From Punchline to Back in the Ring: Reflections Six Years after the White House

We all have bad days. Some are worse than others. And July 31st, 2017? That was a pretty rough one in the Scaramucci household. You see, the end of July marks the anniversary of the day my short stint as White House Communications Director came to an abrupt end. But six years on, I wanted to take the chance to look back and share a few thoughts about how I went from being a national punchline to getting on my feet and back in the fight.

Resilience is a Ladder: I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t want to go into hiding at the time. I was embarrassed in primetime and, with the internet as it is, the story was impossible to avoid. But I knew that the longer I stayed down, the harder it would be to get back up.

Adversity is inevitable; but how you respond is firmly within your control. I grew up in personal and professional worlds where you had to have thick skin—blue collar Long Island and Goldman Sachs in the early 90s were tough and demanding places. You had to be resilient, or the self-doubt would paralyze you.

As my late grandmother put it best, “what other people think about you is none of your business.” I had to stop worrying about the crowds and the noise; I had to be resilient. Given the deep and well-publicized hole I had dug for myself, that was the only way out. In this case, it meant really devoting myself to two things: repairing my relationship with my family and taking an active role again in SkyBridge’s present and future.

Integrity at All Times: Now this isn’t to say that I got on my feet entirely on my own. I am deeply lucky that, in moments of need throughout my life, many friends and colleagues have reached out to help. I believe that part of the reason why they extended a hand was because of how I had conducted myself with them in the past—that is, with integrity.

Over the years, I’ve seen others treat their interactions in business and politics as a zero-sum game, rising up with a win-at-all-costs mentality. It’s a dynamic that I’ve never much cared for. Instead, integrity demands that you carry yourself with empathy and generosity, particularly when you’re fortunate enough to enjoy success.

People have long memories. If you’ve treated with them with respect in the good times—if you’ve conducted yourself with integrity on the way up—you’ll be amazed at how many of them will be willing to support you in the tough moments.

The Art of Self-Deprecation: The national media had landed quite a few punches, several of which were mean spirited. But there was another problem—some of the jokes at my

expense were clever and downright funny. I mean, taking my 11-day tenure and turning it into an accepted unit of time. How can you not laugh at that?

When Stephen Colbert’s show reached out a week after my firing to see if I’d go on television, I was torn. A lot of people close to me advised me against it; they said I risked being lampooned and further embarrassed.

But I knew deep down that I needed to confront my predicament head on, and that humor would help sweeten the bitter pill I had to swallow. So, I took a risk and went on The Late Show.

Looking back, I’m glad I did. It was an important step in coming to terms with the mistakes I had made and moving forward. And I got a few good laughs out of it .

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Nearly 200 Scaramuccis later, a lot of people still ask me if I have any regrets. To them, I unequivocally say no.

I learned a long time ago that life will be imperfect. You will make bad decisions that would have gone differently with the benefit of hindsight. But you cannot control the past, and your choices and their consequences are part of your story. You have to embrace your history—as ugly as it might be—to move forward with clear eyes.

Do I wish I had made different choices? Absolutely. But do I regret taking the job in Washington? Absolutely not. Sure, I could have learned some of the important lessons I did in a less embarrassing way, but I’m a better boss, father, husband and friend because of the experience.

Above all, when I think I’m having a bad day or facing a challenge that feels insurmountable, I can’t help but remember how hopeless things felt on July 31st, 2017. Doing so puts things in perspective pretty quickly. Because if my family and I could get through all of that and end up stronger on the other side, then this moment of doubt is nothing but a bump in the road.