Get to know Tino Mantella

1. What is your idea of earthly happiness?
Inner peace; and that comes from feeling good about what I am accomplishing while sticking close to my values. Most important are family, work, religion, sports and personal goal setting and attainment in all of the above.

2. What natural gift would you most like to possess?
I am blessed to not be wanting for a natural gift as I feel I have the basic tools that I need to be a contributor to society. Leading charities for most of my adult life has helped me to see just how lucky I have been. So, it’s up to me whether I am a “stumbling block or stepping stone”.

3. What is your motto?
Not really a motto but there are three slogans that I particularly like, and none of them are mine -
-"Never give up, never give up….” (Churchill)
-“Lead, follow or get out of the way” (Ted Turner (I think))
-“Sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you” (my college wrestling coach)

4. Who is your hero?
My parents

5. What is your greatest professional accomplishment?
Leading a team that raised over $50 million dollars and built a number of inner city YMCAs in Chicago.  I am very proud of this, because of the lasting impact it will have on the underprivileged communities they serve.

6. What would be the first sentence in your autobiography?
"He was a tenacious sort who always pushed to raise the bar higher than most thought was practical and/or possible."

7. What was your first job?
My dad owned a beer distributorship when I was eight years old, so we broke all child labor laws by lending him a hand. I would help him unload the big trailers full of cases of beer and kegs.  I remember those full tractor trailer deliveries coming in, in the middle of the night. Boy were those kegs of beer heavy.

8. What is your greatest non-professional accomplishment?
Having three great kids (now grown) although my wife gets most of the credit.

9. What are your hobbies?
Listening to non-fiction audio books; tennis; running, and on occasion golf and on rare occasion wrestling with my son, who wrestles for the University of Pittsburgh.

10. PC or Mac?
PC

11. Blackberry or Cell?
I don’t use the cell much or the blackberry at all, but I do spend a lot of time sending and responding to emails.