This Week at Rotary
Classification Speech: Getting to Know John Fisichella
Every Rotarian's classification speech is a chance to step out from behind the name badge, and John Fisichella made the most of his. He opened with a confession that got a laugh: unsure exactly what a classification speech was supposed to be, he turned to AI for help. The summary he got back told him to talk about his life beyond Rotary and beyond his profession; his family, his travels, his passions. He obliged, and the club got a portrait far richer than any résumé.
You don't need a map to place John's accent. He's a Long Island native, and some of his warmest memories come from fishing with his father on Long Island Sound. Two stories stood out. In the first, the bluefish simply would not stop biting and the two of them kept hauling them in until sheer exhaustion forced them to quit. In the second, a flounder trip turned into something else entirely when they accidentally landed a shark. John still has the photo from his boyhood, and reports that it made for the best shark steaks he's ever eaten.
When his parents and sister headed south to Florida, John stayed behind in New York, a decision he now calls the best of his life, because reality became his teacher. His first stop was a penny stock brokerage, where he generated leads and did well until he came to understand what the operation was actually up to. His numbers fell off after that, which tells you most of what you need to know about the man.
Banking came next. He interviewed with Chase, started in a call center in Arlington, and eventually transferred to New York, where he helped clients with retirement planning and their portfolios. He was in the city on September 11, 2001, and ran home that day. Somewhere in that stretch he came to a clarifying realization: he loved helping people, but he had no appetite for selling them products. That distinction pointed him toward becoming a banker, and it's a thread that still runs through his work today.
John's move to Massachusetts brought the rest of the story. He met his wife on Facebook through a mutual friend, and the two have been together for nearly fifteen years, raising a blended family. His parenting philosophy is refreshingly simple: he tells his kids to chase their dreams, and then he means it.
The proof is in the roster. His youngest is a gifted ballerina at thirteen. His son is a musician aiming for a seat in a pit band or an orchestra. One daughter studied at Montserrat College of Art in Beverly and now lives in Vermont where another of his daughters works on a farm making cheese, including an award-winning blue called Green Mountain Blue Cheese. And his oldest, Brandon, a King's College graduate, has built a living on YouTube and Patreon with a history podcast, with a memorable deep dive into an obscure conflict called The Corpse War of 1793. He's currently applying for UK citizenship.
Outside of work and family, John is forever working on the house and he's got tickets to see Rush coming up, which may be the single most Long Island detail of the entire talk.
Thanks, John, for a speech that was funny, candid, and genuinely revealing. It's a good reminder of why we do these: the people sitting across the table from us every week have lived remarkable lives, and all we have to do is ask.
Check Out the Corpse War of 1793
Learn More about Green Mountain Blue Cheese (including where to buy it)
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