June 11, 2025 • 29 mins
What does it truly mean to overcome? Jason Sfire’s journey shows that triumph comes not from avoiding hardship, but transforming through it.
Continuing from his first fall, Jason reveals how a routine ninth back surgery in 2013 turned catastrophic when he contracted MRSA in his spine. Over four years, he endured 22 surgeries, sepsis, kidney failure, and 1,300+ IV antibiotic doses—all while leading his companies. When specialists couldn’t find answers, his wife Nettie’s support became his turning point.
Dr. Tyler Kosky finally diagnosed an infection colonizing spinal hardware, leading to surgeries that left Jason permanently disabled. Yet, he embraced his new reality: “It was time to find my wheels instead of my legs.”
Now, Jason advocates for adaptive athletes, coaches wheelchair sports, and prepares to launch a new real estate venture with his father. His advice: “Think more before we react… take a discerning look at decisions,” reflecting hard-earned wisdom.
Co-hosted by Sari Greene, cybersecurity entrepreneur and community advocate, this episode explores how perseverance and adaptability can sustain us through life’s greatest challenges. What will you do when faced with your own impossible situation?
Key Takeaways:
- Turning hardship into strength and purpose.
- The power of unwavering support.
- Adapting entrepreneurial skills to new realities.
- Wisdom gained through adversity.
About Jason A. Sfire:
I have had a 33-year career in our family-owned Real-Estate Development business. Since I was 16 years old, I have held virtually every possible role in our family companies. My initial offering to the company was running our construction arm, named Fidelity Construction Co. Inc. In my years running the construction arm of our business, we completed hundreds of projects, from one-room remodels to 450,000-square-foot shopping centers built from the ground up. It has been an incredible journey that now has me leading all 18 companies and managing the family’s 1.8 million-square-foot real-estate portfolio as President/COO. Thankfully, God has blessed our family and business at levels that I never dreamed possible.
Connect:
Website www.fgltd.net
LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/jason-sfire-a6652716b/
Instagram instagram.com/jaswheels/?hl=en
This episode is brought to you by Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association; empowering people with disabilities through adaptive outdoor recreation. Visit glasa.org to learn more.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Announcer (00:00):
The following programming is sponsored by Marc
J Bernstein.
The views expressed do notnecessarily reflect the views of
this station, its management orBeasley Media Group.
Entrepreneur, founder, authorand financial advisor, Marc
Bernstein helps high-performingbusiness owners turn their
visions into reality.
Through his innovative work andthe Forward Focus Forums, Marc
(00:21):
connects entrepreneurs toresources that fuel their
success.
Founders' Forum is a radio showand podcast where entrepreneurs
share their journeys, revealingthe lessons they've learned and
the stories behind theirsuccess.
Join Marc and his guests for amix of inspiration, valuable
insights and a little fun.
Now let's dive in.
Marc Bernstein (00:40):
Good morning America.
How are you?
This is Marc Bernstein.
This is Founders' Forum.
Good morning America.
How are you?
This is Marc Bernstein.
This is Founders' Forum, andwe're here again for the third
show in a row with our guestsJason Sfire and Sari Greene, and
it's really like I want to takeyou guys on the road with me.
Announcer (00:55):
This would be great.
This would be fun.
It would be great.
Marc Bernstein (00:57):
I'd love to so this is a good combination of
people.
I like it.
So today is part two with JasonSfire.
You've heard his story.
I'm going to give you a realquick reintroduction without
going through the whole thing.
Jason is president and owner ofmultiple family-owned
businesses under the nameFidelity Group Limited.
(01:19):
They're in the real estatedevelopment and management and
construction businessdevelopment and management and
construction business and I'mpresuming that if you're
listening to this show, you'velistened to to to part one,
because you won't appreciatepart two unless you listen to
part one so go back and listento part one first.
go back first, exactly right,yeah, and I won't do the whole
thing again, uh, but jason isvery active today after having,
(01:42):
if you heard part one, he's hadtwo major falls in his life.
One well, yeah, two falls,let's just call it.
He's had over 54 surgeries andhe's gone through a lot.
And you haven't heard it all.
You're going to hear the restof it today, but the, as I said
before, it's a story of courage,resilience, love and humanity
(02:03):
at its best, and I think that'sa great place to pick it up.
Just really quick.
Our topic on the last show wasabout this issue of this
documentary that's coming outcalled Can't Look Away the case
against social media, and I'vejust asked our two guests to
think about it again and justhave a real quick comment on it,
because we want to save therest of the time for this story.
(02:25):
So go ahead and start withSarah again.
Sari Greene (02:27):
Yeah, you know, the last show really made me kind
of pause and reflect, and Iguess all I have to say about
social media right now is that Ireally want to kind of look
more about self-directed of howI'm using social media, you know
, make sure that I'm reallyusing it in the right way for
the right reasons and that I'mnot responsibly and not and not
harmful to to others or tomyself, and so I think that's
(02:49):
really what I've taken away fromour last conversation, when I
never use it to harm otherpeople, but I have harmed myself
in using it, I think we couldharm other people potentially if
we're telling a false storyright, we're getting a false
impression and so you knowthere's unintentional harm that
sometimes we cause, and I reallywant to reflect on that.
Marc Bernstein (03:08):
I like that and, by the way, I wish they hadn't
called it the case againstsocial media because it's here
to stay.
I don't think it's, and it hasa lot of good things you can do
with it.
It should be the case to youknow, to improve social media
Better, yeah, yeahourage betteruse, yeah.
Jason A. Sfire (03:25):
Yeah, and I think real quick.
For me, this is something andyou know, Marc, actually we just
talked about this recently, thetwo of us.
For me, I have opportunities todo things in advocacy and
sports that I'm now in throughsocial media, but I really have
struggled with finding a goodbalance of how to use social
media, but I really havestruggled with finding a good
balance of how to use socialmedia well.
(03:46):
So I've actually this haschallenged me a little bit too,
sari, to kind of say okay, ifthere are things I can do to
advocate for people withdisability, which is my passion
and kind of my heart now, andsocial media is a really strong
vehicle for that, then maybethis is an opportunity for me to
go ahead and educate myself.
Or, if that doesn't, if I can'tdo it myself, maybe hire
(04:09):
somebody who is educated tounderstand how to use the tool
well, because it is just anothermedium or tool that we can use
to go ahead and advocate forbusiness, advocate for, you know
, mission and things that we'redoing.
Marc Bernstein (04:22):
Yeah, see, that's what I like about this
group.
I have here today thoughtfulpeople thinking about it,
because there are people thatjust say, well, I'm not going
anywhere near social media.
I hate that stuff yeah and thenthere's the other extreme of
people that are on all the timeposting all kinds of things that
are annoying at minimum and,you know, pretty harmful at you
know, at their most it's kind ofa bullpen conversation, I think
(04:46):
yeah.
But look, it's here, it's areality, so it's, what do you do
with it?
Announcer (04:51):
Yeah.
Marc Bernstein (04:51):
I think it's what we're all talking about.
So where we left off was youhad your second fall.
You were going along in life,your body was deteriorating
while this was going on, andthen what?
Jason A. Sfire (05:04):
Yeah, so was deteriorating while this was
going on Right.
