staff and you know we had we were closed just just enough time we got a ppp loan and we were closed for just the number of weeks that the ppp loan covered everybody so we didn't have to lay anybody off we were Lucky to have that and just to be in beautiful Florida. So that worked out good for us too,
Helder Rosa:you know, as well as the people coming here and getting a lot more from the Northeast and people saying they've had enough of it up there and they're between the taxes and the lack of sunshine and the cold and the, you know, all those things. Yeah. Yeah. We're
Robert DiLella:very, very, very grateful and very lucky to be down here. Yeah. Yeah, so it was a gift for our area to get your family down here too. So we were blessed to have you guys come here. Yeah, the community's been arms wide open and we do love it. We do love it down here. When I look back, the first year and a half, I remember I'm working and my wife and my three little children, we just literally uprooted them and brought them down here. Yeah. My life really hadn't changed much. I was still working and she's at home with the kids. Yeah. So, you know, there was some time there within, you know, within that first year and a half is very touch and go. I thought at one point we were going back to Ohio because my wife was a little homesick.
Helder Rosa:Yeah.
Robert DiLella:But that didn't last long. We've met some great families. You know, we have some great, great friends, you know, and that's what life's all about. Yeah. It's all about, you can be in a beautiful place here like Naples, Florida, but without your, the proper surroundings, you know, your connections and things like that. Um, you know, a beautiful place could, you know, that, that could wear on you after a while when you don't have anybody around you. So, yeah. So we're, we're very, very grateful for the friends and, and for the community at large. And your wife's family's Ohio or? My wife's family's from Ohio. Okay. So she's born and raised in Ohio. Yep. Okay. We met there and, um, we raised our three children and so five, so they, we moved them down here at, We had eight, eight, nine-year-olds.
Helder Rosa:Did you say you have twins, younger twins? Twins,
Robert DiLella:yeah. I got a boy-girl twin, and then I have a daughter. Is that running the family? No, no, it doesn't run in the family. It's just kind of a surprise. Yeah. Yeah. So my oldest daughter, Gianna, she's freshman at St. John Newman, and then our twins are middle schoolers at St. Ann's. Oh, wow. So I feel like we moved them down at the right age. Yeah. We were right on the cusp there of, you know, maybe they were... felt left out or, you know, they were leaving all their friends and, you know, it's great to see here we are almost five years later, they're still in contact with their friends. When we go to Cleveland, they reunite with their friends.
Helder Rosa:Nice.
Robert DiLella:Yeah. So they're great, great kids. And your wife's family there. So they have, do they have cousins there too from that? Yes. My wife's entire family, they're all in Cleveland. Okay. And then quite frankly, that was the hardest part. Yeah. It wasn't leaving, you know, the doom and gloom of Ohio.
Helder Rosa:Yeah.
Robert DiLella:The snow. It was, again, it's all about people.
Helder Rosa:Yeah.
Robert DiLella:You know, it's all about people. So leaving her family behind, that was tough. But here we are. And we can hop on a plane. You fly direct frontier out of Fort Myers. The easiest, I think the easiest airport to fly in and out of Fort Myers. Easier than Cleveland. I think Cleveland's out in the tumbleweeds, but it's actually a busier airport than Fort Myers. So hop on a flight. You're there in three hours.
Helder Rosa:Yeah. You just don't want to go this time of year, I guess, right? You just want to stay away from there in February or March. It's cold there. Yeah.
Robert DiLella:Yeah. It's kind of the spring, although. Oh, okay. I think they're. They call it spring. They're getting hit. The Midwest is getting hit today with a snowstorm. Are they really? Yeah. So you never know. That's the thing. It's like, you know, over there, your summers are, they're short lived. Oh yeah. Spring is, you know, late March, but they're still getting hit with a snowstorm. Yeah. Maybe even in April, if not May.
Helder Rosa:That lake effect, right? That lake effect. It's brutal. Brutal,
Robert DiLella:brutal. So what was it like making the transition from... So always a luxury high-end brand, but making the transition from Mercedes to Ferrari. Did you work in some other brands other than Mercedes when you were with... Yeah, we had all Highland brands. We had Aston Martin, Porsche, Rolls-Royce, Maserati. And... So making the transition to Ferrari, learning the brand was probably the biggest challenge.
Helder Rosa:Because it's a whole culture.
Robert DiLella:Yeah. They operate very different than the brands that I represented previously. But the transition was easy because, pardon me, you know, we built our business around people and teams, winning teams. Yeah. pardon me, may sound cliche, but having a vision, a mission statement. And so going back to how we started the conversation about having a foundation and being faith-based and building a business, it should be no different. How do you build a foundation? You got to have a vision and then you build your team around that. And so my, as much as it was, yes, a huge transition from Most of my time in Ohio was spent running a Mercedes, a large Mercedes dealership, to now a much smaller, more boutique-like brand, Ferrari. But I took the same principles, which is we're going to build a team, we're going to set a mission, a vision, and that's what we're going to do. And regardless of what brand you represent, that's the core. Because to me, The brand's secondary, the cars are secondary, probably no different than what you do really, really well here. I can say, it's your people. I can feel it when I walk in the door. The end result is I'm going to walk out with a nice haircut. That I know. Dave does a great job. But it's from the early interaction with your kind young lady who offered me an espresso this morning. So again, to me, those are the important things, and that's what makes businesses successful.
Helder Rosa:are
Robert DiLella:the people. So the transition, I guess, was easy because I was sticking to the recipe that I know that made us successful in Ohio. And I'm going to just basically do the exact same thing. It doesn't need to be that. It's not that complicated. I think people just overcomplicate it. But not everybody's into people and serving people and really building a business around a team.
