Steve Salis: Charting a Modern Hero’s Journey as a Renaissance Man in Business and Beyond

Every great story—whether mythic, fictional, or real—follows a familiar arc known as the Hero’s Journey. This timeless structure, popularized by Joseph Campbell, is not only embraced by the most iconic heroes in the ancient myths of the greatest civilizations across time and culture, but it is also mirrored by modern fictional heroes like Luke Skywalker and Rocky. The Hero’s Journey begins with a call to adventure—a moment when the hero is drawn toward something beyond the familiar. Along the way, they confront obstacles, discover new strengths, and ultimately return victorious and transformed, ready to share their wisdom with others.

This journey isn’t reserved for fictional heroes only; it plays out in the lives of those who leave the ordinary behind in pursuit of something greater. Steve Salis is one such modern hero—a true renaissance man who, like the great polymaths of history, has pursued excellence across various fields, enabling him to better understand human nature and provide value to the masses without losing sight of the core human experiences that connect everyone. His path, while not scripted in myth, follows these universal beats: a man who left his home, driven by a hunger for something greater. His journey took him to the streets of New York City, where he faced his share of trials—honing his skills in the nightlife industry before embarking on his own entrepreneurial ventures to ultimately build something greater than he could have initially imagined. Through grit, resilience, and learning, Salis discovered what it takes to build something meaningful and enduring.

“I believe everybody has unique talents, but many never fulfill their potential. I have always been pushing boundaries and trying to cultivate my potential in its entirety. If I let life hold me back, I wouldn’t be where I am today and I wouldn’t be able to get where I want to go.”

From New Hampshire to New York

Raised in a lower-middle-class household in New Hampshire, Salis’s early life was far from glamorous. His background was defined by hard work, ambition, and an intrinsic desire to break free from the traditional paths laid out before him. In high school, Salis excelled on the basketball court, quickly gaining recognition as one of New Hampshire’s standout players and earning him recruitment offers to play at the collegiate level. However, after only a year of playing, Salis realized that while he could carve out a decent career in the sport, the financial security and freedom he sought wouldn’t come from chasing a professional basketball career and, even if he succeeded at playing professionally, the financial upside would pale in comparison to the economic freedom and opportunity he could potentially create through business and entrepreneurship.

With that perspective, Salis made the pivotal and risky decision to drop out of college just after turning 21 and move to New York City, cashing out $1,500 in savings bonds, with a couple of credit cards to his name. He first broke into the fashion industry but was soon disillusioned by its toxic culture, where exploitation can be the norm. He pivoted to the nightlife scene, eventually working as a doorman at some of the city’s most exclusive clubs. It was here, on the front lines of Manhattan’s after-hours culture, that he learned invaluable lessons about people, power, and the nuances of running a business.

He also gained an intimate understanding of how to navigate human behavior, dealing with everyone from club patrons to celebrities to investment bankers to business owners, learning what made people tick and how to leverage that knowledge for success. For Salis, this unique environment became a training ground for his future entrepreneurial ventures, honing his skills in people management, observation, negotiation, and psychology. It also enabled Salis to build an enviable Rolodex, connecting with powerful people across various industries every night. His ability to relate to people from different walks of life, combined with his street smarts, gave him access to opportunities that most would have missed.

Steve’s time in the nightlife industry is packed with shocking stories that highlight just how volatile and intense that world could be; at one point, he had a gun pulled on him by a clubgoer. He was also constantly surrounded by drugs, often witnessing people snorting cocaine or using needles in the back rooms. Despite the rampant drug culture, Steve remained steadfast in his personal discipline—never touching drugs himself.

“Life can be a game of inches—some decisions have profound consequences we may not realize until much later. I’ve had experiences I wouldn’t wish upon others, but they’ve ultimately shaped me and became positive catalysts for my growth.”

Turning Relationships Into Opportunity

Salis’s talent for forging relationships soon paid off. After making all these key connections, he landed his first consulting gig—despite having no formal operational experience. When a nightclub owner asked him to turn around a struggling venue, Steve boldly put forward a proposal for $15,000 a month. Much to his own surprise, Steve secured the deal due to a combination of his confidence, charisma, and tangible understanding of the problems and potential solutions.

