How Philanthropy Sparks Success
July 25, 2024
By the example set my parents and grandparents, I've held the lifelong belief that philanthropic acts of kindness provide a profound sense of fulfillment, inspire creativity to drive success. Some of the most exemplary business executives I have come to know throughout my career have been the kindest individuals and the most giving.
Espousing that acts of kindness can help forge strong, positive relationships and create supportive networks that enhance both personal and professional life, my circle of friends in business have been filled with philanthropists. Cosmo DeNicola is one such friend and we recently sat down in my library to talk about his philosophy of giving back and how his profound faith, his immigrant roots, and spiritual transformation guided him to become a serial entrepreneur and philanthropist with a world wide impact. Read on to discover how Cosmo's role as a successful business leader and dedicated benefactor has led him to support diverse causes—from the Pope's charities to his contribution to making of the 2024 film Cabrini to providing medical supplies to African orphanages. Watch now to learn about his remarkable endeavors and inspiring philosophy on why giving back is good for everyone. The full video and podcast are available here.
Hal Rosenbluth
Welcome to Making Waves. My guest today is one of the kindest, nicest, selfless, philanthropic people I know. This gentleman, Cosmo DeNicola, supports people in countries throughout the world that have a need. Philanthropy, he just does it because it's the right thing to do, doesn’t it want anything out of it and is pure and authentic. Welcome.
Cosmo DeNicola
Thank you. And you gave me that introduction. I started looking over my shoulder to see who you were talking about. But thank you
You know, there's a kind of expression they use in psychology. If it's not one thing, it's your mother. Well, it's. It's my background. My parents, both of my families, were immigrant families from Italy after World War two. And they came here as humble people. And, you know, working in trades and working hard every day. So they instilled a great work ethic and a sense of, family and how critical it was to not only be part of a family, but be engaged with the family.
Hal Rosenbluth
How how much? I mean, you're devout Catholic. You met with the Pope as recently as last. Last week. how much of a role does that play in your psyche?
Cosmo DeNicola
Well, you know, you go through these different evolutions as you mature. And then when you get to the point where you see your family becoming adults and having children and grandchildren, you know, you start to appreciate all of the gifts and the blessings you've had in your life. And that's what brought me back to my faith.
And that evolved into going to mass every single day. And, it's been a learning experience. Sometimes the priests preach, sometimes they teach. So, I think it has ebbs and flows and, but right now, you know, my religion and my faith is very important to me. And without trying to be too pious in front of other people, I try to use what I learn, you know, for the good of the people around me and my family and, humanity.
Hal Rosenbluth
You also have built companies. You've invested in companies, you've created companies.
Cosmo DeNicola
Well, it's interesting, people sometimes define me as a serial entrepreneur, but there really was never a plan to do that. my degree was in accounting, and I started a small accounting and tax practice when I got out of Temple University in 1976. And then along comes Bill Gates and Steve Jobs and created enthusiasm around computers and microprocessors. And, so I transitioned from accounting to tech. And I literally, started a company in 1981 and sold it just, two years ago.
And along the way, I met people who either respected what I was doing or had a vision as to how I could help them. And that's how I got started in health care, talent representation in terms of actors and actresses, talent representation for athletes, media, with our publishing company in our streaming service, probably the most rewarding to me was being involved in health care, because I felt that we're making a difference in everyone's lives where we're in chronic disease management, a field that you're very familiar with for respiratory illnesses.
And, we were very big in delivering electronic medical records to the bedside. And again, I'm a firm believer in how information could, you know, create better health outcomes. But probably, of all of the things I've done, the thing that I'm the most proud of and I don't want to take credit for saving the world. But during COVID people could not do things in person anymore.
And we were in the tech field for packaging. So everyone knows what a, a box looks like sitting on their front porch. And whether it has food in it, pharmaceuticals, blood, whatever is being delivered to you, a business or a hospital kept the country going at a time where we could have been paralyzed.
And in a way, when I look at my career and body of work, I think that's the thing I take the most pride in that, we contributed to the country continuing to kind of stay in business, and people continuing to get, you know, their health needs, satisfied by virtue of the products and the industry we supported.
But it's fun. How was I able to do that? My I guess, secret sauce is I'm able to compartmentalize things. And, I was able to connect dots so that every there was some logical connection between every one of those industries, believe it or not. But I was able to go from one thing to the next. And being able to, you know, compartmentalize it in a way that I could focus.
Hal Rosenbluth
You also, just, produced, a movie called Cabrini. I went to see it. I was so moved and so touched by it. movies usually don't do that to me. but it was as a story of Italians immigrating into the United States, but also showed, you know, whether it be, you know, Irish or Jewish immigrants or whatever, how everybody really, went to the bottom, was pushed to the bottom, and some people made it out.
