A new beginning

APRIL 2020

The first article of this Blog feels like a new beginning in more ways than one. This is indeed a professional endeavor that is in fact very personal. As you keep reading this blog, you will understand more. Those who choose to read might see themselves in what we post and they will hopefully find it useful, or amusing, or both!

Part of this new beginning will take place in the United States, in the state of Michigan, and in the city of Ann Arbor where I graduated in psychology in 1997. This is where a whole world literally opened up for me and I could finally answer many questions cluttering my mind about a past that looked pretty much delirious. My education in psychology allowed me to see things from a different perspective, and mostly I began to understand where I truly came from.

Books have always played a significant role in my life. Within a world that since early on I perceived as mostly hostile and unloving, long before I learned how to read, illustrated books became an evasion into a world where I could imagine happy endings.

During my school years, the first book that made a huge impact on me was ‘The Little Prince’ by Antoine de Saint-Exupérie. The famous phrase ‘it is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye” hit me like a lightning straight to the core of my soul and there it stayed as my anchor to hang on to. The Little Prince will forever be one of my favorite reads. There were many great books that followed and each and every one of them has left me profoundly changed, it was as if each read gave me back parts of myself that had gone lost. Books still accompany me along my personal journey.

The way I felt growing up turned into the desire, as an adult, to create a new generation of schools with a new educational paradigm both scientific and holistic to honor and nourish each child’s uniqueness.

It is only when we have the opportunity to understand who we are and to express that uniqueness that our innate talents can become our greatest assets for ourselves and society as well.

This project did not last very long due to the several educational funds cuts that the Italian state underwent. I then decided to use books as tools to spread messages for people of all ages and walks of life to help them find their place in the World.

Doing this gives me great joy.

Becoming more and more who I am and sharing my joy with people that ‘get me’ lights me up! I love to watch people get inspired and their enthusiasm to follow their dreams and aspirations and I hope with all my heart to create a ripple effect for as many people as possible.

In support to this ambitious desire, our new website has an online shop where you can buy directly from us not only our publications but also an array of gadgets designed to enrich your reading experience making the experience of growing together special. Also, for the first time since I became a publisher, I am not alone. I always speak in the plural form, however, as a matter of fact, although I have several external collaborators, I have been working independently at this ambitious project for years!

I did not have an easy life, like so many of us here, however, for a woman things do get a bit more complicated, at times. I started up being a publisher many years ago when I was already the mother of two of my three children. I began with a lot of enthusiasm and the determination to work hard, and I did. I could always stay afloat. However, soon I realized that staying afloat is not exactly ideal for a business, and I also realized I simply could not do miracles by myself, or so I thought.

I found out, I could do miracles… and so can you!

For years I tried to team up with other people but I could never find the right match. After all, how could I find someone to believe in me when I did not believe that much in myself either? I therefore realized I needed to work on myself more, and for a while longer on my self-esteem (barely beginning to show) and on my self-worth (dressed in clothes creased by time and afflictions) to build a much stronger foundation.

The work you do on yourself is the most important start-up project you can possibly undertake. Without this kind of work, it is very difficult to create what you want.

I came to a point where I had been able to eliminate a good amount of the superfluous and hold tightly to the essential by putting myself first along with my invaluable lifesavers: my children. This is not easy to do, especially for someone who is used to being invisible and have no self-worth.

Then, about six months later, Frank, a Chinese American family friend with quite an extensive experience in business and start-ups, asked me if he could visit us from the nearby Spain. When he arrived at our place, we started talking and I gave him an update on my life, nothing interesting except for a collection of struggles and heartbreaks, but hey, he asked for it! After a couple more visits, Frank decides to help me and he begins to gradually invest in my project. Can you believe it? He decided to invest in a middle aged woman, mother of three boys!

Only an American could do such a thing, only someone coming from a country where mostly everyone believes that anything is possible as long as one believes…and I also believe he saw in me the kind of person capable of creating such an opportunity with the power of resilience and the ability to believe in a vision by affirming every day that it was possible!

Something within me did not allow me to ever give up. Rebel, that’s how everyone used to call me. Thanks to my free spirit, adversities could never hold me captive, I just couldn’t allow it even when I was really tired of holding on and hanging in there. My world did not love me so the only plausible way to react was to create my own reality and move to my new planet just like the Little Prince did!

So there it is, my little, yet quite huge, miracle!

Although Frank is a family friend, he gave me the best compliment I have ever received in my entire professional career. He once said, “you are like a daughter to me but I would not have invested a cent in your project if I did not believe in it”.

A few months later, we registered the new trademark in the U.S., and in July 2019 we established the U.S. publishing house in the city of Ann Arbor in the state of Michigan. I feel like the luckiest person in the world. I am still working hard, still juggling a thousand things but pushing through. My children deserve a mother that can stand on her feet so that someday they may fall in love with a woman of substance and character and not feel intimidated. In a world full of males, I chose to raise men.

The example we give our children is worth more than any word spoken and left to collect dust. It is not necessary to be perfect in their eyes as long as we constantly thrive to be the best version of ourselves. Believe me, they will notice the effort and become your best supporters. 

No matter how tough life can get, even the greatest challenges can become powerful opportunities to develop our best talents in the face of adversity. We will not be among those who tell you it’s easy, because, at times, it is not. We will be the ones to tell you it is possible, we will remind you that you can do anything if you so choose, and that your biggest fears can become the kind of strengths no one could possibly take away from you.

Because of my struggles and challenges, I am today the woman I always wanted to become and still working on it every day. I love this crazy life full of surprises and when I think of the challenges that brought me here, I do so with respect for what they taught me but without defiance – the pain experienced is not something I would like to repeat.

I hope with all my heart that some day I may give Frank the joy that he is giving me with this opportunity. There is still a lot to do, yet not one day goes by without thanking God for my business partner. I am not alone any more and life gets brighter every day more. And then I think of that beautiful quote from the movie “Into the wild”,

Happiness is only real when shared.