Wendy Holloway

Founder, Flavor of Italy
www.flavorofitaly.com

Buon giorno! Meet Wendy Holloway, founder of Flavor of Italy and your new best friend, if you’re tempted to take a vacation where you cook and taste your way through Italy.

For close to a decade, Holloway, an American who lives near Rome, has been leading vacations “showcasing Italy’s finest culinary traditions in the most charming spots.” In 13 locations, she orchestrates cooking classes, scopes out food-and-wine-focused tours and finds distinctive accommodations (think: 13th-century four-star hotel, olive-oil-producing estate or charming country house).

Living La Dolce Vita

“All of (my tours) are a little bit different, but each has five mornings of cooking classes. You learn to make the specialties of the regions, you stay in accommodations that are characteristic of the region, and taste local wines and food products that you have an opportunity to purchase. For a person who adores food and wine, this is a vacation come true.”

Before Europe: Pittsburgh

“It all stems from an absolute passion for food, which I have had pretty much since I was born. I was born in Pittsburgh and grew up until middle-school age in the U.S., and then we moved to England and I spent the rest of my childhood years in Europe. My mother passed away when I was 11, and I think maybe that led me to do more cooking than I might have. We moved to England because my father was working for Gulf Oil at the time and was transferred. I became very attached to Europe.

“I briefly came back to the U.S. to get my undergraduate and then master’s degree (in finance and marketing from the University of Pittsburgh) and then became a vice-president for PNC Financial. I met my husband during a business trip to Italy and opened an office in Italy for PNC in Italy immediately after we were married.”

First Business: Bringing U.S. Baby Products to Italy

“My baby products business came about when I had a baby. My daughter is almost 18 now, but at the time, many of the modern conveniences that I was used to seeing in the U.S. didn’t exist in Italy – even simple things like plastic baby bottles, bath sponges to support babies when you give them a bath, disposable baby bottle sacks, all kinds of little conveniences like that. I thought, ‘Gosh, what a wonderful business to get into and have things that I need for my daughter.’”

Cash Flow Trouble

“I imported a number of things from the U.S., and patented two products. One was a bath sponge and I had my own baby bottle designs, which I had produced in Thailand. I sold to retailers in the Rome area. That was a very complicated business to manage financially in that payment from retailers is always about three months, whereas payment (to manufacturers) for products was about 30 days. So in a sense, you ended up being kind of a bank. It was a fairly hard business to manage in that regard.”

Biggest Mistake

“When I went to market with my baby products company… you know those baby bottles where you put the plastic bags in? To me, that was just an amazing idea. The baby doesn’t get air in her stomach and you can just throw the bag away. But culturally, that just isn’t the thing here.

“With anything new that seems wonderful to you, you’ve got to do a lot of research to understand why it would or would not go. If you haven’t done market research, you may end up investing in something people don’t want.”

Savoring Family Time

“As my daughter grew, I made the choice to be a stay-at-home mom, so I let that business go. I decided, ‘Hey, I’ve started a business. That’s something I can do at anytime in my life, but I won’t be able to repeat this moment with my daughter. That’s one of the most important decisions I have ever made.”

New Journey Begins

“Nearly a decade ago, I started visiting olive oil production facilities and mozzarella di bufala production facilities. I wanted to share this experience with other people, so I started taking groups to these kinds of things. The idea was to have culinary vacations throughout the country. I went around to various regions of Italy and designed courses.”

Cooking School and B&B

“We also have a culinary school in Riano, where we’re located. We’re adding a B&B onto it. We’re out in the country, but you can easily get into Rome to do tourist activities. I work with the University of California, and next week I have 100 of their overseas students, about 25 a day, coming to learn to make wonderful menus and cuisines in Italy.”

Do-It-Yourself Culinary Education

“I buy every culinary magazine that is out there in English and Italian to see exactly what’s going on in the food world, to constantly learn, on my own, new techniques. That’s the way it has to be with any business. You always have to be upgrading your qualifications. On my way back from the U.S. recently, I went to New York for three days with the purpose of going to as many restaurants as I could to see what Americans are doing with food. I constantly take little classes to upgrade my skills.”

Secret To Success: A Morale-Building Marriage

“My husband, I think, is one of the most exceptional men on Earth. He gets so much pleasure out of seeing me happy and going after whatever dream I have. He’s supportive from A to Z. He goes around to different places to help me design courses… it’s not exactly hardship duty to eat good food and drink good wine. But when I had my baby products company and needed to move inventory from one warehouse to another, my husband, who’s an aerospace engineer. rented a truck and drove it from one place to the other. He’s totally supportive in every sense of the word.”

Greatest Success: Loving Working

“Making my food and wine culinary interests into a formal company. Making this passion into a business that’s giving back to me.”

Greatest Challenge: Search Engine Marketing

“I don’t think my Web site (www.flavorofitaly.com) is getting me as much business as I would like. I have been so busy with actual activities that I haven’t dedicated myself to doing those things that you need to do to have your Web site show up on the first page of search engines. Otherwise I see my business as having no obstacles. I know that what I offer is absolutely the best of wha’’s on the market.”

Words of Advice: Negativism? Get Over It.

“If you have something you want to do, believe in yourself and go for it. As women, we’re sometimes educated to think that we can’t. There’s a deep-rooted negativism within some women that’s false and detrimental. Take an idea, if it’s something you believe in, and go for it.”