Meet Tony: Our Chief Mountain Climber
- Published:Feb 27, 2023
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- Category:Apprentice All-Stars
Tony’s 5 Ws
- Who: Tony Nigro
- What: Our Chief Revenue Officer
- When: 4 months at Apprentice
- Where: Jersey City, NJ
- Why: From mountains to pipelines, Tony’s always scaling new heights!
“I love the Sales process. It’s a thinking game with purpose, so many ways to get to the next level. I’m motivated by the thrill of the chase and the strategy of choosing my own path.”
Get to Know Tony
What motivates you? Helping a company get to the next level — that’s what motivates me. I’m a competitive person by nature, so I want to help my organization stay on top.
What’s your work superpower? I’m determined. I like to mentor. I’m dedicated. And I’m persistent. All of these are traits that help me in the workplace, and also in life.
What’s your non-work superpower? Adventure sports! Mountain climbing, hiking, fishing, snowboarding — I love it all.
Where do you like to travel? I love to travel with my wife, kids, and friends. My family and I go on lots of trips to Europe and the Caribbean. I also enjoy pushing myself, especially as I get older, into areas and things that I haven't tried before.
Tony out to dinner with his wife, daughter, and son and atop the Denali mountain range.
What’s your take on how to achieve work/life balance? For me, it’s a couple of things. To start, finding the right partner. Next, finding a business path that you really love. For me, that’s Sales. I love the Sales game. It’s a thinking game, with so many ways to get to the next level. I’m motivated by the thrill of the chase and the strategy of choosing my own path…
As for achieving balance, you need to know when to take a break. Some people are committed to work, and that’s their life. Balance comes with time. As you get older and you mature, you start to figure out what’s important to you, and then you learn how to get there.
And one final tip on achieving work/life balance: if you’re in a position to hire people who are smarter than you, do that. And then trust them to get the job done. That's part of the maturation process as well. Trusting the process. And you know what? No one’s gonna make a mistake that we can’t fix.
“To achieve work/life balance, you need to know when to take a break.”
Behind the Scenes: On the Trail with Tony
When I’m traveling with my friends, it’s all about extreme cold weather hiking, fishing and camping. All of our hiking trips are in the dead of winter. During one of our hikes, it was only five degrees in the daytime, and probably sub-zero at night. Talk about chilly!
We don’t want to do things that you can just typically do. We want to push the limits. And once you do it, you’re motivated to keep on doing it. It gives you an extra sense of accomplishment: Hey, I was able to do this! My wife may think I’m crazy… but I’m okay with that.
Every year my friends and I pick an epic trip to embark on. Seven days, ten days… the details vary, but it always takes time to figure it all out. And it takes a full YEAR to plan and get in shape.
We’ve already got plans for two and three years out. Our next trips in the planning process is to complete the salt water super-slam and hike/fish the Yukon. It’s great to have these trips to look forward to.
To get in shape, I walk around my neighborhood for 6+ months with a 60-pound backpack, wearing hiking boots during the summer months. You get a couple dirty looks when you’re blazing through the neighborhood in full camo, but you get used to that and everyone knows me by now.
On one memorable trip to the Arctic Circle, we couldn’t drive there — they had to drop us off from a bush plane. I still remember their parting words: “If you’re not here to pick up in a week, dig in and will pick you up somewhere down the line.”
Luckily, we made it back to the pick up spot — while there we hiked for miles everyday, saw the Northern Lights, and fly fished for arctic char and greylings!
Fun Facts About Tony: Rapid Fire Edition
We asked, Tony answered. Here are some fun facts about Tony:
When did you realize you wanted to pursue a career in Sales? I was an engineer at AT&T, and I noticed that the Sales reps made all the money. That’s when I decided — enough is enough. I was helping too many people make all the money. Time for a career change.
What about your job inspires you daily? It boils down to three main elements: the people. the product and the customers who were helping. At Apprentice, we’ve got a top-notch solution and an incredible workforce to support it.
What about our brand mission resonates with you most? Knowing we’re bringing about a needed change that’s been a long time coming. Our technology is transforming the industry of pharmaceutical manufacturing for the better.
What are you looking forward to the most at Apprentice in the year ahead? Taking the business to even greater heights. Crushing our quarterly goals, every quarter. And getting to know my colleagues more and more.
Best piece of advice you’ve ever been given? Don’t take everything personally. And another one: Don’t try to do everything yourself, this is why we hire the best people!
If you had a time machine but could only use it once, would you go back in time or into the future? Where and when would you go? I’d love to go back in time to the Industrial Era. Back to when this country used to make everything by hand. Before everything was automated.
And if I get two jumps, I’d also jump into the future 150 years so I can see how technology continues to transform the world. Tech, transportation, healthcare. What about sports in the future?
Do I get three jumps? If so, I’d love to jump forward to milestones in my grandchildren’s future, and see how they grow their own families as well! At the end of the day, it’s all about family.
Tony on a hike with his daughter and strolling the beach with his granddaughter.
Are You Our Next Apprentice Spotlight?
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