Q: Please tell us a bit about yourself and your family.
I grew up in Richboro, but I always say I grew up in Newtown. My family owned Luciano’s Deli on State Street back in the day. My brother, sister, and I were basically raised in that restaurant. We worked there all through middle school, high school, and college alongside my parents.
I’m married to my wife, Tammy, and we’ve been together for over 25 years. She’s incredible and puts up with a lot with me and my OCD, and I’m really grateful for her every day. We have two boys, Luc and TJ. Luc is short for Luciano, which is also my dad’s name. He went to Drexel and is now engaged. TJ is Tony Joseph, and he’s finishing up at Northeastern and getting ready to start his job in New York City. I am incredibly blessed with my family.
Q: Please tell us about your current, past, or future career.
Eventually, my family sold the deli when all of us kids had grown up and moved on. From there, I got into the restaurant business in a different way. We turned the old deli space into a BYOB called Trattoria Mediterraneo, which I ran with a couple of partners. After that, I was involved with State Street Kitchen for a bit, and then I kind of bounced around before landing in real estate.
I did real estate locally for about 10 years, and then a friend approached me about joining his company. He was getting into private equity and natural resources. He trusted me even when I didn’t think I knew what I was doing. I am with that team currently at Jericho Energy Ventures.
And somewhere in the middle of all that… I wrote a book.
Q: Tell us about your book:
My book is called Notice Everything, and it really comes from my own journey with OCD and how I’ve learned to understand it over time. Growing up, I didn’t even know what OCD was, I just knew I was a little different. I was noticing things, overthinking things, needing order in a way I couldn’t really explain. Back then, it wasn’t talked about much, so it was just “Tony being Tony.”
For me, OCD isn’t about cleanliness, it’s about order. I remember being a kid, sitting down to watch cartoons on Saturday mornings, and before I could even focus, I felt like I had to scan the room and observe the colors, objects, everything. I didn’t understand why I couldn’t just relax like everyone else. As I got older, I realized what it was. The checking, the overthinking, the need for things to feel “right”. It was my brain trying to create safety.
Over time, I started to reframe it. I call it my “secret superpower.” What some people see as a negative, I’ve learned to use as a positive. I notice everything, body language, tone shifts, silence. I can feel when something’s off in a room. That’s helped me in business, in relationships, in life. Even something small, like writing an email. I used to spend 15 minutes overthinking it. Now I have a rule: give it a minute, make your edits, and hit send. I call it the “60-second send.”
I’ve learned that I can strive for excellence, but perfection isn’t mine to control. At the end of the day, OCD isn’t something I’m ashamed of. I don’t even see it as a burden anymore. I think it’s a blessing once I understood it and learned how to work with it instead of against it. That’s really what the book is about. The shift, taking something people might see as a negative and turning it into my super power. With the book, it’s simple, my hope was just to help people. I didn’t write it thinking I’d sell a million copies or win awards. I just wanted someone to read it and either understand themselves a little better or understand someone they love. That was the goal. I’m already hearing from people who are saying, “This helped me,” or “This helped me understand my brother, my cousin, my friend.” That’s everything to me. I don’t need anything more than that.
Q: What are some of your favorite restaurants in the area?
Probably Aqua e Farina. My wife especially loves it. The food is great, and they cook with healthier oils, which she’s big on. The family that owns it is wonderful, and the staff is amazing.
Q: What are some of your favorite movies and TV shows?
That’s a funny one. I don’t know if I have specific titles, but I definitely have a type.
If my wife’s not around, I’m all in on action movies, stuff blowing up, people chasing each other, all of that. I like thrillers too.
But what I really like are those shorter series that the streaming services have been putting out. The quick 6-8 episode series have been really enjoyable. I like a good, tight story, usually something with a mystery or a little sci-fi mixed in.
Q: What is your favorite band or music genre?
Growing up, it was all ’70s and ’80s music. That was my era. Somewhere along the way, and I honestly couldn’t tell you when, it turned into country. I still like a little bit of everything, but if you looked at my Spotify, it’s all over the place. I basically went from Def Leppard to country and never looked back.
Q: What is your favorite holiday and why?
So I actually talk about this in my book. The stretch from Thanksgiving to New Year’s is kind of chaotic for me. It’s a lot. There’s stuff everywhere, people everywhere, things out of order… it’s a lot for my brain. Because of that, my favorite holiday is New Year’s Day.
January 1st is like a reset. Clean slate. Everything starts fresh, organized, and wide open again. For me, that feeling is huge. It’s just… calm after the chaos.
Q: What’s your favorite place you’ve ever traveled to—and where do you want to go next?
My family’s from Sicily, so it was really special to visit there. I’d probably say Sicily is my favorite place I’ve been.
As far as where I want to go next? Honestly, wherever my wife wants to go. She’s got the bucket list. Last year we did Switzerland and Ireland, which were both incredible.
Travel is a little tough for me with OCD. The unknowns are very tough. I’ve learned to roll with it though, because my wife loves to travel. If she’s excited about it, I’m in.
Q: Who inspires you the most?
My boys, no doubt about it. They’re just so driven. It’s amazing to watch. I feel really blessed to see it, not just because they’re my sons, but because of the way they go after things. It’s pretty incredible.
Q: What advice would you give to people?
The dream is free, but the hustle is sold separately.
Q: What are a couple of your favorite smells?
Alright, first ones that come to mind: french fries, pizza, and gasoline. I don’t know why, but I love the smell of gasoline.
But the one that really stands out is kind of specific. Let me set the scene. It’s late September, early October, there’s this one morning where I’ll step outside, and I can smell fall for the first time. And it instantly reminds me of Halloween. It only happens once a year. I can’t even fully describe it. It’s like a mix of cool air, maybe a little pine, something crisp. But the second I smell it, I’m like, that’s it. That’s fall. That’s probably my favorite.
Q: What are a couple words or phrases that come to mind when you hear the word “home”?
It’s funny, I actually open my book with this:
“I like being alone. I have control over my own space. Therefore, in order to win me over, your presence has to be better than my solitude. You’re not competing with another person, you’re competing with my comfort zone.”
That kind of says it.
Home, for me, is comfort. It’s safety. It’s control, in a good way. It’s family, warmth… it’s where everything just feels right.
Q: Where can people find your book?
