Jan. 6, 2026
Second Chances and New Beginnings: Frank Scarso's Journey from Wall Street to Redemption
Send us a text In this inspiring episode of Living the Dream with Curveball, we sit down with Frank Scarso, author and CEO of Avanza Capital, whose life story embodies the essence of second chances. After spending over two decades on Wall Street, Frank faced a personal crisis that led him to addiction and homelessness. Now, with eight years of sobriety under his belt, he is not only sharing his journey through his upcoming book, *The Hard Way Home*, but also making a significant impact in the...
In this inspiring episode of Living the Dream with Curveball, we sit down with Frank Scarso, author and CEO of Avanza Capital, whose life story embodies the essence of second chances. After spending over two decades on Wall Street, Frank faced a personal crisis that led him to addiction and homelessness. Now, with eight years of sobriety under his belt, he is not only sharing his journey through his upcoming book, *The Hard Way Home*, but also making a significant impact in the small business community by deploying over $250 million in funding across 48 states. Frank reflects on the importance of redemption, the lessons learned from his past, and how he transformed his struggles into a mission to help others. He discusses the unique challenges small businesses face in securing funding and how Avanza Capital strives to provide swift and honest support. Join us as Frank shares powerful insights on resilience, accountability, and the profound impact of kindness in leadership. Discover more about Frank and his initiatives at www.avanza.nyc.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Welcome to the Living the Dream podcast with Curveball. If you believe you can achieve.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Welcome to the Living the Dream with Curveball podcast, a show where I interview guests that teach, motivate and inspire. Today we're going to be talking about second chances, as I am joined by author and CEO of Avanza Capital, Frank Scarzo.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Stories about second chances are really unique and inspiring, but none captures the power of second chances and redemption quite like Frank's. Frank spent over two decades on Wall street until an addiction and a professional setback changed all that. But Frank now has eight years of sobriety.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>He's getting ready to release his book the Hard Way Home, and his company, Avanza Capital, has deployed over $250 million of small business funding throughout 48 states. So we're going to be talking to him about his story, his book and his company. So, Frank, thank you so much for joining me.
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> Frank Scarzo>Thank you for having me.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Curtis, why don't you start off by telling everybody a little bit about yourself.
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> Frank Scarzo>I am, first generation born Italian American, come from, two lower middle class parents, went, to Catholic school. Had no real direction, as to where I was going to go in life, as far as like a career after high school because college, back then wasn't an option for us. And I just wound up following my brother into Wall Street. He was already, there for several years and had his footprint in and it was just a natural progression for me. the one good thing that I always take away from Wall street is that I met my wife there. so, you know, you always have to try to put a positive spin on everything. But I did learn a lot. All joking aside, I did get an education. I learned a lot about a lot of different things, a lot of different companies. But unfortunately also I learned, you know, how to rely on drugs and alcohol to, make you feel numb when you're, having a hard time coping with day, to day life. took me down. It seemed like it took me down overnight.
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> Frank Scarzo>That's how fast it seemed like it went by. And really got me to a point where I was basically living on the street, separated, from my wife and family for, about three years. Didn't see my children for a good 18 months. And with the good grace of God and hard work, I, you know, one, one step at a time and one, one issue at a time, one minute at a time, I found myself, you know, getting back to society and, and hence that's why I'm here today.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well, let's talk about second chances. Talk about what a second chance means to you, both personally and professionally.
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> Frank Scarzo>Well, for me, on. On a personal note, second chance was, my wife giving me an opportunity to, you know, make amends and, you know, bringing me back home and giving me back my family. Because that's, That was the one thing that I thought about every day and the one thing that I. That caused me to fight every day was to, get my family back. And second, chance in. In business for me just to have everyone's respect again and feel, like I matter to people makes, me feel good because I had lost confidence, the confidence of everyone. And I had the whole world, angry at me.
