In today’s episode I sit down with Maria Manetti Shrem, renowned for her pivotal role in internationalizing the fashion houses of Gucci and Fendi in the 70’s & 80’s, her extraordinary philanthropy and her friendships with likes of King Charles, Pavarotti, Renae Fleming, Andrea Bocelli, Michael Fabiano, and Sophia Loren to name a few.
Maria reflects on her earliest years in Italy, when Mussolini declared war on France and Great Britain, the day she was born, and how it impacted her life and set the stage for how she was determined to live a very different life. She tells the story of how she got into the fashion industry with her first husband in Florence, building a very successful company with 300 people working for her, and ultimately giving it all up to follow a man she fell in love with who lived in San Francisco. Her fascinating story goes on to tell how she developed 12 Gucci Franchises in the United States for Joseph Magnin in San Francisco and then started her own company, Manetti Farrow, with her second husband. Together, they were instrumental in internationalizing Gucci, Fendi and Mark Cross throughout America.
Maria tells us that after being caught in the middle of the Gucci war, feeling exhausted from work, and ultimately selling her company in the late 80’s, she was devastated when her second husband left her, and turned to Buddhism, which she believes ‘saved her life’.
Maria shares her chance meetings with Jose Carreras, Renata Scotto Luciano Pavarotti & Renae Fleming, Placido Domingo, and the close friendships she developed with all of them.
In 2010 Maria made the decision for the 3rd stage of her life, to become a philanthropist at high level and to give with ‘warm hands instead of cold hands after death’. Hear her stories of the 50 Foundations she supports in a significant way throughout the world, traveling the globe year-round to enjoy and support them. You will be mesmerized by her fantastic stories, energy, and the absolute joy she gets from changing the lives of so many young people, through her gift of education to them.
And finally her fabulous stories of Festival Napa Valley and how it all began.
Watch the full podcast on YouTube: https://youtu.be/CQ3kchnSOW8
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