L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 20 L'Italo-Americano LIFE PEOPLE MOVIES MUSIC BOOKS VALERIO VIALE Vera Tucci and her democratization of "Made in Italy" in the US E ntrepreneur Vera Tucci divides her life and her heart between Italy, her h o m e c o u n t r y , a n d t h e U S , where her innovative e-com- merce venture is quickly gaining roots. Italisan (www.italisan.com), p h y s i c a l l y b a s e d i n A l b u - q u e r q u e , N e w M e x i c o , b u t owned and managed by Vera and her team, enables North Americans to purchase wonder- ful, one of a kind artisan prod- ucts, from the comfort of their homes with just a mouse's click. Italisan features also a blog, in which you can hear directly from the craftsmen their inter- esting stories and get a glimpse on their unique creative process- es. L e t ' s h e a r m o r e f r o m Italisan's founder and CEO, Vera Tucci. Please, introduce yourself. What did you study? I took a degree in Political S c i e n c e a n d w a s t r a i n e d t o become a social worker. Upon graduation I was offered a posi- tion as a sales representative at a tech company. That was my first entrepre- neurial experience, in which I contributed to the establishment of that company. How and when you devel- oped your fascination for the United States? My fascination for the US goes back to my high-school years. I remember how, on the first day of high school, our English teacher asked each of us t o i n t r o d u c e o u r s e l v e s i n English. She looked at me and told m e : " I t h i n k t h a t y o u h a v e English in your blood and you s h o u l d d o s o m e t h i n g a b o u t that." I felt extremely happy about the teacher's praise, cause I had definitely not been a straight A's student in English, during mid- dle school. T h a t e p i s o d e g a v e m e t h e boost to fully immerse myself into English and American pop culture, history and traditions. A s I g r e w u p , I h a d t h e c h a n c e t o t r a v e l e x t e n s i v e l y across the United States, not only for vacation, but also with the goal of establishing new business connections on behalf of my company. M y v i s i t s i n t h e U S h a v e been reinforcing my fascination for this country and have urged me to start a new business here That is, "Italisan." Where the idea behind your company come from? I was looking to create some- thing able to combine my love for the United States with my passion for Italian craftsman- ship. I started to think about a way, either a store, a trade-show or similar, in which products made by Italian artisans could find a way into the North American market. A website, where Americans c o u l d p u r c h a s e t h e u n i q u e Italian artisan creations, resulted a s t h e l o g i c a l o u t c o m e . "Italisan" was finally born! On top of the fact that a virtu- a l s t o r e e l i m i n a t e s a n y g e o - graphical restriction, my inten- tion was to create a platform that could tell the stories behind the products. Thereby, our blog relates the unique pathways that led each of our artisans to imagine, design, and realize their works. In our era of mass-produc- tion, we tend to give everything for granted and we're losing the curiosity for the imaginative processes behind the things we use daily. How do you and your team s e a r c h f o r c o m p a n i e s t h a t truly care for the quality and authenticity of their products? Personal relationships are key to us. They are facilitated by the fact that we belong to the same business circles and associations as the Italian artisans. We know these craftsmen's values and ethical principles and h o w t h e y m a k e t h e m s e l v e s ambassadors for the same high standards. W e i n v o l v e t h e a r t i s a n s d i r e c t l y i n t h e c r e a t i o n o f Italisan's ethical guidelines. Therefore, we offer our cus- tomers products, in compliance with our ethical, quality and fair labor regulations. In your opinion, where does the success of Italian crafts- manship come from? It comes from the pernickety attention to detail that an artisan puts to his or her work. Artisans focus on one item at a time, usu- a l l y w o r k i n g w i t h h a n d s , o r operating light machinery. That's at the antipodes of mass-production, in which items are depersonalized and assem- b l e d s o m e w h e r e a c r o s s t h e globe. S i n c e t h e f i r s t " W e e k o f Italian Cuisine in the World" just ended and there's been extensive discussion about the authenticity of Italian food in the US, please tell us how does I t a l i s a n h e l p s p r o m o t i n g "Made in Italy" food prod- ucts? We're still working towards the expansion of our e-store's food section. We need to partner with a different kind of artisans and suppliers. The search for the right peo- ple and companies requires time, considering all the regional and sub-regional varieties. Our main goal is to offer one- of-a kind food products, impos- sible to find anywhere else. Sometimes, people in the US have a hard time imagin- ing how Italy has been evolv- ing and modernizing itself. To y o u , h o w i m p o r t a n t i s t o spread an up-to-date image of our country? It's very true, partly because w e ' r e b o m b a r d e d o n l i n e b y news telling us how actually our country is not developed. Besides, our traditions and rich history hold a lot of fascina- tion abroad and they are "loud- er" than our contemporary inno- vations. It's certainly harder to promote the other side of Italy, m a d e u p o f g r e a t s c i e n t i f i c d e v e l o p m e n t s . H o w e v e r , w e must undertake this challenge, invest more in communication and offer the full picture. Italisan Founder, Vera Tucci. Photo Courtesy of V. Tucci THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2016

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