Ciao from Italy!

One of my favorite things about Italians — and a big reason I am drawn to this country — is their insistence on the value of beauty in all aspects of life. Two examples:

1) At a dinner party I attended, a woman (not Italian) and man (Italian) were toasting. They weren’t romantically connected or flirting or anything. The woman said, “To the future.” The man responded, “To beauty.”

2) Walking past a gorgeous hilltop villa, complete with its own chapel, my friends and I stopped to talk to the owner. Upon learning that I’m from California, near San Francisco, he blurted out, “Eh, San Francisco, FINALLY a beautiful city in America.”

We all know about the beautiful art and architecture that draws tourists to Italy, but when you live like a local here, you see the thousands of details of daily life that demonstrate how lodged in the Italian soul is this value around beauty. I love that. I believe it enriches life. And that’s also why I prize good design in business. It adds value to the experience of your clients.

The participants at my “Portable, Profitable & Playful” retreat last week certainly experienced a lot of beauty! The 11th-century castle we stayed at, the display of appetizers before dinner, the peacocks that roam the grounds. We also experienced AMAZING customer service! I mean truly amazing.

Make sure you inform yourself about the live, virtual workshop I’m hosting from Italy THIS THURSDAY. Details can be found here, but in short, you should know that it’s not like any event I’ve ever done and it’s one-time-only. If you can’t be there, it will be recorded; but you’ll need to register to receive it.

And it’s not in Italian! (My head would seriously hurt trying to pull THAT off!)

Ciao for now!