When Gino Fracchiolla hit rock bottom and there appeared to be no light at the end of the tunnel, he turned to three unlikely road companions to help him on his search for a better life and a brighter day. Their names were ‘discipline’, ‘dedication’, and ‘positivity’, and they’ve been the Infiniti Marketing Group CEO’s bosom buddies ever since.
Gino recalls, “Staring down the barrel of a ten-year jail stretch for drug trafficking gives a man time to think. And the conclusion I came to was that I had made some pretty bad decisions in life but it was never too late to make amends and begin again, and so that’s what I did and here we are.”
Looking at the man Gino is today, three years sober and the head of an extremely successful marketing group, it’s difficult to reconcile him with the street-hardened gangster and cynical jailbird he once was. That however is a testament to the sheer work Gino has put into his transformation and his desire to become a better person.
Gino explained, “I grew up in gangs on the streets of both Brooklyn and LA. For a long time, drugs and crime were the only life I knew, but after my incarceration, I knew that I could either continue to ride the hell-bound train I was on to its bloody and untimely end, or I could clean up my act, get positive, get disciplined and dedicate my life to something of purpose.”
That purpose came in the shape of Infiniti Marketing Group, a public relations and digital firm based in Southern California which boasts a multimillion-dollar turnover and employs a team of over 20 people.
Gino reflects, “As Milton wrote in ‘Paradise Lost’, ‘Long is the way and hard, that out of Hell leads up to the light.’ I can relate to that. You need a lot of dedication, discipline, and bucketfuls of positivity to claw back to something approaching normality when you’re in a dark place, but I’m living proof it can be done.”
Gino remains fiercely resolute that the lessons of his past have been well and truly learned and he has vowed not make the same mistakes again.
“I always go the extra mile for my clients and work that little harder than everyone else because I feel I’ve got more to lose and more to prove,” explained Gino. “I always keep my word and am the hardest working person you’ll ever meet.”
Gino added, “I may have changed my lifestyle but I’ve always prided myself on being a genuine person. What you see is what you get. I live life on my terms, and I’m just striving to make a difference. That’s why my main focus now is on a non-profit organization whose sole aim would be to reduce the recidivism rate of convicted criminals through education and implementation, because everyone deserves a second chance.”