Helder Rosa:Yeah. Yeah, I get that. Yeah, it's,
Robert DiLella:well, from what I see, it's more of a, from what you've built and what that brand builds and maybe other brands too, but what I see, it's more of like an experience for somebody. I was watching you interact with, I don't know if he's a current customer or possible. Yeah, he's a customer of ours. Is that right? Just kind of by coincidence, bumped into him this morning. Yeah. And it was... there was a genuine relationship there, uh, that I could see that was different than just, uh, you sold him a car, but there was a, it was like community, like neighbors. I don't know. You just, you know, a different kind of relationship than just a customer. It was, it was interesting to see cause who would have thought, you know, nine o'clock this morning that you would run into somebody here and you guys are talking about his car, what he's looking for. I don't even know what the conversation was, but I heard you saw the relationship. Yeah, it's funny. When I think about myself, my kids ask me, dad, what do you do for work? I'm like, I'm a car salesman. How much lower does it get than that? But, you know, as I instill, hopefully these things that they'll carry on is about being kind to people. Again, listening to people, being a great communicator. In serving people. Yeah. That's a really awesome thing. I mean, that's at the end of the day what I do. Yeah. We have an actual vision statement. I have these little vision statements that I've made up for my team. Any new hire that comes in, they need to know that vision statement by heart before they walk in the door. So early interviews. And in short, at the very end of our mission statement is, to build and forge lifelong relationships. That's the end of my vision statement. And so everything we do in the dealership is all about forging or building and forging relationships. So we have an actual vision statement, and then we actually have, I took, think of the 10 commandments. So I took the concept, which has a negative connotation to it, right? Thou shall not steal. So reverse that, reverse that into a positive. Our first is thou shall have fun. That's our very first commandment. Thou shall love thy product. We have actually 12. I added two more, but anyway, without getting into all the details, that's, Essentially, that's the culture at Ferrari of peoples. That's the culture we built in Cleveland. We took an underperforming... The dealership that we acquired back in Ohio was actually on the verge of shutdown. In May of 2005, when I made the trip with Bernie and four or five others, we took over a dealership that was literally going to shut the doors down.
Helder Rosa:Wow.
Robert DiLella:And Bernie... bought it, and we said, we're going to make this the best car dealership in the world. Right? It's about just setting a massive expectation. And that dealership today, I've now been gone for 20 years, and it's actually not in Cleveland. It's in a suburb of Cleveland called North Homestead, Ohio, which is 15 miles west of the city in a small little town. that dealership today is the largest selling luxury retailer in the Midwest.
Helder Rosa:Wow.
Robert DiLella:Wow. And so when I look back and I say, there was nothing, there was no silver lining. Yeah. It was about, again, going back to having a North Star, having a foundation, and then building everything around that.
Helder Rosa:Yeah.
Robert DiLella:Right? So, and that's what I brought here to Naples. And here we are four years later, soon to be five. And we actually, last year in 2024, Ferrari of Naples was recognized as the, so they have what they call Testarossa. I think anybody that's familiar with Ferraris knows the Testarossa as the iconic model within a Ferrari. So the manufacturer awards dealerships with Testarossa awards. And those Testarossa Awards, there's different categories. One being the pre-owned, as a Testarossa pre-owned manager. So it's a global recognition Testarossa Award for the pre-owned manager. And there's many variables that go into becoming the Testarossa Award winner. We won that in 2024. So we were awarded for Eye of Naples the... pre-owned Tessa Rose Award in 2024, which is a global recognition.
Helder Rosa:Oh, wow. Not just U.S. Not just
Robert DiLella:U.S. So worldwide. Wow. So we were recognized and my team just has embraced all the ingredients that I've put out there. The ingredients team. Yeah. Let's go build. Let's go build it. This is how we're going to build it. And they made it happen. So it's a pretty impressive victory. Yeah. That's a testament to something because I think what you were saying, it's, I find it really interesting because your team went into Ohio and you had this, you represented the same brand that was almost out of business in the area. And it was the same brand, but turned it in, turned it completely around into being number one in the region with the same brand. So that's the, that's, Clearly a testament to the operations in the team that took what was already there and not doing well and took the same thing and turned it into that. Yeah, it's about building a vision and just, you know, the old, it's not what you say, it's how you do it. Yeah. Yeah, that's cool because I thought this conversation would be more about the car. And I get now, I completely get now who you are and what's different about you and the way you work is that it's kind of like what we say here. And it reminds me a lot of that because, yeah, we do haircuts. Yeah, that's what we do. We cut hair. But we're more than that. We have to be more than that. We have to give people an experience that has them want to be cut. As I'm walking in here, I look over and I look to my right. as I'm across the street, and there's a salon two, three doors down. And I'm like, wow, there's a salon there, and then there's Rob's right next door. So when you think about that, and you're sitting there, you've never stepped foot into either one. You're going to go to the right or to the left? Right? And then it's, okay, I'm going to the left. How did they make me feel when I went in there? And then maybe, perhaps, that person leaves and says, Three weeks or four weeks. You got to get a haircut every four weeks, right? Yeah. So four weeks later, I'm going to go to the right. Maybe I didn't have such a great experience. Sure. Or I did. And you know what? Sometimes people just want to shop, right? Yeah. So now I got to go that way. How do they make me feel?
Helder Rosa:Yeah.
Robert DiLella:The end result, I would think most stylists are going to cut their hair the same. Yeah. I'm sure there's some variances.
Helder Rosa:Of course. You
Robert DiLella:know, when I think about my wife who, you know, Dave cuts
Helder Rosa:her hair.
Robert DiLella:You know, she always talks about her interactions with Dave and she has a connection with him.
Helder Rosa:Yeah.
