Jersey Shore Magazine

Dishes include beet and heirloom tomato salad, grilled vegetables, and the more routine antipastos, bruschettas, sun-dried tomatoes, and meatballs. j e r s e y s h o r e • F a l l / H o l i d a y 2 0 1 3 unabashed humility he said, "It fills my heart and provides an example for my children. After you have fed, sheltered, educated, and vacationed with your family, what more do you need to be content? I love what I do and never feel that it is 'work'." 50 Joe Leone Introna, 38, made a bold move when he decided to use his own shortened name for his enterprises. He has become what marketers call the "brand" and that can put him in an awkward position: any criticism of his business becomes personal; however, if "Joe Leone's" becomes successful, it may be perceived that he is "taking all the credit." He freely acknowledges that his enterprises have succeeded due to "hiring people that are more knowledgeable than me" and surrounding himself with good people at all levels of his business. He strives to give them recognition. "I remember the people who have put their heart and soul into our business," Introna says. When the store bearing his name was built, he went through the names of everyone who had worked for him and had masons randomly place bricks with the names of 382 members of his team, both past and present, among the 1,900 bricks in the building. "They are people to whom we are indebted," he says. This year, he added five more names on the bricks. Meeting with Joe Introna in his office just before Labor Day, surrounded by a garden of his children's colorful artwork and their portraits, a modest white drop-leaf desk is tucked in the corner. It belonged to his grandmother. You get the sense of how important his family connections are. He was about eight when he was diagnosed as dyslexic and had Attention Deficit Disorder. He spoke of the supportive attention his mother gave to him and how she arranged tutors for him. He mentioned how his father taught him the value of a solid work ethic while mentioning his dad is part of his operations today. It is important to him that his parents are proud of his work and what he does. When asked who his mentors were, he said there were three leaders he looked up to: Walt Disney, with his culture, vision, and motivation; Luciano Calandra, an Italian immigrant and baker who started in Newark "with nothing" and, using quality ingredients and skill, grew to three retail stores in North Jersey; and Alan P. Hilla, Sr., his seventythree-year old father-in-law, for the example he set in raising a family. When he calls his wife of almost fourteen years to ask if she would be okay with speaking to me for this article, his first words are, "Hi, My Love." It doesn't sound routine or corny, just warm and appreciative. Trying not to eavesdrop while sitting across from his desk, I hear his side of a conversation and imagine both sides. I hear him discuss with her that she wants to quit her job. I wonder how she can hold a job with four children and another on the way. Then I realize they are her job. She's having a rough day. He gives her reassurances, and she assents to speak with me. He explains, protectively, afterward: "She is shy." She's also very busy, with the two small children, Luciano, age three, and eighteen-month-old Nina. I suspect any woman expecting to give birth within two weeks with the high maintenance of small ones would admit to having feelings of being overwhelmed. The "secret sauce" of Joe Leone's Italian Specialties probably has more to do with the friendship and working relationship that brought Joe Leone Introna and John Hilla together. When Introna "got a good deal on the location at the right time"— meaning 400 Route 35 South in Point Pleasant Beach, near where he grew up during visits with his grandparents—he realized quickly he couldn't run the business he envisioned without some help. He called nineteen-year-old John Hilla, his Gordon Hesse Jersey shore PROFILE JOE LEONE'S ITALIAN SPECIALTIES, continued from page 49

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