Cosmo DeNicola
Well, it's interesting. I didn't really know anything about Mother Cabrini or Saint Cabrini now. And, a good friend of mine who I go to church with every day, an older gentleman, I think he's 91. Don't quote me on that. But, he had an experience in the year I was born where he was troubled by some things, and he needed inspiration. And he literally went to a pulled over, went to it, walked into a church and started praying and prayed to Mother Cabrini. And, basically, he was comforted by her and his entire life. He's dedicated to Mother Cabrini, and he's done amazing things. And her name's in her name. he decided to make this film because there was someone who was going to create the same film, but he didn't really like the way it was going to be produced.
So he reached out to the local community, and, we tried it, and I, my wife Janet and I were probably the second, people to, invest in the movie. So we were executive producers with other prominent people. And what attracted me to the movie, when I sat down with him the first time, and what attracted me to Mother Cabrini is number one. She's Italian, and I'm very Italian. number two, she's the patron saint of immigrants. And both of our families are immigrant families. And the third thing is, she is one tough, badass lady. Excuse the expression, she wouldn't take no for an answer. She fought the system. And the system was a male dominated system. That's what it was. And, really wasn't set up to provide women with opportunities to lead.
And today, there are still over 60 institutions that bear her name that, created one of the largest networks in the world of, supporting people in need. And as you watch the movie, I have to tell you, I cried many times. I saw the movie many times. I still cry when I watch certain parts. And I was very proud to enjoy it with my family.
Hal Rosenbluth
Cosmo. You're a lot like Mother Cabrini. You're a tremendous philanthropist. How do you decide? Were you you you want to help people fund things? where where does that all come from? Because you're almost relentless in finding ways to help people around the world.
Cosmo DeNicola
Well, it's kind of interesting. The first thing I did years ago, I got involved with, Ronald McDonald House and, McDonald's. And we decided at that time that we wanted to create our own charity. And it morphed into our family foundation. And my daughter Morgan is executive director of. And what I learned early on, when you go to these large foundations is that they are very focused in certain areas.
We have four passions. Number one, we like to recognize great humanitarians, whether it's in sports or outside of sports. we believe in conservation. So we get engaged with zoos and, you know, water projects in Africa. World health is a very big thing for us. So, working with, the medical community and health care community and even within our own community, some of the hospitals that we deal with and then cultural diplomacy, which is probably requires the most courage and, the most energy and the most travel. And, so we defined those four areas of passion.
On cultural diplomacy my daughter just came back from, bringing a the Congressional Black Caucus to run the Rowanda to recognize, not celebrate, but recognize the 30th anniversary of the genocide there.
So we have a nice small team, and my daughter heads it up as our executive director. And, you know, she's willing to jump on a plane and go anywhere around the world to go do good. And it works. For me, it's how can we amplify our message? So if we do something, we want people to know about it because we want them to either join us or independently do something good.
And we focus on sharing and caring. And, I think we have a little slogan. It says, caring is more than just emotion, because a lot of people care. A lot of people are sympathetic, but not a lot of people really make the commitment. They get off their butts and do something. And, we like to be hands on.
And, you know, my daughter, when she was in Rwanda, she was, with, President Clinton, he was sent, at the request of President Biden to represent the US. So you have an opportunity, whether it's President Clinton or the Pope, to touch people that can really impact the world. And, I used to ask this question, I said, if you have a choice between rich or being famous, what would you choose? And 99% of the time people say, rich, right? Who wants fame? If you can have money, if you have money, you can do whatever you want. My answer always is fame, because there isn't an individual in the world that's rich enough to really save or change the world. But there are people that are famous enough that could save and change the world.
Hal Rosenbluth
Cosmo, there's so much more to you. I'd love you to share that more with, our folks that are that are watching this today, tell about those interesting things that you do.
Cosmo DeNicola
Well, what's fascinating is it changes all the time, and it changes by virtue of the purpose and the people you meet along the way. you know, if I look at some of the things that really, you know, strike me, my work with the Papal Foundation, I've been a member of the board for two years, and the Papal Foundation was formed 25 years ago to support needs around the world that the Pope would like service, but doesn't have the money and the discretionary funds to provide.
And we created an endowment. And then, the Vatican provides us with a list of, needs around the world. None of us are all global. And each year we approve about 150 grants. And, this year, about 150 grants to 60 countries. And it's for the neediest of the needy. And, we all have an opportunity to actually have our grants blessed in person by the pope.
In terms of fun stuff, my involvement with Chicken Soup for the soul has been really a a fun day. We bought a brand that was a positive brand, and we try to create more fun with it and expand our reach. So in history of publishing the three most published series of books are the Bible. Let's see if you would guess number two, Harry Potter and number three of the Chicken Soup for the soul series. So we're very proud of that. And our books are 101 Inspiring Stories. Why is it 101? Well, because 101 is bigger than 100. So I had an opportunity to contribute, as I call it, my book or my story, which was three pages long and it detailed on my 50th birthday, how I went…
My family threw a party for me to celebrate my 50th birthday, and at that point I had a wonderful family, a terrific wife, great friends, lots of business success, and it was a terrific party. But when I went home and I looked in the mirror, I was disappointed in what I saw. I felt that I could really be so much better as a human being, a businessman, husband, a father, etc. and really, that was the point of my life when I turned 50 that evening that I turned that unhappiness into action.
