Ashley DiBella

Chris:

Welcome back to Let’s Get Personal Podcast with Chris. I’m so happy to be joined by my beautiful daughter, Ashley DiBella today, and we’re going to do something a little bit different today. We’re going to turn the tables and Ashley, who’s been working in the office this summer while she’s on break from college, is asked to interview me. So she’s going to take the lead today and I’m going to turn it over to my beautiful daughter, Ashley. Welcome.

Ashley:

Thank you. So let’s get started. This interview is not just going to be about his career and his firm, it’s also going to be questions that only I can ask him. So if you follow him online, you obviously know what inspired his career. But let’s ask again. What inspired you to pursue your career in law?

Chris:

I feel like I don’t want to give the same stock answer that I always give. I know a lot of people watching will know Uncle Craig’s story about his car accident, but a lot of it, which I don’t talk about is because entering the age that it’s so hard to figure out what you want to do, what you’re learning. And I think you learn a lot about what you don’t want to do. So the more you can try in your twenties or later teens, the more you can also valuably learn what you don’t want to do. And a lot of my journey to becoming a lawyer was figuring what I didn’t want to do. And I had gone to law school, which you probably know in New York first.

Ashley:

You did?

Chris:

I did. And then I pivoted out of there. I had moved home. I was in school and college in Boston, went back to New York, wasn’t happy being away from home. So actually it was a combination of not knowing if I wanted law school at that time in my life and being away from home. And I decided to pivot back and jumped into my master’s, my MBA in Boston again. So I finished that and after a year consulting I realized, wow, I really did enjoy that legal stuff. And that’s when I delved back into law school in Boston this time around and really having learned some life lessons that wow, I really did. I get a little bit different perspective when you’re older and I know looking back, I mean I really feel that the things that I’m able to do with clients, I feel much more whole and that I’m really making an impact. So I’m glad I was able to pivot and make that switch.

Ashley:

Yeah, I actually didn’t know that.

Chris:

See, there’s something new. Even my daughter learned something new today.

Ashley:

And how did you decide to start your own law firm?

Chris:

That’s another good question. I was working for JP Morgan at the time, and as you know, Papa, he went out on his own in a construction field at some point after working in that field for a while. So he was always big on entrepreneurship and being in charge of your own destiny. And when I was working at JP Morgan waiting for my bar exam results, we were working long hours commuting into Boston, working for somebody else. And I really just got to thinking, well, if I’m going to put in all these extra hours, it’d be great to do it for myself. And fortunately, you hadn’t been born yet. I didn’t have all the stresses that go with having kids and a house and all that stuff. So I was able through the support of mommy who was working full time, able to pivot over and give it a chance and hang a shingle on my own. And that was very scary initially, but it ended up working out.

Ashley:

Was it always here

Chris:

In this office?

Ashley:

This office

Chris:

Office? No, no. Again, I’m so blessed to have a lot of great mentors in my life. And when I was at JP Morgan, an attorney that Rob PREAs that I interned with throughout my law school career had a practice in Burlington. And he said, you know what, Chris? I don’t want you to worry about anything. Come here, take an office, use my phone, use the copier, and until you’re up on your feet when you’re ready and you feel like you can afford to pay me rent, you can go ahead and do that. And it was a great amazing thing to offer, especially a young kid out of law school. And it’s probably the only thing that allowed me to get off and running. And pretty quickly I was able to earn an income and pay and contribute and pay my way. But it was great just knowing that I had that as an option. And that’s how I started. And we still develop law still operates out of that same office in Burlington now that I started at 20 years ago.

Ashley:

Okay.

Chris:

Yeah.

Ashley:

Wow, I didn’t know that. That’s awesome.

Chris:

Yeah.

Ashley:

Was mom always supportive of this starting your own law firm?

Chris:

Mom was not to sound cheesy, but nothing would’ve happened without mom. So I am a guy that tries something new all the time. Going back to obviously I went to law school, went and got my MBA, tried consulting, then I went to law school again and mom was just working, busting her hump nonstop as she always did. And she never batted an eye. And when I first came out, I ran for political office and

Ashley:

I remember that

Chris:

You were one years old at that point. We paraded you all over the place. So she even never batted an eye at that, jumped right on the campaign trail and was working. And then even when I went out to start my own firm, always very supportive. Anything she could do to help out on her off hours, nights, weekends, mom’s in finance and accounting. So having that background was helpful to me starting a new business. So again, obviously you can’t do any of this stuff alone, so mentors and having a great partner is the foundation of all this

Ashley:

That’s so wholesome power. Do you have any memorable moments from law school that you can share?

