Talking with Todd Mirabella, 1995 marketing and international business alum, is refreshing if not inspiring. His life experiences are anything but typical and far exceed most of his peers.
A local Rochestarian, Todd began searching for a job right out of high school. Realizing how limited the local market was he decided to create his own career and start up a business with a friend. Together they began to develop a lot of ideas but had a hard time finding the resources to make that business a reality. Todd started to do some research and bought books on funding businesses. In particular one written by Bill Stoltz caught his attention. Todd knew if anyone was going to invest in his business, it was going to be this man.
So Todd did something out of the ordinary, he looked up Mr. Stoltz's address and showed up at his house with a bouquet of roses. The roses were of course for Mr. Stoltz's wife, and luckily she answered the door. Todd presented her with the flowers and asked for a meeting with her husband, which she granted right away. After a long discussion Mr. Stoltz decided to invest a small portion of money into the restaurant and a lot of advice into Todd. He realized there were still many logistics that needed development before this business could take off. It was then Todd knew college would be the perfect place to hone the necessary skills to do just that and the best place to learn would be at RIT.
"I can say with complete confidence that the education I got at RIT in the marketing department was unsurpassed. That experience and depth of academia carried me through all aspects of my education and career." Todd explains earnestly. "Dr. Tyler really emphasized that we understand the "At RIT you learned a lot with their strict rigorous coursework, but you were also able to work in groups and gain actual experience though the co-op program, all of which propelled me through graduate school."
After graduating from RIT Todd thought long and hard about "what I wanted to do" and "what I really believed in." He worked in LA and other areas of California before a conversation with a friend would bring him across the pond to study at Oxford for his MBA.
When Todd graduated from Oxford he came back to Rochester and met up with a friend who had a great business model guaranteed to make a lot of money so he decided to go with it. And this is where we find Todd Today, at Qat Capital, LLC. Todd enjoys his job very much and it definitely suits his high energy.
Reflecting on the bold decisions he has made over the years, Todd explains simply "I don't live my life in fear. You have to have courage, because if you're smart and you set out to accomplish something you have to put everything into it." Looking at what inspires him, Todd remarks on the best advice he has ever been given, "get people to WANT to do things for you, to WANT to follow you and your vision, if you're coming from a place of truth and you believe in your cause, then people will want to help."
It is obvious RIT provided much of the foundation for his quest for knowledge, respect for others and the innovation of thought to guide him along his journey. We are lucky to be along for this kind of a ride, and excited to see what Todd will do next.