Hal Rosenbluth
You're in the sports entertainment business. I think you, you know, you started a company in and represent Patrick Mahomes. That's quite a diverse set of things.
Cosmo DeNicola
I'll tell you one story. I'm not officially the agent. I'm an owner of the company. But, when Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs was drafted, I was with him, on site in Tyler, Texas. And as we were just kind of sitting around, the cameras were pretty much like this, you know, and, pointed on Patrick sitting on a sofa. And when they would do every pick after the pick was announced and it wasn't him, the lights would go off and people would just start talking and they would wait for the next pick for the lights to come back on. So as we're waiting, Patrick gets a telephone call and he answers it and he goes, Andy Reid, right? And we're like, oh, that sounds great. So he hung up. He said, they traded up 15 spots from 25 to 10 and they're going to select me.
So that was kind of thrilling. And the young people I met in professional sports and the stories in most cases are wonderful. And a lot of cases are very sad. And, you know, I try to be not so much a father, but I try to be another person that cares about them as people rather than just athletes, and rather than just an opportunity to, you know, economize what they do.
Winning and competing and challenging and innovating and, you know, and and leading people and getting them to believe in what you're doing and then getting an industry to accept that and changing the world and helping the world, whether it's health care or packaging, you know, something as simple as packaging. You know, it's been a great ride. And right now the focus is on doing good, doing more.
Hal Rosenbluth
Well, I wonder if you'd give me permission to, write a sequel to your book. Jewish penicillin for the soul. let's go create a wider audience of people.
Cosmo DeNicola
Well, a good story to that is, as we started to develop our brand, we started selling people soup, natural chicken soup for people, and simultaneously dog food, chicken soup for the soul, dog food. Because we. And what we learned there was people were less interested in buying a premium soup for people, but they would do anything for their pets.So we no longer make food for people. But we have a very thriving business of making chicken soup for the soul dog food because we love our pets.
Hal Rosenbluth
So cause you're getting up there in years like me, had a lot of time to reflect on on our lives. What would you tell a young person that was wanted to replicate your success? How would they start thinking about that
Cosmo DeNicola
I would tell them to be less serious and enjoy the moment a little bit more And not that I didn’t. My wife and I were married as teenagers. And we will be celebrating our 50th anniversary this year. So I did have a lot of fun, but I think sometimes I took everything a little bit too serious. And I think the things I've learned now, especially in the last five years, I wish I could apply to myself back then, because I would probably have less angst and less anxiousness and angst and anxiousness and self-doubt can drive you to success, but they also could be barriers of success.
Hal Rosenbluth
Yeah, it's kind of like I've I've always felt take what you do very seriously, but don't take yourself that serious.
Cosmo DeNicola
That's great advice. And I think that's a concise way of, you know, basically, summarizing what I said. You know, I always felt that I took myself too serious and as a result of that, didn't get an opportunity to kind of relax a little bit and enjoy the moments of my journey until I got older. And then I realized that, you know, I can and I did.
Hal Rosenbluth
You know, there's a lot of, fun and laughter and failure. Also, some of my greatest laughs were, you know, with a team of people that we were starting a company, we would go look for investors years ago, and, they would ask questions and we would answer every one of them wrong. And we know we knew at that point there's no way. Yeah, this private equity company is going to invest in us. So we this well left. I mean, there was nothing else to do at that point. But all right, you learn so, so much from that. But if you can have fun, like you said. And you don't take yourself too seriously, but you really focus on what the mission is, which you do in almost every aspect of your life. I think that leads to a lot of success.
Cosmo DeNicola
You know, there were probably a few instances in my business career where my competitiveness got the best of me, and it didn't mean I lost or even won, but I wasn't the best person I could be because of it.
Hal Rosenbluth
Hey, can you can create blindness, right? And, can't see, you can't compete.
Cosmo DeNicola
So that's a that's a great way. I think what got me out of that was just an understanding that it didn't have to be personal.And, you know, and even to this day, you know, no matter how much success I may have or our family may have, I still walk in a room with, you know, I won't say a chip on my shoulder, but, you know, feeling like the underdog that I got to work harder than everyone. I have to work longer than everyone, in order to succeed. And it still hasn't left me.
Hal Rosenbluth
Cosmo, you are a remarkable person who is a role model to so many, or should be to a lot of others. I can't thank you enough for spending time chatting with me and for those that would like to learn more about Cosmo, the Nikola, and everything that he's involved in, please feel free to visit our website https://www.newoceanhealth.com/ to learn more.