Recognizing that he was out of his depth operationally, however, Steve hired friends who had the necessary expertise, arbitraging the deal by paying them a portion of his fee. This move not only allowed him to learn on the job, but it also gave him the financial freedom to continue growing. It was his first major lesson in leveraging relationships and resources to achieve success—an approach that would define his career as he transitioned from doorman to entrepreneur.

Utilizing the experience and trust he had earned, he started brokering more consulting deals to help struggling businesses turn around their operations — continuing to learn along the way while relying on the expertise of others when necessary. He structured consultancy deals where he would manage the high-level vision and customer relationship while seasoned operators ran the day-to-day, essentially earning a masterclass in hospitality and business management on someone else’s dime. In fact, one of his clients, an entrepreneur with a supper club in SoHo, became Salis’s co-founder in his &pizza venture a handful of years later. During this time, Salis continued to work doors at night to increase his earning potential and his network.

This era of his life culminated in his first independent venture, a tequila bar and taqueria in Manhattan’s West Village. Reminiscing on this time, Salis calls it his “baptism by fire” in entrepreneurship. For the first time, Salis had to deal not only with the front-facing aspects of a business—customer service, branding, and experience—but also the backend, including finance, HR, and logistics. This full-spectrum view of the industry was critical to his development as a well-rounded leader and would inform his future success.

The Birth of a Brand: Building and Scaling &pizza

Salis’s real breakthrough came when he combined his previous experience with his vision for creating a premium, yet accessible brand. This idea took shape in the form of &pizza, a made-to-order, single-size pizza business that redefined what fast-casual dining could be. Salis identified a gap in the market: while New York was known for its pizza, many of the city’s slice joints were pre-made, not fresh, and, at best, inconsistent in quality. He saw an opportunity to elevate the product without losing its core appeal—fast, simple, and affordable food.

“I had a lot of challenges trying to make my way in New York City, but something about the timing of this opportunity felt right.”

His inspiration came from fine dining chefs like Jean-Georges Vongerichten, who were reimagining traditional foods by infusing them with global flavors and sophisticated techniques. Salis saw an opportunity to borrow from these high-end culinary practices and bring them to the masses—offering a taste of something elevated without the fine dining price tag. This inspiration shaped his belief that premium quality should be accessible, a concept that has defined his entire business philosophy. He understood that pizza, perhaps more than any other food, was universally approachable so it was a natural first use case. By maintaining that sense of accessibility while improving the ingredients and presentation, he could create something both familiar and fresh.

Customers could walk in and build their own pizzas, choosing from an array of ingredients that ranged from the classic to the exotic. Salis’s premium yet approachable philosophy enabled him to tap into the zeitgeist of the mom-and-pop pizza shop experience. This empowered Salis and the &pizza brand to leverage pizza as a connective tool between the people and their community. Salis’s success with this model helped crystallize what would come to be his philosophy of ‘premium approachability.’ Having been an active consumer himself, Salis felt vindicated in how catering to the everyday person translated into a great restaurant and an even better business. As an objective measure of this success, Salis sold &pizza in 2019.

Navigating a Changing Industry

Throughout his career, from exiting &pizza to founding and acquiring new businesses, Salis has seen opportunities where others saw obstacles. Challenges like inflation, rising labor costs, and supply chain disruptions, all exacerbated by the pandemic, required a reevaluation of how businesses could remain competitive in a volatile market.

Salis understands that the hospitality industry, along with many other industries, was and still is facing a period of immense transformation. Traditional business models are being tested like never before, and new technologies—artificial intelligence, automation, and customer relationship management systems—are beginning to reshape how businesses operate. For Salis, the key is identifying which innovations are here to stay and which are mere fads. He believes in betting on fixtures—those long-term, sustainable solutions that would endure long after the hype had faded.

“While the world evolves, many things remain constant. Technology has enabled companies to become more dynamic and efficient — such as connecting with guests on a deeper level. They choose to spend their money with us, but they don’t have to. That is a responsibility we seriously honor.”

For instance, while some rushed to adopt AI and robotics in ways that might disrupt the customer experience, Salis focused on how these technologies could enhance operations without losing the personal touch that defines hospitality. The goal was to use technology to complement the human element, not replace it.

