Mike Repole ’91SVC doesn’t like titles or
organization charts.
“I’ve always believed that in any business, and really in any
organization, everybody has a role to play, and each of those roles
is important to the overall success of the operation. I believe in
a level playing field. Whether you’re the CEO or a new clerk in the
shipping department, you’ve probably got something that the
organization can use to make itself better. As the head of my
businesses, I’ve always wanted to hear what everybody else had to
say.”
An extremely outgoing and genuinely likeable man whose favored
business attire is jeans and sneakers, Repole looks and acts
nothing like the successful corporate executive who, at only 38
years of age, had already sold his former company to Coca Cola for
a huge profit.
Regardless of what he has achieved in so many areas of his life,
he’ll always be “Mike from Queens.” That’s the way he wants it,
because that’s who he is.
Repole describes himself as a “…down to earth guy who just
happens to be successful. I don’t know how to be anybody else. I’m
the same person I’ve always been, and that’s the way it should be.
I call my grandmother, who’s 84 years old, and my parents every
single day to tell them that I love them. Making money and being
successful doesn’t have to turn you into a different person. Nobody
should have a sense of entitlement just because they’re successful
and making money. That’s just wrong.”
The 41 year-old Repole grew up in Middle Village, a typical middle
class Queens neighborhood just a few miles west of St. John’s
University. The son of a devout Catholic family, he attended St.
Margaret’s Elementary School and Holy Cross High School before
coming to St. John’s as a Sport
Management major. Although the cost of providing him with a
private Catholic education undoubtedly taxed his family’s finances,
his parents managed to do what was necessary to be certain that he
received a superior, faith-based education.
“The most important thing for my husband and me was that Mike got a
good education,” said Repole’s mother, Annie. “We wanted our kids
to have a better education than we had, and so sending them to good
schools took precedence over everything else.”
“My parents were never rich but they provided me with the things
that mattered,” recalled Repole. “They didn’t have two nickels to
rub together, but they sacrificed everything that they had for my
education. When I walked out of St. John’s I didn’t have a dollar
to pay back in student loans because my parents had taken care of
everything. I came from a loving home and I got a great
education.”
Realizing the sacrifices that his parents were making for him,
Repole admits that while he wasn’t driven to become “book smart,”
he was committed to making the most of the education that his
family had worked so hard to provide. “I didn’t just want to be in
college, I wanted to graduate from college. I wanted that for
myself, but I also wanted that for my family. My graduating from
college was important to them, so that made it important to
me.”
Repole acknowledged that his ideal job would have been as General
Manager of the New York Mets or Head Coach of the St. John’s men’s
basketball team. When neither of these positions was
immediately available, he focused his competitive nature on the
business world and quickly capitalized upon his entrepreneurial
skills to assume a leadership role as Co-founder and President of
Energy Brands, Inc., known as Glaceau, makers of Vitaminwater,
Fruitwater, Smartwater and Vitaminenergy, new products just
emerging onto the bottled water scene. The concept of an enhanced,
vitamin- enriched water appealed to the health-conscious Repole,
and he assembled a team of like-minded individuals to propel the
brand to unimagined heights.
The company was ultimately sold to Coca-Cola for $4.1 billion.
Repole now owns a majority stake in Pirates Brands, manufacturers
of the popular Pirate’s Booty snack lines. The company has been
creating healthy snacks since 1987 and includes a variety of baked,
all-natural snacks free from fryer and trans fats.
In addition to Pirates Brands, he holds interests in other
enterprises, including Energy Kitchen, a chain of healthy-eating
restaurants in New York City and Kind Healthy Snacks, manufacturers
of all-natural whole nut and fruit bars.
Throughout his career Repole has maintained an open-door policy
with all of his employees, encouraging them to share their ideas,
suggestions and concerns with him regardless of their position
within the company. “If you talk the talk, you’ve got to walk the
walk,” he remarked. “You have to lead by example. People are
not afraid to tell me the truth or to tell me that I’m wrong. If
anyone can show me that I’m wrong, and can tell me why, I’ll change
on a dime.”
Many of his most senior executives are friends from Queens who have
known, and in some cases grown up with, him for many years. Their
relationships are uniformly ones of mutual loyalty and
respect.
“I
met Mike when I was eight years old,” noted Joseph Serventi, Vice
President, Corporate Development at Pirates Brands. “He was a coach
and counselor at the Forest Hills Community Center where my friends
and I spent time. He was always like an older brother to me when I
was eight, and here we are 23 years later and we still have that
same kind of relationship in the business world. Working for Mike
is sometimes a lot of pressure, but it’s always a lot of fun. He
works hard and plays hard, and he’s instilled those values in all
of us here at the company. If you know Mike, you know that he’s got
a huge heart and he’s very loyal to his family, to his company, to
St. John’s and even to his horses.”
“Mike will always do the right thing, especially when it comes to
taking care of his employees,” agreed John Camus, Vice President,
Operations at Pirates Brands. “I’ve known Mike for about 30 years;
we were childhood friends. He’s really committed to making sure
that everybody works hard and has fun. He’s totally driven to be
the best and he sets a great example for all of us. I have to say
that Mike brings out the best in everybody.”
