From Convict to CEO: My Father's Journey to Redemption
Manage episode 374794278 series 3490137
What does it look like when a son interviews his father to get a better understanding of his upbringing? Steve Class is keeping it old school in this, the first impressive episode of Service Business Success with Class, by bringing in his father, Al Calascione as his first guest on the show.
This is a story of hard-earned redemption as Al Calascione shares his journey from convict to CEO. From Brooklyn beginnings in the 70s with a father as a fireman and making his first dollar as a 9-year-old, Steve’s father has always been into business.
Shoveling snow for mafia bosses and constantly being around wise guys growing up, making money in both honest and easy ways felt good as a kid. After time in the Navy and then returning to New York and working in construction, Al Calascione needed protection from being robbed, and so he turned to committing white-collar crime like everyone at the time did.
This trip down memory lane between a father and son is poignant and refreshing in its conversational candor. It’s the stuff of Martin Scorsese mafia movies as Steve’s dad figures out how to ‘get clean’ by investing in owning laundromats and real estate. That, however, leads to money laundering, an eventual conviction, and a son seeing his father go to jail.
We’ll save the rest of the story for you to listen to, as it’s pure podcasting gold! Please tune in – we are sure you’ll get some value from this.
“You know when you piss off the wise guys, it’s for real.” ~ Al Calascione
“No son should see their father in prison.” ~ Steve Class
In This Episode:
- How growing up in Brooklyn and working for mafia bosses helped Al Calascione become a business-minded person
- Getting your hustle going in NYC in the early 90s (... what does it look like - from the streets, to the blue-collar workers, to the white-collar workers?)
- Running your own crime syndicate
- From a convict to an investor: Turning your life around by investing in real estate
- Swindled Schemer: A story of a money launderer getting run in by his accountant
- How do you tell your son that you’re going to jail?
- Unveiling Shadows: The Violence Witnessed by Steve's Father Behind Bars
- Surviving Behind Bars: Understanding the Mindset of an Inmate
- How Steve’s father’s story has given Steve an entrepreneurial thick skin
Connect with Steve Class:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/steveyclass/
Property Management - https://www.newenglandpropertymanagementllc.com/
Realty Service - https://www.newenglandrs.com/
Website - http://succeedwithclass.com
25 episodes