While maintaining this blog, Gabrielle aims
to inspire her children to eat healthy, while encouraging
them to be a part of the project.
Her husband, Dan, said, “She would have
the kids involved with the pictures, setting up
the food…it was like a family endeavor.”
Like Gabrielle, Dan is an ardent runner.
While he also competes in marathons, his main
passion lies in the arts.
Although he is currently the director of
Leasing, Property Management, Acquisitions
and Marketing at Gabrielle’s father’s real estate
company, Panepinto Properties, in Jersey
City, Dan started his career in acting.
What started with an acting class during
Dan’s freshman year of high school transformed
into a passion. After earning a Bachelor
of Fine Arts from New York University, Dan
started his own production company, DDR
Productions. Using this platform, Dan acted,
directed and produced various plays. He also
worked as an extra in Scent of a Women, My
Secret Identity and Sliders.
But, after meeting Gabrielle, Dan went back
to NYU to get a degree in real estate because
he said knew how unpredictable an acting profession
could be and wanted to expand his
horizons.
“The acting industry requires long days,
long hours to really pursue it the right way. It
takes time away from those that you love,” Dan
said.
For the past 12 years, Dan has been responsible
for the day-to-day management, public
relations and branding of Panepinto Properties.
But, inspired by his wife’s ability to follow her
passions, while raising their children, Dan decided
to do the same.
Gabrielle’s friend, Stacey Van Gorder,
wrote, produced and acted in 3.5, a film based
on actual events that follow a family shattered
by the choices of a mother suffering from postpartum
depression.
Van Gorder was holding auditions for a
male role, and after being unable to find someone
to play the part, Dan decided to present
himself. Using the knowledge he learned while
46 BC The Mag FALL 2018