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When small, entrepreneurial businesses come to Damon Arpin at Sovereign Bank, they can be confident he will be able to help them.
Ever since growing up outside Hartford and watching as suburban sprawl replaced farms and woods while at the same time emptying out the urban core, Eric Busch has known what he wanted to do.
David A. Caprio, executive director of Children’s Friend & Service, the Providence-based nonprofit that attends to the needs of at-risk children and their families, is not an ordinary accountant. You know the type, someone who has a plan and a place for everything and does not like surprises.
From an early age, thanks to lessons taught by her father, Michelle Carney has had the confidence to try anything, as well as the humility to accept failure and see the big picture, in which perseverance can lead to success.
Maybe it was the entrepreneurial example provided by his father. Or maybe it was the little chip on his shoulder he got when told by a college professor that he wasn’t smart enough to become a civil/environmental engineer. But whatever the reason, Joseph A. Casali has made himself a success by sheer hard work and ambition, and the company he founded in 2003, Casali & D’Amico Engineering, now has 17 employees and is still growing.
Alison L. Croke has been in the health care field for nearly a dozen years, since graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University with a master’s degree in health administration.
When not closing multimillion dollar gaming deals, participating in the CVS Downtown 5k Race, or working for any of the numerous community organizations she volunteers with, Darcy E. DaCosta finds time to serve as a team mom and assistant coach for the Warren Little League.
When Bronwyn Dannenfelser graduated from the University of Southern California’s School of Theatre in 1996, she saw a stage and acting career in her future.
Behind the grand designs to redevelop historic urban properties are financing experts like Julian Dash who help bring the projects to life.
Kristen L. DiSanto’s approach to her professional life was set after she got her first job out of college as a personnel assistant at the former Old Stone Bank.
A passion for problem-solving” has shaped Mitchell R. Edwards’ legal practice and community service work.
For Tom Fitzgerald, growing up one of five children of a single mom served as one of the greatest lessons of his life.
Mark Gasbarro is proud to have followed in his late father’s footsteps from Providence College to the wine business. While still a student at Classical High School in Providence, the son began learning the family business, Gasbarro Brothers Inc., from the bottom up.
Jessica Geier was helping a group of Providence students forge a fresh path before she even knew her own way around town.
Megan Jane Goguen didn’t have to look too far when she was searching for inspiration. In her 40 Under Forty application, Goguen – now managing partner at Hanson Curran LLP – said she was inspired to become an attorney because of her father, Kevin Conboy.
A 40 Under Forty winner last year, Dr. Sumita Gokhale’s dedication to her craft is still growing.
Before arriving at Amgen’s West Greenwich facility in February 2008, Lynette Hodgden had become the company’s safety net.
Even in high school, Elizabeth Jackson had the making of an entrepreneur. Back then, she would hustle for babysitting jobs and run the breakfast for her church. It continued at Princeton University, where she not only worked as a math tutor and waitress, but managed to land summer internships at the White House, the Embassy of Bolivia, Ford Motor Co. and Bain & Co. in Paris.
Kevin M. Low’s first job in computer networking came at age 10. He and his brothers crawled through a drop-down ceiling carrying coaxial cable to set up computer networks for their father’s clients. The introduction to computer networks left a lasting impression, as did the entrepreneurial spirit of his father, who founded two technology companies.
Place. Culture. Environment. Those are the three factors that Michael A. Lozano considers the most important when he develops safe and reasonably priced projects for residential or retail use. “I am committed to building healthy, affordable communities that most effectively respect culture, place and environment,” he said in his 40 Under Forty application.
In today’s complex world, the details matter, especially to Shanna Marzilli. The Providence College graduate has been on an ever-rising career trajectory at Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island thanks to an attention to constant improvement of the insurer’s inner workings, inspired by her colleagues.
Years ago, while Christopher L. Maury Jr. was studying civil engineering at Tufts University, he would look forward to his summer vacations, when he was back on Nantucket – the island where he grew up – working with his hands and building houses with his father and namesake.
