If we’re lucky, we live out childhood dreams in adult careers, the preeminent example being the Little Leaguer who makes the starting lineup of a major league baseball team. While Chris Vaccaro never swung a bat at Yankee Stadium, he hit a grand slam when he became editor-in-chief and digital director at the Topps Company. Having collected sports cards as a kid — thousands of them — Vaccaro already had a heartstring attachment to the Topps product. Yet as a member of the Topps leadership team, he faced a challenge worthy of a World Series: helping the beloved brand leap from cardboard product to digital-age destination.

That Vaccaro did, and then some. But his winning cards, if you will, weren’t handed to him in a silver-lined box. The values he traces to his earliest memories are grounded in a uniquely Italian-American truth: Victories are earned through dedication, persistence and tireless effort.