Josephine Colontonio has been helping run businesses since she was 5 years old. Her first job was sharpening pencils at her grandfather’s junk shop in Camden, NJ. As the years passed, she did everything from sweeping floors to bookkeeping to marketing and sales. As a result, she helped grow the family business to a seven-figure company.
With an entrepreneurial spirit coursing through her veins, Colontonio decided to start her own business after graduating from college and graduate school. Her budding company in a closet exploded into a full-service promotional marketing firm. “I quickly realized that a company’s success wasn’t just skin deep – it hinges on its workforce’s vigor, passion and performance,” said Colontonio. “The heart of a thriving business lies in how it fosters a people-centric culture.”
These revelations evolved into Ignite Development Partners, LLC, a consulting, coaching, and training company that emphasizes the critical importance of building extraordinary leaders, teams and organizations from the inside out. Today, Colontonio works alongside leaders and organizations to reshape their cultural DNA and foster environments where authentic, enthusiastic leaders can flourish, inspire their teams and propel their businesses forward.
According to her staff, Colontonio has always been a trailblazer. “She is passionate about disrupting the status quo to build high-energy organizations with extraordinary people, vibrant cultures, enlightened leadership and cutting-edge business strategies proven to get significant results,” they said.
Throughout her career, Colontonio has assisted over 2,000 companies using her customized, solutions-focused and results-driven approach. Her efforts have led to recognition as the Best in Business for Executive Coaching and election to president of the International Coaching Federation chapter for New Jersey.
Her passion led to bringing personal and professional development to Centenary University where she serves as chair of the Centenary Learning Institute Advisory Board. “Education is something that no one can take away from you,” said Colontonio. “If you become a lifelong learner, you can accomplish anything you set your mind to.”
Colontonio said her mother was a significant influence in her life, living through the 1929 market crash and the Great Depression. “For most women during this time, the cultural pendulum swung backward, but for her family’s survival, she had to start working in my grandfather’s business in second grade,” she said. “This led to her becoming a 1930s female business pioneer and it was through her life experience that her words of wisdom came from, and they continue to echo in my mind.”
