Three-time CEO, executive advisor, lecturer, keynote speaker. Enthusiastic, moving fluidly between writing, performance, and business management.

Describe yourself in one adjective.

Enthusiastic.

What's your favorite word?

Humbition: the union of humility and ambition.

What values guide your choices every day?

Curiosity, responsibility, respect for people and for others’ time, the desire to create real and lasting value.

What job did you dream of doing as a child?

Stage actor.

What's the achievement you're most proud of as a manager?

More than any single financial result or professional milestone, what really makes me proud is that most of the people who’ve worked with me over the years still show me respect and affection today. In leadership roles, especially when managing complex organizations and transformation phases, it’s easy to leave behind wounds, misunderstandings, or lingering tensions. Knowing that I’ve built solid relationships is, for me, the clearest sign of having done my job well. Results pass; people remain.

Where have you failed in your career, and what did you learn from that experience?

I haven’t always had the courage to make the necessary choices at the right moment. At certain points in my career, I postponed difficult decisions, hoping for solutions that could hold together all the interests at stake. Over time, I’ve learned that win-win solutions don’t always exist. Leadership also requires the ability to take responsibility for uncomfortable choices, knowing that someone will inevitably be left dissatisfied. Putting things off to avoid conflict often causes greater damage than facing a problem with clarity.

What's the hardest challenge you've faced and overcome?

Accepting that my vocation and my deeper inclination were moving in a different direction from the one that had led me to become CEO. This meant giving up a prestigious role, the financial and symbolic benefits that come with it, and the security a managerial career offers, in order to take a different path: thought leadership, teaching, advisory, and public speaking. It was initially a very difficult choice, also on an identity level. Today, with a year of experience behind me, I can say with peace of mind that it was a profoundly right decision for me—one I’m enormously happy with.

What's the best advice you've ever received, and who gave it to you?

From my theater teacher, when I was a kid. I was complaining about getting a small part in the show. He replied: “There are no small parts, only small actors.” It’s a lesson I still carry with me today, in my work too.

What quality do you value most in people?

Positivity.

Name a manager or entrepreneur you admire.

Paul Polman.

Who do you consider your mentor—the person you've learned the most from professionally?

Eugenio Magnani, who passed away a few years ago.

Name three brands you love.

Zegna, Apple, Patagonia.

What song do you never get tired of listening to?

Under Pressure by Queen (with David Bowie).

What film do you never get tired of watching?

The Godfather by Francis Ford Coppola.

What book has taught you the most?

One More Ride on the Merry-Go-Round by Tiziano Terzani.

What sport has taught you the most?

Volleyball.

What do you follow regularly to stay informed, inspired, and keep growing?

Posts on LinkedIn and Substack, articles from Harvard Business Review and The Economist, industry reports.

Which app do you use the most?

LinkedIn.

What are you most passionate about outside of work?

Learning, traveling, connecting different fields, rediscovering life through my children.

What's the greatest invention of all time?

Writing.

Which historical figure do you feel closest to?

Leonardo da Vinci.

What change would you like to see in the world?

A capitalism more aware of its human, social, and environmental impact.

What habit has improved your life most in recent years?

Quitting smoking, and sleeping at least 7 hours.

What's your motto?

Only do what only you can do (and delegate everything else).