According to his wife, Maria, one of Repole’s most defining
characteristics is his total honesty, both at home and in his
social and business interactions. “Mike says what he wants,” she
said. “He always tells it like it is because for him, that’s the
only way. And it goes both ways. You can tell him anything you
want, disagree with him as much as you want, and he’ll listen to
what you have to say. He’s not thin-skinned and I’ve never known
him to hold a grudge against anyone.”
Repole acknowledges that Maria has always been his strongest and
most loyal supporter in everything he’s ever wanted to do. Where
others dismissed his ideas as dreams, Maria saw it as a given that
he would turn those dreams into reality. “I’ve totally supported
him in everything he’s ever done,” she noted. “I’ve always believed
in him, because I could see that he had a way of making his dreams
come true. Mike is very quick and very competitive. He can do 19
things at once and at times it’s hard to keep up with him, but I’ve
always had complete faith in him and totally believe in him.” The
Repoles have been married since 1999.
Reflecting an ongoing love of sports that has always been another
prominent characteristic of his personality, Repole is an avid and
successful owner of thoroughbred racehorses. In 2009, the 51 wins
of Repole Stables made him the leading racehorse owner in New York,
and he also led the owners’ standings at Monmouth and the
Meadowlands. Given his background, it’s not surprising that many of
his horses are named after family members, including No Shopping
Maria (named for his wife), Lights Off Annie (for his mother),
Benny the Waiter (for his father) and Nonna Mia (for his
grandmother). His racing silks are colored blue and orange,
reflecting the colors of his beloved New York Mets.
“As a kid growing up, I was always fascinated with racing and
trying to understand the information available about the various
horses. For me, reading a racing form was like trying to predict
the future – as much of an intellectual exercise as anything else.
One of my courses for my major at St. John’s was Racetrack
Management. Of course, I loved it!”
Repole is genuinely grateful for the blessings he has
received in life, and has embraced the Vincentian values of caring
and concern for others that have always marked the uniqueness of
the St. John’s experience. Happy to share his success with others,
he has established the Nonna’s Garden Foundation to reach out to
individuals and organizations with special needs. The foundation is
named in honor of his maternal grandmother, and reflects her
lifelong passion for cultivating a loving garden for the members of
the Repole family.
“To me, Nonna’s Garden is about the nurturing of causes that are
important to me and my family,” he said. “When I was starting the
foundation I asked Grandma what causes she thought it should
support. She thought about it for an entire day, and finally told
me that she wanted it to support poor and sick children. My
grandmother grew up poor and she lost a daughter to what today
would be an ordinary childhood illness, so her suggestions were
understandable and really meaningful to our family.”
Nonna’s Garden also supports causes that have impacted the Repole
Family, such as St. John’s University and Holy Cross High School,
as well as those that hold a special significance for colleagues
and friends. Repole acknowledges that his goal is to “…get more
involved in the foundation, with my time as well as my money. A
hundred years from now, when I’m not around, I want Nonna’s Garden
to be around. I want people to know the story of my grandmother.
That’s a great legacy for her, and she deserves it.”
A
loyal alumnus with a lifelong affection for St. John’s, Repole
received the
President’s Medal at the University’s 2009 commencement
ceremonies on the Queens campus. The President’s Medal is
awarded to an individual who has achieved exceptional personal and
professional success and/or rendered outstanding service to the
University or society. Repole qualifies on all counts.
He admits that his connection to the University began even before
he set foot on campus. “As a kid I was always a big fan of
St. John’s basketball. I remember getting onto packed trains
and going into Madison Square Garden for games. It was great when
St. John’s made the Final Four in 1985, and I really look forward
to those glory days coming back. The basketball program can do so
much for the University. It’s our front porch. There are so many
people all across the country whose only knowledge of St. John’s is
our basketball program, and if that’s not offering a good and
successful image, the awareness of the entire University suffers.
It’s unfair, but that’s the way it is.”
He is excited about a resurgence of the program under new
Head Coach Steve Lavin. “Lavin was a great choice. He’s a
motivator, a mentor and a teacher as well as a coach. He can rally
the alumni to come back to St. John’s just because of the success
of the Red Storm.”
Repole recognizes the importance of giving back and is committed to
staying even more connected to alma mater in the days ahead. “I
don’t want to just give back financially,” he remarked. “Anyone can
write a check, but for me it’s also about hiring St. John’s
students as interns and graduates in my businesses and talking to
the current students. I want to impress upon them that they can be
like me, and that if they put their mind to it and are willing to
work hard, they’ll be successful. I know that I relate really well
to young people, and I’m looking forward to doing whatever I can to
inspire them to follow their dream. My favorite poem is
“Success” by Ralph Waldo Emerson. I read it every day, and it’s all
about how real success isn’t about making money. It’s about feeling
good about yourself, earning the respect of others, finding the
best in others and leaving the world a bit better. Those are the
values that mean a lot to me, and the ones that I want to share
with others.”