Take Control of Your DestinyA day in the life of serialentrepreneur Attilio D’Agostino

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ST. LOUIS

Control Your

DestinyA day in the life of serial

entrepreneur Attilio D'Agostino

WORDS BY JEREMY NULIKPHOTOS BY BILL SAWALICH

Most kids from Southern California have dreams of one day being a surfer, a skateboarder, or even an astronaut. But, Los Angeles native Attilio D’Agostino never had

these dreams. Or, at least, not one dream in particular.“When I was a kid, I had a sense that I would be doing many,

many things, so I guess my dream has come true,” says D’Agostino, co-founder and co-owner of Alive Magazine and freelance photog-rapher. “Some of my inspiration came when I read Red Planet by Robert Heinlein in the second grade. The main character is a rebellious young guy that has a series of journeys and had lots of different roles to play. I remember there was something in me that could really relate to that even at a young age.”

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Apparently those theories about life imitating art are true. D’Agostino’s serial entrepreneurial journey has stretched over 2,000 miles and five different industries. And his rebelliousness during his youth was with good reason. When he was just 18 months old, his parents were informed that he had cystic fibrosis, a congenital dis-ease that especially affects the lungs and in-hibits cardio-vascular efficiency. And while many strides have been made in battling symptoms, there is no cure. It remains one of the country's leading life-shortening ill-nesses.

“When you have cystic fibrosis, you have an abnormal, dual life as a kid,” says D’Agostino whose sister died from the dis-ease when he was a child. “I was outwardly rebellious and went through a period where I was very nihilistic. I dropped out of high school. I mean, death was on my horizon everyday.”

However, it is in this shadow of death that D’Agostino found a way out. “A cous-in of mine introduced me to working out and running,” he says. “I figured that my disease was reducing my cardio-vascular ca-pacity, and, by working out, I could build it back. Fitness allowed me to take control of my own destiny. It did not just make me stronger. I was teaching my body and my mind that I can control my destiny in all aspects of my life.”

D’Agostino felt as though he had been granted a new lease on life. Against his doctor’s wishes, he poured himself into physical fitness and even started a personal training company.

In 1995, the love of a woman and ro-

manticized notions about the heartland brought him to Bloomington, Ind. The re-lationship didn’t work out, but a new busi-ness idea did. D’Agostino soon discovered that nutritional supplements could help his personal training clients efficiently achieve results. “I became a legal drug deal-er for a lot of kids at Indiana University,” he jokes. “I opened my first supplement business because I could buy directly from the wholesaler and sell them cheaper than GNC. But, I knew that if I wanted to really grow, then I needed to find a market that could support growth.”

D’Agostino investigated numerous Midwest cities including Cleveland, Kan-sas City, Chicago and Louisville. But, St. Louis captured his heart. “I fell in love with downtown St. Louis, the history and the architecture,” says D’Agostino. “Also, I saw there were several gyms on Manchester Road with no supplement stores nearby. It

I was outwardly rebellious and went through a period where I was very nihilistic. I dropped out of high school. I mean, death was on my horizon everyday.

was the perfect fit.”Attilio’s Discount Supplements was

thusly born in 2000. Shortly after he start-ed the business, he, along with Elizabeth Tucker and Kelly Hamilton (two employ-ees at Attilio’s), began a newsletter for customers. “We thought we could get new nutrition information to them through the newsletter,” says D’Agostino. “We knew that if they were more successful at achiev-ing their fitness goals, then we would be more successful.” The trio officially started producing their newsletter as Alive maga-zine in 2002 and dropping it at more and more locations around St. Louis.

By 2005, that passion to help custom-ers produced 10 locations for Attilio’s Dis-

count Supplements in the St. Louis area as well as three in Indianapolis, Ind. and up-wards of $6 million in revenue. However, increased regulation of supplements elimi-nated some products that D’Agostino knew were most effective for his clients’ success. He felt his passion waning for the supple-ment business. So, he sold the stores. All of them. And, since he knew he controlled his destiny, he never looked back.

D’Agostino (along with Tucker and Hamilton) decided to devote his energy into Alive, expanding the publication into a full-fledged media company. The maga-zine now covers topics such as nightlife, dining, fitness, restaurants and fashion. The staff also creates unique web content and produces local events such as St. Louis Fashion Week.

