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- Fides Entrepreneurship 1st Year Anniversary and our story
Fides Entrepreneurship 1st Year Anniversary and our story
Luca Zocche
December 10, 2025
A Night of Testimonies and Grace
Dear those who joined us in-person and from a distance,
Because of your generosity last night, we raised $3,200 to sponsor university and high school students so they can attend our 2026 events entirely free.
Below is a glimpse into the night that reminded us why this mission matters.
The Testimonies
Michel: “It resonated the most when you started bringing it up.”
Our first-ever Fides speaker shared that this mission had been on his heart long before Fides existed and that seeing it take shape has been a blessing he never expected.
Mike: “The beautiful thing about our Catholic faith is service.”
Mike captured the quiet center of Fides: a community built not on achievement, but on service the kind that strengthens both ambition and holiness.
Todd spoke about life in Manhattan “dancing on the edge of the abyss,” a near-death illness during COVID, and the emptiness of success without God.
Entrepreneurship and Fides gave him a way to unite his Catholic formation with actual using the gifts God has given him to do good.
Patrick “It didn’t seem much on the surface at the first event but I believed in it”
Patrick walked us through the evolution of Fides:
from an apartment, to a basement, to an auditorium, and now a hotel bar filled with founders and supporters of Fides.
His Advent reminder: Fides prepares us, strengthens us, and ensures we don’t walk alone.
Alexandra: “Let New York become the center of Catholic revival.”
Alexandra spoke about how rare it is in New York to find people who are both ambitious and committed to wanting to reach for holiness.
Her vision was clear: if a faith revival is happening in America and New York is “the center of the universe” then the Catholic revival should start here.
Ellie: “Padre Pio on Luca’s lock screen told me: I might have found my people.”
Ellie shared how Fides filled the loneliness that entrepreneurship often creates.
Her “Macy’s miracle” three years of stalled talks resolved two days after a Fides introduction showed how God can work through different people!
Finally telling the Story of Fides
We closed the night by sharing what this first anniversary really means.
Our mission at Fides is simple:
to inspire the next generation of Catholic Entrepreneurs.
Before any of this existed, I worked in the aviation industry.
As a young man, I met leaders like David Neeleman Founder JetBlue, the CEO of Embraer, the son of the founder of Pan Am, and Frank Lorenzo of Continental.
Some conversations were minutes.
My conversation with Frank lasted hours.
At twenty years old, those moments changed me.
They opened my imagination.
They taught me that one encounter, one conversation with the right person, can change the course of your entire life.
But they also showed me something deeper:
Access shapes people.
And so many young people even those far more creative and faith-filled than I ever was never receive it.
And even when I was in those rooms…
faith was never part of the conversation.
No one talked about vocation, virtue, or God.
That gap the lack of access and the absence of faith inside ambition is what eventually became the heart of Fides.
A little more than four years ago, when I returned to New York from abroad, I never imagined any of this.
All I knew was that I needed a church where young people were alive in their faith.
I walked into the Old Cathedral which, as of 2 days, an Instagrammer ranked the second-best church in Manhattan and that very night, at the wine social, I met two of my closest friends, Olivier and William who planted seeds for our mission.
At that time, I was pouring myself into three or four new ventures.
They failed.
Nothing worked.
Two more years went by and still nothing.
More failures. More destruction. Deals falling apart. A lifestyle that isolated me.
I kept praying novenas, the rosary, and going to Mass at the Old Cathedral.
But there was no breakthrough. Not yet.
I tried everything:
a startup airline,
an aviation podcast,
an aerospace credit card,
a Shark Tank–themed credit card.
Nothing worked.
But during those years, something unexpected happened.
At daily Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, I saw Ken Langone the co-founder of Home Depot praying quietly in a pew.
Growing up, my father, who is here tonight, always spoke of him as an example of a billionaire who went to church.
I never believed it.
Until I saw him in real life, making the sign of peace with a postman.
In that moment I realized:
Faith and success are not opposed.
You can build something great and still kneel before God.
That tiny spark stayed with me through all the failures, through having no income, no clarity, and no certainty.
Everytime I brought it up people at the Old Saint Pats social they would slightly laugh. They would say “How cool” or “that’s awesome.”
On the surface that was great but the laugh before showed something different on the face. It actually showed that most people may be going to church out of despair like me.
It showed to me in that moment that many people thought Why would I actually go to church if I had all the money in the world like Ken Langone does?
There it was and somehow the dots connected then. “Why not start something that can aspire people to be like Ken? Aspire for great wealth but giving thanks to God for that wealth?”
At that very same wine social that very night in early October 2024 after that moment I decided to approach my friend Michel.
He often spoke about putting faith first, even giving free care to those in need.
I asked him if he would share his story with a small group.
I feared maybe four people would come.
It felt like the beginning of another failure.
Two friends Joe Gandolfo and Patrick Dwyer believed in us and gave the seed money to try.
Slowly RSVPs began to appear.
By the night of the event, 20 people showed up.
Two even flew in from Europe.
Halfway through his talk, Michel looked around the room and said:
“Wait… is everyone here Catholic?”
When I said yes, he exhaled and shared with a level of honesty and vulnerability that changed the atmosphere instantly.