Robert DiLella:Yeah. So I'm sure for the listeners, you know, you, you hear this all the time. It's not about, it's about the connections. It's about the people, but it needs to be real and it needs to be genuine. Yeah. And I think that's the biggest thing because you can walk into a place and yeah, they say it, but do you really feel it? Yeah. A hundred percent. Yeah. Yeah. It can be a moniker on a wall and you know, like we always talk about, like, uh, Do you want fries with that? That comment that they give you at McDonald's all the time or whatever, it's not an authentic statement.
Helder Rosa:It's something they have to say.
Robert DiLella:It doesn't come from their heart. You probably already ordered fries, but they have
Helder Rosa:to say it anyway. They have to say it like robots. Right, right. There's no authenticity to it. And people
Robert DiLella:who appreciate that genuine relationship can see right through that kind of stuff. Yes, yes. So I pride myself on, and I give all this credit to my parents who raised me the way they did, about integrity, respect. you know, transparency. And so it's in my core. And so I make sure that I build my team with those that are like me. Yeah. And you know, and I'm sure as a business owner, you realize you, you think people, they kind of feed you the line that they're, yeah, that's me. I'm ready. And then you realize, no, no, you're not really, you're really not like that.
Helder Rosa:Yeah.
Robert DiLella:Yeah. So the old actions speak louder than words. And I think that is really what, our team is all about at Ferrari.
Helder Rosa:And there's a
Robert DiLella:line I like to use where I say, take ordinary and make everything that is ordinary extraordinary. The littlest things, right? Someone's coming to pick up their car. You can hand them the keys, hand them the manuals, show them how things go or operate, and then see you later. Versus, let's make it an event. Let's make it special.
Helder Rosa:Yeah, like there was a
Robert DiLella:video of a... I forget what the color was called, but it was like a blue, but it was called something different. You had a cover on it, and you pulled the cover off for the new owner. It was a beautiful car. But it was... It was an experience that that person was getting. It wasn't just, you're coming to pick up a car. It's the little things too, right? Yeah. It's the littlest things. Yeah. And I always say in luxury and it should be quite frankly in any business. Yeah. It's all about how well you can manage all the millions and millions of details that go into the execution of whatever it is that you're doing.
Helder Rosa:Sure. Yeah.
Robert DiLella:Yes. And so, yeah. Yeah. Down to the littlest thing like, uh, We can cheat. We know when somebody's coming in. We know that there's a 10 o'clock appointment coming in. Instead of sitting back in the back room waiting for somebody to come back and say, hey, your 10 o'clock is here. Why can't we be out front waiting for them at the front door with their cappuccino espresso? It was brilliant what you did. As I was talking to that gentleman waiting for my espresso, the young lady there offered me an espresso. She was going to get the cup, the standard cup by the espresso machine. You said, no. Now, whether or not you had a special cup for me, I don't know, but I'll tell you, it sounded really good. He goes, no, I actually have a special cup for him. And she came and brought me the special espresso cup. And then here we are, I'm having a conversation with, coincidentally, happened to be a client of ours. You had never met him. You knew he wanted espresso and you just, you were quick and you said, nope. I actually have a special cup for him as well. And it's, those are the things that, hey, look, as little as it may seem, or I would say him leaving, I certainly felt good that I had my own special cup. So kudos to you. Well, thanks. I know that's what's made you successful. Well, thank you. You know, you pointed to something earlier too, and, you know, in your upbringing and in our Italian heritage, you know, everybody, My father, who started this company many years ago, and my mother worked here as well, it was like a cocktail party. It was no different than when they had a party at the house, because we always had people at the house. And in the Italian family, it was just... everything was an event around food and they were always serving people. We always had random people at every holiday who I had no clue who they were, but they always invited people who didn't have a family or a place to go to. You had no idea who these people were, right? Random strangers. Different people. My parents did the same thing. Like, who is this person? I just met him last week, but we're going to feed him and serve him some alcohol. That's right. It was always that way every year. I just never knew who was going to be there and there was always somebody different and it was our job to make sure they had a great time and they enjoyed themselves. And let me tell you, those people keep coming back, don't they? Oh, 100%. In business, it should be no different. Yeah, that was it completely. It was just like, you know, we're just, we're serving. And, you know, you talked about that was who you were and, you know, who you are and what got you into that. And it wasn't ever about The cars was secondary, the first part. Yeah, and I love the cars. I mean, look, there's something to be said for someone who's never driven a Ferrari. You just got to get in it. You can't even explain it. You just got to get in it and listen to it and the feeling you get and everything else. But leading up to that, it's all these little things that we just talked about. Because the one phone call that comes through, you don't answer it right away. The young lady or young man on the phone isn't pleasant. What's sad is when you think about it is these manufacturers, in my case, you have a brand like Ferrari who makes incredible vehicles. And all it takes is one person to fumble the littlest thing. And you think about all the time and energy, R&D that goes into making this car. And all it takes is one person to fumble something. And everything else, nothing else matters. Yeah. Destroys everything. Destroys everything. Or throws it all out the window, yeah. Yeah, I see that on, I catch myself reading those Facebook food groups, restaurant groups, and there's always somebody on there blasting a restaurant, a good restaurant, because some girl at the front was inappropriate or said something that was not nice to somebody. You know, they were just, they weren't thinking. Yeah. And it ruins the whole experience for the people. And then they write this book about, about everything else because it, because it, it taints the rest of the visit. Right. And think about everybody else that reads that same
Helder Rosa:review. Yeah. Yeah.
