Self-employment
Making a difference in the cable industryBy any definition, Joe Lo Giudice is a successful man. As the president of Trinity Cable TV Services Ltd. and its sister company, Trinity Communication Services Ltd., Lo Giudice has grown the business from one truck and a basement office to a well-known diversified services company with 121 employees. STEPHANIE WEI |
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 [ 2005-10-19 ] |
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Joe Lo Giudice, president of Trinity Cable TV Services, and his nephew and general manager Mike Attardo say a huge part of the company's success is the hard work of its people. Lo Giudice credits his success to common sense, listening skills, honesty and always meeting his commitments.
One of the largest companies in the market, Trinity handles more than 10,000 cable installation and service calls throughout Toronto and the surrounding region each month.
Lo Giudice came to Canada from Sicily as a young boy with almost nothing. Today, he is a successful business man with a loving family. But ask him how he defines success and he will tell you it is about taking care of his employees. It is seeing his company as a family, treating his staff with respect and, in turn, earning their trust. He measures success by the employees he's been able to develop and by the number of skilled people in the industry who have progressed through Trinity.
Lo Giudice came to Toronto in 1959. Like countless immigrants before them, his family left their home in Palermo for a better life in Canada. Crossing the Atlantic took many weeks by boat. Speaking no English, the family used sign language to find their way from Nova Scotia to Toronto by train, where they moved in with a relative in Parkdale. After only four years of school, Lo Giudice had to quit to work full time to help his family. After a series of apprenticeships and factory jobs, he enrolled at DeVry College to become a television repairman. Instead, his lab partner got him interested in the fledgling cable industry.
At Maclean Hunter, Lo Giudice worked his way from a stock clerk to a supervisor, learning every job in between. After 20 years with the company, he formed Trinity in 1990. Lo Giudice says he grew the company slowly: "I wanted to make sure we were good for our commitments and to make sure the quality of the work was there."
The company started out only doing customer service calls, but has changed to reflect the needs of the cable industry. Trinity has added underground and aerial construction crews to service and repair cable, handles voice and data networks and is now getting into digital telephone systems.
Trinity's motto -- Making a Difference -- is the heart of Lo Giudice's philosophy of going the extra mile. "I've never thought twice about doing the work and taking care of the customer first, and then worrying about the money later," he says."I want to be remembered in this industry for my honesty and my loyalty."
Both Trinity and its president contribute generously to the community. In addition to many charities and children's sports teams sponsored by the company, Lo Giudice's office contains several framed photos of international foster children he sponsors.
A man who never forgets where he came from, Lo Giudice has made a coffee table from the wooden suitcase his family brought with them when they arrived penniless in Canada, 46 years ago. "When you come from nothing, you know that if you lose everything, you're still ahead," he says. "We tend to forget how good Canada is to us. Some people take it for granted, but you have to remember your roots."
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