Life is full of magical moments, sometimes I feel like Forest Gump as it is not a normal life that I live. I have met important people like presidents and such, been in historical situations and since 1998 I have lived my life in a nearly constant mode of discovery
I have created new businesses, worked in European R&D for a IT company, I have travelled the world next to an international CEO ian a oil related business, with whom I helped create an economy in a remote Indonesian village with our “Village Plantation” business model that can make Corporate Social Responsibility a profit making venture. Currently, I own a very small and growing boutique hotel and experience network in Italy.
I often find myself sitting on Lake Como (surrounded by astounding beauty) being asked: “how did you get here from Lansing, Michigan?”
The story usually begins with “I quit my life back in 1998 to discover life”. I get varied reactions: From “You are a complete idiot” to eyes glazing over with visible desire “I wish I had the guts”.
Starting at the ‘very’ beginning, I was born to two mid-westerners who found each other amidst the “Mad Men” advertising and “Big Bang Theory” of computer science scenes. These two people shared one common ideal : To procreate and make a better life for their creations. An honorable task, and one I am deeply thankful for.
Ballet, band, sports, talking computers (the size of a dining room table) and all the pressures associated with parents who want to make sure your life turns out different than theirs were my life.
Being the oldest, and the only girl, I was my parents worst nightmare. Curious beyond reason and from the moment I could walk I was continually wandering off to explore the most current distraction or idea that tickled my fancy. They struggled to fit me into a cookie cutter existence, and i tried to comply. Living, working, marrying and trying to have children.
Then one day in 1998 I made a decision that changed the course of my life. I left a job I loved for one that offered me a bucket of money. I thought I had finally reached the point my parents wanted me to reach.
Taking that job was one of my first big failures. It spurred my second divorce, intense dissatisfaction and my first major jump off a cliff.
The positive was that I discovered that I am a person who likes to jump off cliffs. Sometimes I land on two feet unscathed, other times I landed battered, broken and bruised. But that childhood curiosity finally won over and with a bucket of golden parachute money, I sold and gifted everything but the four bags of stuff that accompanied me on a plane to Rome.
The first four years were spent between Rome and Ostuni: learning Italian, eating the most amazing food ever, studying the liberal arts, drinking Campari and getting a degree (online) in business administration.
In my fourth year, the money started to dwindle and I moved to Milan: teaching English, taking a job as a receptionist to learn everything I could about Italian business practices and finally landing a consulting job at an IT company who would send me traveling around Europe to represent their interests at R&D tables. It is amazing to see some of the technologies we talked about at these tables recently enter the market place.
During my time in Milan, I met a man who would become a huge part of my life. I took another jump off a cliff, quit my job and started traveling the world with him. He owned a company with offices in thirteen countries. We meandered around the globe climbing volcanoes, managing his business and talking about philosophies that we thought were important.
One of those philosophies was the fact that social corporate responsibility should not be a line item off the marketing budget. It should be something that creates a fiscal, environmental and a social return on investment. I call it the three P’s: People, Planet and Profit.
Fuelled by Ayn Rand and Marx we jumped off another cliff together and created a business model that demonstrated our concept, a teak wood plantation in Indonesia. I spent five years making sure that the business would do as the model suggested and teaching the locals how to run the project for us.
It has been an adventure that allows me to proudly say that a remote village with a high infant mortality and only 1% of the children going past elementary school is now occupied by well nourished and educated people. 100% of the twenty plus annual high school seniors graduate, four have gone on to University. The project is not making money yet, as the big bucks come at maturity of the trees, but it covers most of its costs and has proven a very high social and environmental return.
During this time of grand wanderings and creation, I had maintained my residence in Italy, on Lake Como. It was a place we would occasionally pass some weeks to recoup and rest. Two years into our project my personal relationship ended with my business partner. I continued for three years to spend most of my time between Indonesia and Italy developing the business and making it self sufficient. Having succeeded I found myself alone again in Italy.
The boredom encouraged me to jump off some more cliffs, most notable were: a failed travel agency, the creation of Casa Stacy ( which started as a three room boutique bed and breakfast and is now a burgeoning multinational network), a marriage proposal, a buyer for clothing in Thailand, a move to Spain and a move back to Italy and an attempt at purchasing a french chateau just to name a few.
At this moment I am in a phase of regeneration (again), what next? Alone and in Italy, I will continue to expand my travel network and it has been suggested that I start writing a blog to support the growth of the business. So keep an eye out for Nomadlux.com.
Cheers,