Emma Bird is English and moved originally to Italy as a journalist. In May 2005, she started HowToItaly, a consulting group which helps people live, work and set up businesses in Italy. She is also the co–author of the book, Starting a Business in Italy.
She worked and studied in various Italian towns before moving
to Sardinia in May 2003.
ExpatWomen's Interview with Emma
ExpatWomen:Emma, tell us how you arrived in Italy and why you decided to
stay?
Emma: It all started fourteen years ago when I was 17. I didn't know the first thing about Italy. I was waiting for my mum to arrive to pick me up after my weekly intern stint on the local paper and to kill time went into a bookshop. I began flicking through the pages of a travel book. The page fell open on the red roofs of Siena and I realized that Italy was probably a good place to spend a year abroad during university. Since it coincided with my university applications, I applied to study European Studies with French and Italian. As part of my degree it was compulsory for me to spend time in both France and Italy. In addition to aupairing in Paris and Corsica and working at Disneyland in Paris, I aupaired in Abruzzo and Naples and spent a year studying in Bologna.
Back in England, I fulfilled my dream of becoming a journalist but Italy was always lingering in the background, quite simply because I'd spent the best year of my life there. When the offer of a job came up in Milan as the Italian correspondent for fashion and textile magazines it was a dream come true – I was 24 and, like most young women, passionate about glam shoes and clothes. What could be better than being paid to live in the chicest fashion capital in the world and to write about one of the things I loved most?
As for deciding to stay, it's not something I've ever consciously thought about. I grew up by the beach in south west England. After 18 months in Milan, I missed coastal living and was thinking about moving elsewhere. Coincidentally, at that time my boyfriend of a few months, Mario, got headhunted to Sardinia and I decided to take the plunge and go with him. With the gorgeous scenery and good food and wine on offer, it wasn't a difficult decision to make. I've been here five years now and it feels like home.O.
ExpatWomen:Why did you decide to start your consulting business, HowToItaly?
Emma: I spoke fluent Italian when I moved to Sardinia, had already lived all over the place, had a ready–made group of friends through Mario and understood and was at home in the Italian culture. I thought I'd have no problem settling into life in Sardinia, yet I suffered the biggest culture shock of my life. It made me realize that if I'd had problems when I already spoke the language and had the support of my Sardinian boyfriend, other people were going to be a lot worse off than me. I didn't want them to have to go my headache and emotional rollercoaster. That was the seed for starting HowToItaly.
I also realized that between us we had a wealth of information to offer. Mario is an Italian accountant and also temporary manager in companies around Italy. But, because his management career has taken him around Europe, he also speaks fluent English and German and knows what it takes to move abroad. He is always advising friends on their businesses and also has a couple of businesses of his own. It made sense to pass this knowledge onto other people.
ExpatWomen:What have been your biggest challenges?
Emma: Being islanders, Sardinians are naturally more inward–looking than mainland Italians. Add to that their history of being invaded over the centuries and suspicion and mistrust has been inbuilt into them. You can come up with the most brilliant ideas, but people will look at you with a blank face or tell you it can't be done. I feed off the enthusiasm of others so constant negativity can be draining. The trick is to surround yourself with other expats, Sardinians who have moved back to the island after a stint on the mainland or abroad, and Italians who have made the move to the island.
Another bugbear is that Sardinia is an island of Southern Italy. The plus side is that wonderfully relaxed, lazy culture which is far removed from the stress of the rat race. The flipside is lack of organization and time being considered almost irrelevant. When I worked as a corporate relocation consultant in Cagliari, Sardinia's capital, I would have to send the contracts via email to the US. The Sardinian estate agent I was working with at the time couldn't understand how I could work with someone I'd never met and how our work could take place exclusively via the web. When a rental contract was ready, I would have to drive to the estate agency, collect the contract, drive back home, scan it into the computer and send it via email. Contracts wouldn't be ready for weeks whereas the US corporation needed them instantly. Ironically, it was far more efficient to do transatlantic business than doing it with someone 10 minutes drive down the road.
ExpatWomen:What have been your sweetest rewards?
Emma: The best reward really has to be seeing people you have consulted with go on to make successful lives in Italy, be that as an aupair or as the director of a company they have set up. Keeping in touch, forming good friendships and seeing them go from strength to strength is an amazing feel good factor.