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> Frank Scarzo>And, you know, now those. Those. Those emotions are completely turned around. And, I'm getting good praises from. From my friends and my family and from business associates. and it makes me feel good. And I'm hoping that, maybe my story can. Can help at least one person.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well, let's talk about Avanza Capital. Talk about what your business does and why you decide to start it.
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> Frank Scarzo>we provide capital for small businesses. nowadays, big banks really are, not so keen on lending to small businesses. And unfortunately, a lot of these smaller businesses don't have collateral or they need the money immediately. And, a bank will take several months just to give you a decline. we come in and, we get you funded within a couple of hours. What really made me start the company was I was just looking for another career. And, you know, this was, an easy transition for me. We went from being on Wall street, where we were asking clients for money, to now trying to get money to those that are looking for it. So, kind of, you know, just felt natural for me. and. And that's how I kind of got started. you know, got into the business, worked for a friend, literally started working from, the ground up, working at the smallest positions possible and learning each step, and every step of the way, absorbing, in as much as that data as I possibly could, and, learning every aspect of the business. And. And I think that starting at the bottom, not walking into a position, but, you know, starting my own company, gives me the. The ability to be a better boss to my employees because I know what they're going through, I know what their challenges are, and I've seen them firsthand, and I think that together it gives us the edge that we need to overcome anything.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well, Talk about what kind of company your company helps. what kind of small businesses does your company help?
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> Frank Scarzo>We, we pretty much will, will help, you know, any small business. There's only a couple of, sectors that we don't, really get involved. trucking, unfortunately, or used auto sales, attorneys, Ah, but for the most part, we'll, we'll, we'll try to help, any small business that we can, you know, within, within reason. unfortunately, some, some businesses are just not fundable. Whether their revenue is just not there or the business is being managed by management, or several other factors, like the industry that it's in. It could be having challenges at the moment. So, we try to constantly pivot and make changes and adjustments in our underwriting, when we're picking and choosing, the companies that we can help or that we do want to help.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well, look, looking back on your 20 years at Wall street, what lessons did you learn, good and bad, that shape your leadership today?
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> Frank Scarzo>Well, the bad lessons, are endless. Right. you know, unfortunately, lying, you know, is probably the one worst thing that you can do. Being dishonest and lying and mostly being dishonest to yourself because that's what really you are, doing. But the more importantly, the positives that I took from Wall street was customer service.
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> Frank Scarzo>And, and I've brought that to the merchant cash advance space. so I, you know, I, I, I'm in an industry where a lot of the lenders don't really service the merchants like on a customer service basis, where sometimes these merchants need their handheld, they're going through a rough patch and, and you know, payments are challenging, or even to dealing with the brokers and providing them with good customer service and reaching out and speaking to our business partners just to touch base sometimes, which I find is important to kind of, you know, for the lack of a better term, be human and you know, not necessarily always be about business. When you, when you're calling someone, it's okay to call in and check in with someone and see how they're doing just for the, you know, just for no reason but to say hello.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well, you, you've spoken about how addiction plays a role in high pressure industries. So talk about why finance is such a vulnerable industry that addiction plays a role in.
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> Frank Scarzo>I think a lot of it has to do, with, with the, the pressure, you know, you know, the being in charge of someone's capital, whether it's, you know, a million dollars or $100 million or whatever the case may be puts, a lot of pressure on you. And when you have the swings of the market and you have accounts that go down, accounts that go up, that constant seesaw of up and down also takes a toll on you, on your, on your, on your physical body, takes a toll on your mental psyche, and it breaks you down after time. And unfortunately, a lot of professionals lean towards drinking and the drugging. You know, it's like, it almost goes side by side. You know, you work in finance, you know, you drink a lot, you entertain a lot, you know, you party hard. Clients, come in from out of town and all they want to do is, you know, let loose a little bit. So, you know, I think that, that the drugs and alcohol help, the, those that work in the industry cope, with the day to day challenges that they feel emotionally and physically. and I think that you see that in a lot of, high pressure jobs, not just in the finance industry. There are a lot of jobs out there that are very stressful that also have a high ratio of addictions.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well, talk about the turning point moment that made you realize you needed to make a change, after all that you've been through. And how did that turning point unfold?
