Youngstown Financial Adviser Publishes ‘No Justificuses’

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – If there is one point that Deanna Rossi wants readers of her new book to come away with, it’s that everything they have ever wanted is on the other side of whatever obstacles they are facing.

Rossi, an investment adviser and branch supervisor at the downtown office of TransAmerica Financial Advisors, recently published through Amazon “No Justificuses: It’s Time to Wake Up, Suck it Up & Grow Up.”

After publishing her first book in 2019, “The Gift of Money,” Rossi had some concepts in mind for other books although not the whole premise, she said.

In August 2021, she suffered an occipital stroke that that left her partially blinded. She credited the aspirin in the Excedrin she had purchased on impulse before boarding her plane with breaking up the stroke enough so that it didn’t leave her more severely debilitated, or worse.

She was determined to persevere for her husband, attorney Gregg Rossi, whom she had wed less than two years earlier, and her two children from a previous marriage.

After the stroke, how to blend and deliver the stories that she wanted to tell “really came together” because many of the stories were about perseverance.

She spent more than a month in a dark room as she recovered.

“I had to do something. So I set my phone to talk-to-text. I had this mindset that I had to persevere and push through. I started writing about that mindset and the different people that I had experiences with and had been mentored by over the years,” she continued. “I started writing some of those stories, talk-to-text, about how and why I have that ‘no justificuses’ – a mashup up of justifications and excuses.”

In addition to her own thoughts, Rossi shares insights, anecdotes and experiences from community leaders including Youngstown State University President Jim Tressel, friends and local business owners.

“Deanna is the best kind of strong woman who is beautiful to be open with her story and perspectives to help build and grow those around her,” said Lisa Resnick, broker and owner of Dandelion Properties in Canfield.

The book is her outreach “to make an impact on so many more people,” Resnick added. 

“Deanna’s approach to this book, much like her approach to life, is no nonsense,” said Bergen Giordani, co-owner of One Hot Cookie and OH Donut Co. The book provides anecdotal stories in “a very conversational approach that will help others take the same approach to goal setting and achievement”

One of the stories Rossi shares involved OH Donut Co., which had advertised on its Facebook page for workers. “Must be 16 years old and apply in person. PS: In person means the actual applicant comes in, not their mom!”

Giordani confirmed that parents will sometimes fill out applications for their children, who get hired and turn out to be “terrible” workers. In one instance, she said, a father called because his 17-year-old daughter was having trouble with her direct deposit and with scheduling days off rather than the employee directly dealing with her supervisor.

Many of the stories involve animals, which Rossi said stems from telling her children stories when they were young. One centers on a dog and an electric fence it never crosses, not knowing that “on the other side of that pain is everything they ever wanted,” she said.

“That’s true in human nature as well. A lot of us will back off as soon as something becomes uncomfortable and we stay in our comfort zone,’ she continued. “We never cross through that moment of uncomfortable to get everything we’ve ever wanted.”

The morale of another tale involves a donkey and its owner. “Sometimes you think that everyone and everything is out to get you when in reality all of those things that are happening to you are allowing you a step up in life,” she said.

The book reminds her as well as her readers of the importance of perseverance.

“Everybody has a day that they don’t feel on the top of their game,” she said. Something might “seem like a big hurdle. But you if you pass through this hurdle, there’s going to be a smoother road on the other side.”

Rossi said she has recovered some of her vision but some of will never return.

She remains upbeat. She and her husband recently went to Italy and she has resumed speaking at conferences for Transamerica.

“I’m doing well, I’m feeling well and making sure that I take care of multiple elements of my health,” she said. “At the same time, I’m enjoying life. Life is short so live it up.”

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.