Things are moving very fast these days and they have taken a much faster pace as compared to the already dizzy speed they had in the last months. Many changes have occurred in my personal and professional life since the arrival of Daniele in the United States and the joint decision to share everything we will do in the future.
It changes the working and living perspective completely: now everything I do will have some kind of effect on Daniele’s business and life and vice-versa. It means a whole lot responsibility and potential at the same time. Running a business relationship across an ocean is a bit challenging already, but when we look at the newness of all the things we are planning to do together, there is also a huge potential. Life changes when you shift from the perspective of being by yourself, an independent entrepreneur that is building his own business and is living his own private life, and having a long term partner that is connecting his life to yours.
For one thing, as of Friday I already have a brand new business to add to my daily planning. During the week end, Terry called me to plan the first activities to be done with his agents as of Monday and I had to wear again my manager hat. I hadn’t been wearing it since I left the management of the magazine I was running in Italy in 2007 and it feels comfortable as usual, but it is quite another thing to now have to direct a US organization as compared to an Italian one.
Sunday morning with a view of an auction sign and the beautiful Florida sky
Here things are faster, so you don’t need to “motivate” people, they are already super-motivated, but on the other hand they tend to stick less together and therefore it takes more team building. Terry is a very capable and persistent person, quite rare, an excellent trainer and a perfect coordinator. I am sure we will do great with him. It was one of the strategical elements that were missing in our organization. Now we are ready to make a huge leap forward.
Alex and Stefano help me improve the auction signs "in the field"
I notice that here in Florida and in the US in general, people are very fast in embracing new ideas or business opportunities. Sometimes even too fast, but then they sometimes have little persistence. That’s why Terry presence is paramount. I have a recent example that I can relate to you about this. In the last week end we have run the promotion for an auction to be done on one of the houses we have rehabbed. Part of the promotion included posting signs and delivering fliers in the area surrounding the auctioned property. I had recruited a couple of ladies that wanted to do the work and that had worked for me before.
Alex is proud of the job he did on the auction sign.
Everything was planned and seemed to be rolling according to plan, yet in the middle of the execution, the two ladies simply quit, leaving an half done job. I completed the work with the help of my beautiful kids and of my nephews that happened to be here on holidays. So the Italian connection served me well again giving me the opportunity to complete the project and has showed me once again how great it is to have strong family and personal relationships.
Family reunion after a day of hard promotion 
Fabrizio and Sabrina, who helped distributing the fliers, sit on the sopha. The kids are inside the "bandit sign totem" they just built with my help.
I always like to have someone I can rely on and with whom you can move forward knowing they will stick with you and I will stick with them. The team we have now in place and are building with Daniele in Italy and in the US is formidable and will do great in creating a very needed entrepreneurial bridge between Europe and the US. We can combine the typical Italian persistence and creativity with the American speed, innovation and willingness to implement.
Roberto Mazzoni