Robert DiLella:You know, I'm, I'm a big proponent of that. I, you know, I love eating. I love going to restaurants, trying out different restaurants. The first thing, like my wife, anytime she talks about, or anyone talks about wanting to go to a restaurant or where's the pizza spot, I'm like, you know what? I got it. I will find the spot. And what I do, I just go on a Google, right? And you look at the reviews. Sure. You just start reading the reviews. The first thing you do is you want to look for somebody that's five or upper fours and then how many reviews, right? Yeah. Is it just one or two people? Yeah. Or is it, is there, you know, a following there of good or bad? Yeah. Right? And you're going to get, you're going to get some bad. You're going to get some negative feedback. And I'm open to it, by the way. Yeah. I love negative feedback. 100%. Bring it. Give it to me. Yeah. Yeah. Please tell me. Please tell me. We're so fortunate to have the clients that we have, especially our clientele, business owners themselves. They're successful. And quite frankly, most of them, in fact, I would say all of them, they are so willing to, one, share their success stories, and two, share their faults and critique you. I actually ask them. I jump on the phone with customers and I say, I don't want to know about the good things. Give me the bad and the ugly. And we train on that. Yeah. So many are afraid to hear that. They're just trying to avoid it. They just don't want to look at it. It's like, oh, they write it off so quickly as, oh, they're just X, Y, Z. Or they're just, you know. Always find an excuse. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you can't please everyone. But you know what? You want those people that are very difficult. Those are the folks that keep you on your A game. Sure. Sure. They, they, they make you better complacent. Yeah. A hundred percent. They make you better. They, uh, yeah, there's those, um, ones that make you a little nervous sometimes, but at the same time, they, they keep you on your toes, like you say, and they keep it, keep it. Um, some of our biggest breakthroughs come from some of our biggest breakdowns, our biggest failures, you know, these things that we have that go wrong that, you know, where we messed up. Um, and we figure out, um, we got to make some changes, you know, we always got to continue to evolve and change and COVID and hurricane, you know, we have hurricanes and recessions and, you know, all the things that we have to deal with here that, uh, over time that, oh, we have to be willing to make changes and, and be different. And, um, I don't know ever, you know, just because we've been in it a while for our business. I know that today we're not going to be the same as we were yesterday. And tomorrow we're not going to be the same as we were. And you don't want to be right. You want to be able to feel like you're growing. Yeah, we have to. Yeah. And evolve just as, as a, as a human being and, and, and do the team around me. I mean, they, I know that they'll stick around longer if, if I make sure that they grow financially, spiritually, emotionally, physically, professionally, if I keep them growing and stretching and, In all ways, they won't want to go anywhere else. They'll want to be here as long as they can continue to grow here. People work for a purpose. When I sit and talk to my team and I ask them, let's be honest with ourselves. What do we love the most about our business? Unanimously, it's about the people. It's the customers. Yes, I think there's no doubt there's a level of cachet that comes with saying, I work for Ferrari, right? But after a while, that could wear off. Yeah. Right? Sure. And when you really ask and you get in their hearts and you say, tell me what you love the most about working here, it's my team and the customers that we serve. So, you know, we've spent a lot of time talking about that, but if there's anything that... No, that's what it all is. I mean, I think that really... And even outside of work, right? Sure, yeah. Just in general, just life. You know, you get to the end, it's like, who are you surrounded with? Who's next to you? Yeah. Yeah, and it's one of the things, how you and I met through Stephan, that he's always got this great circle of people around him. Everybody I've ever met that he's introduced me to is just good human, good soul. And, you know, when you have that circle of people positivity, good energy, good people, the right people doing the right things. I mean, that's, that's the whole, that's why we do the podcast. Genesis behind the podcast, right? A hundred percent spotlight on good people, good humans in our community, good, good people. And, uh, and that's, you know, that's the gift when I, when I, uh, get to spend time with somebody like yourself who, who has the value structure, the belief system, the, uh, integrity, um, to be who you are and to do life the way you do life. I mean, that fills my life up. It fills Zach's life up. Zach's the man, by
Helder Rosa:the way. He is, right? He is. He's Johnny on the spot. Yeah, man.
Robert DiLella:Free what? Free stories. Free stories, yeah. Yeah. Hold on. We're blessed to have him, but he's another good soul. But just, you know, having these good—and David and, you know, we just—having the right people. And Stephan, I will always honor and love because he has introduced me to some great, great people, and he continues to do that, too. But I remember the first time we met, I thought, well, there's somebody who's going to give Stephan a little bit of competition with how he dresses, because he's a impeccable dresser. Like, yeah, you got, you got to go. You know, I envy this attire though, yours, because I got to do this every day. It's like, I'm on stage every day. You see me on the weekends. No, there's no, I am dressed down. Yeah. But, but you do it well. You got the, you got it going on well. Cause I was like, oh, he's got a little competition there. I'm going good. What is the, not being a, So I was talking to a friend of mine last night, a really good friend of mine, who we had dinner at Gumbo Limbo last night, which was beautiful. Great spot. Yeah, it was beautiful. It's funny you say Gumbo Limbo. When I look back, my wife and I, this is before we moved down there. Sorry to be story beater here. I'm just going to love it.
Helder Rosa:That's what it is.
Robert DiLella:But for those listening, maybe never been to Naples and you're just looking for maybe the hook. Yeah. You're contemplating, you want to move to Naples or you're not really sure. Go to Gumbo Limbo. Yeah. Not only are you on a beautiful Ritz property, but you literally have great food. You're sitting on the beach. Yes,
Helder Rosa:so beautiful.
Robert DiLella:Looking out of the bay, enjoying great food. And I just remember my wife and I, when we came down here, and we're sitting there. This was many years ago. And we're sitting at Gumbo Limbo, just looking out and eating. And I think I picked up the phone and called a friend of mine who I'd worked with. And I said, why do we work in Cleveland? Naples is absolutely beautiful. Anyway, it's probably a little long overdue, that story. But nonetheless, great spot, by the way. And it's still there. It is, yeah. No, it is. It reminded me, you know, I live here. And we were there last night saying, we live here. This is where we live. You know, it was so beautiful. I mean, last night, it was just the right temperature. The sun, the people there, it was beautiful. The food was great. The company was great. It was awesome. And then I knew I was coming to talk to you today and he's a car enthusiast. And I said, he said, well, Ferrari's out of my league, but I've always had this intrigue about- But they're really not, for those listening. Yeah, is that right? Oh, we have some crafty little acquisition proposals we can put together.
