I grew up in a family of 5 in Long Island, NY. I had a lot of energy and a mind that was faster than most kids my age, so I was always looking for attention, and pretty regularly getting into trouble for it. School bored me and I just couldn't find where I fit in, but then an elementary school teacher took a risk on me and I found myself running around on stage in a school play. It was on that day that I discovered the power and influence that entertaining a crowd could give you. The things that would get me in trouble in class or at home, made audiences cheer and applaud.

Discovering what I was good at finally gave me confidence in myself.  I started learning about acting and performing wherever I could. My grades started to soar and was offered a scholarship to college. I literally found my voice and realized I could connect with audiences through singing and acting. I pursued a double major at Ithaca College in Music and Theater, and developed a voice talent that would lead me to sing professionally for Disney, headline at the Hard Rock Cafe and The House of Blues, appear on national television, and even open for the Backstreet Boys!  

In my early 20’s after college I had the chance to work in TV & Film. I went from being a regular person one day, to working on the backlot of Universal Studios, passing by Mel Gibson and Steven Spielberg the next! I had the incredible opportunity to work on Nickelodeon’s first official Orlando TV pilot, Welcome Freshmen. I moved into the art department and made Gak and Slime for Double Dare, Family Double Dare and Super Sloppy Dare with Marc Sommers, and had fingers that were dyed weird colors from the GAK dyes for weeks after the shows wrapped. Later that year I moved into talent casting on All That and Hi Honey I’m Home and that’s where I got the bug for not only being talent, but working with talent.

There was a local talent agency looking for someone to book actors for Commercials, TV & Film, so I applied and got the job. Because of all of my friends and authentic connections I made at Disney, Universal Studios and Nickelodeon, I actually made more money for the agency my first month than the owner did! She saw my work ethic and the success I was having, and offered to sell me the business. My father, who was a very successful businessman, saw the chance to give his son with “stars in his eyes” a consistent job and income, so he partnered with me and together we bought out the most successful agency in Orlando. 

We had such great ideas for that place, but the one piece of advice that my boss gave us was to not change the name in the first year and to not let anyone know that we had bought her out. My dad and I didn't agree and decided to change the name and promote the change thinking it would be good for business. I did countless interviews and appeared in all Orlando newspapers! I was flying high that week and have to say things started going to my head. But let’s just say that I didn't have too much time to think about how cool I was.  Because we didn’t follow the past owners advice, all the PR informed our competitors that now was the time to pounce on all our clients and talent. Our contracts that we thought were ironclad were null when we changed the name, and our bookings went down by almost 98%! I had single  handedly destroyed the value of our business in about a week. We were devastated. Most people would have quit. But you know what my Dad did? He taught me the power of authentic connections, incredibly hard work, and the idea that in all of business, the salesman is king. The only thing we could do was pound the pavement. I spent months knocking on doors, getting turned down for appointments, being told sorry or no thanks over and over. I kept going, I kept smiling, I believed in myself and our product, and I connected with people that were open to connections. We decided to always give more than we promised, to always be honest, learn from our mistakes and to value our employees, talent and clients. My father invested himself into me and changed my life and in that moment, I decided that some day I would do the same for others. I now realize that it was that moment, almost 40 years ago, when the Celebrity Factor had its first seed planted. It's in the legacy that my parents gave me to take what they taught me, sprinkle in a little Disney Pixie dust, and a little Hollywood magic and create a program that could do for you, what my parents did for me all those years back.