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> Frank Scarzo>So for the downside, you know, the turning point on the way down was unfortunately my wife throwing me out. And, got to the point where I had no job, no family that wanted me, no money, no clothing, no place to stay, I bounced around from couch to couch, from friend to friend, you know, exhausting every option that I had. and for me, the turnaround, you know, like, there's like some of those, some, some people have like a moment of enlightenment. For me, it was, it was a point where I was having a conversation with my brother and you know, he, he said something that was so profound and so powerful to me that it literally changed something inside of me. And all he did, he just asked me, he said, don't you want your kids to have a good memory of their childhood like we did? Don't you want them to have you good memories? Do you want to screw them up for the rest of their life? And, and that to me was just like, boom. Like something exploded inside of me.
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> Frank Scarzo>And that was it. From, from that point, I just, I just turned my life around and stopped. From that point on, I just, I never looked back.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well, talk about how recovery has influenced the way that you lead Avanza especially when it comes to accountability and resilience.
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> Frank Scarzo>Well, I try to teach all of my employees, and my children for that matter, also, is to never give up and to always think positive and try to be a positive person. and I think, being an understanding boss, because of what I went through, I can help those employees of mine that do have their own personal challenges that they're going through, because people do go, you know, whether it doesn't necessarily have to be finance industry or any other high pressure industry.
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> Frank Scarzo>Could be, could be anything that's going on in their life that can cause them to have some emotional ups and downs that are ongoing. And trying to be understanding, I think is important.
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> Frank Scarzo>And, like I said, I try to instill positivity in them. And I also try to, you know, be, be a warm and embracing, person, have an open door policy.
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> Frank Scarzo>there, you know, my employees can come in and talk to me about anything, whether it's work or whether it's personal or whether it's just some advice, whether it's just a, you know, cry on the shoulder. I try to keep my door open for everybody at all times.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Talk about the mission of, Avanza Capital. Talk about the mission and what makes it so unique.
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> Frank Scarzo>What I think differentiates Avanza from, you know, the rest of the pack is that, we pride ourselves in customer service. I'm very big on that. You know, we service these merchants fast. we fund for the brokers fast. We're probably one of the fastest in the business when it comes to funding, if not the fastest. already we can get money into a merchant's account within an hour or two. and, you know, being upfront and honest with them, if we, we're not going to be able to help you, we're just going to tell you, unfortunately, we can't help you. We're not going to string you long and give you full sense of hope. And I think that the brokers that work with us, they enjoy that. they like the honesty. They like the fact that we don't steal deals out the back door. we pay them their commissions on time, all the time, and we treat them very, very fair. And we're very flexible, with our offers that we make to our merchants.
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> Frank Scarzo>We're very flexible. And there's always room for some sort of negotiating, whether it's more time or more funds or whatever the case may be. We always try to leave a little room, for some wiggling.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well, let's talk about a particular story that stands out. One of the small businesses clients, you know, that you've worked with, that, that shows you that your work really matters, you know, and deploying 250 million across 48 states.
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> Frank Scarzo>You know one that sticks out to me the most, which I think has had the most success, was a brewery microbrewery, out of Pennsylvania. you know we working with the merchant, since 2022. And you know we started doing fundings for him and we watched his business grow over the last few years to, to astronomical levels. you know, he's made acquisitions, he's bought another cannery, he's bought another distillery. He just made an acquisition of a transportation company to, to ship his products. And he's really, he's really taken you know, advantage of the capital that we've that we've given to him. He's truly deployed it I think to the best of his ability. And he's done a bang buster job and, and I, and I give him credit for that. He's done very, very well.
