Maduro State of Mind | Episode 4 | Karma Cigar Bar, Merrillville, Indiana
Tony Ferraro has been a stock car driver, a blues saxophonist, a used car salesman, an entrepreneur, and an aide to a U.S. Senator and a Governor. He’s also one of Karma’s most loyal regulars. Over an AVO and a Johnny Walker Black, he sat down with Dhirien Shah and gave one of the most honest hours we’ve had on this podcast.
Tony Ferraro walks into a room and you immediately understand that this man has lived several lives.
The résumé alone is hard to make sense of: seven seasons as a stock car driver across the Midwest. Over 25 years as a professional saxophone player — sharing stages with Buddy Guy, Koko Taylor, Otis Clay and the royalty of the Chicago blues. A philosophy degree from a Jesuit university on Chicago’s north side. A career in the automotive industry. AF Enterprises, his private company, founded in 1998. And then a second act in politics — working for then-Senator Mike Braun, then following him to the Governor’s office in Indianapolis.
Dhirien’s first question wasn’t about any of it.
“I don’t want to start there. Who is Tony Ferraro when nobody needs anything from him?”
Tony leaned back and smiled. “I think you still have to introduce me as at least a professional before we get into my home life.”
Then he answered the real question anyway.
Seven Lives, One Set of Principles
What holds all of it together — the race tracks, the blues clubs, the car lots, the Governor’s office — isn’t luck or talent, though Tony has plenty of both. It’s a set of principles he’s been carrying since before his 30s and hasn’t put down since.
Behind his desk for over 25 years, he’s kept the same framed print. A Thomas Jefferson quote. A picture of a stream and a rock. It reads:
“In matters of style, swim with the current. In matters of principle, stand like a rock.”
“I hung that behind my head,” Tony said, “so if you came to visit me in my business office, it was behind me. I did that for the simple reason that I wanted everyone to understand I was giving them a clue as to who they were dealing with.”
What’s changed between his 30s and now? When Dhirien pressed him, Tony’s answer surprised the room. His thinking hasn’t shifted. His principles haven’t moved. What’s changed is his temper.
“As a proud Sicilian-American, I’ve had a prodigious temper,” he said. Not quite his father’s — “which was truly frightening” — but notable. He’s calmer now. Whether that’s wisdom or age, he was happy to let the audience decide. “Probably age.”
The Ferraro Axiom
Somewhere between his philosophy courses at Loyola and his years in public service, Tony arrived at something he calls the Ferraro Axiom. A friend at Purdue Northwest — a business management professor — gave it the name after Tony shared it.
It’s a mathematical equation, equal on both sides:
Reciprocity + Respect = Relationships.
Turn it around: Relationships = Reciprocity + Respect.
“Am I willing to extend trust?” Tony said. “Certainly. In the Reagan way — trust but verify. Because it’s all about that trust plugging into the equation.”
He came to it the hard way. Politics, he said without hesitation, makes the used car business look like the priesthood. “It is ugly. It is disingenuous.” He’s been betrayed. He’s been disappointed. He’s been infuriated.
But his response wasn’t to close off. It was to simplify.
“Don’t waste your time on those people,” he said. “Concentrate on the ones you can trust — and your life will be better for it.”
He still trusts people. He just runs the equation first.
From the Racetrack to the Humidor
Tony’s cigar story started long before he understood what a good cigar was.
As a kid growing up near Chicago, he’d go to the harness tracks — Hawthorne, Balmoral, all the great Chicago tracks — and watch the old men smoke. Terrible cigars. His grandfather smoked Garcia Vega. “Just these terrible, nasty, ridiculous commercial cigars.” But they were a symbol. They meant something. You grew up, you emulated.
In high school, he smoked Bances — a lancero-style cigar with a tip on the end. In college, he graduated to Macanudos like everyone else in the ’90s. Then a great cigar shop on Chicago’s north side — Up Down Tobacco — changed everything. He discovered Partagas Limited Reserve Royals. Green and gold label. He’s not sure they even make them anymore.
“That’s where the whole thing just kind of rolled from there,” he said.
What cigars became over time was something bigger than a smoke. “It’s part of the fabric — like birthday cake, but for guys,” he said. When his son was born, there was a 21-year-old scotch and a cigar. That’s what it means to mark a moment.
Tonight, he was smoking the AVO XP Exponential — Ecuadorian wrapper, Honduran binder, Nicaraguan and Honduran filler with Jalapa tobacco. “This has got an amazing draw for the length. And it’s just clean. It’s got a great ash, great pull. Beautiful flavor, good finish.” He was not disappointed.
The Johnny Walker Black was already in hand.
Why He Comes to Karma
Tony Ferraro has been coming to Karma Cigar Bar for six or seven years. He’s been to cigar lounges internationally. His assessment of Karma is direct.
“In Northwest Indiana, if not Chicagoland, you have the finest place to come and enjoy a smoke.”
But that’s not why he keeps coming.
“The short answer is you,” he told Dhirien. “I came in here however many years ago and you and I hit it off immediately. I said, ‘Here’s a guy that I really like and could be friends with.’ And we’ve developed a great friendship.”