Chris:

Ooh, that’s been a little while. We’ve enjoyed watching. I’ve relived law school a little bit, having Ben, your cousin, living in the house as he’s gone through. So that’s brought up a lot of fun memories. One of the biggest differences in law school is the Socratic method. So I remember being terrified, even having gone through undergrad and a master’s. You don’t just get randomly called on by the professor and then they change facts and call you on you again. And this is in a room of a hundred, 150, and they put a spotlight on you, and I don’t want to say they embarrass you, but they hold your feet to the fire and they’ll expose you if you haven’t read the material. And it’s good, it makes you read the material because you don’t want to be the one guy that doesn’t remember anything. So those were the early classes in the first year,

So I remember that being a big difference. And then there’d be the lighter side of it. I remember some really great classmates, but as you get into some of your electives, it’s not as many people. I had a couple of good friends and I would write some pictures or leave some notes in my friend’s notebook when he went to the bathroom and I’d go a couple pages back and see if he ever found them. And I’m sure to this day, probably some of them he never did preparing for Tess. So Ed Swan, you better get back at it and see if you have any of my funny notes that I left in your notebook. But you try and find ways to find humor and levity in the difficult stressful time of law school. But I really enjoyed law school.

Ashley:

Yeah, I can’t imagine. I would be so stressed if I had to deal with that Socratic method,

Chris:

But you’re a great student pressure. You would do amazing.

Ashley:

Yeah, I mean I’d be fine, but

Chris:

It’s like anything else, it’s like you adapt to it.

Ashley:

Yeah,

Chris:

I remember it’s very similar to going into the courtroom for the first time. It’s a very scary, you don’t know what to expect, and now it’s just something that you’ve done it thousands and thousands of times just like things in your life that you’ve done a thousand times and you inevitably get very comfortable with it, but you got to embrace the uncomfortable, as you know. I always say around the house and it’s important because that means you’re growing so

Ashley:

Well. Do you have any advice for aspiring lawyers or people looking to start their own law firm?

Chris:

Yeah, that’s another good one. And honestly, things that I wish I could have read into a little bit more, not knowing, because nobody in our family really was in the legal field, and this was all new to me coming out and hanging a shingle. But one of the biggest, most important things, which I probably touched on a little bit, was getting mentors, having somebody that you felt comfortable going to with questions. And I’ve been very fortunate, just like Rob PREAs, John Lyons, a couple in this office, Ken Holmesy, attorney Broadhurst, those are guys that you can bounce things off of that can. Some of them have been doing it. I’ve been doing this 20 years, they’ve been doing it 40 years. And having somebody to confide in the stressful times, nobody knows the experience that you’re going through as a lawyer other than other attorneys. And it’s nice to have that mentorship.

Ashley:

Yeah, it’s all about connections.

Chris:

Connections are big. Yep, absolutely. That’s life for sure.

Ashley:

Yeah, I feel like you always say that. What makes DiBella Law unique?

Chris:

Well, what we’ve really tried to put an intense focus on at DiBella Law is really the empathetic connection with our clients and responsiveness. One of the biggest issues, which you wouldn’t think is a big issue, is getting back to people. The biggest complaint we get from people leaving other law firms to come to ours is that they’re just not hearing back. And it seems like 1 0 1, it’s a very basic thing, but I get it. I get the fact that people get very busy, get very busy in their practice, very busy in their personal life, but we’ve really made it a point to calendar in the fact that we want to have contacts with our clients every 30 days, even if nothing has changed, we want to hear from them. We want to just check in, say, I know you don’t have an appointment for another month or two, but how are you doing anything new in your life? And we make that a priority because we put it as part of our procedure. And so I think client contact always being available and just having a good bedside manner, being a good human being, an ear to listen to because these are very difficult times in people’s lives. So we really try to express that to every client. I hope that that comes across and because really what we strive for.

Ashley:

Yeah, I’ve definitely noticed that being here. How much your clients appreciate that?

