“I was very excited this morning, when I woke up. It was nearly two years that I hadn’t had to wake up so early to go to work. Well to say the truth, it was two years that I hadn’t been working at all.”

This is the beginning of the first chapter of APPASSIONATE, a novel reportage, in which I tell about the a woman looking for her professional way who meets ten italian women entrepreneurs who built their company starting from their passion.

Each chapter is a journey to spend 24 hours with each of them. Every journey is a story of an enterprise, an example to be inspired of, it contains suggestions and anecdotes, about how do they succeeded in doing what they like, how they faced the limits and the difficulties. The chapters also contain their idea of work, a new way of seeing it as linked to what they really like and their internal motivation. And consequently how their idea of profit and product changed.

How did these ten entrepreneurs find the courage to rely on themselves, express their idea and engage strongly to find the right place for it in the reality? Real, empathetic, emotional stories, that inspire us to follow our passion.

“ When I had to decide whether to keep on getting 300 euro as refund for the last internship or invest all my energy on my life, I didn’t have any doubt. Of course I was scared but I was scared of answering at the call center for the rest of my life too”

Chiara, vegan designer

Two years ago, I started to interview women all around Italy, that chose to invest on their passion and built on it their enterprise, I called them APPASSIONATE. As the main character of my book, I need inspiration and after every journey I made to meet one of them, I was more optimistic and determined. Their example for me was contagious.

“We have to put legs to ours dreams, and if even after this, we don’t achieve them, it means that we didn’t dream them strongly enough.”

Marina, wine entrepreneur

At that point, I knew that I wanted to tell this enthusiasm, to make people know about this other Italy, healthy, creative and resourceful, the Italy of women’s.

“I wanted to build something that would stand up alone, with a proper soul, something that was like the way I see the world. When I was child I was always enchanted in looking at the bread cooking" “you closed your architect studio for a passion you had when you were a child?” “Yes, and I thank every day that girl to have been so patient"

Maria, biscuits entrepreneur

Women entrepreneurs who created work for themselves and for others, where there wasn’t with their decision to create an enterprise,. Women who wake up every morning happy to do what they like. Women, that looking at life from their own point of view, intercept new needs no yet satisfied, creating new meaningful and useful products and services.

“Since the first moment when I decided to change, I have spent six months training my body. I told my daughter that I went to work, but I went to the gym. I needed to know that all my body was ready to support me on the jump I was about to do. I wanted to create my own enterprise using my expertise and talent.”

Rosanna, child and mum services

With this reportage I want to say that in Italy there are already 1.148.000 enterprises owned by women, that with their daily work transform the reality of work in Italy, because their way to manage the work relations, the production goals, the way of thinking the profit, is very different from what we are used to see .

“I believe that work can’t be aimed just at the profit, but it has to include the construction of an ethic and a moral”

Giulia, owner of a social farm

This passionate women, APPASSIONATE, transform deeply also the reality of their soul, and this is maybe the hardest challenge, to listen our soul.