Helder Rosa:Is that right?
Robert DiLella:Sorry to interject. No, no, no, no. I got to make sure. I got to drop that hint. No, because I, you know, who is that car for? You know, is it for? Now, he's an enthusiast. He's a passion. I mean, he invests in his cars, but for some reason he had this. The one car he told me about that he's been in love with since he was a child was the F40. Is that the one that everybody, is that one of the big ones? Yeah, it's one of the quintessential. There's the F40. There's the F50. Yeah. And what is the process? Because there was only, what, 1,300 of those made, right?
Unknown:Yeah.
Robert DiLella:Yeah, I don't know if there's ever true, the production numbers that are truly accurate. Okay. But those are not readily available anymore other than on the secondary market. There's now what they call the F80, which is the, that was just actually introduced late last year. And so you have, you know, 40th, 40th anniversary, 50. Oh, okay. Yeah. Okay. So then you have the F80. Okay. So what is the... process like
Helder Rosa:to buy a Ferrari different? Because it's not the same as buying a
Robert DiLella:car off the street, right? It's different. No, actually, you know, most people, there is this, you know, misconception that not, you can't just get a Ferrari, a new one. And that's actually not true. There are certain models, our range models, that anyone off the street can get one. Where it gets a little tricky is that you only get so many.
Helder Rosa:So
Robert DiLella:the dealership might see seven or eight new Ferraris a month coming in. They're all pre-ordered. They take anywhere from two to three years to come in. So we only get allocated a certain amount of cars. So that becomes part of the challenge, where when somebody might come in, they're not readily available. So... For the most part, those are all new Ferraris for the exception of, like I mentioned, the F80. So there are certain limited series cars. So we're talking limited production cars that are only given to those true Ferrari ambassadors. So what defines the ambassador? The ambassador is someone that's been with the brand for long periods of time. Mm-hmm. Not only are they collectors, they might be into racing. Ferrari actually has their own racing circuit. We're not talking Formula One, we're talking ladies and gentlemen racing against ladies and gentlemen. So there's many different, it's not just cars, there's the Ferrari lifestyle that clients can get involved in. And so those that have been around the brand that participate in all those various activities in the cars generally get those limited series cars. So there is that component where not just anyone can get a limited series Ferrari. Now there's, and we're going back to the earlier conversation, we're very active in the pre-owned world. So there are many sought after cars like an F40 or an F50 or a LaFerrari, for example, that they no longer make new ones, but we have the ability to find pre-owned vehicles. We scour all over the world. So for anyone looking for a very unique Ferrari, like those that I mentioned, we do have the ability to source those. A friend of mine who I work out with at the gym was going through this, well, he's always had it in his heart to have a Ferrari, and he started looking a couple years ago. I think he met you. He talked to me about it at the gym, and when his wife, or soon-to-be wife, found out, that he was looking at that car. She, she put the squash on it. She wasn't too happy about him and his abilities in a car like that. She was worried about him wandering off because he looks too good in a Ferrari and, uh, um, his, uh, experience. So he, he didn't end up buying, but he, he, he met you. Spiros is his name, Greek guy. And, uh, you know, he just had a great, time with you, had a great time meeting you, talking to you, the whole experience. He knew you right away. He didn't end up
Helder Rosa:getting one yet. He
Robert DiLella:had one, right? I think in his lifetime he has had one. Whatever one he was looking at wasn't available right away. But you had offered him, I think there was something he said, you had offered him something else in the meantime until the car he wanted was available. Which I thought was interesting because it was like you had a backup plan for him and to get him into the car that he wanted, but you had something else for him. You know, it's funny when I think about this. Who needs a Ferrari? No one needs. Needs. No one needs a Ferrari, right? You wake up one day and there's this emotion that there's one guy on the right side telling you, I just need one because I want one. Yeah, right. Then there's a guy on the left-hand side saying, you don't need one. You need one like a whole net. So it's funny when we think about these clients that come in and they're willing to wait. those that are the true passionistas, as we call them, are willing to wait for new ones. But it's just natural to say, hey, how about let's look for one now, or as we like to use the bridge car, find a bridge car. Because you want to satisfy those emotions that are coming at you today, saying, I want one, I need one. Okay, how about this right now? Because very easy, the guy on the left could talk you out of it.
Helder Rosa:Yeah. You wait three years, who wants to wait for one? Nobody wants to wait for one. Especially when it's in the heart right there, you're ready. So it's
Robert DiLella:like, yeah, we offer, we have very diverse selection of pre-owned, very hand-selected pre-owned Ferraris. Quite frankly, any kind of car. We sell Porsches, Lamborghinis, McLarens, anything within the exotic circle we sell.
Helder Rosa:Okay.
Robert DiLella:So yeah, of course, we always want to offer up the now.
Helder Rosa:Yeah.
Robert DiLella:Well, the, I, you know, I was thinking this morning, I was like, gosh, you know, this, because there's so much emotion behind hearing and seeing a Ferrari on the road. I mean, just, just the sound of one and just seeing one, it's just such an eye catcher always, you know, just immediately, um, I was like, oh, we're going to go talk in the laundry room at the salon instead of being sitting. It would be so cool
Helder Rosa:to do this inside of a Ferrari or inside the dealership because your dealership
Robert DiLella:is so beautiful. Our next one. Next episode. Yeah, yeah. Zach, you got to do some great B-roll up there. Come on, Zach. You got to step up your game. Yeah. So you got to put some beautiful cars in the, on the B roll in this and some, some footage from up there, which will be really neat. But I just, I think of the emotional experience it's gotta be when somebody sits in one of those, it just feels that the vibration of that car. I have a Tesla and I'm, you know, I'm not, I'm a, My wife calls me a turtle. I'm not a fast driver. I think Stefan, Stefan rubbed off on you, didn't he? I had, he got rid of it. He had one. Yeah, he did. I know. He got rid of it. He ended up with, what's he got now? Well, he actually came to us. He came to us. He traded in his Tesla. Oh, is that right? He bought a Bentley.