And then what?
Yeah, so I think I kind of tookus through and we didn't talk
much about timelines, but as Iwas describing the story, I feel
like I got to around the, youknow, 2008, 2009 kind of time
period, and that would have beenkind of when JJ, my son, that
you've met Marc, who's yourneighbor down here in Florida.
He's 15.
Sari Greene (05:23):
My son, that you've met Marc, who's your neighbor
down here, in Florida.
Jason A. Sfire (05:25):
he's 15, yeah, yeah, and and it's important
that I add in here because Iwould really be remiss to tell
my family story and our familyhistory if I didn't mention that
you know through our olderdaughter, abby, who was she's
now 24 then she was born rightafter the first accident.
The second accident, excuse me,so you know, back in she's 24,
(05:46):
she, she was kind of it was backin 2001 area and then we had
four miscarriages.
So I'm dealing with, and mywife's dealing with, me having
all of these surgeries, all ofthis recovery, all the things we
talked about in part one, andnow we have, on top of that,
four miscarriages that'ssomething we talked about
(06:06):
because we have that.
Marc Bernstein (06:07):
Yeah, we do.
Yeah, you're right, you didshare that with me, so I know
how traumatic that is withoutall the other, without all the
other stuff going on.
Jason A. Sfire (06:14):
Yeah, and you know, we never really spent a
ton of time trying to figure outwhat caused all of it, because
there was too many other things,like, if you ask netty, my wife
, she'd be like, listen, Ididn't have time to worry about
going to the doctor to figureout what was going on because
you were at the doctor enoughfor everybody we knew.
So we were just trying tosurvive at that point.
We're taking up all the space.
I was taking up the space.
(06:34):
I'm just a yeah, I'm a doctorhog, that's it.
But anyways, you know, so we getto this kind of 2008 2009
period and all of a sudden,netty comes home and she's like,
hey, uh, guess what I'mpregnant and I'm like what?
Like when I?
I mean and I guess I shouldn'tsay what I think she didn't tell
me.
This is the part that I say.
(06:55):
What about now that I reflectback on it was that she didn't
tell me until she was like threemonths at this point, because
there had been so many timesthat we would just get our hopes
up as a family and then so,anyways, uh, I understand that
one.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So then, anyways, 2009, uh, thesummer of 2008 comes and she
almost loses JJ again.
(07:16):
And I tell this part cause thisis a miracle story.
Um, so we're about ready tohave our fifth miscarriage and
we got on the phone with I'dsaid in part one, I had some.
We had some great friends for20 years from church and
everything Dave and Natalie, ourbest friends, and, uh, they
were down in Southern Illinois,in Peoria, and we got on the
phone with them and we juststarted praying and saying, all
right, we're not going to gothrough this again.
(07:36):
And, um, and miraculously,nettie held onto the baby and he
was born in July of 2009.
Yeah, so now we've got thisbeautiful new son.
And, uh, 2009, I kept having.
That was when I kind of hadanother back surgery, because
what had happened was, um, youknow, the, the ancillary, body
parts.
Marc Bernstein (07:55):
I just mentioned this to you and I won't tell my
story today, but I shouldsomeday, yeah, cause both of my
children ended up beingmiraculous as well, and a lot of
thought.
Jason A. Sfire (08:04):
Yeah, and you should tell that it would be
good for the listeners to kindof hear the story of the founder
of you know the Founders' Forum.
Hear your story someday, somaybe Sarah and I can come back
and interview you someday.
Marc Bernstein (08:14):
That would be great.
There's a thought We'll talkabout that next year.
Jason A. Sfire (08:19):
So, yeah, now we're 2009.
And what I was saying was isthat my back had become the
major issue.
You know, you're having likewrist surgeries and shoulder
surgeries, and it's kind offunny that I look back on it now
and I'm thinking, oh, I'm justhaving another wrist surgery, no
big deal.
But then the back started to gobecause I had had two or three
of initial back surgeries afterthe initial fall and had my hips
(08:40):
worked on at the same time.
But then now when the back andthe hips started to go,
everything started to get reallymore aggressive.
You know, like everything'sjust starting to get really like
now when you're talking aboutyour spine, everything's
aggressive.
So in 2009, I have another backsurgery.
I had to have another follow-upto that because it didn't go
(09:01):
well and I kind of came out ofthat different, like not
completely different, but alittle different.
Then we fast forward to 2013because after those first two
Different physically.
Announcer (09:13):
Different physically yes.
Jason A. Sfire (09:14):
Yes, different physically.
And again I'm talking I knowthis is about, you know,
Founders' Forum.
Again, I'm a business owner, soI'm just grinding through Like
I'm still working every day, I'mstill leading construction
crews, we're still buildingshopping centers.
We're still building shoppingcenters, we're still doing
things, and you're having to doall this while you're talking
(09:35):
about the struggle of physicaland it was just a lot.
But I know that we got to getto the life-changing moment and
I think that that's theimportant part, because we've
already teased out the fact thatI'm in a wheelchair and I golf
in a cool golf cart andeverything.
So let's just, I'm going tofast forward to 2013 if that's
okay, Marc.
Yeah, um.
So 2013 comes, uh, and this isit's crazy how the big life
(09:59):
moments for Nettie and I, whenit came to the physical for me,
God blessed us with miracleCause I talked about 2009 was
when the back started to reallygo, blessed with a son.
2014 comes and 2013, excuse me.
And we had tried to haveanother child after JJ, because
(10:19):
we didn't want JJ because he's10 years younger than our other.
Two kids are now married andwe've got two grandkids and all
that JJ is 15.
We didn't want him to grow upalone, so we tried to have
another child.
My wife had her fifthmiscarriage, so we tried to have
another child.
My wife had her fifthmiscarriage, um, so we chose to
adopt our youngest boy, jackson.
Yeah, and I can say that openlybecause he knows that and he's
blessed to have that and that'spart of my story as well,
(10:41):
exactly yeah, that's the coolparallel that we share and the
heart connection there.
Um did it first, we did itreverse, exactly, exactly.
Yeah, we, we put the cabooseand you had the train car, so we
, you know, I get 2013, and itwas July that he was born and we
had decided that we were goingto adopt him when he was three
(11:03):
months old, and we don't havetime to tell his whole story,
which would be another coolopportunity, but he's born in
July of 2013.
Which would be another coolopportunity, but he's born in
July of 2013.
And in August of 2013, I go infor what we call the
life-changing experience.
I'm going in for this would bemy ninth back surgery at that
point in time, and again I'mthinking back surgery at this
point.
You've had, I've had so manysurgeries I'm probably in the
(11:25):
thirties, I don't rememberexactly where it was, but Nettie
and I were like, well, it'sjust you know, Marc it on the
calendar.
We're going in for a tune-upthat's the way I described it to
people was because at thispoint you just your body's just
deteriorating.
So I got to go in for anothertune-up.
Like people take their cars into get their breaks, I'm just
going in for it to fuse anothervertebrae in my spine.
Um and I went in in in Augustand had that back surgery and
(11:50):
unfortunately acquired MRSA inmy spine, which is a
flesh-eating bacteria MRSA and Iacquired that in the hospital
and, from that point on, had tohave 22 surgeries in my spine to
basically save my life.
