Darryl F. Gariglio

Darryl F. Gariglio was born in Detroit, Michigan on June 3, 1970, the second of five sons born to Leonard and Phyllis Gariglio. His parents moved his family to Clare, Michigan in July, 1975 in response to the proposed busing regulations that were sweeping the metro-Detroit area. His birth home is located on Paragon Street in Troy, Michigan. His father was a tool and die maker and his mother was a home-maker until his youngest brother, Jerry, attended first grade. They operated a small, family farm that primarily served to provided additional income for family vacations, 4-H, and learning the responsibility of working at a young age. He began attending Clare Public Schools (CPS) in the first grade and graduated in June, 1988. It was in Clare where he solidified his core values and beliefs yet remained remarkably unsettled and anxious. Darryl also participated in sports, lettering in football, skiing, and track and field. He graduated CPS, joined the Army Reserves, attended Central Michigan University (CMU), and joined ROTC on a full-ride scholarship. His mischievous and rebellious behavior was channeled when he joined the Reserves and ROTC at Central Michigan University (CMU) though. He focused his energies on making a difference in all endeavors of life. He graduated CMU in 1995 with a Bachelor's Degree in English (World Literature Emphasis) and planned on becoming an English teacher after honoring his four year commitment. The down-sizing efforts of the mid-90's cut his plans and military career short. The Army was not taking many young officers on active duty, leaving Darryl to search desperately to find a job. This seemingly "unfortunate" stroke of "bad luck" turned into a defining moment in his life. He found a job working in data entry at Flagstar Bank in Troy, Michigan and quickly became involved in several bank projects and the underwriting administration. His mentor and close friend, Linda Terrasi, was one of the most influential individuals in his life. It was under her tutelage that he honed and learned the skills of business management. He was eventually transferred to San Francisco where he worked in sales and furthered his experience under Timothy McAvenia, the bank's top sales producer. Darryl credits both of them as two of the most visionary and inspirational people he has ever worked with in his life. They taught him the flare that creativity can add to business and life. This lesson would serve as the reason for his departure from Flagstar Bank. Darryl saw the gripping crisis looming in the mortgage banking industry in 2005 and was developing an exit strategy. He was in Las Vegas in November, 2004 and searched relentlessly for a small group tour to the Grand Canyon. He could not find one and was left taking a big bus tour. He was also miffed that not one tour operator was on any of the new, up-and-coming review websites for travel. He moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in January, 2005 and started Grand-Adventures.com, Inc, which specializes in small group tours. He has often commented that he would never wish what he had to go through to make Grand-Adventures.com successful onto his worst enemy. The process nearly bankrupted him, leaving him to scrape at midnight cleaning jobs to support his fledgling business. The driving force that continued to fuel him was his love for the work and showing people the Grand Canyon. Today, Grand-Adventures.com is one the largest our operators in Las Vegas and rated as the sixth best tour to take in America in 2015 by TripAdvisor.com. He's always been an avid fan of film, screen writing, and cinema and loves the art of storytelling. He loves Las Vegas and finds its energy and charm soothing for his relentless and curious spirit, describing it as "The valley of great divide, where it's irony is energetic, fascinating, and opportunistic yet tragic, tiring, destructive, and hopeless. It's home."