Helder Rosa:That's where, oh, that's his car. That's right.
Robert DiLella:Yeah, I was surprised he, because I saw he had a Tesla. I haven't seen him in a while. So, Stefan, if you're listening, I hope you're doing well, man. Yeah, right. But, you know, our brand is actually more of a, It's a luxury product. Yes, there's cars, but we have people that come from all over the world that come into our dealership that just want to buy a hat. They want to buy a Ferrari pin. Oh, yeah. They want to buy something with the Ferrari insignia on it.
Helder Rosa:Yeah, yeah,
Robert DiLella:yeah, yeah. So our brand is much more just the cars. We are a luxury brand.
Helder Rosa:Yeah.
Robert DiLella:So whether you're driving the car, you're wearing a Ferrari cap, Ferrari shirt, it's just... the feeling right sure i feel good wearing my shirt my hat
Helder Rosa:yeah
Robert DiLella:certainly driving in the car
Helder Rosa:yeah
Robert DiLella:yeah i always kind of think of like a harley davidson you know how many guys wear harley shirts or the chaps yeah they may not even drive a motorcycle they just love being associated with the brand yeah and that's what ferrari is all about yes that luxury italian brand and way yeah We have much more history. Oh, is that right? When you think of Ferrari, most people associate the brand with F1 racing.
Helder Rosa:Yes.
Robert DiLella:And the passion comes from racing.
Helder Rosa:Okay.
Robert DiLella:If you go on and you watch a Formula 1 race, just look at all the Italian flags. The whole country shuts down, right? It's a big to-do. Yeah. You don't see that. no disrespect to Lamborghini, but you don't see that with Lamborghini.
Helder Rosa:Yeah.
Robert DiLella:So, um, yeah. So Ferrari just has the history, a lot of it coming from their racing history. That's their DNA.
Helder Rosa:Yeah. My, um,
Robert DiLella:and for those that haven't watched really the, the Ferrari, the latest Ferrari movie is a great one. Although that's more about Enzo story. Um, then there's also formula one, the series, uh, Every once in a while, yeah, depending on time, you know, where the races are, we'll play them. But the best movie probably is Ford versus Ferrari, if you want to get a real sense of the history of Ferrari. But there's the Formula One series are great to watch, too, because you really get... You know, I was never really a Formula One guy until I, quite frankly, joined Ferrari. And it is pretty remarkable. You know, again, I represented luxury brands, but... there really isn't anything like driving a Ferrari. And again, it has nothing to do, now the looks, they are pieces of art. It's just the feeling you get when you drive one of these things. Like you said, the sound, the speed is just absolutely incredible. The way the car handles at those speeds. And you just, you smile ear to ear. Like there's just like what people say. That's why like I can't describe it. And anybody that comes in that's really interested in driving, you just got to get in the car. Yeah. That's cool. It makes me want to, it's like a, it reminds me of going to Disney World as a kid. Like, you know, get excited about, I mean, what it must be like for somebody to own one, like when they get to drive it for the week, on whatever days they drive it. Like it's gotta be like it. Yeah, Enzo Ferrari really evolved. You know, Enzo Ferrari, our founder, who was an engineer by trade, who was building race cars and to, in order for him to actually run his, his racing team, he needed money. So he built road cars and that's really how Ferrari evolved.
Helder Rosa:Oh wow.
Robert DiLella:Oh wow. You know, he was big into racing and was a mastermind with building high powered engines and putting them on the track and was super successful. But then there came a point where he needed a, He needed more money. And so he started building road cars.
Helder Rosa:Oh, okay.
Robert DiLella:And here we are today. Wow. Our cars on the road are race cars. Wow. The DNA behind the nuts and bolts of a Ferrari road car is all the technology, the passion that comes from Formula One is now infused in a road car. Oh, okay. So from sitting inside the car, the steering wheel and watching how the revs, We have all the revs on the steering wheel. There's different settings, and I guess I'll end there. So for those that are interested, you've got to just come experience. You don't want to hear me talk anymore. I think I've been talking for about an hour and a half now. No, I love it. I love it. I saw even on the website they have coaching for driving, right? Yeah, we have classes. So part of, again, the Ferrari lifestyle of the cars, there's all the events. When you're a client, you're invited to some very, very exclusive events all over the world. Then there's the element of racing. Of course, that's our DNA. So Ferrari has a certain programs like the Ferrari race classes that one can pay. You would pay to join or take a class. There's several classes. They're held all over the country. And rather than use your car, you would pay to use one of Ferrari North America's cars. Wow. So they set up at various tracks all over the country.
Helder Rosa:Hmm.
Robert DiLella:And you would go and sign up for one of these classes and you get to drive a Ferrari road car on a racetrack with a professional instructor.
Helder Rosa:Wow.
Robert DiLella:Wow. And we have a lot of our clients that are new to brand that have never stepped foot in a Ferrari will actually go and race, or race, I should say, sign up for one of the race classes. And then that's how they get the bug. They get hooked.
Helder Rosa:Yeah. It hits them, right? Yeah. Yeah.
Robert DiLella:Cause it's one thing to drive him on interstate 41. Yeah. Yeah. And then there's another thing to actually put her on a racetrack. You have a whole nother level of appreciation for what these cars are capable of doing.
Helder Rosa:That's so cool.