On a personal level, being able to communicate at a high level is important to me and I've always made a conscious effort to ensure I can express myself in Italian as well as I can in English. It's something I've really worked at. My proudest moment is probably from two years ago when an Italian company hired me to write articles on EU legislation for them in Italian. I was up against other native Italian speakers for the position so to be picked was a huge ego boost. It made me realize how far I had come.
Emma: It went hand in hand with the decision to start HowToItaly. I'd been wanting to write a book about Italy for years. As a topic, living and working in Italy has been done to death but the writers only ever dedicated a few paragraphs or pages to starting a business in Italy. That's fair enough – a general book can only provide general information. But I wanted to go more in depth and prove to people that setting up a business in Italy, where bureaucracy rules, could be done. Plus, with Mario as my co–author, I knew we could get down to the real nitty gritty and tackle all those heavy topics like taxation and legislation.
I'm a writer rather than a natural business person and complicated, dry manuals don't do anything for me. I wanted it to be a book that I would read – fast enough to be a page turner, but in–depth enough to give people the information they need. I also wanted it to be personal and full of positive stories of people who had been there and done it. For me, the motivational factor in any book like that is reading the stories of expats.
ExpatWomen:Emma, your book is full of very detailed information, how long
did it take you to research, write and eventually get your book published?
Emma: Thank you. I sent off a book prospect along with an outline of sample chapters to various publishers. We were lucky to secure a publishing deal before writing the manuscript, which was a huge motivator. Our deadline was nine months away, by which time we had to file 75,000 words.
As a journalist, I had expected it to be pretty simple – I'm used to bashing out articles for deadlines with an editor breathing down my neck. But this was far more demanding. Perhaps the longest time–eater was hunting down expats with successful businesses in Italy and persuading them to be interviewed.
I already had a good insight into the way Italian business was done – I read Il Sole 24 Ore, Italy's financial paper, every day and also provide English–language services to companies. It meant I wasn't starting from scratch. Mario and I split the workload between us. Because of his knowledge and experience of the Italian business world, he wrote all the technical sections of the book in English, while I concentrated on the expat side. Then I rewrote his section back up to make the whole thing flow. I think that's one of the reasons the book works. It's not written by someone trying to research material they don't know anything about.
ExpatWomen:Can you share with us some of the stories of the people you
have helped with via your consulting company or your book?
Emma: Of course. Sally Usher, a dive instructor, lives in Sardinia and approached us after reading the book. She wanted to set up a property business in Alghero but wasn't quite sure the best way to go about it. We worked with her in September. We had a lovely wine–fuelled lunch with her and her boyfriend before working on her business plan. The result is Sardinia Property Finder and e new friend to boot. We're even planning on joining forces on another project.
Tania Pascuzzi was born in Australia to Italian parents and now lives in southern Italy. We did a general consultation with her back before she moved to Italy. She's now the proud owner of In Italy Tours, a fabulous company which arranges tours of authentic Italy.
These are two women who are now in business. The others are still in their start–up phase and, for confidentiality reasons, I don't want to give away their brilliant business ideas for Italy. All I can say is I wish their ideas were my ideas.
ExpatWomen:What are your Top Five tips for women who want to start a
business in Italy?
Emma:
There are financial incentives (agevolazioni per l'imprenditoria femminile) on offer for women who start businesses with other women. There are also grants on offer for companies that start in–house crèches.
When applying for grants or loans, don't expect your application to be considered instantly. They can sometimes take years and even if you are awarded a grant it might take another year to come through by which time it is void.
Make sure you look the part. How you look can be the deal breaker in Italy. High heels are a must in the business world as is the most expensive suit you can afford. If you can't afford an expensive one, don't scrimp. It would be better to dress in jeans and smart blouse rather than a cheap suit.
Be feminine. Italy is a country that celebrates females. You will not be expected to behave like a man to get ahead in Italy. Go ahead and wear long, dangly earrings and sensual perfume. It will be appreciated.
Join a networking association. The mindset of other professional expats and English–speaking women who have been in Italy longer than you will keep you going in your most challenging moments. When some crazy Italian legislation or attitude really winds you up, it's good to be able to let off steam and laugh about it in English.
ExpatWomen:Thank you very much Emma and all our very best wishes.
Emma: Thank you! Best wishes for the continuing success of ExpatWomen.
