Meet Tony Cortello

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tony Cortello. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Tony , looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?

I developed my work ethic from my parents. My mom was a teacher and raised 5 children, my father owned restaurants and worked really hard everyday for his family.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I grew up in the restaurant business as my father owned restaurants in New Orleans. It created my passion for food and it developed the entrepreneurial spirit in me. Over the years I gravitated to the restaurant business as I enjoyed the interaction with guests and the team aspect of the work atmosphere. I started as a bus boy and worked my way up to ownership. I decided to move to NYC & that is where I fell in love with the Pizza business.
Currently I am the owner of Mid City Pizza in New Orleans and we are building a great brand. Focusing mainly on building the foundation of hospitality, great service and a great experience. In our pizzeria we are committed to using the best products around, organic tomatoes, seedless oils, unbromated unbleached flour and a water system that gives the same exact make up as New York City tap water.
The future for MCP is really exciting as we get better everyday and create a better pizza experience daily .

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

During my journey I have been fortunate to work with great people so to narrow it down to three is very hard. However the three lasting impressions of the leaders I have worked with are work ethic, discipline, & the ability to evolve. Work Ethic is an everyday trait that is a must to succeed in any realm, having the discipline to stay humble, discipline to show up daily when you don’t want to, discipline to keep grinding, and the discipline to stay calm when business gets tough. Evolving doesn’t mean changing ideas daily or implementing the newest strategies just “because”, evolving is knowing when to implement ideas and directing a team to use new strategies because they are more efficient and provide a better guest experience.

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?

I won the lottery with my parents. The most impactful thing was providing a safe home with 4 siblings and teaching us how to handle good and bad times. The ability to handle failure is so important to me. At a young age it is valuable to learn how to handle failure, and get back up on your feet. In our daily lives and business challenges will always be a constant, how do we handle it is up to us.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Anthony Cortello

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Resilience
Where does your optimism come from?

Optimism is the invisible ingredient that powers so much of the incredible progress in society

Confidence
Stories of Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

Learning from one another is what BoldJourney is all about. Below, we’ve shared stories and

Resilience
The Power of Persistence: Overcoming Haters and Doubters

Having hates is an inevitable part of any bold journey – everyone who has made