Robert DiLella:Wow. Love it. Well, I'm looking forward to, I might have to go with you when you go up there. I'm trading that Tesla. The pendulum will swing in the complete opposite direction. Well, it's my father-in-law. Although we make hybrids and soon to be electric. Ferrari will announce their first ever electric car later this year, but over the past several years we do have a mild hybrid that we offer, which is just absolutely extraordinary. The amount of power that those electric motors put out. It's incredible. Well, my father-in-law would say one of the things that was missing, though, was the rumble. You know, that's what he didn't like about my Tesla. He's like, well, yeah, it's fast, but it's missing that. The emotion. The emotion, right? Yeah, Tesla, you don't hear anything. It's just like a catapult that just throws you forward. You know, the Ferrari does the exact same thing, but you feel it, hear it, and it just runs right through your body.
Helder Rosa:Yeah, that's the missing. That's what's different about it. Yeah, it's not the same. That's how he always talked about it, too. Well, I have some rapid fire.
Robert DiLella:Oh, here we go. So we talked about food some, too. And you've lived in some great food areas. So in terms of favorite restaurants, start with Naples. Oh, that's a tough one. Favorite restaurant in Naples. I would say if somebody asked me, I love Italian food. And by the way, I don't know, you're Italian, so I don't know if you call it sauce. Or if you call it...
Helder Rosa:From the gravy
Robert DiLella:family. The gravy, Philly they call it. But Laura, if you're listening, your sauce is the best. Second choice would be... She makes the original sauce. She's got the original sauce probably passed down from her... Certainly I know her grandmother, but... No kidding. Oh, wow. But my... And meatballs? Does she do meatballs? Not meatballs, chicken cutlets. She does actually meatballs, but her sauce has actually, she infuses some sausage and ribs in there.
Helder Rosa:Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, gosh. I didn't know that. Her sauce is
Robert DiLella:legit.
Helder Rosa:So we have to talk about... We're not going to take her money anymore. We're just going to take sauce. Yeah, instead of paying for a haircut, she'll just bring you a tub of sauce. That's it. It's done deal. Done
Robert DiLella:deal. But no, I guess just my love for Italian food, just red sauce and pasta. You know, the first restaurant that comes to mind for me would be Molto. And what's your favorite there? What do you like to order there? You know, start with a little pizza. I love pizza. That's my cheat meal. You know, I eat pretty healthy throughout the week, but my clutch... Yeah, your comfort food. Yeah, my comfort food, I'd say maybe some pizza. But any of their... It's just their pastas. I love seafood. So I think they have one that's like a spicy sauce with some... probably some shrimp or some shellfish of some sort, but that would be my go-to.
Helder Rosa:Okay. Uh, how about in Boston?
Robert DiLella:Ooh, I, you know, I haven't been home recently, but if I were to go to the North end, I'm sure. And by name, just not registering right now, but I'd say, uh, Hard to go wrong in a lot of places. Hard to go wrong and go to the North End. Yeah. I mean, there's so many great restaurants. Yeah. And we're talking Boston proper, but there's restaurants, great restaurants all over. But I would go to the North End. And quite frankly, I don't know that there's many spots that are not going to make someone happy. Yeah. They're going to deliver. Yeah. All of them. Yeah. So. And when you went to Cleveland, obviously it was your family's, your wife's family was the number one, but. Was there a restaurant? There's Johnny's. There's Johnny's, Laura's. My bride's good friends, family friends started two Italian restaurants. There's two actually locations in Cleveland called Johnny's.
Helder Rosa:Okay.
Robert DiLella:And so I'd say Johnny's would be my go-to spot in Cleveland.
Helder Rosa:I haven't ever been, but when I go,
Robert DiLella:I'll be there. A lot of history. Yeah. They've been around for years. Okay. Johnny's. Johnny's. Okay. There's Johnny's on Fulton and Johnny's on 9th Street.
Helder Rosa:Those are in the city or outside? Yeah,
Robert DiLella:one's in downtown and the other one's just kind of on the outskirts. Favorite part of being a dad? Just being their go-to and just loving them. That's a tough one. I love being their role model. I just want to... be the one that sets the example for them
Helder Rosa:and
Robert DiLella:just provide them with unconditional love and support, you know, and just, you know, you gotta be tough on them and discipline them. But just trying to, my satisfaction is molding these kids to just be great members of society. And we're having so much fun at their age right now. You know, we got middle schoolers and a freshman, you know, growing up, And their babies and toddlers, like you don't really, it's hard to, more so I think for a dad to relate because they're so attached to their mom. Of course. But if I think back the last few years and the impact that I think I'm having on them just makes me feel great. And that's just, just again, just molding them to be good humans. Yeah, it shows. I appreciate that. Yeah, definitely. You know, and I hear people that, you know, they're little, hellions when they're around the two of us at home but there's you know when they're out with friends or they're with their you know parents friends parents and then just getting that feedback that your kids are so polite and they're so they're just great kids like that's just music to my ears what was your first car my first car was a honda civic hatchback with a rolled-back odometer that I think I bought at the auction for $1,500.
Helder Rosa:And
Robert DiLella:here we are in Naples, and my daughter, who now has her permits, is like, yeah, well, I want my first car to be a G-Wagon. Of course, in Naples, right? Nah, nah, you got a lot. Let me show you a picture of my blue Honda Civic that had a rolled-back odometer. What would be playing in your car? Uh, music podcast or silence when you, you know, I, I, I'm a big, uh, big listener to podcasts and just the law of attraction. So I'd say you're probably going to find a podcast and, um, there's quite a few, you know, Ed, my lights at my let is, is one. I love listening to him. Yeah.
Helder Rosa:Yeah. He's a, he's
Robert DiLella:a, uh, Stefan turned me on him. Actually went to see him in Fort Myers. Oh, in Fort Myers. Yeah. I had a ticket with him. It was, it was awesome. Yeah. He's a good human being. Really good. Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, I actually listened to, there's another one. It's called all in. This is more of, it's a business. Oh yeah.