In many ways, he said, Karma has become what Cheers was — “where everybody knows your name.” The VIP lounge downstairs, he added, is “spectacularly curated” and beyond par. The service is always excellent. He has never had a bad experience.
But the real reason Karma matters to Tony Ferraro goes beyond hospitality.
The Night Karma Became a Community Resource
After the storms that devastated Northwest Indiana, Tony Ferraro was appointed co-incident commander for Indiana Homeland Security District 1 — covering Lake, Porter, and LaPorte counties. He spent 12 to 14 hour days coordinating the response.
Where did he decompress at the end of every shift?
He walked into Karma.
“I would come in here after 12, 14 hours just to kind of deprogram a little bit. Have a cigar and a conversation.”
But he brought something with him: information. A new state initiative — 211 — had been developed as a single point of contact where residents could call in and be matched with federal, state, local and charitable resources based on their specific situation. The problem was nobody knew about it.
“We had all these resources available,” Tony said, “but to laypeople — you, me, my mother, your mother — you can’t send them to a website and say go to dropdown menu number four.”
He pushed for simplicity. The system was developed. And then he started telling people about it at Karma.
“I knew the six, ten, twelve people I talked to that day were going to tell forty, fifty, a hundred, two hundred people. And those people would tell people.”
Karma helped. Chuck called 211 himself. The team put the information into their newsletter and sent it to the full customer list. Tony was visibly grateful.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “Under normal circumstances, what do you do? You come to Karma, have a great cigar, have a cocktail, debate. And then when something happens, it becomes a community resource.”
Deals That Start Over a Cigar
The 211 moment is one example of something Tony has seen happen at Karma again and again. Conversations that look like small talk turn into something consequential.
He served as the diplomatic and economic liaison for Senator Braun — and later Governor Braun — working to attract foreign direct investment to Northwest Indiana. The region, he argues, has assets most people don’t appreciate: a deep-water port, an international airport, inland water access, three Class One railroads, proximity to the Chicago quantum computing corridor, and emerging opportunities in Navy contracts and data center infrastructure.
Conversations about bringing Indian investment to Northwest Indiana — specifically through the Adani Group — started at Karma. Tony was working on it, mentioned it to Dhirien, and Dhirien said he had a connection.
“Those conversations started right here,” Tony said.
He’s had similar moments with the Consul General of Bulgaria, who came to a dinner party at Tony’s home where a 24-hour marinated prime rib was followed by cigars and scotch. He’s working to build relationships with the Canadian, Polish, and Indian diplomatic communities.
“Once you put certain people in a room,” he said, “almost anything can happen. And there’s some trust there, and communication, and the conversation metastasizes.”
The cigar is what creates the room.
On Leadership, Respect, and No Decision Is a Decision
Dhirien ran Tony through the hard questions. The answers were clear and delivered without hedging.
On how a leader loses respect: “You don’t reciprocate. If you tell people you’re going to do something, you’ve got to do it. It’s not complicated. It really is that simple.” He doesn’t care if it’s politics, business, or personal life. It’s all the same equation. Keep your word or lose the relationship.
On watching someone with authority who couldn’t actually lead: He’s seen it. He named no names on camera, but offered this: “Over 140 Lake County officials over the last 140 years have been indicted and convicted. Those people were all in positions of authority and violated their public trust.”
On what’s harder — making a wrong decision or making no decision: “No decision is a decision. And making the wrong decision at least shows conviction. No decision is cowardice.”
On what people misunderstand about him: “People think I’m combative. I’m not. I’m an easy guy to get along with. Just treat me with respect. I value clarity over agreement. I would have more respect for you if you told me to go after myself than if you patronized me. At least then I know we’re treating each other honestly.”
The Math Don’t Lie
When Dhirien asked whose voice Tony still hears when making a hard call, he didn’t give a single name. Instead, he offered the one line he wouldn’t mind seeing on his headstone.
“The math don’t lie.”
One and one is always two. If someone is telling you one and one is three — walk away.
“Apply that,” he said, “and you’ll clear more BS in your life than I could possibly explain.”
He applied it recently to a deal he wasn’t at liberty to name. His recommendation was negative. He stood on it anyway. “Because the math held. And those principles have served me well.”
Watch the Full Episode
The full conversation with Tony Ferraro is available now on the Maduro State of Mind YouTube channel.
Coming Up at Karma Cigar Bar
Davidoff Dinner — Tuesday, September 23 | $100 per ticket | Includes a Davidoff cigar, carving station dinner, and a Davidoff gift. Capped at 30–35 guests. Reserve your spot now.
AVO Cigar Pairing Event — Monday, September 28 | $35 per ticket | AVO XP Exponential + McLaren glasses + drawings.
Live Jazz: Javon Watson — Thursday, October 8 | 8 p.m.
Steak Night featuring Drew Estate — Fourth Thursday of October | Monthly steak night continues.
Oliva Event — Friday, October 23 | Free event | Dwayne from Oliva will be in the house.
Placencia Event — November 20
Drew Estate Event — First Friday, December | Free event.
Karma Cigar Bar
850 W 81st Ave, Merrillville, Indiana 46410
All cigar content intended for adults 21 and older.
