If you could personify the feeling of sitting in your grandmother’s kitchen on a clear autumn day as fresh bread bakes in the oven, it would look and sound a lot like Alessia Chizzoniti. Warm, comforting, and nourishing. Married to her childhood sweetheart they started their lives together in Venice, fully expecting that city would be their forever home. But in 2010 an opportunity to move to Beijing as a retail and marketing developer presented itself. Fast forward 12 years and they have three beautiful children as well as multiple successful businesses between them.
Chizzoniti is the founder and director of Blossom Montessori, where the Montessori principles and philosophies are applied for students grades 1-6. I asked what first attracted her to the education space and she told me it has just always been in her DNA. “I have fond memories of me placing my dolls and plush toys in a circle around me and teaching them anything. I love teaching, the feeling that passing something onto someone gives me. I am deeply convinced that this is the only tool we have if we wish to change the world for the better.”
But that’s not the only way she is making a difference in the lives of families. After her first child was born she found herself suffering from Post-Partum Depression (PPD). According to the American Psychiatric Institute, this condition affects an estimated one in seven women, but sadly very little effective help and support is available. Chizzoniti decided to do something about it. She became a doula.
“The only therapy that was working for me was giving all this a sense. I studied and certified to cure myself when I discovered the terrible solitude and misinformation new moms are left with. Hyper-medicalization, misinformation, lack of support. And here [in China]we can add cultural gaps, language barriers, and much more. Every time I help a mom, my scars heal a bit more.”
As the owner of not one but two local businesses, I wanted to know her thoughts on entrepreneurship and Women’s Day.
What do you love about being a founder/executive?
I love education and I love management/operations. It is the best way to merge everything together, use all my skills, and learn something more.
What is the hardest part about being a founder/executive?
I often feel alone. Especially for micro-realities like mine, the founder/executive is often the one who does everything, literally everything, from training, marketing, finding new clients, establishing partnerships, working with finance, to changing bulbs sometimes.
Equity has come a long way. Why do we still need a Women’s Day?
In general terms, yes equity has come a long way. The geography of equity and gender equality is in fact showing a lot is yet to be done. I dare to say, gender equality is easier to actuate on a larger scale than in a small setting. Check our daily life, your familiar environment, people you meet frequently. If you really open your eyes, I am sure you can easily spot details that tell you we still have a lot to do. Till the day we need laws to reinforce and guarantee gender equality, we are not done.
How will we know when we no longer need a Women’s Day?
Why should we stop? It is a day to commemorate, celebrate, and raise awareness. We can give it a different connotation every time, according to the needs of the society and culture but it has strong, important historical roots we should never forget.
How do you define success for your business?
My idealistic soul would say, the feedback we have every day from different sides, people saying “Oh, I heard about it!” For my business, being sustainable.
How do you define success for yourself?
Always growing, always learning, and loving every bit of my day.
What do you do if/when those two things don’t align?
If we talk about the personal side, I take a break and work on myself. Businesswise, I reach to business partner(s) and of course my husband. Actually, he always comes first.
And her husband being a priority might be the most interesting thing about her. We so often hear about work-life balance. But of all the entrepreneurs I interviewed for this series, Chizzoniti is the only one who offered up hobbies and detailed information about her family life. She loves her kids and cats and she and her husband love live music events, long bike rides, and sleeping in. And she mentioned all that even before we began discussing her work.
It’s not that she doesn’t work just as hard as every other amazing woman I have spoken to. Her numerous successful businesses and accomplishments make it obvious she does. But she seems very much in touch with her own wants and needs. She is a passionately driven entrepreneur, yes. But that is only a piece of who she is as a whole person. And the whole is pretty incredible.
Here’s to all the brilliant entrepreneurs, artists, scientists, educators, parents, athletes, and warriors in Beijing who just so happen to be women. Happy Women’s Day Ladies, keep holding up half the sky!
KEEP READING: Defending the Day: the Importance of International Women’s Day
Images: Alessia Chizzoniti