You know, every time they wouldtake me off IV antibiotics for
(12:12):
longer than a week or 10 days,my fever would spike back up to
103.
So they'd put me back on IVantibiotics and we battled this
infection from 2013 to 2017, andthey couldn't find a doctor who
could figure out what was wrongwith me, and so I would just
keep going in for theseclean-out surgeries.
(12:34):
We had seen multiple doctors atthe excuse me.
We went to Mayo at Rush inChicago, at some of the best
hospitals, and nobody couldfigure out how to eradicate
which is probably the right termthis infection.
So and I want to get to thispart because it's important, and
(12:55):
then we can kind of have theconversation of what everything
looked like I just want to pointout yeah, in case people miss
it that this is now.
We're talking about saving yourlife at this point yeah, yeah,
because I had I had gone septicuh, which means a blood
infection, I had had kidneyfailure uh, couple of times In
that period.
My wife kind of figured outthat I had had 1300 doses of IV
(13:17):
antibiotics in that four yearperiod and she was hanging IV
bags and I was hanging IV bagsevery eight hours to save my
life, yeah, and kind of justkeep me functional.
But I'm still working becausethat's what you know you do as a
business owner.
Marc Bernstein (13:32):
You just keep working well, I think this is a
good place to break yeah becausethen something happened and
we'll talk about that.
I think it's important, um, sokeep listening.
Announcer (13:42):
We're going to take a quick break and we'll be right
back on Founders' Forum.
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Marc Bernstein (15:07):
We are back on Founders' Forum with a
fascinating story with JasonSfire, we have Sari Greene in
the studio with us, and so then,yeah, I guess, so that is a
good way, yeah.
Jason A. Sfire (15:20):
So and this is a cool moment where another
person from our local church, agood friend of my wife, and she,
her family had given a lot ofuh, her, her dad, actually his
life was saved in Northwestern.
So the family had blessed the,the hospital with a nice
endowment and so she had someconnections there and she goes.
You know what?
There's this doctor I just readabout at Northwestern Memorial
(15:41):
Hospital downtown which, ifanybody's looking for a hospital
, go to Northwestern.
I mean not only because theysaved my life, but because
they're just amazing.
And her name was Gretchen andshe came to my wife and she said
you know what?
I don't know, I just read aboutthis doctor.
He just had this write-up in MDWorld, whatever, and he's
supposed to be one of therenowned spinal revisionists,
(16:06):
which means he revises people'ssurgeries that go bad.
Well, as I described previously,that's exactly what happened.
So we went to see Dr TylerKosky and it's crazy because we
had probably seen 10 to 12doctors at this point to try and
figure out what was going onand how to stop this infection.
And I've already had close to17 or 18 surgeries because I
(16:30):
ended up having four more withDr Kosky and he walks in and
like that screen.
That's right there, Marc, infront of us.
You go to Northwestern and theymake you do 50 x-rays.
It felt like they do their ownMRI, they do their own CT, they
do all their own testing becausethey're like no one else is
good at this.
We're going to get what we want, which I appreciated.
(16:51):
Puts all my stuff up on thescreen and he points to it First
of all.
He says how are you, by the way?
And then he goes I know what'swrong with you, I can fix you,
but you're never going to be thesame by the way you did skip a
part that I have to tell youabout.
Marc Bernstein (17:05):
You got there and somebody told you you're not
seeing the doctor right away.
Yeah, you're right, you got togo do all this.
Jason A. Sfire (17:15):
And I'm like are you kidding me?
I have had so much testing.
I'm like I've got this.
Like my wife was carryingaround a suitcase, literally a
rolling suitcase full of stuff,but anyways, yeah, and he says
that to me, he goes I knowwhat's wrong with you, you know
I can fix you, but you're nevergoing to be the same.
And we're sitting there goinglike, what does that mean?
But it didn't really matter,because just the fact that we
(17:38):
finally found somebody thatfirst of all didn't say, oh,
you're a conflict of interestbecause you're someone else's
patient that has gone bad, he'sactually willing to help.
We were like we're signed, whatdo we got?
We got to do.
Well, he described the processand it was.
It was going to be a series ofmultiple surgeries, um, and it
would all depend on what hefound when he got in there on
(17:58):
the first surgery.
Marc Bernstein (17:59):
Stop you for one second.
There was a point at which Iremember you said I don't want
to do this anymore, I did yeah,yeah, and that was prior to this
it was.
Jason A. Sfire (18:07):
it was right before that that I that I almost
you know I was never to this.
I think, right it was.
It was right before that that Ialmost you know I was never to
the point where, thank God,where I was suicidal or anything
, but I had literally just saidif no one else can fix me, if
this is going to take me, thenthis is going to take me and I'm
done.
I was so exhausted I toldNettie that and she said there's
(18:30):
no way.
She said that we're not, we'renot even entertaining that hero
yeah, the heroes for sure.
She said yeah, she said we'renot going down that path.
She brought a picture of ourkids and she said if you won't,
fight for me and not that Iwouldn't but she goes, look at
them and when you think aboutthat, like you're just like,
okay, time to put on your bigboy, you know, pants, tie your
(18:54):
boots a little tighter and let'sgo.
But it's hard, I mean, you knowyou.
You get to a point where you'recontinuing to just have trauma
after trauma, after trauma, andI can deal with the pain, I can
deal with the trauma.
Sometimes it was the letdown ofcause.
You know, like everybodyprobably has this, when you go
(19:14):
to a doctor, you want a solution, you want a doctor to tell you
what's wrong.
That's why you go to a doctorand you're seeing all of these
doctors and they continue tojust tell you I either can't
help you, I don't want to helpyou, or I don't know how to help
you.
Right, and I was ready to justkind of say you know what, if
(19:35):
this is it, this is it.
And I have many friends now whoI call them friends, but many
people that I've spoken to havebeen in similar situations to
this, that have been in the sameplace and I get it.
So if you're someone out therelistening, that's in that
situation.
Marc Bernstein (19:55):
Yeah, I get it, but don't give up.
So I wanted to make sure wecovered that.
Now we're back to the doctor'soffice.
Jason A. Sfire (20:01):
Yeah, so we're in there and he describes the
surgery process.
It's going to be multiplesurgeries.
Know what we're dealing with.
When we get in there is what hesays Great, Get in there, Get
in your body right when he didtell you like he did say you'd
be in a chair afterwards.
Yeah, well, it was after.
He kind of said you're nevergoing to be the same, and we
(20:21):
didn't know what that meant.
So we, you know, gotinquisitive and he said I don't
think you'll ever walk normallyagain.
Didn't just say a chair atfirst.
He said it depends what we find, but after surgery, right.
So I ended up having four moresurgeries.
I had a posterior approach,which means they opened up my
back again in two differentplaces, so there's like 22
(20:43):
inches of scar on my back.
They went in through my leftside and then they went in
through my right side becausethey couldn't find.
When they got in there, theycouldn't find any good bone
because what had happened wasthe infection had jumped on all
the metal that they had put inthere from these previous nine
back surgeries that I describedup to 2009.