It was while serving as an art director on several editorial photo shoots for Alive that D’Agostino discovered his passion for pho-tography. “I always have had a vision for what I wanted to create with photography,” he says. “I was fortunate enough to assist Rick Gould on several shoots to learn the technical aspects of photography. I found that I had an aptitude for it, so I started doing my own photography.”

Today, D’Agostino is still involved in some creative production for Alive, but de-

votes much of his time to his freelance pho-tography business that includes fashion, editorial and commercial work. In 2009, he founded Corridor 40 (corridor40.com), an online venture that covers “fashion + culture in the heartland.”

Jill Manhoff, fashion editor at Alive and one of D’Agostino’s cohorts at Cor-ridor 40, has watched him evolve over the last seven years and says she is inspired by D’Agostino’s energy and collaborative na-ture. “Attilio finds out what he has a pas-sion for and just goes with that,” she says. “It has all been very organic. When he sees an opportunity, he takes it and, in that way, he is a smart entrepreneur.”

Even in retrospect of his various adven-tures, D’Agostino struggles with tradition-al business labels. “I don’t consider myself to be an entrepreneur,” says D’Agostino. “I have never had a business plan. I have nev-er worried if my new ventures would work or not. I knew that I shaped my destiny. I just did it.”

We met up with D’Agostino at his con-do in the Syndicate Building on the day of a photo shoot for Bakers, a shoe company and commercial client of his. Herewith, all the devices, rituals and people that make this reluctant, unlikely, organic entrepre-neur’s day happen.

Good morning5:08 AM

Clad only in sweat pantsanswers the door.

5:12 AMIn the shower. National Public Radio

blaring “Morning Edition.”5:50 AM

Cracks open a bottle of water. Looks at past photos in preparation for the shoot.

Book shelf includes:“A Brief History of Time,” Stephen Hawking

“A Walk in the Woods,” Bill Bryson“The Past Through Tomorrow,” Robert Heinlein

“Hip: The History,” John Leland“Kissinger,” Walter Isaacson

0Televisions, DVDs or artwork

D’Agostino doesn’t subscribe to cable. He just doesn’t have the time for it. “I had a television for a while, but I never watched

it,” he says. Since his living quarters and photography studio are one and the same, his condo is Spartan and nearly everything serves some utility. He has a Husky toolbox filled with makeup, racks of wardrobe clothing and palettes stacked

against the walls.

Contents of a tray in the kitchen:

7 bracelets, 7 rings, 1 iPod, walletpack of Extra Chewing Gum

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COVER STORY A DAY IN THE LIFE

6:54 AMJosh Keenon, photography assistant, and Shane Smith, intern, arrive at

D'Agostino's condo.

Refreshments for the shoot:

12bottles of water

4Rockstar energy drinks

220oz. Diet Mountain Dews

(for Jill Manhoff, the stylist)

The intern purchased in items in bulk instead of getting them out of the cooler. D'Agostino sent him back to Culinaria, a Schnuck’s grocery store, to get cold ones.

7:35 AMEverybody in the truck.

D'Agostino's 2009 Ford F-150 FX 4X4 barely fits into his space in the Syndicate Building's garage, but he insists that it is the perfect vehicle for a photographer -

plenty of room for equipment.

Location: J. Gravity Strings

Founded in 1978, the company handles guitar rebuilds, retail sales

and rentals. Owner Jimmy Auchubon has built guitars for Eddie Van Halen and Pete Townsend. “This place has a unique…ambiance,” he says. “We have had a lot of people use our place for documentaries or album photos. It is amazing what you get in a space when

you just let things be.”

The equipmentCannon EOS 5D Mark 2

Cannon L Series 50 mm 1,2Quantum Q Flash

8:45 AM The gang’s all here.

All of the crew has arrived including Jill Manhoff (stylist) and Lisa Kalz (hair and

makeup). They go to work on Ellen Grace Kozarits, the model.

“A lot of the girls that you would think look like models don’t work as a model,”

says D’Agostino. “There are a lot of misconceptions about what modeling means. A lot of models are interesting,

artistic, creative people. Ellen, the model we are shooting today, was an intern,

like the ‘go get the lunch’ intern for Jill (Manhoff). I submitted her as an option to the client, and they decided to go with her. So, today is her first shoot. She’s a

great Cinderella story.”