Ted’s Bulletin, Washington, D.C.

Photo Credit: Ted’s Bulletin

Building Multi-Generational Businesses Through Premium Approachability

Salis has always taken the long view. His goal is not just to build a successful business but to build one that is multi-generational and dynastic, enduring the test of time. This ambition drives his current focus on acquiring and aggregating complementary brands under a shared belief system. Each business under his Catalogue umbrella is designed to stand on its own while benefiting from the shared infrastructure and premium yet approachable ethos that Salis has meticulously cultivated.

Salis is not interested in creating products or services that only cater to the elite; instead, he wants to elevate everyday experiences for as many people as possible.

Beyond Business: The Man Behind the Brands

While Salis is best known for his business acumen, he is also passionate about his personal interests. A self-described wine enthusiast, he has built an impressive collection of rare vintages from around the world. Last year, he hosted 22 friends and family members on a private trip to Napa Valley. Over the course of seven days, he introduced them to some of the world’s most renowned vineyards, blending education with enjoyment. His passion for wine, much like his passion for business, is rooted in an appreciation for craftsmanship, quality, and history.

A dedicated memorabilia collector, Salis has curated a remarkable collection, including pieces that reflect his New England heritage. With the region’s storied sports history, he naturally gravitates toward memorabilia celebrating the achievements of Boston’s iconic teams and players over the past two decades. However, his collection is not limited to the region, spanning multiple sports, teams, and star players and reflecting a broader interest in pursuing greatness as well as history and culture.

While he admits he is not an obsessive collector, Salis has also assembled a distinguished watch and car collection, featuring luxury watches like Patek Philippe, Rolex, and Audemars Piguet as well as luxury cars like Ferrari and Porsche.

An avid student of history and different cultures, Salis is particularly drawn to the transformative events of the 19th and 20th centuries. He is fascinated by the industrial dynasties of figures like Andrew Carnegie and J.P. Morgan, whose visionary enterprises reshaped the modern world. The innovations and global shifts of the World Wars, as well as the socioeconomic changes brought about by waves of immigration to the United States, also resonate deeply with him. Salis often reflects on how these historical patterns align with consumer behavior, observing that the staples of human consumption remain remarkably consistent even as new trends emerge.

“Heritage fascinates me. As a steward of brands, I deeply admire the challenge of protecting their history while weaving in modernity to evolve their legacy. It’s like inheriting a great book, knowing the story is still largely unwritten, while holding the pen to write its next chapter.”

Furthermore, drawing from his background as an athlete, Salis understands the importance of disciplined training, nutrition, and rest routines, believing that by maximizing his health he can maximize his productivity and effectiveness in business. He works with a team that regularly assesses and adjusts his training based on his physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional health.

Whether it’s collecting fine wines, watches, and cars to studying history to maintaining a health and wellness routine, Salis approaches everything with the same intensity and focus that has driven his entrepreneurial success.

Conclusion: A Legacy in the Making

Salis is not just building businesses—he’s building a legacy. His journey from New Hampshire to New York, from nightclub doors to his vast business holdings and beyond, is a testament to the power of perseverance, vision, and adaptability. He has proven that it’s possible to create something premium without losing touch with the masses, and that, in a world of fleeting trends, sustainability and authenticity will always win out.

As he continues to expand his empire, Salis remains focused on the long game, determined to build something that lasts. As a modern renaissance man, Salis has applied his breadth of knowledge and experience to better understand people and elevate their everyday experiences, never losing touch with the fundamental human connections that define us. It’s a story that’s still being written, but if the past is any indication, Salis’s continual pursuits will be just as bold, ambitious, and successful as the ones that came before.

The path to something meaningful starts with the courage to simply begin. There’s no perfect moment or map to follow—just the resolve to move forward, adapt, and trust that every step shapes something lasting. Those who put themselves out there and are unafraid to break from the familiar, create more than just success. People like Steve Salis set a foundation for others to do the same, proving that impact is built one choice at a time.

“I’d rather fail spectacularly chasing my goals than hold back. Without risk, there’s no story. If you believe in something, you have to go for it.”