The 24-hour cycle is so never-ending that it doesn’t really matter where you pick it up. So, let’s start with going to night classes at William Paterson University as a 30-something with three kids.
After that, it’s a drive into the city to do work in financial printing — a job that often became an all-nighter. Then there was a morning shift as a school bus driver. And maybe, just maybe, a chance to get a few winks before starting it all over again.
And know this: Weekends weren’t for rest. They were for extra work — fixing cars at a gas station, fixing up things around the house or helping neighbors who needed an extra hand.
And yet, somehow, Dave Barrett never missed a game. Never missed a moment. His family meant the world to him.
Bill Barrett, the CEO of Mandelbaum Barrett, can’t explain it.
“I think, for at least a decade my father never slept for more than four hours a night,” he said.
That balance — relentless work paired with total presence — is at the heart of Barrett’s newly released book, ‘Authentic: An Old-School Approach to Building a Full Life, Successful Business and Real Relationships.’
What began as a tribute to his father has become something broader: a reflection on the values that shaped his life, his career and the hundreds of entrepreneurs he has advised.
It’s also a case for a way of doing business that Barrett believes is slipping away.
“Our current world is obsessed with hacks and overnight success,” Barrett said. “But ultimately, hard work, integrity, resilience and genuine relationships are still foundational.”
***
Barrett always intended to write about his father.
When his father died nearly 20 years ago, Barrett — then in his mid-30s — told himself he would one day put those lessons on paper. But like many long-promised projects, it was put off.
“Life happens,” he said.
It wasn’t until about a year and a half ago, now in his 50s, that he finally committed. In hindsight, the delay was a gift.
“The perspective I was able to bring at 54 is so much different than it would have been at 35,” he said.
As he began writing, Barrett noticed something unexpected. The story wasn’t just about his father — it was about patterns.
After more than two decades representing entrepreneurs, family businesses and closely held companies, he had worked with some of the most successful people in the region. As he reflected on their lives, a common thread emerged.
“The people who had not only financial success, but fulfilling lives, strong families — they all had the same characteristics,” he said. “There’s this common thread.”
That realization reshaped the book.
What started as a personal tribute evolved into a framework built around 10 “old-school” principles — values like outworking others without sacrificing what matters, playing the long game with people, and building relationships rooted in trust.
In a world that Barrett increasingly sees as transactional, those ideas feel newly relevant.
“I think we’re getting away from the things that really matter,” he said.
***
Barrett is the first to admit that living those principles isn’t always easy — even for him.
One of the most revealing chapters of the book involves his own son.
A standout athlete at Mountain Lakes High School, his son had a choice: follow the more traditional, realistic path of pursuing college lacrosse, or chase a much steeper climb — playing Division I football.
Barrett and his wife tried to steer him toward the safer option.
“We were basically doing exactly what I’ve always believed and preached never to do,” Barrett said. “We were putting a limiting belief on him.”
His son ignored the advice.
He chose football — and succeeded, becoming the first Power Four conference recruit in the school’s history. This summer, he’ll report to Boston College before even attending his high school graduation.
“Thank God he didn’t listen to me,” Barrett said. “He bet on himself.”
For Barrett, it was a humbling reminder that even deeply held principles need to be relearned.
“Sometimes life has to remind you of your own lessons,” he said.
Other examples reinforce those values in action.
Early in his career, Barrett built his practice by prioritizing relationships over convenience — a mindset that still guides him today.
He recalls a pivotal moment with a potential client on the West Coast. After an initial Zoom call, Barrett did something that has become increasingly rare: He got on a plane.
“I said, ‘I’d love to come out and meet you, see your offices, go to dinner,’” he said. “He was stunned.”
Barrett flew to San Francisco, spent time with the client face-to-face, and focused not just on the deal, but on understanding the person behind it.
On his way home, he received a message: the job was his.
The engagement turned into a seven-figure fee — and a lasting relationship.
“There’s a pretty good chance I don’t get that if I don’t go out there and break bread with him,” Barrett said.
It’s a simple idea, but one he believes many have abandoned in the era of remote work and digital communication.
“You can’t build that kind of relationship on a Zoom call,” he said.
***
For Barrett, the line between personal and professional life is intentionally blurred.
“My friends are my clients; my clients are my friends,” he said. “I have one life.”
It’s a rejection of the increasingly common push for rigid work-life separation — and a reflection of how he saw his father live.
Relationships, he believes, are not transactions to be managed, but connections to be cultivated.
“Investing in real, deep relationships — that’s what playing the long game is all about,” he said.
And, as his father demonstrated, the most valuable investment isn’t money — it’s time.
“Giving people your time is the ultimate statement,” Barrett said.
Making the most of your time is what ultimately matters.
The clearest illustration of those values didn’t come during his father’s life — but after it.
At his wake, Barrett began to understand the true reach of his father’s impact, when he saw his old T-ball coach and his wife in the receiving line.
He was stunned to see them after all these years. Stunned more to see they were in tears. He soon learned why. That night, they shared a story he had never heard.
When he was coaching young Billy, the husband lost his job. Barrett’s father created a job for him — putting him on the payroll, helping him bridge the gap until he could get back on his feet.
“’If it weren’t for your father, we would have lost the house,’” they told him.
Another man — a retired executive who had once been one of his father’s clients — drove four hours to attend the wake.
The man told Barrett that, after he retired and no longer had any business value, Barrett’s father continued to visit him, taking him and his wife to dinner, maintaining the relationship as a friendship, not a transaction. The man said he was stunned the relationship endured.
“‘You’re my friend,’” the man recalled Barrett’s father saying. “That’s why I come.”
The executive drove four hours just to share that story.
***
Doing good for its own sake. Building relationships that outlast the immediate moment. That’s what Barrett hopes ‘Authentic’ conveys.
In a business culture that often prioritizes speed, efficiency and short-term gain, his message is deliberately different.
Success, he argues, is not measured only by what you achieve, but by how you impact others along the way.
“Ultimately, it’s not about what you accomplish,” Barrett said. “It’s about who you help become successful.”
It’s a lesson he learned watching a man who rarely slept, worked without complaint and still found time for everyone who mattered.
A man whose legacy, Barrett now realizes, was never about what he earned — but about what he gave.
“The greatest joy for him was being a hero to other people,” Barrett said. “Not for recognition. Just because it meant something.”
