Insurance Expert Finds His True Path with Help from St. John’s
Years before he built his thriving insurance practice from scratch, Joseph A. Faccibene ’82C arrived at St. John’s University as a self-described political junkie enthralled with politics and law.
“I loved politics,” said Mr. Faccibene, who earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government and Politics at St. John’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “I think the number one thing that shaped who I am was my internship during my final semester at St. John’s in the New York State Assembly. During that internship, I learned much about government. I also learned a lot about politicians—and I decided to pursue a different path based on my experience.”
St. John's educated and launched me in the right direction. Without St. John's, I would not be where I am today.
Mr. Faccibene, who is Founder and President of J.A. Faccibene & Associates, Inc., in Rockville Centre, NY, then started to ponder a career in the insurance industry at the encouragement of John C. Cochrane. Mr. Cochrane was a member of the New York State Assembly for 21 years representing the West Islip, NY, district where Mr. Faccibene lived with his parents and siblings. Mr. Faccibene worked for Mr. Cochrane during his assembly internship and the assemblyman became a mentor to him.
“He was the president of the very successful Cochrane and Craven Insurance Agency. I respected him and I worked on his political campaigns,” Mr. Faccibene explained.
A few years later, following work experiences that included a stint at a large, multinational insurance company, Mr. Faccibene found himself at a crossroads when he was unexpectedly laid off at age 25. When he shared this news with his father, who was a firefighter for the Fire Department of the City of New York, he recalled him saying, “This is the luckiest day of your life. You’re the best insurance salesperson there is. Why don’t you start your own insurance company?”
That got Mr. Faccibene wondering, “How do I start my own company? and my father said, ‘You’ll figure it out.’ And so, I did.”
Today, the company boasts 35 employees, including his partners, who are two of Mr. Faccibene’s brothers and a first cousin. The firm’s specialties include commercial insurance, pharma/med tech, outdoor recreation and motor sports insurance. In addition, they offer employee benefits and personal lines insurance.
“St. John’s is where I grew up,” said Mr. Faccibene, who now lives in Manhattan, NY, with his wife, Mary Kay Coyle. They raised two sons, Joseph and Michael, who also reside in Manhattan. “St. John’s educated and launched me in the right direction. Without St. John’s, I would not be where I am today.”
More Stories Like This
A chance conversation while he was an undergraduate at St. John’s University changed the direction of the life of Brian J. DeoNarine, M.D., FACC '87C, steering him from a family legacy in dentistry toward a fulfilling career in cardiology.
While pursuing his undergraduate degree at St. John’s, Dr. DeoNarine planned to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, Cecil DeoNarine, D.D.S. ’49SJC, who was the reason he attended and wanted to become a dentist. But an academic adviser saw something different in him.
Michael J. Portegello ’86CBA nurtured a lifelong dream of someday joining his parents full time to run the family’s small printing shop in their hometown of Brooklyn, NY. But his parents, whom he described as hard-working and entrepreneurial, had other ideas for their sons.
“My parents were extremely focused on education, even though this was a world they did not know very well,” said Mr. Portegello, noting the family business dates to the 1920s, when his grandfather established it.
The journey Yury Dubrovsky ’96MBA undertook to reach St. John’s University was long and circuitous, but one he is grateful to have made.
For more than a decade, Mr. Dubrovsky and his parents attempted to emigrate from the former Soviet Union to the United States but were constantly stymied by the Communist regime. In 1989, during the era of glasnost and Mikhail Gorbachev, they made their way first to Austria, then Italy, and finally, the US.