The grind gets me like any other business owner. And then I get a swift kick in the pants that reminds me why I do what I do.
This weekend, I mentioned to the gate agent at the airport that I was passing through Carlsbad CA, and she stopped what she was doing and said, "Did you know Tomaso Maggiore?" Just like that. Like saying his name out loud was something she still needed to do.
She knew him. She talked about him the way you talk about someone who left a mark. She told me how he came to the U.S. without a lick of English and tossed pizza dough. He went from that to a multi-state restaurant empire and died a wealthy man. She was in awe. I let her talk. I had to look him up when I got to my gate.
And then it was clear to me why this story found me this weekend.
Tomaso Maggiore came from Sicily. He landed in New York, worked in kitchens, learned the craft, and eventually headed west. In 1977 he opened a 12-table Italian restaurant on Camelback Road in Phoenix called Tomaso's. By the time he died in 2021 at the age of 73, he had built more than 50 restaurants across Arizona and California, employed 27,000 people, and served over 2 million customers.
I could not stop reading.
This is why I do what I do.
I work with business owners every single day, and I will tell you something I mean completely: I think this country is one of the most extraordinary places in the world to build something. That is not a talking point. I chose to be here. I watched people work for decades in systems that did not reward effort or vision or creativity, and then I came to a place that did. That still does.
Stories like Tomaso's are not old. They are not from some other era. They are happening right now, in the clients I sit across from every year.
The immigrant who opens the first location and cannot sleep because of the risk.
The family business owner who does not know if the next generation will want to carry it.
The entrepreneur who is making good money but cannot figure out why it never seems to stay.
These are my people. Not because they need a CPA. Because they are building something real in a country that still makes that possible, and they deserve to have someone in their corner who actually cares whether it works.
Tomaso reinvested for four decades instead of cashing out. He built his kids into the business before he needed to. He diversified without losing his identity. He created a foundation before he died so his legacy had somewhere to live. He did not do any of that by accident.
The financial side of a business is not just about paying less in taxes. It is about making sure what you are building actually compounds into something. Into wealth. Into a family. Into something that outlasts you.
That is what I want for every business owner I work with.
If you know someone who is in the thick of building something and could use a conversation with someone who is genuinely rooting for them, send them my way.
And if you have a story like Tomaso's, I would honestly love to hear it.
— Laura