Philip Ottaviani, a resident of Framingham his entire life, recently announced his candidacy for Framingham, Massachusetts City Council District 6, as the city transitions from a town to a city. No stranger to local politics, Ottaviani has been a Town Meeting member for 25 years and a Zoning Board of Appeals member for 18 years. As a longtime Framingham business owner and real estate agent, Ottaviani understands how to manage transition. He says that when the citizens of Framingham cast their vote to change their municipal status to city, he saw an opportunity to make a difference. I recently sat down with Philip Ottaviani to find out what it takes to grow and prosper amidst change and to find out Phillip Ottaviani’s personal blueprint for making a difference.
Collaboration Equals Progress: Ottaviani is in the top 1% of sales people in his real estate career, where he closes a whopping $20M annually in real estate sales. He says that if there’s anything he does better than most, it is that he has the ability to get both sides in a negotiation to collaborate so that everyone walks away satisfied. Ottaviani points out that there are a great number of parties involved in every real estate transaction. Of course, there’s the buyer and the seller. However, beyond that, there’s the bank, appraiser, attorney, real estate agents, inspectors, and additional buyers and sellers in domino transactions. He says collaboration requires the he constantly remind the parties that it’s not about getting your way 100% of the time, but rather that progress requires everyone to collaborate to a point that each party feels satisfied with the outcome. Real estate is a symphony of many moving parts and several competing interests, just like city government. Ottaviani says that when all the parties to the transaction see that the road to closing is only possible with collaboration, everyone lets up control a little to find a solution that works best, not just for themselves, but for everyone.
Work When Nobody’s Watching: Ottaviani began bussing tables at his Framingham family restaurant, Union House, when he was 14 years old. He worked there throughout high school and college (undergrad at BC and JD at New England School of Law). While many of his friends were out at parties or football games during the weekend, he snuck off to the restaurant to earn a paycheck. He said that his work ethic was passed down from his grandparents and parents. His grandfather taught him that success would be inevitable in life, if he used his downtime as an opportunity to earn his keep. Ottaviani says that when his friends would ask if he was coming to the party or a game, he just simply said, “I can’t tonight,” then he’d head to the restaurant and work. Ottaviani says that throughout his life he did many jobs at the restaurant from bussing tables and bartending to eventually owning and running it. He says he will never discount his college education, but admits, that the real lessons he learned about hard work, perseverance, and commitment came from his career in the food industry. He says when it comes to making a difference in any business or community, often it comes down to the work that’s being done when nobody is watching. Even today, Phillip says that any success he’s had thus far in life, it is because he’s out working when nobody is watching.
Do More Than You Were Hired For: Ottaviani’s goal in every career undertaking is to make a difference in the community and in the lives of those he works with. He says that to carry out this mission, he looks for opportunities to do more than he was hired to do. This is one reason why Ottaviani is popular with a handful of local developers. More than a sales person for the units, the builders and developers lean on him when it comes to evaluating the sub-contractors, the price being paid for product, and the design and architecture of each home. Ottaviani says that when you constantly look for opportunities to do more than what you were hired for, you become a valuable resource in the client’s life and business. Ottaviani says that no matter how big or small the sale is for him, he evaluates each transaction to determine what he can do to exceed the expectations of his client.
Care: The number one way to make a difference in any community, according to Ottaviani, is simple, just care. He says that when people really care about the schools, the city, and their neighbors, then real change is possible. Ottaviani is a member of the Framingham Rotary Club, is on the board of 200 Foundation, and is Vice President and Board Member of Hoops and Homework. Ottaviani admits that finding time to volunteer is not always easy. He says that of course there are times when he would rather be home hanging out with his wife and daughter rather than sitting in an evening board meeting, but he says he always shows up because caring is what moves the needle forward in any community. Caring is about having compassion, doing the work, and saying yes, when it means making a difference in the lives of people you may never meet, simply because they are part of the community.