In her 40 Under Forty application, Audrey Couto McLelland cites her mother as the most influential person in her career. Sharon Couto supported her daughter’s interests in competitive swimming and taught her that communication through the written and spoken word binds people together.
As an accountant, James R. Messier has had to learn to balance his clients’ books. But just as importantly, he has learned to balance his work and personal lives, in ways that have rewarded him immensely.
Many successful people point to family as the wellspring of their careers. But not many can do so as directly as Jenny Miller can with regard to her grandmother, Lillian, who showed her granddaughter that love and a strong sense of family have potential to positively influence the lives of people beyond that family.
Carrie Miranda has always had a passion for working to improve the lives of people with disabilities. For the past 11 years, that passion has guided her work at Looking Upwards, a social service agency for developmentally disabled adults in Middletown.
Carlos R. Moreno’s parents, Anna and Victoriano, did not graduate from high school or college. But it was the value they placed on schooling that set their son on the path that has led him to become The Met Center’s director of principal support and development at the age of 34.
With the brain of an engineer and the business sense of an executive, Nicole Murphy has the best of both worlds. Serving as director of business management for Amgen, Murphy has been able to match her education and expertise in chemical and process engineering with her leadership and managerial ability to make herself an asset to her employers and a stand-out member of the Rhode Island business community.
While working for the city of Orlando, Fla., Linda Painter received the advice that has shaped her career. “Your job,” her boss told her, “is to take the rocks out of the stream to keep the water moving.”
When you talk about the money Jeffrey L. Pettine deals with in his job, you have to talk in the tens and hundreds of millions.
When the first class of 22 graduates received their diplomas at Georgetown University’s first international branch campus in Doha, Qatar, in the spring, one of the proudest people cheering them on was from halfway around the world: James W. Patti, the director of strategic planning and analysis at Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School.
Since arriving at CVS Caremark Corp., Robert Price has raised the bar for pharmaceutical promotions, utilizing entertainment and multimedia campaigns to bring his company recognition in the marketing industry as well as increased sales and profits.
A popular Cox Communications advertising slogan reads: “Cox. Better Products, Better Service, Better People.” Indeed, there are few in the public relations industry better than Cox’s own public relations director, Amy Quinn.
Ryker J. Richardson’s career is on the fast track. With 15 years in the insurance industry, he is assistant vice president and senior staff engineering specialist with FM Global in Johnston, the largest private company in Rhode Island and one of the world’s largest property insurers.
Adam Short became involved with the Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIFF) in 2004 as a volunteer at the annual August event. “I became enamored with the festival,” he said in his 40 Under Forty application. “I was excited by what I saw – an event with limitless potential.”
If you’re going to dream, it might as well be big. Tarik Solomon knows that better than most. The young managing partner of Providence’s State Ultra Lounge would seem to have his hands full overseeing a staff of 25 with his partner, Alex Tomasso.
To his 400-family congregation at Cranston’s Temple Sinai, Rabbi Peter Stein is a spiritual leader, also eager to provide emotional and educational support. To the broader community, he sees himself as “a voice for inclusion and interfaith understanding, and an advocate for justice and peace.”
Dulari Tahbildar cares about education. Since writing her senior thesis on Providence’s student assignment plan, she has conducted education-policy research in Washington, D.C., raised funds for a Harlem-based community organization and helped build a new school in the Bronx. Last year, her career came full circle when she took a position as executive director of Providence Summerbridge.
Wendy A. Waller, Save The Bay’s staff attorney, knew from the moment she finished her undergraduate education at Johns Hopkins University that she wanted to be a lawyer and environmental advocate. And while she has ended up doing just that, she did not take the most direct of career paths to get there.
Christine Malecki West loves to talk about sustainable features in her designs. She wants to tell you about the LEED-certified house being built on Providence’s East Side. She’s happy to describe the bamboo floors and rainwater-capturing system she designed as part of a mixed-use project on the city’s West Side.
