Slices Of Life

Slices of Life is about the rise of a small-town boy named Joe who grew up in a loving middle-class family from New England. By overcoming his early obstacles with hard work and natural gifts, Joe was awarded an academic scholarship to a prestigious university in California. Stepping out of his comfort zone to move across the country was not easy, but Joe knew his future existed beyond the borders of Rhode Island. With the goal of becoming a successful entrepreneur like his respected father, the story unfolds as Joe starts his first business, graduates college in four years, and buys out or partners in a handful of thriving businesses in several different industries. Most books about work or business end here. Not this one. A stunning setback in Joe's life arrived in early 2007 when he began suffering debilitating seizures, learned he had developed a brain tumor in one of his frontal lobes, and underwent emergency surgery less than five days later. Fortunately, after a lengthy recovery process, Joe received a call that changed his life yet again. Partnering with his college friend Jimmy to grow his family food manufacturing business called Venice Bakery, the two became pioneers in the gluten-free pizza industry in the 2010s. By growing gluten-free pizza crust from a niche offering into a mainstream phenomenon, Joe and Jimmy took the business from a regional food producer to a national category leader. After just seven years at its helm, Venice Bakery was acquired with a nine-figure valuation. By candidly sharing the many ups and downs he experienced along this hockey stick-shaped growth trajectory, Joe inspires young entrepreneurs and provides a rich template for anyone looking to grow a successful enterprise in the twenty-first century. No obstacle is too impossible to overcome; no setback is forever. Joe shares-with admirable vulnerability and insight-how friendship, family, trust, hard work, and a willingness to take a few big slices of life can pay off.