Chris:

Yeah, I mean every time. One of the greatest gifts that we get, and I speak for the whole office because I know we’re all grateful, is when somebody decides to come on and do a video testimonial, which we are grateful to have a lot of, that’s a big ask. A lot of people aren’t comfortable getting on camera doing video stuff and putting things out there. It’s a very important thing for us because potential clients want to know what the experience is like. It’s very important for them to hear from the horse’s mouth, from a client that sat in their same shoes, to explain what they’ve gone through and what they’ve experienced. And I’m so appreciative when somebody actually is willing to do that. And some of the things that the staff all of us have been blessed to hear, it really motivates us to keep up that level of experience for all of the clients.

Ashley:

Yeah, it’s really fun to watch. I love the way you run things here.

Chris:

Oh, thank you.

Ashley:

How do you maintain closeness with your clients despite being as busy as you are?

Chris:

I think everything in life is what you prioritize, and that’s literally our number one priority is making this a frictionless experience for the client. We want this to be, they’re not always quick, but we try and make them as quick as possible. We try and make it easy, whether it’s technology, if they want to zoom in, they want to call, they want an in-person. We try to make this a real tailored experience to what that particular client needs, and that’s a priority to us. So we have regular trainings on it. It’s the culture we’re trying to build. And that’s something that any new employee, as you know, we just had another one start today or I’m sorry, Monday. They learn very quickly that that’s literally permeates everything we do right from the first client interaction. If Stacey or Tina is on the phone with them to the welcome box, to all the things that we do, that is a big priority. So it really affects every aspect of the client experience.

Ashley:

I love listening to Stacey on the phone with people. She’s really good at getting people to connect with her. She’s so funny.

Chris:

She’s great, she’s wonderful. But don’t I never try to restrict Stacey or anybody on the phone and say, listen, get on and off. You got other stuff to do. Stacey will be on the phone sometimes for an hour

Ashley:

With

Chris:

People, and she loves that. And that’s why she’s good at it because she’s very caring, she’s very empathetic, and half the time she’s making best friends on the phone. And that’s a connection that I love to see. And that’s from that very first interaction.

Ashley:

Is there a particularly memorable case you’ve had that left an impact on you or the firm?

Chris:

I mean, yeah, that’s a really good question and really hard to choose from. There’s so many. One, it was probably a little bit more recent in the last couple years where a child was poisoned due to a substance that was located in a house that they were renting from. And the landlord wasn’t helping out. There was, we eventually got involved, there were no offers made, and they denied liability. We ended up having to put it in suit. It became a very difficult case all while we had an amazing caring mother doing a lot of this work on raising this beautiful child herself. Also balancing the difficulties of getting him to the doctors and treated for all the things that he was experiencing and all while being a vicious advocate for her son. And when you see that you want to go the extra mile, you want to be the best at what you do to get the best outcome. And we’re so grateful that after getting into litigation, after getting a ridiculous ridiculously small $5,000 offer at the beginning and after denying anything altogether, that we got a very sizable resolution that she’s using to help get her son the proper attention that he needs. So that’s especially meaningful because as you know, I have three kids, so that touches close to home, but we so many, but that’s one.

Ashley:

Yeah. I was just going to ask if we were around during that, I can’t imagine dealing with cases with children going through things while you have us. Yeah,

Chris:

I mean, listen, everything that you do and accomplish and experience in your life is going to shape the perspective of how you look at and attack different things that come your way. So it certainly, as a parent, anytime you’re dealing with children, it makes you understand and empathize with what that parent’s going through a little bit more. So I like to think that it makes me connect with my clients a little bit more because I can appreciate what they’ve gone through. But yeah, you were around for that one.

Ashley:

Going off of that, what are some things you’ve learned from being a father that you couldn’t have learned from your career alone?

Chris:

So many things. Patience is a good one. You learn that kids require, I mean, it goes to kind of the customer service in a lot of ways. You get out of the experience of a father, just like you do your practice, what you put into it, and you have to show up, you got to show up at work, and you got to show up as a father, and you got to be there when they need you, when it’s not easy. And to all the new parents out there that you’ll be someday getting up in the middle of the night when you’re already working a full-time job. It’s hard. But everything else in life, usually the best things are the most difficult. So those, as they say, bigger kids, bigger problems, which you’ve been easy.