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> Frank Scarzo>unfortunately, you know, you don't see too many success stories when it comes to merchants that are dealing with, with smaller merchant cash advances, because they're misusing the funds and unfortunately catches up to them and then Faro does go bust at some point. but if the merchant is strong and if you know the business is viable, they use the funds in a proper way and they can grow their business and use the funds to take their business to the left next level just like this.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Brewery has well talked to the listeners about your book. You know, tell listeners where they can get it, what they can expect when they read it and what you help listeners, especially those struggling with addiction, take away from it.
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> Frank Scarzo>So my book is called the Hard Way Home. It's coming out next month, towards the end of the month. you can, you can get it on Amazon and anywhere else where you'll, you'll find books and you know it's story really is about persistence.
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> Frank Scarzo>That's what I try to portray in a book about never giving up, never quitting and never looking back and always pushing forward. and I think that if if you read my story and, and you can take a little bit away from that. I think the never giving up and never feeling alone are the two most important things that I wish that people can, can take away from that. And hopefully like I said earlier, if I can help just one person. It was well worth it for me. it'll help me also give me a little peace and a little, a little bit of closure because I do carry a lot of regrets from hurting those that I love the most. So we'll see, you know, how the book turns out. Hopefully it does well. Hopefully it helps at least like I said, one person. And hopefully I do get some closure from it.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well, let's give them some more help. Helpful advice, for people out there that might be suffering from setbacks or struggling with addiction, give them some advice on the first step that they can take. as far as getting some redemption and renewal like you did.
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> Frank Scarzo>First step is always has to be, you know, being honest with yourself. you know that hate to be sound like a cliche but you know, you have to admit that you have a problem and you have to admit it to yourself. And once you do realize that you have a problem, then you can start to heal and repair. But until that moment you don't think that there's anything wrong with you. so that's, that's the most important step is that first step.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Tell us about any upcoming projects that you're working on that people need to be aware of.
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> Frank Scarzo>We have we're doing fundraising ah for for. For children underprivileged, children where we're doing you know like a toy raise for Thanksgiving.
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> Frank Scarzo>we just gave away a trailer and a half full of food to those in the Bronx in, in lower income neighborhoods to those that needed it. And you know we try to give back to the community and we, we do a lot for sick children. there's one foundation in particular the Sunrise Camp which helps underprivileged kids that have cancer and their siblings. gives them a little, little place to, to let loose a little bit and give the parents some time. So we do a number of things but for Christmas it's going to be this big toy drive.
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> Frank Scarzo>We're trying to give away a thousand toys and we're working on it. So it should be, it should do really, really well.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well though I should contact info so people can keep up with everything you're up to and get your book and if they need help.
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> Frank Scarzo>So you can you can find me on, on the work website. It's www.avanza a v a n z a dot nyc. My contact information's on there. Anybody that would like to you know, reach out and just pick my brain and talk about anything. Please feel free to go ahead. you know, I try to make myself available for anybody in need anytime.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>All right, we'll close this out with some final thoughts. Maybe if that was something I forgot to talk about that you would like to touch on or any final thoughts you have for the listeners.
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> Frank Scarzo>just that, you know, God is great. You know, you have to believe in the power of faith and stay, strong and stay positive.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>All right, ladies and gentlemen, for more information on Avonza to pick up that book or if you or, somebody you know, has a small business that Frank Mike can help Avonza nyc, please be sure to follow, rate, review and share this episode to as many people as possible. If you want more information on the Living the Dream with Curveball Podcast, visit www.craveball337.com and please share the website and the show to everybody you know. Thank you for listening and supporting the show. And Frank, thank you for all that you're doing in the personal as well as professional. And thank you for joining me.
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> Frank Scarzo>Thanks for having me. I really appreciate it.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>For more information on the Living the Dream with curveball podcast, visit www.curveball337.com.
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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Until, next time, keep living the dream.
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