(21:03):
And you can dump all theseantibiotics into you, but it
doesn't kill it on the metal.
It kills it in your bone andyour soft tissue, but it's not
going to kill it on the metal.
So basically he had to take allof those previous nine surgeries
which, to describe foreverybody, it's it's I'm.
I have a spinal fusion,basically from my sternum all
(21:23):
the way to the end of my spine.
So you're talking rods andscrews and you had to take it
all out and start over you had alot of metal and you still have
a lot of metal yeah, I haveless metal now because
thankfully we've had it removed,um, after things.
but yeah, so he got in there andfound that there wasn't.
You know, I wasn't fusing my,basically my spine, for about 14
(21:47):
levels, 14 vertebrae wasputting.
He described it to my wife iswhat he described?
That it was putting Um, and hesaid now we're going to have to
do all four surgeries, um, andthat's kind of when I came out
of those four surgeries and thenyou go to what's called, you
know, outpatient rehab.
I was inpatient for a while.
(22:07):
Then I go to outpatient rehabtrying to relearn how to walk,
because all the trauma to myback and all the scar tissue and
the infection had actuallyeaten holes in my dura and into
my spinal cord.
And then when those heal, theycause scarring.
So then that scarring basicallynow you have scarring on the
inside of your spinal cord thatcan never be healed and never be
(22:30):
changed.
And if anybody knows anythingabout scar tissue, once you have
it it just continues to buildand build and build.
And if they can't debrief it orget it out, unfortunately it
just continues to make yourlower extremities weaker and
weaker.
So that's why I'm in awheelchair.
Everybody Big surprise.
Marc Bernstein (22:49):
But that hasn't slowed you down either.
Jason A. Sfire (22:52):
No, you know, it's just been an incredible
opportunity, to be honest, forme having to experience
disability.
It took me a little while toaccept the fact that I was going
to be disabled the rest of mylife, for my wife, for my kids,
but we looked at it as anotherchallenge, you know, and as a
(23:14):
business owner and anentrepreneur, as we've been
talking about right, I was justkind of like what's the next
hill to take?
That's what I'd said to myself,and my wife has been my biggest
advocate through all this andall she ever says is listen,
remember that you have a familyfirst.
You've got a business that weneed to make a priority, but go
(23:34):
fly.
And she's been a great supportthrough all that.
So, um, what I?
And she's your biggestcheerleader.
Marc Bernstein (23:41):
Yeah, yeah, I'm sure she is.
Sometimes she's a little, youknow, a little stern with me,
but she's Right.
That's why I'm sure she is.
Jason A. Sfire (23:50):
But no, it just kind of catapulted me into
what's next in my life.
Marc Bernstein (23:55):
You just made a good point, though If you had
not had the challenges of beingan entrepreneur in the hills and
the valleys and the challenges,maybe you wouldn't have been as
well equipped to handle this.
Jason A. Sfire (24:09):
I totally agree because I think it takes
leadership to lead in these hardtimes and if I didn't have that
prior leadership experience ofcreating and building businesses
and things, I don't know thatI'd be equipped to deal with all
this.
Sari Greene (24:22):
I'd imagine the role model that your father
played was big.
Jason A. Sfire (24:25):
Yeah, it was, and his dad.
He lost his dad when he was 18years old and he really, you
know, kind of created somethingout of nothing.
So, through that whole timebeing able to see, you know for
me that like okay, I just got tokeep one brick on top of
another one brick on top ofanother, one brick on top of
another.
Marc Bernstein (24:42):
Well, another important thing, and it's a
really good point, and I want toalso point out that, when you
say leadership, because whatI've learned recently, I used to
have a vision of leadership asleading other people, but
leadership really starts withleading yourself and being an
example.
Jason A. Sfire (24:58):
Yeah, if you can't get out of your own way,
right, and I, you and I alwaysdescribe it as you can't take
someone.
You can't take someone.
Uh, how do I always say itInteresting?
Uh, you can't go, so you can'ttake somewhere.
Nevermind, I can't remember.
Marc Bernstein (25:13):
We've been talking about a lot of stuff
either way we're we're getting alot of lessons from, from from
speaking to you.
Um, we don't have a whole lotof time left.
I want to ask you real quickabout your future vision.
Jason A. Sfire (25:23):
Yeah.
Marc Bernstein (25:24):
For the next three years, because I know you
have a lot on your plate and alot of things you're doing.
Jason A. Sfire (25:29):
It's good, it's exciting.
To be honest, I haven't beenthis excited in a while.
After becoming disabled, it wastime to learn how to find my
wheels instead of find my legs.
Announcer (25:39):
you know, find my wheels instead of find my legs
figure out who I was, what was?
In store yeah it is.
Jason A. Sfire (25:44):
Yeah, it's my nickname Somebody gave me on the
golf course at Babcock Ranch.
But, uh, I'm excited about thenext phase because it's actually
kind of solidifying, uh, thedream that my dad and I've had
together Dad 35 years ago whenhe started the company, me 35,
33 years alongside him andleading the companies for the
last almost 10 years we'reactually going to sell the
(26:06):
portfolio of properties, we'regoing to finally monetize it and
see the fruits of both of ourlabors, but we're not done.
You know what I mean.
That doesn't mean you're done.
We're going to do some exchangestuff and we'll still have a
nice portfolio of properties.
I just want to get to a pointat some point where things can
be a little less for me.
(26:31):
And then I can focus a littlemore on some of the missional
aspects of, I think, what Godhas for me which I've been
leaning into but it's reallyhard to do both and balance both
.
Leaning into, but it's reallyhard to do both and balance both
.
So I have a lot ofopportunities to advocate for
adaptive athletes and peoplewith disability, to speak at
conferences and do things likethat and then coach because I
(26:53):
coach right now, you know,wheelchair football, wheelchair
pickleball and instruct for golfa little bit, so really want to
lean into that and then justmaybe lean into being a grandpa
a little bit and spending timewith my boys that are still at
home, my adult children and mygrandkids.
Marc Bernstein (27:08):
And you're an athlete advocate, so now we know
what that means.
Jason A. Sfire (27:11):
Yeah.
Marc Bernstein (27:12):
And you're serving on several nonprofit
boards that we talked about, andwe're almost out of time, so I
do want to ask you, becauseyou've said a lot over the last
couple shows and it's a questionthat people often choose to be
asked on the show which is, ifyou could speak to your younger
(27:34):
self, what advice would you giveyou?
Jason A. Sfire (27:35):
I'm sure you have some thoughts about that,
yeah, and I think that'd be easyfor all the listeners to
understand what that would be,because we talked about it.
My younger self was a could bean arrogant knucklehead at times
, you know and didn't.
Who among us would you say,right, right.
So I would just say to myselfyou know, hey, maybe let's think
(27:56):
a little bit more before wereact, right, let's take a
little bit more of a discerninglook at some of our decisions.
But I also am proud of theyounger myself because, as I
described, there was a lot ofperseverance and a lot of
determination to kind of livethrough everything I've been
through well, I just want totell you and this goes to Sari
(28:19):
as well, but especially to youas my next door neighbor- yeah.