Ashley:

I’m perfect,

Chris:

You have, but it teaches you patience, it teaches you, I think it makes you want things more because now you’re not just responsible for yourself, you’re responsible for a family and making sure that not only are you providing the education and all the things that we need to do for you, but I need to get up and wake up and be good at what I do, not just for me and for my personal goals, but because I want to set an example for you guys. And also I want to be able to provide a life that I want for you guys. So it definitely gives me more incentive than I had without kids.

Ashley:

Yeah, you do a great job. You’re great at both. What’s one of the most unusual or unexpected things you’ve faced in your career?

Chris:

Unusual or unexpected? Well, this probably is something that you’d get all the time is covid, right? I mean, surviving Covid was wild. We literally, we had to transition very quickly to a firm that was meeting people we met in the parking lot, some people still wanted, had to sign documents and notarize, and you still had to do notaries in person. So we would be passing documents through a small crack in the window to people in the parking lot. We did a lot of Zoom. There was a lot of court zoom, wondering how lines of our business that we do every day were going to be impacted. People were living much different lives. They weren’t going out, they weren’t, people weren’t getting in car accidents and slipping fall on properties and work injuries and bit by dogs. They weren’t leaving their house. So it was a much different practice and it was scary, but also helped us really hone in on the things that we did do well and take the time to really hone the processes that go into that behind the scenes. And some of those, we’ve kept it today. I mean, a lot of people still don’t want to come in

And we try and make scheduling appointments and our accessibility as easy as possible, but that was really challenging. It was really challenging.

Ashley:

I never even thought about that during, I was still a freshman in high school, so I didn’t even think about how that must have affected your firm.

Chris:

Well, I mean, I was in work every day, even still as you may remember. So as was all the staff, which was amazing, and mommy worked from home. You guys were all on Zoom for school and I still was in every day. And I’m happy because I love coming into work, and that’s always the way it was. So even when I came in to go on Zoom, it’s just the comfort of knowing that all the technology in the office and everybody’s here and the practice of law is a very communal thing where you’re bouncing off of each other and hearing how clients are doing because we can hear it from right down the hall across the floor. But it was a difficult time, one that I hope we don’t have to go through again.

Ashley:

Yeah. Please know what award that you’ve received are you most proud of and why?

Chris:

Well, one award recently, you may be aware of, because I remember calling when I was down in Atlanta and they had the Crisp Game Changer Summit. So our firm, I wouldn’t say it was just me because it’s such a team effort here. We got nominated for a firm of the year, and that’s amazing because these are firm owners from very small to massive multi multimillion dollar firms. And these are firms not just from Massachusetts, but from all over the country and some are from out of the country. And just to be even considered for that was very humbling. And it was great because when they had reached out about it, they wanted us to do a video and talk about some of the things that we had done over the last couple of years. And it really made me reflect on all of the things that we have done starting this new podcast, which I love and is a nice creative outlet.

But I wrote a book, we did enhancements to the technology experience for the clients. We’ve done so many different things in here, and the staff has been amazing in implementing it. And I think it’s really, I thought we did a great job before and it’s really, really enhanced the client experience, and I’m very proud of that. And that’s something that I can’t take credit for because as you said with Stacy on the phone and it’s all of the staff here that day in and day out makes that a priority. So I was happy for the team with that. Yeah,

Ashley:

Very well deserved.

Chris:

Thank you.

Ashley:

What is the most rewarding aspect of being a lawyer to you?

Chris:

Oh, that’s an easy one of all these, because I can tell you I did, having done the consulting job, I worked in the prosecutor’s office, I bounced. I mean, as you know, I worked for Papa doing construction and so many different things I’ve tried over my years of working. But there’s nothing more rewarding than really helping somebody when there’s a limited amount of people that can help that person because they need somebody that’s licensed as an attorney to appear for them in court. And they’ve gone through a devastating time because somebody’s gotten horrifically injured early on in my career when they were going through a bad divorce or they’re losing a home or buying a home. Those are all major milestones in people’s lives. And the gratification you get out of helping other people is more than I’ve experienced in any other job I’ve tried doing.

Ashley:

Yeah, that’s pretty amazing. I’m very interested. What career would you have pursued if you didn’t weren’t a lawyer?

