Meet Angelo Ponzi | Chief Marketing Officer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Angelo Ponzi and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Angelo, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?

Have you ever wondered how you became an entrepreneur? What drove you to start your first business? It’s an interesting question.

I remember my Dad–a large man with an even bigger personality and hands the size of a baseball glove, and who often broke out into spontaneous song– sitting on the plastic-covered couch in the family room of our little house in a small town in Upstate New York.

I was about seven years old, and one of my rewards for being good, which wasn’t very often, was to sit in front of the TV with a TV tray and watch one of my favorite shows. I was excited; I think it was a Batman. But there were no TV trays available. My mom tried explaining that my father was using all the trays in the living room, and when I looked in, I could see him surrounded by all the TV trays with books stacked high on each.

So, of course, I was irritated; I was being deprived of something I wanted. I didn’t understand why my Dad needed all of the trays.

What my young self didn’t understand at this particular moment, though unconsciously I knew it was important enough to remember decades later, was that I was witnessing my Dad studying to become a Master Plumber. He left school in the 9th grade to work to help support his large Italian family, consisting of 13 brothers and sisters.

As a young man, he imposed his work ethic on me as I was expected to work. Sometimes for other people or companies, for myself, cutting grass, shoveling snow, etc., to earn money. I even, at age 14, did collections for my Dad’s plumbing business. It was scary but a good lesson for later in life.

While I didn’t know it then, the lessons he taught me would help shape me throughout my life.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?

I always felt I was meant to work for myself. I did well working in the corporate world, but decisions didn’t move fast enough for me in most situations. And, as time went on, I was not too fond of the idea of someone else controlling my life.

I spent a significant percentage of my career in the advertising agency business. At one point, I had an idea that I could leverage the strategic work I was doing for my clients in the agency I was working for and be a resource to a broader group of agencies. I’m proud that I was able to turn that idea into a consulting business, then later a full-service advertising agency, which I ultimately sold. At the same time, I was growing the agency; one of my clients was a major retailer focusing on teens and action sports. I was exposed to that world and fell in love with it. After listening to leaders in the industry, including Quiksilver, World Industries, Etnies, etc., say, “We wish there was more information or research on our industry,” I got the idea to launch a research and consulting firm targeting this niche. While it was rough going at first, we managed to make traction and grow to work with most surfing, skateboarding, and snowboarding brands, including Nike. As proud as I am of that company and my agency, the icing on the cake was being named in a book, X-Play Nation, as one of the game-changers in action sports.

Growing a business is not easy. You have to keep your finger on the pulse of the market day in and day out. Keep an eye on your competition, your customers, and the market. That’s what we tell our clients. But as a consultant, we can’t lose sight that we are also running a business and need to continually build awareness of our brand and the value we provide. New business is the lifeblood of any business and needs to be nurtured.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

One of the many advantages of living in Southern California is the endless activities. If time were unlimited, I would do what I was told when I first moved here. We would take a trip to the mountains to ski, then head to the beach for a swim. Then spend the day in Catalina and then off for lobster and tacos in Mexico.

Of course, we’d need to hit the San Diego Zoo, Disneyland, and Universal Studios.

Shopping at The Spectrum in Orange County, South Coast Plaza, and Fashion Island would also take up a day. With lunch at the Water Grill and dinner at Mastro’s Steakhouse, as well as the Fisherman in San Clemente.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

As I mentioned, my father, Len Ponzi, helped shape my entrepreneurial spirit. As an adult, my first venture was at age 23, and it failed within eight months. But the lessons learned were extremely valuable. My next venture was seven years later. Thirteen years after launching my advertising agency, I sold it to a billion-dollar agency, which then put my creative partners and me together to start a new boutique division that ran another eight years before we were merged into the parent company. 

Today I am the founder and fractional CMO for Craft Marketing Architects (which we just rebranded from The Ponzi Group) started in 2014.

Jim Collins, Good to Great, and Sun Tuz, the Art of War (Business), two books, have always stuck with me.

And, lastly, my wife, whom I have worked with during our time together for over 20 years. She is a smart and successful brand strategist.

Website: www.craftmarketingarchitect.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angeloponzi/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AngeloPonzi15

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theponzigroup

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHdLKsy9H-VAhEdyXurlQJA

Others: Business podcast: Business Growth Cafe. Listen on any podcast platform or access here: https://linktr.ee/BusinessGrowthCafe

https://businessgrowthcafe.podbean.com/e/lessons-my-father-taught-me-that-i-never-listened-to/