Don Williams, host of The Proven Entrepreneur, released Episode 166 on July 27, 2026, featuring Gino Barbaro, co-founder of Jake and Gino and founder of Barbaro360. The conversation moves beyond typical real estate investing topics to explore grief, identity, and the living legacy an entrepreneur can create.
Barbaro, who began working in his family's restaurant at age eight after his father handed him a knife, traces his entrepreneurial roots to that early experience. After his father's death in 2007, he questioned whether he was living his own dream or his father's. He credits T. Harv Eker's Secrets of the Millionaire Mind with helping him reframe that moment. “Legacy is not something that you leave behind. Legacy is something that you activate today,” Barbaro said. “And when you have that mindset, everything changes.”
The episode delves into why many real estate investors fail: they treat properties as a collection of assets rather than as a business with a framework. Barbaro explains how the 18-month search for his first multifamily deal in 2013 shaped the Jake and Gino methodology. He also discusses building Barbaro360 alongside his wife and six children as a financial literacy platform, and co-hosting The Happy Money Podcast with his 23-year-old son.
When Williams asked what a mature entrepreneur fears, Barbaro admitted his current fear is not a bad deal but the risk of building Barbaro360 poorly and leaving his children with the impression that “business just sucks.” He redefines entrepreneurship by highlighting his stay-at-home wife and his 26-year-old missionary daughter, who sells handmade jewelry and holds a massage license, as diverse examples of entrepreneurial spirit.
Williams, author of Romancing Your Customer and Build Your Big Legacy, connects the discussion to seeing offers from the customer's point of view and keeping faith, family, self, and business in that order. Episode 166 of The Proven Entrepreneur is available now at provenentrepreneurshow.com and wherever podcasts are heard.
