Beyond Success Online

Joseph Fabio’s BIO

http://decisive-information.com/

IN THE SPOTLIGHT INTERVIEW

1. Please tell us about the inception of Decisive Information, Inc.

Joseph: Decisive Information, Inc. was founded in response to a real need for business clients to have accurate, relevant, and current information for their decision makers to arrive at conclusions, not just speculations.

This was first experienced at my job where I routinely found folks coming to me to answer questions or solve problems that were way above my pay grade and outside of my job description. The opportunity for me to contribute on this level was exciting and made for my quick progression up the ranks. As information began to play a more critical role in the business environment, it became evident that the quantitative analysis of the data generated by my research was crucial in providing clients with a rigorous treatment of their interests and concerns. I began to apply various high level analytics to my deliverables. This capability added to my firm the value of unprecedented insight and outstanding support to the decision making process. This is where Decisive Information, Inc. finds itself today, at the cutting edge of Competitive and Business Intelligence Services.

2. You are sponsoring Sneakers to Beakers’ first fundraising event February 24th, 2014 as a Platinum Sponsor. Please tell us how you were introduced to Sneakers to Beakers and what it has meant to your organization.

Joseph: As you may know, I have the privilege of serving on the Board of Directors for Sneakers to Beakers, Inc. as their Treasurer.

My introduction to Sneakers to Beakers, Inc. happened after I had given a presentation at the Young Men’s Success Series in Boston. After my speech on good financial habits, I was approached by the founder of Sneakers to Beakers, Inc.,Bob Sansone. We had a brief conversation about his idea for a sports-based afterschool program of STEM that targeted underrepresented groups in those disciplines. I had heard many times before about various programs that had the same agenda but this time the program and its curriculum impressed me as something that would be very effective. In short, Bob’s vision proposed a new paradigm that would change the way we teach STEM to children. I had an obvious choice to say “Yes” to his offer to participate in the endeavor. I now find myself in a group of very talented and passionate people who have ensured that Bob’s vision is coming to reality.

3. What was the best advice you received when you started your career?

Joseph: The best advice that I got about starting my business came from my sister Linda. The idea of Decisive Information, Inc. had been around for a while. In fact, there had been small projects that were successfully executed under that organization. But I felt hesitant to make the commitment to entrepreneurship. It was my sister that assured me that my caution was warranted and that the right time would present itself for me to responsibly pursue my business passion. She was right and I have proceeded without hesitation and have had much success. When the time is right, you will know it.

4. What are your strategies for building awareness of your services through Decisive Information, Inc., for the short term and the long term?

Joseph: My short term strategy is to build a great reputation with my existing clients by providing world-class service and an exceptional experience of the Decisive Information, Inc. brand. This will of course provide the foundation for executing a longer term strategy that will focus on delivering this service to international clients in the global marketplace.

5. What is your proudest achievement, personal and professional?

Joseph: My proudest personal achievement was wining the sixth grade science fair. Believe it or not, it was a coming of age for me and formed much of my identity.

My proudest professional achievement would be my intelligence firm, Decisive Information, Inc. It is not every day that one gets to imagine, develop, and execute their idea of what a whole industry should be like. I have been fortunate to have this opportunity to create a new paradigm in intelligence services that is unmatched by anyone in the world. My sister was right:  now is the time for this and I predict that the best is yet to come.

6. What are your top 3 book recommendations?

Joseph: I really, really, can’t decide on just three. I read in both the English and French languages, so that compounds matters a bit. There are so many authors who have written about so many subjects, that I feel it would be a disservice to select only a few. Sorry for the cop out.

7. What other charitable causes are most meaningful to you & why?

Joseph: I believe that everyone is entitled to health, happiness and prosperity.

So, I tend to gravitate towards charities that fulfill those entitlements. Health can be addressed by providing good food/nutrition to communities, ensuring safe nontoxic environments in which people can live and work, and making health care available to all that need it. Happiness can be achieved by supporting the family unit, ensuring that our homes, schools, businesses and organizations are safe places where individual respect and recognition of achievement are paramount. Enabling every individual to realize her/his virtue. Prosperity will be assured when fair compensation in relation to one’s contribution is the rule for all classes of people. The key to that one is education; one can only contribute to the level that they are capable of. The higher the education the greater the contribution, the bigger the compensation.

So having said, there are many needs that have to be met and many charities that address them.

A person has the unfortunate luxury of selecting the one that speaks to them.

8. Who has influenced your career the most? 

Joseph: The greatest influence on my career has come from John J. Johnson, founder of Negro Digest, Ebony, Jet and other magazines. He was born in Arkansas City, Arkansas, during a time where the schools were segregated and high schools for African-American students were not in existence. By the time of his death at age 87, he commanded a business empire that included magazines, cosmetics, radio stations, book publishing and more. In 1982, he became the first black person to appear on Forbes magazine’s annual list of the 400 wealthiest people in America.

John J. Johnson won recognition for his achievements. These accolades included the prestigious Spingarn Medal (1966), named Publisher of the Year by his industry peers (1972), the Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded by President Bill Clinton (1996), and the consensus of a panel of experts at Baylor University naming John J. Johnson the greatest minority entrepreneur in American history in 2003.

He demonstrated that no matter what the obstacles; if one is intelligent enough, and committed to their goals, fortune will persevere. He serves as an inspiration and affirmation to my own endeavors.

9. What is your advice for someone interested in starting a business?

Joseph: I would advise anyone who is starting out to keep in mind that they are not only in competition with the other businesses that are providing products or services similar to theirs, but with themselves as well.

Do not only define your business in relation to others ; define it according to your own idea of what that product or service should be. Maintain a good balance between what you want to do with your entrepreneurship and what the context of that effort really is. Work very hard, but remember to have fun with it! At the end of the day it should be a pleasure, and then you will know that you are doing it right.