Chris:

That’s a great one. As you probably know, N is one of eight. And all of my uncles on that side were all firefighters and mechanics on Papa’s side, they were very much in the trades. He was in construction and early as a young kid your age when some of the uncles were going to the firehouse in Manhattan, I would go along on some of the rides with them. And it was a pretty exhilarating, again, helping people. But I looked up to those guys and if I had to do it all over again, I love what I do, but if I hadn’t chosen law, I think a firefighter would be at the top of the list. I think for a long time after Papa had started his construction company, I think there was a thought that maybe Uncle Craig and I might get involved and take that over. And Papa was very adamant about us choosing something else and not going into his business. And I’m grateful that we did because I wouldn’t change anything for where I am now. But I’d probably say that’s where I was destined to go a firefighter, believe it or not, I cannot. That’s so much of what I was exposed to. Those are the guys I looked up to and the amazing work that they did and went through and still very appreciative of all the first responders.

Ashley:

Yeah, I can’t imagine if you were to be a firefighter, that’d be so…

Chris:

Yeah, as you know from all of, we have a very close family and we get together, Nana side’s, huge mommy side’s, huge. And we get together in family reunions every year. And you were younger when some of these happened, but obviously after September 11th, mommy and I got married shortly after that, and it was a very difficult time for all the uncles going through everything and what they experienced, and they’ve been through a lot. So it’s an amazing profession and a very hard one, one that they’ve given a lot of years of their life to, and we’re just happy that they’re all still with us.

Ashley:

Yeah, love the uncles.

Chris:

Yeah. Yeah, they’re a lot of fun.

Ashley:

Hilarious. Alright, shifting into the more personal questions. What is your favorite childhood memory of us?

Chris:

Of the three of you kids?

Ashley:

No, me and you.

Chris:

Oh, just us. Okay. Some great ones. You were a Disney fanatic, so it was always fun when we went to Disney and watching you experience that. The characters,

Ashley:

That one video, Papa always sends the group chat of me dancing. Isn’t it on your shoulders? I’m dancing to that song. Papa sends it to the group chat every month.

Chris:

But you would love Disney and you would freak out anytime you saw a character. We literally would have to go around the whole other side of the park to avoid characters. You were petrified of them. Yeah.

Ashley:

Oh, like scared. Yeah.

Chris:

You’re scared you wouldn’t want to go up to them and you’re run the other way.

Ashley:

Really?

Chris:

Yeah. And then when you hurt your finger in the hotel at Disney once, and Disney was amazing and came with like 40 stuffed animals. And we have

Ashley:

A picture of you. Yeah, that mom

Chris:

Throughout. Yeah. Well, they were old.

Ashley:

No, well, she told me, I look at that picture and all those stuffed animals there. I remember loving them and she said, when we moved, we just told you we lost it with all the moving boxes, but we threw it out.

Chris:

Yeah, well you had like a hundred stuffed animals.

Ashley:

That’s ridiculous.

Chris:

But I also, not to go back to Covid, I loved time with Covid with you because we’d have those soccer games in the backyard. We always went for long walks. That was really nice. Obviously doing the little sprint triathlon with you in town was awesome.

Ashley:

Yeah, it was the best.

Chris:

The first one. Second one, not so much.

Ashley:

What do you mean?

Chris:

Well, so we did it the first one when I actually trained for it and

Ashley:

Oh, I didn’t do that.

Chris:

Oh, you didn’t do it. You’re right. You did the second one that I didn’t train for.

Ashley:

Yeah, I didn’t train for either, but

Chris:

Yeah. But you were a swimmer and I was dying. I thought I was going to because you were 10 years old, I think.

Ashley:

Yeah,

Chris:

10 or 11. You were the youngest person ever to do it.

And you had to go out into a lake and they had paddle boarders. But all I could think of is what happens if you get a cramp or you went down and it’s deep and it’s dark, it’s a lake. And here I am having zero training went out and all you wanted to do is talk to me and I’m like dying. Literally dying. Remember? Just go without me. I remember you yelling. Yelling at me, and I called for a noodle because I thought I was going to drown. And you finished and you did a great job. But it’s been fun to watch. You take on a lot of those challenges.

Ashley:

The 5K isn’t your favorite memory.

