The Disruptive Future of Retail

It is a Small World

"It is not where you start. It is where you finish that makes the true difference." - Tony D'Onofrio

Continuing our journey to learn something new, our next stop is my original hometown Coreno Ausonio in Italy. Located halfway between Rome and Naples in the Apennine Mountains, this small town of roughly 1500 people is where I was born.

The name Coreno is said to originate from Greek meaning “region of wine”.  The first traces of human settlement date back to the Roman period when the Coreno Ausonio limestone called “Perlato Royal Coreno” was used in the construction of important buildings and places such as the Appian Way, the Herculaneum Way, the columns and streets of Pompeii, the amphitheater at Minturno, and the Abbey of Montecassino.

The town is located at 318 meters of elevation (1100 feet) in a plateau of Monte Maio. At some point all that marble that is found in the mountains must have been underwater because to this day, you can find many seashell fossils throughout the area. This remains a favorite activity, looking for stone seashells from childhood to every time I visit today.

Coreno Ausonio suffered greatly during World War II as it was located on the Gustav Line, the last defense line that the Germans set up to defend Italy from the Allies coming from the South. My father actually wrote a diary on the war hardships that I published to my family multiple years ago and I will rewrite with the new content that he subsequently added in the future.

This picture is me looking down to the town towards the distant Mediterranean Sea on the horizon. From such humble beginnings to now living the American Dream, I am reminded that for each of us, history provides unchangeable lessons, but we can certainly design alternate paths forward. It is not where you start. It is not even where you are today. At any age, you can exceed your expectations and be the change you want in the world. Always remind yourself, that it is where you finish that makes all the difference.  

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