The musicA selection blaring from the rigged up

iPhone - “The xx” Pandora station. Grizzly Bear, “Two Weeks”

Phoenix, “Lasso”Sia, “Breathe Me”

The xx, “Basic Space”

Potishead, “Glory Box”

31times D'Agostino stopped the photo

shoot to talk to the client

“Attilio works hard to understand what our angle is and what brand message

we are trying to send,” says Stacy McDonough, vice president of marketing for Bakers. “He is a creative partner who understands our vision. I know that we

will always get what we need.”

A surprise visit from D’Agostino’s Mr. Miyagi

“I was an assistant to Rick Gould for years working on Alive shoots,” says

D’Agostino. “It was like being the karate kid. I did not know how much I actually knew – how much I was learning. When

I started doing photography myself, I realized that I already knew what to do.”

CountlessNumber of directions to Kozarits.

“Look away with purpose.”“Sexy bad girl.”“More bitchy.”

“Let the back arm drop more.”“You look so sexy.”

1“Stairway to Heaven” serenade from

a J. Gravity Strings employee(despite this sign above a doorway)

2 cans of Rockstar Energy drink consumed before 12:30 PM.

GouldGould (in plaid) hugs his karate kid.

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A DAY IN THE LIFE ATTILIO D'AGOSTINO

1:45 PMLunch

(Attilio’s first meal of the day)

from St. Louis Bread Co.Turkey Bravo

Diet CokeBaked Lays

2 Chocolate Chip Cookies

“You should eat when you want to” says D'Agostino. “Think about it. Human

beings are designed to go for days without eating. We would kill an animal and eat nothing but protein, and then

we would eat berries for a few days. Our bodies can be trained to any schedule

you like. Anybody who tells you what you should be eating is selling you a book.”

107 Times he began a sentence with the words, “Josh/Shane could you…?”

“Attilio is a Jedi master,” says Josh Keenon, D’Agostino’s assistant.

“Everyone knows him. We have had the police arrive on a shoot, and he just calmly explains what he is doing. He gets what he wants. Just a wave of the hand

and everything is suddenly okay.”

Impromptu dance party

A customer plays surf music on a guitar a la Dick Dale.

D'Agostino:Hey man, what band are you in?

Guy playing guitar:Broken Glass. It isn’t stuff like this,

though. It’s only hardcore punk shit.D'Agostino:

Well...you’re pretty good for playing only hardcore punk shit.

4:00 PMStanding in the sunlight to get

shots of Kozarits on an old Pontiac. D’Agostino (eyes closed turns his head

to face the sun): “Does anything feel better than this?”

around 900Number of photos snapped

for the entire shoot.

5:35 PMThat’s a wrap.

“We try to leave things better than how we found them,” says D’Agostino.

“Which isn’t too difficult here.”

Texting

50received

50sent

“The stream of people that I stay in contact with between work and personal

life is constant…it is wonderfully constant,” says D’Agostino.

Social Media

2 blog posts to Corridor 40

4 Twitter posts for Corridor 40

2 personal Twitter posts

2 personal Facebook posts

7:35 PM Picking up Manhoff on the way

to Bar Louie in Kirkwood, we havea timeout for creative philosophy

from D’Agostino:I think it was Hemingway who said, “You should write drunk and edit sober.” The opposite is true in photography. I think I should shoot sober and edit drunk. I mean, metaphorically, of course. I need to get great raw shots. If the original is only good, then no amount of editing

will help it be great.

8:25 PM Dinner

at Bar Louie in KirkwoodKetel One vodka and tonic with lime

Lettuce wedge with dressingCorn dogs

Chips and dips

Winding down11 PM

Back home11:32 PM

In bed reading blogs on his iPhone until sleep.

I don’t consider myself to be an entrepreneur. I have never had a business plan. I have never worried if my new ventures would work or not. I knew that I shaped my destiny. I just did it.

0Number of sports that D'Agostino

played in high school. He works out voraciously now.

“I usually hit the gym in the evening and concentrate on one particular part of my body,” says D'Agostino. “I also do yoga. I won’t skip a week. You only get one body, so it is too important for me.”

12Number of times D'Agostino used pet

names for the crew including:Cutey PieSweetie

Jilly Belly (for Manhoff)

3:20 PMEncouragement.

D'Agostino pulls Kozarits into a room for a private conference. “I told her the

amazing job that she was doing. If you do that one-on-one, it just means more.”

3 Amount of times D'Agostino blushedwhen he overheard praise that others said

about him.

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