Chris:

5K was fun. Yeah, that was Rolls reversed there. You couldn’t breathe and you were very snappy at me because you just wanted it over.

Ashley:

No, I was justified. You wouldn’t stop talking.

Chris:

Well, I love to pass the time when I’m running.

Ashley:

What’s a piece of advice you’ve given me that you hope always remember?

Chris:

Well as you’re coming into your career, you’re starting to work as you’re in college. And papa would always give me advice that anything worth doing that is worth doing all the way, don’t half ass anything.

So if you’re going to do it, don’t just show up to put in a day’s work, show up and do the best job you can do there and be the best at what you do. And the other thing I would say work-wise, because it’s a very, life is competitive and it’s tough and it’ll constantly beat you down. But if you go into thinking this is what my job description is, but I’m going to do that plus meaning let’s say, which is not, let’s say you’re going to go clean somebody’s pool and they said, just go clean the pool. Well, if you clean the pool and you rearrange their shed, guess what? They’re going to recommend you to everybody. You went above and beyond. Doing more than is asked of you is always going to make you stand out because I don’t think enough people, they just do the bare minimum or they do what they’re told, but the people without being asked that go above and beyond are the ones that really stand out. And I think that’s what I would advise you to do as you’re coming into your career.

Ashley:

Yeah, I think you guys have always told me that. I remember once in fourth grade, I went above and beyond for some assignment and then she, I became like the teacher’s pet though, so I hated me, but she loved me and she kept using me as an example and I thought I was That’s

Chris:

A great example person

Ashley:

Ever.

Chris:

Yeah, because not enough people do that. So it really makes you stand out for good reasons.

Ashley:

Yeah. I know you just mentioned papa teaching you that, but is there any other lessons your parents taught you that you’ve tried to pass down to me?

Chris:

Yeah. So Nana was a neat freak. Yeah,

Ashley:

I remember you said she used to organize your room

Chris:

When

Ashley:

You weren’t there. Oh yeah. For

Chris:

That’s like a hobby of hers. I’d come home and everything would be rearranged all the furniture, but especially in my profession, being organized, being detail oriented is huge. And that’s something that she was big on early on and that was just one of her innate qualities. And I’m happy that we picked it up because I enjoy having things neat and Orly where they’re supposed to be and being punctual. I think the old saying that if you’re not 15 minutes early, you’re late. That’s true. Maybe it’s a pet peeve of mine. I don’t like tardiness. I think it’s just a level of respect that you’re showing yourself,

Ashley:

But

Chris:

Everybody else that’s there. So I think that’s a big lesson I learned.

Ashley:

Yeah, you guys have definitely passed that on. To me, I hate when things are messy. I am crazy organized because of you guys. Our house is always so clean. It’s so nice. And the boys are clean, which is very surprising.

Chris:

Yeah. Well, they have a little room for improvement, I’d say. Yeah.

Ashley:

Obviously because I’m the best child. But what’s your favorite activity for us to do together?

Chris:

The family or just you and I? You and I?

Ashley:

Yes.

Chris:

Well, I love our little father-daughter outings that we would do. Yeah,

Ashley:

I’ll bring those back.

Chris:

I know when we go out to dinner together or we go to a movie together a couple times that we’ve done it with close friends of ours that we go father daughter, father daughter. Those are great where it’s just anytime that we can get just you and I like this is because life is so busy. You have friends and commitments and work and school and as do I, obviously, but when we can carve out time just for you and I to do anything really, that’s what I do love. But art, we’ve been fortunate to have a lot of little father daughter outings, which I’ve loved

Ashley:

Still waiting on you to take me to lunch sometime now that I’m working here. But at least I get to see you more now that I’m here

Chris:

And you’ve been doing great.

Ashley:

Okay. But yeah, I love going to the movies with your points now that you have.

Chris:

Yes, movies are fun.