Marc Bernstein (28:22):
I mean, I just feel so fortunate that you are
and since we've engaged andwe've been talking the last few
weeks, it's really been apowerful, powerful thing in my
life and I'm proud to know you.
Sari Greene (28:34):
I know I can't wait to get to know you better and
I'm really looking forward tomeeting your wife.
Jason A. Sfire (28:39):
Yeah, she's a rock star, she's something,
she's great.
Marc Bernstein (28:42):
It's hard not to meet her because she's
everywhere I go.
She's there.
Jason A. Sfire (28:44):
Yeah, she's a little so yeah but it's a
pleasure too and I reallyappreciate you asking me to be a
part of this, and I'm excitedfor all your listeners right to
continue to listen to your shows, and many entrepreneurs and
founders of businesses that gotgreat stories.
Marc Bernstein (29:02):
Thanks so much and thank you all for being here
and going on this journey withus, and I look forward to
speaking with you again nextweek on Founders' Forum.
Announcer (29:13):
We hope you enjoyed your time with Founders' Forum
and that you found value to takewith you throughout your day.
Join us again next week foranother episode of Founders'
Forum on WXKB 1039 HD2.
The following programming is sponsored by Marc
J Bernstein.
The views expressed do notnecessarily reflect the views of
this station, its management orBeasley Media Group.
Entrepreneur, founder, authorand financial advisor, Marc
Bernstein helps high-performingbusiness owners turn their
visions into reality.
Through his innovative work andthe Forward Focus Forums, Marc
(00:21):
connects entrepreneurs toresources that fuel their
success.
Founders' Forum is a radio showand podcast where entrepreneurs
share their journeys, revealingthe lessons they've learned and
the stories behind theirsuccess.
Join Marc and his guests for amix of inspiration, valuable
insights and a little fun.
Now let's dive in.
Marc Bernstein (00:40):
Good morning America.
How are you?
This is Marc Bernstein.
This is Founders' Forum.
Good morning America.
How are you?
This is Marc Bernstein.
This is Founders' Forum, andwe're here again for the third
show in a row with our guestsJason Sfire and Sari Greene, and
it's really like I want to takeyou guys on the road with me.
Announcer (00:55):
This would be great.
This would be fun.
It would be great.
Marc Bernstein (00:57):
I'd love to so this is a good combination of
people.
I like it.
So today is part two with JasonSfire.
You've heard his story.
I'm going to give you a realquick reintroduction without
going through the whole thing.
Jason is president and owner ofmultiple family-owned
businesses under the nameFidelity Group Limited.
(01:19):
They're in the real estatedevelopment and management and
construction businessdevelopment and management and
construction business and I'mpresuming that if you're
listening to this show, you'velistened to to to part one,
because you won't appreciatepart two unless you listen to
part one so go back and listento part one first.
go back first, exactly right,yeah, and I won't do the whole
thing again, uh, but jason isvery active today after having,
(01:42):
if you heard part one, he's hadtwo major falls in his life.
One well, yeah, two falls,let's just call it.
He's had over 54 surgeries andhe's gone through a lot.
And you haven't heard it all.
You're going to hear the restof it today, but the, as I said
before, it's a story of courage,resilience, love and humanity
(02:03):
at its best, and I think that'sa great place to pick it up.
Just really quick.
Our topic on the last show wasabout this issue of this
documentary that's coming outcalled Can't Look Away the case
against social media, and I'vejust asked our two guests to
think about it again and justhave a real quick comment on it,
because we want to save therest of the time for this story.
(02:25):
So go ahead and start withSarah again.
Sari Greene (02:27):
Yeah, you know, the last show really made me kind
of pause and reflect, and Iguess all I have to say about
social media right now is that Ireally want to kind of look
more about self-directed of howI'm using social media, you know
, make sure that I'm reallyusing it in the right way for
the right reasons and that I'mnot responsibly and not and not
harmful to to others or tomyself, and so I think that's
(02:49):
really what I've taken away fromour last conversation, when I
never use it to harm otherpeople, but I have harmed myself
in using it, I think we couldharm other people potentially if
we're telling a false storyright, we're getting a false
impression and so you knowthere's unintentional harm that
sometimes we cause, and I reallywant to reflect on that.
Marc Bernstein (03:08):
I like that and, by the way, I wish they hadn't
called it the case againstsocial media because it's here
to stay.
I don't think it's, and it hasa lot of good things you can do
with it.
It should be the case to youknow, to improve social media
Better, yeah, yeahourage betteruse, yeah.
Jason A. Sfire (03:25):
Yeah, and I think real quick.
For me, this is something andyou know, Marc, actually we just
talked about this recently, thetwo of us.
For me, I have opportunities todo things in advocacy and
sports that I'm now in throughsocial media, but I really have
struggled with finding a goodbalance of how to use social
media, but I really havestruggled with finding a good
balance of how to use socialmedia well.
(03:46):
So I've actually this haschallenged me a little bit too,
sari, to kind of say okay, ifthere are things I can do to
advocate for people withdisability, which is my passion
and kind of my heart now, andsocial media is a really strong
vehicle for that, then maybethis is an opportunity for me to
go ahead and educate myself.
Or, if that doesn't, if I can'tdo it myself, maybe hire
(04:09):
somebody who is educated tounderstand how to use the tool
well, because it is just anothermedium or tool that we can use
to go ahead and advocate forbusiness, advocate for, you know
, mission and things that we'redoing.
Marc Bernstein (04:22):
Yeah, see, that's what I like about this
group.
I have here today thoughtfulpeople thinking about it,
because there are people thatjust say, well, I'm not going
anywhere near social media.
I hate that stuff yeah and thenthere's the other extreme of
people that are on all the timeposting all kinds of things that
are annoying at minimum and,you know, pretty harmful at you
know, at their most it's kind ofa bullpen conversation, I think
(04:46):
yeah.
But look, it's here, it's areality, so it's, what do you do
with it?
Announcer (04:51):
Yeah.
Marc Bernstein (04:51):
I think it's what we're all talking about.
So where we left off was youhad your second fall.
You were going along in life,your body was deteriorating
while this was going on, andthen what?
Jason A. Sfire (05:04):
Yeah, so was deteriorating while this was
going on Right.
And then what?
Yeah, so I think I kind of tookus through and we didn't talk
much about timelines, but as Iwas describing the story, I feel
like I got to around the, youknow, 2008, 2009 kind of time
period, and that would have beenkind of when JJ, my son, that
you've met Marc, who's yourneighbor down here in Florida.
He's 15.
Sari Greene (05:23):
My son, that you've met Marc, who's your neighbor
down here, in Florida.
Jason A. Sfire (05:25):
he's 15, yeah, yeah, and and it's important
that I add in here because Iwould really be remiss to tell
my family story and our familyhistory if I didn't mention that
you know through our olderdaughter, abby, who was she's
now 24 then she was born rightafter the first accident.
The second accident, excuse me,so you know, back in she's 24,
(05:46):
she, she was kind of it was backin 2001 area and then we had
four miscarriages.
So I'm dealing with, and mywife's dealing with, me having
all of these surgeries, all ofthis recovery, all the things we
talked about in part one, andnow we have, on top of that,
four miscarriages that'ssomething we talked about
(06:06):
because we have that.
