I met a new friend today. His name is Roberto Ugolini (google him). He is a Florentine leather shoe artisan. He has clients from all over the world. Roberto began repairing shoes with his father. He would watch his fathers every move until he finally figured out how to repair his own shoes himself. Fifteen years ago he discovered it was his calling and began making shoes, however it wasn’t until 2005 he opened his very own shop. Roberto often travels to Japan where a great deal of his cliental resides. I asked him if I could volunteer at the shop, he chuckled and told me I would first have to master Italian. He clearly stated in one way or another, his broken English and my barely broken Italian was not going to cut it. We did share something in common though, we both spoke Japanese. In fact, I had a two-minute conversation with his Japanese assistant as she hammered a few nails in a pair of shoes. He has staff working with him from all over the world.
After a while, I could tell he was becoming annoyed at the fact that my Italian was so poor. That did not stop my curioustiy to know more about him though. It just forced me to stop being lazy and pull out my Italian dictionary. Nevertheless, we enjoyed one another's company. I left there saying “ Ciao , mi amice”( meaning bye my friend). He chuckled and said see you tomorrow.
One thing I learned from Roberto is in order to be fully successful in your career, or specifically in the fashion industry, you must take a period of time out of your life to fully immerse yourself in the culture surrounding the career.
Ciao Bella.
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