WashingtonExec: Tell me about a time in your life when you had to really stretch yourself in order to learn and grow.
Baroni: The real moment of truth for me was founding Attain. It was a huge risk. Here I was, 55 years old, doing something “crazy” and betting everything on starting something new. I had many soul-searching conversations with my wife, Camille, before we bet our entire financial foundation that we built over 25 years on the founding of Attain in 2009.
Launching Attain caused me to truly focus on living intentionally as we had bet everything on this new venture. So, why did I decide to take such a risk? It really came down to what I wanted my legacy to be around impacting mankind — for our children and the people who’ve believed in me over the years. Not taking this risk left me unable to meaningfully address questions such as, “What will I stand for?” It was a real “gut check.”
Today, with more than 600 employees, Attain is one of the leading consulting firms based in the Washington, D.C. area. The company took off and grew in ways that I hadn’t anticipated — as did I, personally.