Episode #43: An Incredible Philadelphia Entrepreneur: Eustace Mita

Super excited to share my conversation with Eustace Mita, one of the most incredible entrepreneurs I have interviewed thus far! Shout out to his daughter Molly Mita who was kind enough to help coordinate this interview.

Euse was born and raised in Philadelphia and was the middle child of five kids. Today, he is married to his amazing wife Suzie for 43 years and together they have 5 children and 14 grandchildren. We start out our conversation by talking about Euse’s career in the car industry. At 16, he started buying and selling 1965 Mustangs. He would buy them out of the Inquirer for $200, fix it up and sell it for $400. Those were just the beginning days.

Euse went on to start his own company, Mita Leasing, which became one of the ten leasing companies on the east coast. Then in 1989, he joined forces with his uncle Euse Wolfington. For those of you not familiar, Euse Wolfington (past podcast guest) founded his company called Half a Car, which revolutionized the car industry. So when Euse Mita joined Half a Car, he became President and played a major role in expanding the company to over 18 countries with more than four thousand dealerships in the system.

He talks about how the company became a powerhouse and eventually was sold in 2000 for $200M. Shortly after the sale of Half A Car,  Euse found a passion for real estate and founded Achristavest, where he develops state-of-the-art residential homes around the country including Utah, Maryland, New Jersey, the Carolinas, Pennsylvania, Nantucket, and most recently, Costa Rica.

In 2013, Euse’s passion for real estate evolved into hotel development. He founded Icona Resorts, a luxury hotel brand which currently has locations in southern New Jersey including the Icona Diamond Beach, Avalon, and Cape May—and they all have been ranked #1 rated beachfront hotel!

Throughout our conversation, Euse not only tells us about his entrepreneurial journey, but also sprinkles in valuable life lessons. We touch on the importance of setbacks and failures, his unwavering faith, always maintaining a positive attitude,  how to be leader, humility, and so much more. Hope you enjoy!

Books:

“How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie

“The Greatest Salesman in the World” by Og Mandino

“As a Man Thinketh” by James Allen

“Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill

“The Power of Your Subconscious Mind” by Joseph Murphy