Marc Bernstein (06:07):
Yeah, we do.
Yeah, you're right, you didshare that with me, so I know
how traumatic that is withoutall the other, without all the
other stuff going on.
Jason A. Sfire (06:14):
Yeah, and you know, we never really spent a
ton of time trying to figure outwhat caused all of it, because
there was too many other things,like, if you ask netty, my wife
, she'd be like, listen, Ididn't have time to worry about
going to the doctor to figureout what was going on because
you were at the doctor enoughfor everybody we knew.
So we were just trying tosurvive at that point.
We're taking up all the space.
I was taking up the space.
(06:34):
I'm just a yeah, I'm a doctorhog, that's it.
But anyways, you know, so we getto this kind of 2008 2009
period and all of a sudden,netty comes home and she's like,
hey, uh, guess what I'mpregnant and I'm like what?
Like when I?
I mean and I guess I shouldn'tsay what I think she didn't tell
me.
This is the part that I say.
(06:55):
What about now that I reflectback on it was that she didn't
tell me until she was like threemonths at this point, because
there had been so many timesthat we would just get our hopes
up as a family and then so,anyways, uh, I understand that
one.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So then, anyways, 2009, uh, thesummer of 2008 comes and she
almost loses JJ again.
(07:16):
And I tell this part cause thisis a miracle story.
Um, so we're about ready tohave our fifth miscarriage and
we got on the phone with I'dsaid in part one, I had some.
We had some great friends for20 years from church and
everything Dave and Natalie, ourbest friends, and, uh, they
were down in Southern Illinois,in Peoria, and we got on the
phone with them and we juststarted praying and saying, all
right, we're not going to gothrough this again.
(07:36):
And, um, and miraculously,nettie held onto the baby and he
was born in July of 2009.
Yeah, so now we've got thisbeautiful new son.
And, uh, 2009, I kept having.
That was when I kind of hadanother back surgery, because
what had happened was, um, youknow, the, the ancillary, body
parts.
Marc Bernstein (07:55):
I just mentioned this to you and I won't tell my
story today, but I shouldsomeday, yeah, cause both of my
children ended up beingmiraculous as well, and a lot of
thought.
Jason A. Sfire (08:04):
Yeah, and you should tell that it would be
good for the listeners to kindof hear the story of the founder
of you know the Founders' Forum.
Hear your story someday, somaybe Sarah and I can come back
and interview you someday.
Marc Bernstein (08:14):
That would be great.
There's a thought We'll talkabout that next year.
Jason A. Sfire (08:19):
So, yeah, now we're 2009.
And what I was saying was isthat my back had become the
major issue.
You know, you're having likewrist surgeries and shoulder
surgeries, and it's kind offunny that I look back on it now
and I'm thinking, oh, I'm justhaving another wrist surgery, no
big deal.
But then the back started to gobecause I had had two or three
of initial back surgeries afterthe initial fall and had my hips
(08:40):
worked on at the same time.
But then now when the back andthe hips started to go,
everything started to get reallymore aggressive.
You know, like everything'sjust starting to get really like
now when you're talking aboutyour spine, everything's
aggressive.
So in 2009, I have another backsurgery.
I had to have another follow-upto that because it didn't go
(09:01):
well and I kind of came out ofthat different, like not
completely different, but alittle different.
Then we fast forward to 2013because after those first two
Different physically.
Announcer (09:13):
Different physically yes.
Jason A. Sfire (09:14):
Yes, different physically.
And again I'm talking I knowthis is about, you know,
Founders' Forum.
Again, I'm a business owner, soI'm just grinding through Like
I'm still working every day, I'mstill leading construction
crews, we're still buildingshopping centers.
We're still building shoppingcenters, we're still doing
things, and you're having to doall this while you're talking
(09:35):
about the struggle of physicaland it was just a lot.
But I know that we got to getto the life-changing moment and
I think that that's theimportant part, because we've
already teased out the fact thatI'm in a wheelchair and I golf
in a cool golf cart andeverything.
So let's just, I'm going tofast forward to 2013 if that's
okay, Marc.
Yeah, um.
So 2013 comes, uh, and this isit's crazy how the big life
(09:59):
moments for Nettie and I, whenit came to the physical for me,
God blessed us with miracleCause I talked about 2009 was
when the back started to reallygo, blessed with a son.
2014 comes and 2013, excuse me.
And we had tried to haveanother child after JJ, because
(10:19):
we didn't want JJ because he's10 years younger than our other.
Two kids are now married andwe've got two grandkids and all
that JJ is 15.
We didn't want him to grow upalone, so we tried to have
another child.
My wife had her fifthmiscarriage, so we tried to have
another child.
My wife had her fifthmiscarriage, um, so we chose to
adopt our youngest boy, jackson.
Yeah, and I can say that openlybecause he knows that and he's
blessed to have that and that'spart of my story as well,
(10:41):
exactly yeah, that's the coolparallel that we share and the
heart connection there.
Um did it first, we did itreverse, exactly, exactly.
Yeah, we, we put the cabooseand you had the train car, so we
, you know, I get 2013, and itwas July that he was born and we
had decided that we were goingto adopt him when he was three
(11:03):
months old, and we don't havetime to tell his whole story,
which would be another coolopportunity, but he's born in
July of 2013.
Which would be another coolopportunity, but he's born in
July of 2013.
And in August of 2013, I go infor what we call the
life-changing experience.
I'm going in for this would bemy ninth back surgery at that
point in time, and again I'mthinking back surgery at this
point.
You've had, I've had so manysurgeries I'm probably in the
(11:25):
thirties, I don't rememberexactly where it was, but Nettie
and I were like, well, it'sjust you know, Marc it on the
calendar.
We're going in for a tune-upthat's the way I described it to
people was because at thispoint you just your body's just
deteriorating.
So I got to go in for anothertune-up.
Like people take their cars into get their breaks, I'm just
going in for it to fuse anothervertebrae in my spine.
Um and I went in in in Augustand had that back surgery and
(11:50):
unfortunately acquired MRSA inmy spine, which is a
flesh-eating bacteria MRSA and Iacquired that in the hospital
and, from that point on, had tohave 22 surgeries in my spine to
basically save my life.
You know, every time they wouldtake me off IV antibiotics for
(12:12):
longer than a week or 10 days,my fever would spike back up to
103.
So they'd put me back on IVantibiotics and we battled this
infection from 2013 to 2017, andthey couldn't find a doctor who
could figure out what was wrongwith me, and so I would just
keep going in for theseclean-out surgeries.
(12:34):
We had seen multiple doctors atthe excuse me.
We went to Mayo at Rush inChicago, at some of the best
hospitals, and nobody couldfigure out how to eradicate
which is probably the right termthis infection.
So and I want to get to thispart because it's important, and
(12:55):
then we can kind of have theconversation of what everything
looked like I just want to pointout yeah, in case people miss
it that this is now.
We're talking about saving yourlife at this point yeah, yeah,
because I had I had gone septicuh, which means a blood
infection, I had had kidneyfailure uh, couple of times In
that period.
