By Anthony D’Angelico
Sometimes life gives you lemons. In the case of Carina Castagna, B.A. ’21/M.P.A. ’22, life gave her basil, a father’s love and a business idea.
Castagna began her journey at Seton Hall with a steadfast strength that never let up; when she was deferred admission to the University, she did not take no for an answer. She wrote Seton Hall a letter expressing her love for the school and asked the University to reconsider. The letter, coupled with admission into the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), paved her way into Seton Hall, and Castagna began her first-generation college career.
After Castagna graduated with her bachelor’s degree, she started work on a dual-degree master’s program. And it was then, with a year left to obtaining her degree, that her father passed away. She and her mother were devastated by the unexpected loss.
Her educational life was changing as well. She received an email about the Pirate LaunchPad Accelerator Program, a program begun by the Stillman School of Business Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship to help students develop business startup ideas with an intensive online course.
It was then Castagna found a jar of pesto her father — known to family and friends as “Pesto Joe” — had made, hidden away in the freezer. She knew then her vision for a new business: Pesto Joe, a company based on the memory of her father, who would make his pesto fresh each summer with a secret recipe, ever since she was a little girl.
It took copious amounts of trials to get the recipe just right. Her kitchen was filled with mounds of fresh basil from the garden, the specific measuring cups she had seen her father use, and endless pages of notes. Finally, she got the recipe right, and with funding from the Accelerator Program, was able to get her business moving.
Castagna sells her pesto online and at farmers markets in Kinnelon, West Milford and Boonton and in local wholesale stores, and plans to expand this season. In November, she and the company were featured in a “Spotlight New Jersey” segment on News 12. And the pesto now comes in three flavors: Traditional, Garlic Lovers (also known as “Joe’s Way”), and a spicy Fra Diavolo.
While she created the business to honor her father, she finds the venture’s meaning bigger than her family. The motto “Smile wherever you go” is on each label and is part of the company logo.
“I want other families to slow life down, to spend time and cook meals together,” Castagna says. “It’s important a family breaks bread and spends quality time together, because you never know when your last meal together is.”
