We recently connected with Tony Selvaggio and have shared our conversation below.

Tony, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Innovation comes in all shapes, sizes and across all industries, so we’d love to hear about something you’ve done that you feel was particularly innovative.

Immigrants are peculiar in the way they see things. Challenges and opportunities mean different things because we have different perspectives on how the world works. One of the biggest culture shocks I experienced when I came to the United States at age 24, and already having a background in scrap metal from a previous job I had in Venezuela right after college, was the way trash and recycling were being handled.  Out of pure necessity, I fell into the e-waste world and quickly noticed it was an emerging industry because of the nature of technology and how fast it had been evolving, as opposed to more mature industries and commodities such as textiles, plastics, or even metal.
In my first few months of meeting people and trying to get the business going, I started collecting old computers and electronics from smaller clients who had no idea what to do with them. One of the things that caught my attention was how new these computers were, as I compared them to the old dinosaurs I was used to from back home.
One day, I connected with a nonprofit organization that was helping people in the community, including children and their families. Even though they were supporting almost 300 hundred people regularly, they had absolutely no computers in their center, and they desperately needed some equipment for the kids could do their homework, and the parents could access basic services such as paying bills or even applying for jobs.
Witnessing that incredible gap between all the computers that are literally thrown away, almost 200,000 a year in the US alone, and how we have about 30 million kids in the country without access to technology, became so hard to understand, that we made it a point to create a business specifically to solve that issue.
Without knowing it at the time, we were making a dent in a blue-collar industry, and creating an innovative business model that is currently growing, expanding, and impacting thousands of lives of kids and families all over the world.
Innovation also comes from looking at usual problems through a different lens, and connecting the dots differently. We are excited to be a part of this “revolution in capitalism” and showcase how caring for the people you serve, in the place where you work and live, is the “next big thing” in how businesses provide tangible benefits to their shareholders and their stakeholders.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Tony Selvaggio, and I believe that the best way to solve social problems is through business models.

I arrived in Tampa, FL in 2011 pursuing the American dream, leaving everything and everyone behind in my hometown in Venezuela. With only a couple of hundred dollars in my pocket, and without knowing a single person, I found a community that welcomed me with open arms and gave me, among so many things, my purpose in life.

I started eSmart Recycling in 2014, where the mission of recycling technology to fund computers labs for kids and families all over the world put us in the spotlight, and gave us a platform to talk about issues such as access to quality education, equality of opportunity, immigration, sustainability, and many more.

Now, we use our business and community influence and leadership to bring people together, collaborate, and find creative solutions to tackle issues affecting our communities.

I have a passionate desire to always keep learning, challenge the status quo, and elevate those around us.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

A lesson I had to unlearn was the need to have an answer or solution for everything immediately as an entrepreneur and business owner. I think one of the most important things I had to learn was patience and trusting the process. We are often so focused on the “end goal” that we forget that the journey is actually the real purpose of it all. Since I moved to the United States in 2011 from Venezuela, I’ve felt that my entrepreneurial journey was directly related to my personal journey to find purpose in life. This is why building and growing the company is so important, because as a mission-driven business, we understand the impact we have in the lives of the people we serve. One of my favorite quotes, and one that has served as a guideline in my growth journey, comes from Brian Tracy, he says: “The First Million Is Hard, But The Second Million Is Inevitable”, and this is because of the person you need to become. You have to become a completely different person and develop the right character and tools that will make you succeed. Patience, by far, is one of them.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Being able to align what I love doing with what makes us money has been key because it helps us advocate for a solution to the worldwide problem of Digital Equity and Access to Technology and Education in a way where it makes good business sense. Because of this, our community engagement has helped us greatly to align with community and business leaders who are passionate about positive change. I strongly believe businesses should be a force for social good, and by integrating something you love with something that generates revenue, you create a virtuous cycle of win-win-win relationships and set up a roadmap that allows you to scale, purposefully.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.esmartrecycling.com
• Instagram: @esmartrecycling
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/esmartrecycling/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tselvaggio
• Twitter: @esmartrecycling