Joe De Sena: Life Lessons That A Mafia Boss Taught Him About Business | E101

My guest today is Joe de Sena, a serial entrepreneur, ultra-marathoner, endurance athlete, motivational speaker, and self-described maniac. For the past 17 years, Joe has been the CEO of the global fitness and wellness brand Spartan, which has a community of more than 10 million athletes around the world.

Joe is the host of the CNBC primetime show, No Retreat business boot camp, and a New York Times bestselling author of four books, Spartan Up, Spartan Fit, The Spartan Way, and his latest, 10 Rules for Resilience.

Time stamps:

01:46 Joe De Sena’s background and childhood

• He grew up in Howard Beach, the organized crime capital of the world
• Mom was a long-distance runner, vegan, and yoga practitioner
• Dad was a workaholic entrepreneur
• The story about his dad and the missing package in the warehouse
• The story about moving bricks all night
• An unbelievable BMX ride to Greene, New York

11:33 Working for Joe Bananno as a kid

• Lessons from the head of the organized crime family
• Became a trusting kid and gained a lot of customers
• The attractiveness of the mafia lifestyle and his dad’s advice
• Joe Bananno as Joe’s friend and mentor
• The best thing we can do in life is help people 

18:15 What’s wrong with the mentality of today’s interns

• Human beings are naturally lazy and wired for comfort
• The story about Shaun and moving artworks
• Make yourself invaluable and irreplaceable

26:48 Never ask for money

• A story about a car dealer from Vermont
• A risk worth getting numerous customers
• Get your foot in the door first and provide value

29:23 How rejections can fuel you

• Applied to Cornell and was rejected
• Learned hard to prove worthy of Cornell but kept being rejected
• Finally, enrolled in The Textile Department of Human Ecology
• If you just keep doing it, you eventually break through

35:05 The ability to hang in there and finish is changing your biology

• If the obstacle you face is not fatal, it’s just a lesson
• Failure can be our greatest asset if we use it right
• Finishing hard things creates tracks in the brain
• Quitting creates gaps and more quitting

Coaching and Staying Connected:

1-on-1 Coaching | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok | LinkedIn