Finding Purpose While Chasing The American Dream.

Traveling the world chasing the expat life is what many of us dream of. For Christina, she turned her dreams into a reality. Now living the USA, Christina tells us her story from her origins in Southern Italy to her current life in Miami and why she decided to leave the fashion industry this year.

Christina, tell us a little about yourself, where did you grow up and where did your interest in Fashion begin?

I grew up in a small town in the south of Italy, on the heel of the boot, as I like to call it. When I was a teenager, I used to daydream about living between Miami and New York one day, but I had no idea how I would manage to do that. As soon as I finished high school, I packed a bag full of dreams and purchased a one-way ticket to one of the most beautiful fashion hubs in Europe and left. London was everything a 19-year-old girl from a small southern town could dream of. I studied English, worked in retail, met some amazing people, and started learning about the different fashion trends.

I had told my parents that I was taking a sabbatical year to study English and travel, before going to college, but 1 year turned into 3. I travelled and lived in Ibiza, Barcelona, Miami, and New York until I finally decided to move back to Italy and pursue college. I received my bachelor’s degree in marketing from Polimoda, one of the leading fashion schools in the world. 

“I was ecstatic, I couldn’t believe that I managed to move where I once used to daydream of living.”

Tells us about your career, what was your first job in fashion and how did your career evolve after that?

During the years at Polimoda I was working part-time for Burberry and when it came time to find an internship, instead of going to work for free for big firms like Gucci, Ferragamo, Dior or Prada, I decided to go to the only brand that would offer a decent salary for the duration of the internship: a luxury beachwear brand called Sundek.

Little did I know then that Sundek would give me the opportunity to travel extensively for work and build a stellar career within the organization.  I started out as the assistant to the Business Development Director and worked my way up, until the CEO put me in charge of the US market and offered me to move to their Miami office in 2014.

You were offered a dream opportunity to move to the US, how did that come about and how did you find the transition from Italy?

I was ecstatic, I couldn’t believe that I managed to move where I once used to daydream of living. 

The first 3 years in Miami were lots of hard work and travel. The transition from Italy was smooth though, because I had previously lived in Miami for a few months and still had a few friends who lived here. Unfortunately, though, I didn’t have time for anything else other than work.

“If you get offered a position abroad, seize the day and take the opportunity!“

Do you have any advice or tips for other professionals making a similar transition overseas?

 My advice is to be open minded about other people’s origins because the USA is a melting pot of so many different cultures and ethnicities. Secondly, Carpe Diem. If you get offered a position abroad, seize the day and take the opportunity! Life is so unpredictable and sometimes we miss out on some amazing opportunities just because we overthink them or we are scared to take an unplanned route.  

The pandemic has caused some big changes and a shift in people's mindsets, how did the pandemic affect your career journey?

I have to be honest, I got extremely lucky during the pandemic: I had the courage to leave my career in fashion, and enough time to turn my side hustle into my main business. 

“If there’s one thing that we learned from 2020, it’s that life is unpredictable”

Talk to us about your new found role and what that entails:

After a decade of business development and working with people from all over the world, I decided to leave the fashion industry.  The industry is going into a direction that I don’t feel in line with, so I decided to pursue my dream of becoming a business coach. I now coach service based entrepreneurs on how to design and launch successful online businesses.

I’m loving everything about my new venture, along with my mission to make the world a happier place by helping others achieve their potential. 

Lastly, what advice can you give to our readers that may be going through a tricky career journey themselves during the pandemic?

If you’re not currently working or you’ve realized you’re not loving what you do, use this downtime to really focus on what you want the rest of your life to look like. If there’s one thing that we learned from 2020, it’s that life is unpredictable and anything can happen without notice… so why waste precious time doing something we don’t love?

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