Tony Vitale enjoys reading to his 5-year-old son, Tag.
‘When he’s with me, I make sure I read to him every night before he goes to bed,? said Vitale. ‘I think it’s important, it’s good bonding time and he loves it.?
However, taking Tag to a bookstore, Vitale got a wake up call.
‘All three books he brought to me had some kind of violence on the front cover or had some violence in the story and it really made me think,” he said. “I thought to myself, if I am going to choose the last thing I put into my mind before I go to sleep, why aren’t I doing it with my son??
General manager of Mesquite Creek in Independence Township, he reads books about accountability, leadership, and business every day. He wanted similar books written for children for his son.
‘I really didn’t find much,? he said. ‘Since it was important to me to have him doing the same thing that I am doing for myself, I created it.?
So far, Vitale has written and published 12 books, illustrating the first six. They are bedtime stories written as rhyming affirmations focused on early leadership development.
‘My mission statement or mantra is ‘training the leaders of tomorrow today,?” he said. ‘I wrote these with leadership in mind, and my vision was to give kids leadership. But what I found out was at this point the majority of parents buying my books are parents of special needs kids.?
Many parents told him the rhyme and repetition of his affirmations are excellent for children with autism and special needs.
‘It wasn’t something I really envisioned, but what a great thing to find out,? said Vitale.
He has both of his parents to thank for getting him involved in reading and personal development. His father taught him to read 10 pages a day at age 15.
Vitale says reading books are like weight lifting. Lifting too much makes a person sore and less willing to keep at it.
‘Well, reading is the same way,? said Vitale. ‘People will sit down with a book that is hard reading and they’ll read a hundred pages in a night, and then be so fried from it they will not go back to it for another six months to a year.?
Most people don’t read much, while the average CEO reads 35-45 books a year, he noted.
‘If you read 10 pages a day, it’s one book a month,? he said. ‘You read 12 books a year and at the end of the year, you’ll be a different person and I believe that.?
Vitale grew up in Grand Blanc with two brothers and a sister.
“My one brother is a computer guy at Comerica Park, my sister is in medical school, and my other brother is in law school,” he said.
At age 15, he also developed a love for tap dancing. He went to Oakland University for a year as a part of their dance program, but at age 19 he moved to Los Angeles where he studied under Jackie Sleight at ‘The Edge? and the Performing Arts Center.
‘Later I toured teaching on conventions like Manhattan Dance Project, Dance Caravan, really just freelancing,? he said. ‘I used to spend 40 weekends a year just traveling the country teaching at different studios as a master teacher.?
He spent six years working professionally on tours, TV shows, and movies. He worked on ‘Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit?, as well as, soap opera ‘The Young and the Restless.? He then spent 10 years just touring the country teaching kids how to dance.
‘It still is one of my biggest passions is working with kids, said Vitale. ‘I think that’s what led me into publishing these books, that and obviously my son.?
He believes in teaching kids positive attitudes at a young age things about accountability, doing what they say, and that it’s OK to fail, but to get up and keep on trying.
‘Simple things you could learn in Kindergarten that you could use for the rest of your life,? he said.
‘If we can get together and start this movement, we are going to have true leaders of tomorrow who aren’t going to fall down and give up. That’s what I see and that’s my overall vision of where this thing is going.?
Books can be purchased for $20 a set on the website www.leadershipfirstbooks.com, or at the carryout at Mesquite Creek.