Joe Sabatino

Controller

What is your job description at LO?

Although my official title is controller, I think accountant is more appropriate for the duties I perform. My duties include all accounts receivable and accounts payable functions, as well as financial statement and budget preparation. In short, anything that has a dollar sign attached to it comes across my desk in some shape or form.
 

What is your background before coming to LO, and when did you begin work at LO?

After graduating from McMaster University in 1990, I had a variety of accounting-related positions, including junior auditor with a chartered accounting firm, assistant controller with an auto dealership and accountant for a manufacturing company. It was my good fortune to be considered and eventually hired by LO in January of 1996.
 

When not at work, where can you be found?

When you look up the definition of homebody, there must be a picture of me. When not at work, I am home with my wife Sandra and sons Alexander and Claudio. I try to keep in touch with my childhood friends, but between work and family life, it is difficult to coordinate at times.
 

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

As a child, I loved sports — basketball and football — but never had any delusions of doing that professionally. Instead, I can recall a project I was assigned in grade 5 where the same question was asked of me. What I recall aspiring to at that time was to become an architect.
 

What inspires you during your time at LO?

My time at LO is the only time in my work life that I have actually enjoyed coming to work in the morning. My workload makes the time fly by each day and the staff members are all a joy to work with (most of the time, anyway).
 

Name your all-time favourite movie, musical group and TV show.

I love watching all types of movies: horror, action, drama, even chick flicks. I especially enjoy the ones with a bit of reality in them, such as Rudy, We are Marshall, Remember the Titans and Men of Honor. I was never into any one particular musical group growing up; it was more about what caught my ear. Today, I listen to the same top 40 type of music that my children listen to. As for TV shows, I love whatever makes me laugh. The one show that does it for me every time is The Big Bang Theory.
 

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?

I have not had the opportunity to travel much as of yet. I am of Italian descent and plan to one day visit Italy. I would also love to visit Spain, or Greece.
 

Tell us one thing about you that few of your colleagues know about you.

The fact is I can pretty much be read like an open book — not a lot of secrets here. I guess the one thing I can tell you is I always wished I had the voice for singing. I love music, but the only time I sound good when singing along with the radio is if I crank it up to the point that I can’t be heard.