Giorgia Calvaresi is an Italian entrepreneur based in Brussels. With experience living across countries and continents, she has demonstrated dynamic skills in public relations. No matter where Giorgia travels, she shares how deeply connected she always feels to her Italian seaside roots. In this interview, Giorgia explains how the strong values instilled in her upbringing influenced her important work in female and youth empowerment.
Where were you born and raised?
I was born and raised in San Benedetto del Tronto, which is a seaside town in Italy. It’s small and everyone knows each other, everyone knows your business also, but I still love my roots. I feel deeply connected to it. I love the water elements, and that’s where I was born and raised- by the sea.
Can you talk about the value of family and how that strong bond was created?
My mom’s parents used to live with my family, so I grew up with them and then my dad’s parents were very close by. Since my parents were always working full time, I spent my childhood with my grandparents, and that’s how I have a strong bond with all of them. I feel like each one of them has contributed to shaping me in a way, and that’s why I feel so connected to home. My grandparents had a lot of brothers and sisters, and their children, so my cousins all lived close by and we grew up together as a big family. Of course, big families can be overwhelming, especially when you’re in your teenage years and you don’t want to listen to anyone and just want to be by yourself. But as soon as you move out and relocate, you truly understand the value of family, and it helps to understand that you always have a sense of belong because no matter where you are, you know that someone is waiting for you.
Are there any traditions or memories that stick out from your childhood?
I feel like Italian culture is full of tiny traditions, but I don’t know if I am able to name one. Something that is not really a tradition is that my grandfather taught me how to whistle. He used to pretend to be able to speak with birds, and he would sit at the balcony and tell me all kinds of stories of what happend in the day of the birds that were flying around. Of course, as a kid, I wanted to learn to speak this language as well, but I couldn’t, so I eventually learned how to whistle. I never matered the first language, but now that my grandfather passed, I still whistle when I see a lot of birds around. They actually reply to you, and you can invent stories about it.
Is there one person that has had the most impact on who you’ve become today?
All of the people that I’ve mentioned up, my grandparents and of course my parents, but also my uncle who passed a few years ago. He had a strong influence in my life because he always challenged me. I’m the only female on my dad’s side of the family so he used to make jokes like that I shouldn’t be sitting at the table because I am a woman. I always had strong opinions so I could talk a lot with him about politics and business and he would always challenge my point of view. I think he was the first one to really see and believe in me when I was talking about having big plans- he had a great big influence in my life.
Can you talk about the work you’re doing today with youth and female empowerment?
During university, I joined the movement of Junior Enterprises, and I eventually came to Brussels to lead the European movement for one year. It’s an umbrella organization that represents all the national branches of the European Union and is aimed at empowering young people by allowing them to test their ideas and have hands-on experience while studying.
By doing that, I was able to develop a lot of projects, attend a lot of conferences, and partner with many associations. I was empowering young people, empowering females, and with some of them I remain in contact and am working for them. I’m partnering with an association for which I’m doing events of political advocacy to promote small and medium-sized enterprises in Europe. I’m also working on another project that is all about young people and entrepreneurship to make sure it is accessible for all. There is a huge gap between young American entrepreneurs and young entrepreneurs in Europe.
Was there a particular event that inspired you to become a freelancer?
When I moved to Brussels, I knew I would be here for a whole year. My plan was to use the year to figure out what I want to do and start a Masters. The more I looked into a Masters, the more I didn’t know what I wanted to do. In the meantime, I also started a job. I worked for an NGO called Think Young, and they also advocate for young people. I decided to start a Masters eventually, but at the moment I want to keep working. At the same time, the idea of a 9-5 job really made me feel a bit like suffocating. I decided I want that breeze, and also stability because I’ve been moving a lot in my life. If I have stability in my private life, then i need that excitement from something else- so I decided freelancing.
What is the impact that you aim to share through your work?
I would like people who don’t think they have opportunities to see that everyone has potential. I hope to see as many people as possible manage to catch and exploit that potential that is inside them, without being worried of failure.
Do you have any advice to other aspiring entrepreneurs?
I’m at the very start- so maybe in a few year I can give more advice. For now, I would say, don’t be afraid on rejection. I’m receiving many no’s, but one no doesn’t mean a no to everything or forever. Keep reminding yourself of why you started and don’t be afraid of changing direction a bit. An idea is an idea, but you cannot know if it works until you actually try.