Helder Rosa:Yeah. Yeah. Listen to that too. All in podcast. Yeah. Dave Friedberg and those guys, you know, that's a great. And the one Sachs who just went to be on the administration. He's over in DC with
Robert DiLella:Marino.
Helder Rosa:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Robert DiLella:And otherwise, I do, you know, I've grown to love, and I think maybe it's that Midwestern thing in Ohio, when I used to listen to, in Boston, right, as a kid, you listen to techno music, going to clubs. I moved to Ohio, slows me down a little bit. You know, I do love country music.
Helder Rosa:Yeah.
Robert DiLella:You know, who doesn't love on a Sunday when it's my day to chill, just put on a little Morgan Wallen or... Yeah. I've grown to appreciate country. I didn't early in life, but... Later in life, I appreciate it. On Sundays, we do this workout at the CrossFit gym, and the guy who creates the wads will sometimes put it on a country playlist, and it fits. Something about it, yeah. And let's face it, I mean, I don't know if you have younger kids like I do, but my kids take hostage of my phone. that's connected to my Apple CarPlay and they're rolling through Spotify. So they won't listen to podcasts. You know, I think I'm old and it's boring. So, you know, they're putting on, they're putting on their stuff. But they actually, they like the Morgan Wall. You know, my daughter, who I drive every morning to school, she's good with that. Yeah. So anyway. So you drive her to school every morning. It's just the two of you. Yeah. So my wife, who takes on a brunt of, you know, the duties at home. Yeah. And she's a saint. Rock. She's the best.
Helder Rosa:Yeah.
Robert DiLella:But, I do what I can. And so we have two coming to St. Anne's in the morning, one going to St. John Newman. So I take the St. John Newman route since that's on my way to work. And Laura takes the twins to St. Anne's. So John is my, she's my passenger every single morning.
Helder Rosa:So yeah, no, that's nice. Cause you get one-on-one
Robert DiLella:time and you know, she can't escape you. She's you're, you're together. That's good. It's good time together. That's awesome. What's a hidden talent most people don't know about you? I don't know, man, you stumped me there. I'm big into fitness. I actually competed. I was a bodybuilder many years ago. Is that right? Probably don't look at it. I lost a lot of weight. But I would say just nutrition and working out is something I really want to enjoy. And I guess if you want to view that as a talent. Yeah,
Helder Rosa:for sure. Yeah, cool.
Robert DiLella:But yeah, I competed regularly. competitively years
Helder Rosa:ago
Robert DiLella:and won some contests.
Helder Rosa:Yeah, and that takes a lot because you've got to deal with diet. You've got to deal with discipline. Yeah, it's the discipline
Robert DiLella:part that I love and structure. So I would say if there's a talent, I'm very disciplined and regimented. Yeah. Cool. How would your kids describe you? I would say they would say I'm a hard worker. I'm never around. They know I'm working. You know, I'm not out screwing around, hanging out, drinking at bars. I do enjoy golf, but I don't, like on my time off, I'm with them. Or I try to be with them. As they get older now, they want to drift away with their friends. But I would say my dad's a hard worker. Because I do this for them. And they know that. And what do you do? Well, you go to Europe. What else do you do with your family that... Family time, you would say. In Naples. Naples? Yeah. Yeah, we like to, you know, again, faith being a big thing, we take them to church, you know, on the weekends. I, you know, cherish my weekends with them. So typically it's church. My son, who's playing football right now, plays basketball. In fact, all three of them are very active in sports. Awesome, yeah. So, you know, you might find me out in the street throwing a football to my son. Nice. Or... Patriots fan or Browns? You know, yes. The Roots is still there. The Boston Roots is still there. Although I will say Cleveland's a big sports town. So although we don't catch the Browns games here in Florida, we do find ways to, you know, access the Browns games. So we still have some Cleveland Browns in us as well. But, you know, and then here in Florida, we're either... My son, who's a pretty avid football fan, we're making trips to Miami or to Tampa. So we go watch both. But yeah, we love just... Again, them playing a little one-on-one basketball with the girls or with my son, throwing the football.
Helder Rosa:He plays football? He plays for the Gators, yeah. Oh, he's a Gator. Okay, awesome. At Fleischman. At Fleischman, exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, awesome.
Robert DiLella:If you weren't in the automotive
Helder Rosa:world, what would you do?
Unknown:Wow.
Helder Rosa:You know, I love what I do.
Robert DiLella:And as we spoke for the last hour and a half about serving people. So if I wasn't in say automotive, it would be some other line of business of just serving people. And what that is, I'm not really sure because I love what I do. So I've never really even thought about what would be, what's my alternative. because I'm so committed to what I'm doing right now. But again, I would say it would be some line of work that just serves others, whatever that may be.
Helder Rosa:That's
Robert DiLella:beautiful. What a perfect way to end. I love it. Really, this has been so cool for me. I appreciate you having me. Likewise. From the first time I met you, just know that you're a good man, good soul, and And everybody you surround yourself with around here I know has the same beliefs. So keep up the good work. Hey, likewise. And I'm going to make sure I fill that special cup that you gave me on the way in one more time. Every time I come in, I'm going to hit up Dave and say, where's my cup? That's right. It's got your name on it. I appreciate it, brother. But yeah, thank you again. My pleasure. And I really do appreciate you having me on the pod. Yeah, gosh, it's super cool for us and really nice to... get to know another great soul in our community. We're blessed to have you in Naples and especially raising the family you're
Helder Rosa:raising to see who's going to be a part of our community because you've done a damn good job on your family. So
Robert DiLella:appreciate it. Thank you. Thanks again, buddy. All right.
