He worked tirelessly, until a friend convinced him to move to New York City. It was the place to be if you wanted to get into the pizza business, and he was promised a place to stay. That promise fell through and he ended up spending nights in a motel while looking for a job. He struggled with the language and had difficulty finding work. The money he’d saved ran out, and he ended up homeless.
After months in the Bowery Mission, he was able to secure a job at a Mediterranean Pizzeria in Hoboken, New Jersey. He got his start washing dishes, not making pizzas, but was grateful just to have a job. In his words, “that first paycheck felt like a million bucks… ten million bucks.”
Eventually, he saved enough to rent an apartment. While he had to live with roommates, he had a roof over his head.