My wife kind of figured outthat I had had 1300 doses of IV
(13:17):
antibiotics in that four yearperiod and she was hanging IV
bags and I was hanging IV bagsevery eight hours to save my
life, yeah, and kind of justkeep me functional.
But I'm still working becausethat's what you know you do as a
business owner.
Marc Bernstein (13:32):
You just keep working well, I think this is a
good place to break yeah becausethen something happened and
we'll talk about that.
I think it's important, um, sokeep listening.
Announcer (13:42):
We're going to take a quick break and we'll be right
back on Founders' Forum.
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Marc Bernstein (15:07):
We are back on Founders' Forum with a
fascinating story with JasonSfire, we have Sari Greene in
the studio with us, and so then,yeah, I guess, so that is a
good way, yeah.
Jason A. Sfire (15:20):
So and this is a cool moment where another
person from our local church, agood friend of my wife, and she,
her family had given a lot ofuh, her, her dad, actually his
life was saved in Northwestern.
So the family had blessed the,the hospital with a nice
endowment and so she had someconnections there and she goes.
You know what?
There's this doctor I just readabout at Northwestern Memorial
(15:41):
Hospital downtown which, ifanybody's looking for a hospital
, go to Northwestern.
I mean not only because theysaved my life, but because
they're just amazing.
And her name was Gretchen andshe came to my wife and she said
you know what?
I don't know, I just read aboutthis doctor.
He just had this write-up in MDWorld, whatever, and he's
supposed to be one of therenowned spinal revisionists,
(16:06):
which means he revises people'ssurgeries that go bad.
Well, as I described previously,that's exactly what happened.
So we went to see Dr TylerKosky and it's crazy because we
had probably seen 10 to 12doctors at this point to try and
figure out what was going onand how to stop this infection.
And I've already had close to17 or 18 surgeries because I
(16:30):
ended up having four more withDr Kosky and he walks in and
like that screen.
That's right there, Marc, infront of us.
You go to Northwestern and theymake you do 50 x-rays.
It felt like they do their ownMRI, they do their own CT, they
do all their own testing becausethey're like no one else is
good at this.
We're going to get what we want, which I appreciated.
(16:51):
Puts all my stuff up on thescreen and he points to it First
of all.
He says how are you, by the way?
And then he goes I know what'swrong with you, I can fix you,
but you're never going to be thesame by the way you did skip a
part that I have to tell youabout.
Marc Bernstein (17:05):
You got there and somebody told you you're not
seeing the doctor right away.
Yeah, you're right, you got togo do all this.
Jason A. Sfire (17:15):
And I'm like are you kidding me?
I have had so much testing.
I'm like I've got this.
Like my wife was carryingaround a suitcase, literally a
rolling suitcase full of stuff,but anyways, yeah, and he says
that to me, he goes I knowwhat's wrong with you, you know
I can fix you, but you're nevergoing to be the same.
And we're sitting there goinglike, what does that mean?
But it didn't really matter,because just the fact that we
(17:38):
finally found somebody thatfirst of all didn't say, oh,
you're a conflict of interestbecause you're someone else's
patient that has gone bad, he'sactually willing to help.
We were like we're signed, whatdo we got?
We got to do.
Well, he described the processand it was.
It was going to be a series ofmultiple surgeries, um, and it
would all depend on what hefound when he got in there on
(17:58):
the first surgery.
Marc Bernstein (17:59):
Stop you for one second.
There was a point at which Iremember you said I don't want
to do this anymore, I did yeah,yeah, and that was prior to this
it was.
Jason A. Sfire (18:07):
it was right before that that I that I almost
you know I was never to this.
I think, right it was.
It was right before that that Ialmost you know I was never to
the point where, thank God,where I was suicidal or anything
, but I had literally just saidif no one else can fix me, if
this is going to take me, thenthis is going to take me and I'm
done.
I was so exhausted I toldNettie that and she said there's
(18:30):
no way.
She said that we're not, we'renot even entertaining that hero
yeah, the heroes for sure.
She said yeah, she said we'renot going down that path.
She brought a picture of ourkids and she said if you won't,
fight for me and not that Iwouldn't but she goes, look at
them and when you think aboutthat, like you're just like,
okay, time to put on your bigboy, you know, pants, tie your
(18:54):
boots a little tighter and let'sgo.
But it's hard, I mean, you knowyou.
You get to a point where you'recontinuing to just have trauma
after trauma, after trauma, andI can deal with the pain, I can
deal with the trauma.
Sometimes it was the letdown ofcause.
You know, like everybodyprobably has this, when you go
(19:14):
to a doctor, you want a solution, you want a doctor to tell you
what's wrong.
That's why you go to a doctorand you're seeing all of these
doctors and they continue tojust tell you I either can't
help you, I don't want to helpyou, or I don't know how to help
you.
Right, and I was ready to justkind of say you know what, if
(19:35):
this is it, this is it.
And I have many friends now whoI call them friends, but many
people that I've spoken to havebeen in similar situations to
this, that have been in the sameplace and I get it.
So if you're someone out therelistening, that's in that
situation.
Marc Bernstein (19:55):
Yeah, I get it, but don't give up.
So I wanted to make sure wecovered that.
Now we're back to the doctor'soffice.
Jason A. Sfire (20:01):
Yeah, so we're in there and he describes the
surgery process.
It's going to be multiplesurgeries.
Know what we're dealing with.
When we get in there is what hesays Great, Get in there, Get
in your body right when he didtell you like he did say you'd
be in a chair afterwards.
Yeah, well, it was after.
He kind of said you're nevergoing to be the same, and we
(20:21):
didn't know what that meant.
So we, you know, gotinquisitive and he said I don't
think you'll ever walk normallyagain.
Didn't just say a chair atfirst.
He said it depends what we find, but after surgery, right.
So I ended up having four moresurgeries.
I had a posterior approach,which means they opened up my
back again in two differentplaces, so there's like 22
(20:43):
inches of scar on my back.
They went in through my leftside and then they went in
through my right side becausethey couldn't find.
When they got in there, theycouldn't find any good bone
because what had happened wasthe infection had jumped on all
the metal that they had put inthere from these previous nine
back surgeries that I describedup to 2009.
(21:03):
And you can dump all theseantibiotics into you, but it
doesn't kill it on the metal.
It kills it in your bone andyour soft tissue, but it's not
going to kill it on the metal.
So basically he had to take allof those previous nine surgeries
which, to describe foreverybody, it's it's I'm.
I have a spinal fusion,basically from my sternum all
(21:23):
the way to the end of my spine.
So you're talking rods andscrews and you had to take it
all out and start over you had alot of metal and you still have
a lot of metal yeah, I haveless metal now because
thankfully we've had it removed,um, after things.
but yeah, so he got in there andfound that there wasn't.
You know, I wasn't fusing my,basically my spine, for about 14
(21:47):
levels, 14 vertebrae wasputting.
He described it to my wife iswhat he described?
That it was putting Um, and hesaid now we're going to have to
do all four surgeries, um, andthat's kind of when I came out
of those four surgeries and thenyou go to what's called, you
know, outpatient rehab.
I was inpatient for a while.
(22:07):
Then I go to outpatient rehabtrying to relearn how to walk,
because all the trauma to myback and all the scar tissue and
the infection had actuallyeaten holes in my dura and into
my spinal cord.