People wanted a space where they could talk openly about how their faith led them in their work.
That night, for the first time, something worked.
Even financially we broke even.
Our second event with Mike Espiritu went even better.
Then a third with Monika Elling more than 25 people came, this time overlooking the Freedom Tower.
Afterwards, Monika one of our advisors said:
“Luca, what you’re doing is great. You should go full-time with this.”
At the same time, I was spending a few days each month at a monastery, praying and asking God for guidance.
In those silent hours, God made something clear:
Listen. Stop forcing. Stop telling God the plan.
Let Him show you the path.
Around this time, one advisor told me:
“If nothing happens by January, I’ll help you get a job.”
January came.
And miraculously 100 people signed up.
From January to June, we grew tenfold.
Priests of Saint Jean de Baptiste, Saint Josephs, Old Saint Patricks and Saint Anthony’s offered supported permitting us to do outreach for our efforts and host events in their parishes.
We welcomed speakers like Sean Fieler, Pierre Ferragu, Jacob Cicarelli, Daniel Catone and Wayne Weddington.
Sponsors like Catholic Answers, Bom Dia Bubbles, Trinitas Cellars and French York stepped in generously.
Everything accelerated.
None of this was my doing.
It was God.
For years I prayed only for success and marriage.
I kept hitting walls and thought:
“I need to pray harder so God listens to me.”
But I had it backwards.
Prayer is not about God listening to us.
It’s about us listening to Him.
If one dedicates their business and life to what God wants you to do and you listen to him and do it the most incredible things can happen.
The forcing of humility on me to realize I needed to listen to God.
Such was sitting for hours in silence in a monastery in the middle of nowhere.
In the silence you suddenly hear what he wants of you. Let it be your will and tell me what I am doing wrong.
Coming back from those brief trips and hearing all of a sudden that you just have to go with the flow and listen to him it ends up being sometimes that even better things just happen then expected!
As one our speakers Sean Fieler shared with us at one of our events:
“When you find yourself kneeling and praying that a stock goes up but then it ends up going down… that’s not the right prayer.”
The takeaway is that by putting God first in creating your own business you can be led to doing good things.
That personal experience has shaped our mission and we truly hope that you have been able to see that and has enabled you as well to not only believe more deeply in your faith but made it a bedrock in your life and in your business
Whether it’s through the saints, the Virgin Mary or him, their offices never close. It can be hard to accept that we need to be humble and pray and spend time with them but that gift of faith just makes our lives easier, and true children of God.
From the bottom of my heart and to all of you who donated and helped make this possible in some of the hardest times I thank you. It truly showed you were the answer to my prayers and that one should not ever give up like the example of Job, and to always trust in God.
You may not realize it but that is why we’re here today. It is all thanks to you and especially him.
All those long hours and sleepless nights were incredibly enough worth it to get here.
May God bless you all and may we celebrate not only the birth of Jesus but the graces we have received from him and the saints.
I cannot also thank enough Antonio Motta for his support in this festivity and for supporting us from the very beginning with his Brazilian Wine Bom Dia Bubbles which was our complimentary drink last night!
Upcoming events
Tuesday January 20th 2026, 8:00AM-10:00AM
After many requests and inspired by our role models Ken Langone and our speaker Sean Fieler who attend daily mass we believe that by starting the day with the eucharist, prayer and good company you are bound to the most incredible things!
That is why we’re starting Fides Run Club in addition to our talk series. To bring together Catholic founders, professionals, students, and friends who want to integrate prayer and health into their daily life.
08:00 AM, Mass at St. Anthony of Padua (Soho)
Begin the day grounded in the Eucharist.
08:30–09:00/09:15, Run/Walk on the Hudson
After Mass, we head to the Hudson River path for a light run or walk.
All paces welcome some pray the Rosary, others enjoy the view and conversation.
09:00/09:15–10:00, Coffee Nearby
We finish with coffee at a nearby café for a relaxed time of community and conversation before starting the workday.
Location: 154 Sullivan Street, New York, New York 10012
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As many of you have asked for a better way to remain informed with our upcoming events click here to join our main WhatsApp Group Chat!
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We would like to thank our Catholic owned beverage, food and book sponsors!
Experience the pleasure of Brazil 🇧🇷!
Founded in 2005, Roots Run Deep was very kind to sponsor us with some of their Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir.
Founded in 1888, The Catholic Herald transitioned from a weekly newspaper to a monthly magazine in 2014, bringing in-depth Catholic journalism to a modern audience.
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The Catholic Center at NYU is the center of Catholic university life for students in New York City. The ministry supports Catholic students in their academic and career goals while also helping them grow in their Catholic faith and foster a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Their ultimate goal is making professional catholics
Edizioni Padre Pio da Pietrelcina is the official Capuchin publishing house in San Giovanni Rotondo, created to preserve and spread the authentic life and spirituality of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina.
It publishes his letters, official biographies, and other spiritual works while also offering religious articles. Working closely with Voce di Padre Pio, Tele Radio Padre Pio, and Padre Pio TV, it forms part of a broader Capuchin mission to communicate Gospel values and continue Padre Pio’s legacy of faith, charity, and evangelization through modern media.
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