Ashley:

What was a moment you were most proud of me

Chris:

All the time. Always proud of you. Boring,

Most proud of you. I mean, the way you’ve gotten through transition, through Covid, having to move schools, you just picked up and ran with it and you did. Mommy and I still talk about it. You have such an amazing friend group that came out of that. But just to be thrust fresh off of very difficult covid year, get thrown into a completely new school at a very difficult time in life to make that transition. I think he did such an amazing job and I’m so grateful for that. And really, I mean, you did the best buddy’s ride. You did the triathlon, you were a varsity soccer player. So many great things. But the most important is that I love how you prioritize a family. You always want to go see nana and papa and go out to breakfast or lunch with them, or you make Sunday dinners a priority, even though not easy for kids your age to want to come sit down and make sure that they prioritize family. And yeah,

Ashley:

It’s easy when you have the greatest family,

Chris:

But you’re setting that great example for your brothers and that you’re prioritizing it and your cousins are doing that. And I love that you do that. But

Ashley:

Yeah, I was very lucky to have you guys give me that leap to transfer during Covid though. That was the biggest blessing of my life going there.

Chris:

Yeah, and I’m sure you look back now and it seems easy, but that had to be tough, right?

Ashley:

Yeah. But it was so worth it.

Chris:

Yeah. It goes back to what I said earlier. Sometimes the hardest things or the things that were scared of the most are the most rewarding. And so many people just feel that level of uncomfort where they’re scared and they never do it. And we’re a big hockey family, and Wayne Gretzky says, you miss all the shots you don’t take. But it’s such a true thing for life. And so many people are afraid of failing that they don’t realize they failed by not trying. So

Ashley:

I feel

Chris:

I’m glad that you do feel

Ashley:

Like a big thing. You’ve taught us to just do everything and don’t be afraid of failing, stuff like that.

Chris:

I failed many times in my life, go look up my election cycle, but I’ve become better for all of those experiences and I think it’s made me more successful in other areas. It’s provided me opportunities that I wouldn’t have otherwise had. And failure is the path to success. Tos the only way to get there.

Ashley:

Amazing quote that was so, I don’t know. The way you said that was really, well, sorry, I don’t know.

Chris:

I couldn’t remember it if you wanted me to say it again.

Ashley:

What’s something people would be surprised to learn about? You

Chris:

Surprised to learn about me? I wish when I was younger, I was a wrestler. And it’s not a sport that’s extremely well known or practiced, especially where all our guys are hockey and you wear soccer and swimming and dance. But people would be surprised to learn that I was a wrestler in high school, four years on varsity, loved it. And that was still to this day, I credit my high school wrestling coaches with the work ethic that I attack life with and coaches and teachers. It makes such a big impact on people. And so that’s something people probably wouldn’t know, but I’m very grateful that I went through.

Ashley:

Yeah, I can definitely agree with coaches. I had the best soccer coach ever.

Chris:

Mom, shout out to mom

Ashley:

And for the final question, who is your favorite child? I mean, we all know.

Chris:

Yes, you’re all equally loved.

Ashley:

Really.

Chris:

You’re my favorite daughter. How That’s

Ashley:

So ridiculous.

Chris:

I love you all. You’ll learn when you become a parent that you can’t take

Ashley:

Sides. I don’t believe that for a second.

Chris:

I know none of you do because you all are constantly bringing this up, but I really can’t say anything because Uncle Craig and I do the same thing to dad and papa. So yeah, whatever. I’m so proud of you. Thank you. I’m so happy that you did this. I love spending time with you.

Ashley:

You too.

Chris:

You’re doing a great job here.

Ashley:

You should have said your favorite child is Buddy.

Chris:

Yes, he is. That

Ashley:

Would’ve been the perfect answer in love with Buddy. Yes.

Chris:

So I have two that’s a little known fact, right? I have two dogs. We used to have two big dogs, that yellow labs, but now we have a DA sound and a multi poo, and I am obsessed and I’m really with the

Ashley:

Dogs on.

Chris:

Yeah, I really do show favoritism to buddy

Ashley:

Poor Bentley

Chris:

Dashon, but he is so handsome and such a good dog.

Ashley:

Got to get him a little cameo on the DiBella law.

Chris:

Yeah, he should be our mascot.

Ashley:

Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. All right, well, that’s it for my questions.

Chris:

All right, well, thank you so much. Thank you guys so much for joining us. This has really been a lot of fun, and I hope if you have any other questions, I know Ashley really wanted to, if you’re still listening, you’ve gotten through this whole thing. If you guys do have any questions or topics that you’d like us to address on any future podcasts, just leave a comment or shoot us an email and we’d be happy to tackle that. Thank you so much for joining us.