And then when those heal, theycause scarring.
So then that scarring basicallynow you have scarring on the
inside of your spinal cord thatcan never be healed and never be
(22:30):
changed.
And if anybody knows anythingabout scar tissue, once you have
it it just continues to buildand build and build.
And if they can't debrief it orget it out, unfortunately it
just continues to make yourlower extremities weaker and
weaker.
So that's why I'm in awheelchair.
Everybody Big surprise.
Marc Bernstein (22:49):
But that hasn't slowed you down either.
Jason A. Sfire (22:52):
No, you know, it's just been an incredible
opportunity, to be honest, forme having to experience
disability.
It took me a little while toaccept the fact that I was going
to be disabled the rest of mylife, for my wife, for my kids,
but we looked at it as anotherchallenge, you know, and as a
(23:14):
business owner and anentrepreneur, as we've been
talking about right, I was justkind of like what's the next
hill to take?
That's what I'd said to myself,and my wife has been my biggest
advocate through all this andall she ever says is listen,
remember that you have a familyfirst.
You've got a business that weneed to make a priority, but go
(23:34):
fly.
And she's been a great supportthrough all that.
So, um, what I?
And she's your biggestcheerleader.
Marc Bernstein (23:41):
Yeah, yeah, I'm sure she is.
Sometimes she's a little, youknow, a little stern with me,
but she's Right.
That's why I'm sure she is.
Jason A. Sfire (23:50):
But no, it just kind of catapulted me into
what's next in my life.
Marc Bernstein (23:55):
You just made a good point, though If you had
not had the challenges of beingan entrepreneur in the hills and
the valleys and the challenges,maybe you wouldn't have been as
well equipped to handle this.
Jason A. Sfire (24:09):
I totally agree because I think it takes
leadership to lead in these hardtimes and if I didn't have that
prior leadership experience ofcreating and building businesses
and things, I don't know thatI'd be equipped to deal with all
this.
Sari Greene (24:22):
I'd imagine the role model that your father
played was big.
Jason A. Sfire (24:25):
Yeah, it was, and his dad.
He lost his dad when he was 18years old and he really, you
know, kind of created somethingout of nothing.
So, through that whole timebeing able to see, you know for
me that like okay, I just got tokeep one brick on top of
another one brick on top ofanother, one brick on top of
another.
Marc Bernstein (24:42):
Well, another important thing, and it's a
really good point, and I want toalso point out that, when you
say leadership, because whatI've learned recently, I used to
have a vision of leadership asleading other people, but
leadership really starts withleading yourself and being an
example.
Jason A. Sfire (24:58):
Yeah, if you can't get out of your own way,
right, and I, you and I alwaysdescribe it as you can't take
someone.
You can't take someone.
Uh, how do I always say itInteresting?
Uh, you can't go, so you can'ttake somewhere.
Nevermind, I can't remember.
Marc Bernstein (25:13):
We've been talking about a lot of stuff
either way we're we're getting alot of lessons from, from from
speaking to you.
Um, we don't have a whole lotof time left.
I want to ask you real quickabout your future vision.
Jason A. Sfire (25:23):
Yeah.
Marc Bernstein (25:24):
For the next three years, because I know you
have a lot on your plate and alot of things you're doing.
Jason A. Sfire (25:29):
It's good, it's exciting.
To be honest, I haven't beenthis excited in a while.
After becoming disabled, it wastime to learn how to find my
wheels instead of find my legs.
Announcer (25:39):
you know, find my wheels instead of find my legs
figure out who I was, what was?
In store yeah it is.
Jason A. Sfire (25:44):
Yeah, it's my nickname Somebody gave me on the
golf course at Babcock Ranch.
But, uh, I'm excited about thenext phase because it's actually
kind of solidifying, uh, thedream that my dad and I've had
together Dad 35 years ago whenhe started the company, me 35,
33 years alongside him andleading the companies for the
last almost 10 years we'reactually going to sell the
(26:06):
portfolio of properties, we'regoing to finally monetize it and
see the fruits of both of ourlabors, but we're not done.
You know what I mean.
That doesn't mean you're done.
We're going to do some exchangestuff and we'll still have a
nice portfolio of properties.
I just want to get to a pointat some point where things can
be a little less for me.
(26:31):
And then I can focus a littlemore on some of the missional
aspects of, I think, what Godhas for me which I've been
leaning into but it's reallyhard to do both and balance both
.
Leaning into, but it's reallyhard to do both and balance both
.
So I have a lot ofopportunities to advocate for
adaptive athletes and peoplewith disability, to speak at
conferences and do things likethat and then coach because I
(26:53):
coach right now, you know,wheelchair football, wheelchair
pickleball and instruct for golfa little bit, so really want to
lean into that and then justmaybe lean into being a grandpa
a little bit and spending timewith my boys that are still at
home, my adult children and mygrandkids.
Marc Bernstein (27:08):
And you're an athlete advocate, so now we know
what that means.
Jason A. Sfire (27:11):
Yeah.
Marc Bernstein (27:12):
And you're serving on several nonprofit
boards that we talked about, andwe're almost out of time, so I
do want to ask you, becauseyou've said a lot over the last
couple shows and it's a questionthat people often choose to be
asked on the show which is, ifyou could speak to your younger
(27:34):
self, what advice would you giveyou?
Jason A. Sfire (27:35):
I'm sure you have some thoughts about that,
yeah, and I think that'd be easyfor all the listeners to
understand what that would be,because we talked about it.
My younger self was a could bean arrogant knucklehead at times
, you know and didn't.
Who among us would you say,right, right.
So I would just say to myselfyou know, hey, maybe let's think
(27:56):
a little bit more before wereact, right, let's take a
little bit more of a discerninglook at some of our decisions.
But I also am proud of theyounger myself because, as I
described, there was a lot ofperseverance and a lot of
determination to kind of livethrough everything I've been
through well, I just want totell you and this goes to Sari
(28:19):
as well, but especially to youas my next door neighbor- yeah.
Marc Bernstein (28:22):
I mean, I just feel so fortunate that you are
and since we've engaged andwe've been talking the last few
weeks, it's really been apowerful, powerful thing in my
life and I'm proud to know you.
Sari Greene (28:34):
I know I can't wait to get to know you better and
I'm really looking forward tomeeting your wife.
Jason A. Sfire (28:39):
Yeah, she's a rock star, she's something,
she's great.
Marc Bernstein (28:42):
It's hard not to meet her because she's
everywhere I go.
She's there.
Jason A. Sfire (28:44):
Yeah, she's a little so yeah but it's a
pleasure too and I reallyappreciate you asking me to be a
part of this, and I'm excitedfor all your listeners right to
continue to listen to your shows, and many entrepreneurs and
founders of businesses that gotgreat stories.
Marc Bernstein (29:02):
Thanks so much and thank you all for being here
and going on this journey withus, and I look forward to
speaking with you again nextweek on Founders' Forum.
Announcer (29:13):
We hope you enjoyed your time with Founders' Forum
and that you found value to takewith you throughout your day.
Join us again next week foranother episode of Founders'
Forum on WXKB 1039 HD2.
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