Latest / Cookbook Love Podcast / Episode 388: Being a Cookbook Writer: Italy in a Glass with Susan Gravely

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Episode 388: Being a Cookbook Writer: Italy in a Glass with Susan Gravely · Cookbook Love Podcast

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You are listening to the Cookbook Love podcast with Maggie
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Green, episode number 3 88.
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Welcome to the Cookbook Love podcast.
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A podcast that celebrates cookbook readers, buyers,
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collectors, writers and clubs.
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And now your host cookbook author, culinary dietician, and cookbook
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writing coach, Maggie Green.
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Hi everybody.
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Welcome back to another episode of the Cookbook Love podcast.
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How's everybody doing today?
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Hope you are all doing well.
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I am excited to be here.
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Just returned from a long weekend trip to Hilton Head Island and while we
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were there, we enjoyed a historic snow, which I found, uh, kind of fascinating.
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It's a Hilton head.
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For those of you that don't know is a coastal island.
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Off the coast of Southern South Carolina, really close to Savannah,
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which of course is in Georgia.
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And yes, on Saturday it snowed in Hilton Head, just a couple of inches.
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It was really pretty.
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Um, but the roads of course were fine because the surface
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temperature of the roads was warm.
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And the next day after the snow, it got up into the high thirties, low forties.
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So we were able to get out and drive on Sunday without any problem.
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But it was interesting to be there for a snowstorm also.
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Um, I'm home now in my cookbook Bunker, enjoying a nice Friday here, uh, doing
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some things around the house, in the office, uh, recording this podcast
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and it's snowing here in Kentucky.
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Uh, we have had a lot of snow this winter, so it's a great weekend to stay home.
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Watch some UK basketball, enjoy the Super Bowl on Sunday.
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And look forward to just being here and enjoying the snow and
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wintertime and some good sports.
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So before we dive into our interview today, I do want to let you
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know that I have a very special masterclass coming up called How
2:07
to Get Paid to Write a Cookbook.
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In this masterclass, which is a free masterclass, you can discover what
2:13
traditional publishers are looking for.
2:16
In 2026, you can position yourself for a publishing deal
2:21
and save years of trial and error.
2:24
You can craft a viable cookbook concept that attracts agents and
2:27
publishers, and I'm going to give you three deal ready essentials that
2:32
you need to have prepared so that you can get paid to write a cookbook.
2:37
If you are a chef, food blogger, culinary educator, recipe developer,
2:43
dietician, or a passionate home cook with a dream to write a cookbook.
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I want you to come to this class so you can stop drifting and start focusing on
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the things that you need to prepare to navigate the cookbook publishing industry.
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If you wanna find an agent or a publisher without an agent,
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this is the class for you.
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I know a lot of you have recipes, you have ideas for cookbooks, but you want a
3:09
clear path to a publisher and you wanna stop guessing and start building what's
3:14
needed to attract an agent or a publisher.
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That's exactly what I'm gonna cover in this class.
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I would love to have you join me if you head on over to www cookbook writers
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academy.com/get paid masterclass, and the link is down below in the show notes.
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You can get registered and you'll be in the loop for.
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The upcoming masterclass.
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These classes are always really fun to teach.
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I'm constantly inviting new people into my, uh, community, into
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my world through my email list.
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So it's really fun.
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Every three months or so to teach a new class, to talk to you guys all
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about publishing and to help you get your cookbook traditionally published.
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Um, I believe we can change the world with cookbooks.
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I think cookbooks lead people to the kitchen and to food, and to
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ingredients, and all of that helps us to build better relationships.
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It helps us to feed ourselves well, feed our families, feed other people,
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and it also can help us to, uh, save money or earn money if you want
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to, uh, create money from writing a cookbook and the life that you
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can then live as a cookbook author.
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So this is exactly what we're going to be talking about in this masterclass.
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I think that it is a wonderful way to share your expertise
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through the publication of a book.
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And I can't wait to have you join me for the masterclass.
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So again, it's cookbook writers academy.com/get paid masterclass.
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Alright, so today on the show I have an interview with Susan gravely.
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Susan is the founder and CEO Emerita of Vitri, a lifestyle brand offering
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handcrafted Italian tabletop and home and garden accessories.
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Susan started vitri alongside her sister and mother after they took
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a magical trip to Italy in 1983.
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They fell in love with the hand-painted dinnerware found on the Amalfi coast, and
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decided to start a wholesale business.
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Since that trip 40 years ago, Vitri has become the largest American importer
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of Italian ceramics, and Susan is the author of two books, Italy on a Plate,
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which I was honored to have her on the show back for episode 2 34, talking about
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that book, and today we're going to talk about her newest book, Italy in a Glass.
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Where Susan explores the Italian ritual ritual of Aper TiVo, where
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cocktails, mocktails and small bites set the stage for festive gatherings.
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This book is, of course, is inspired by her experiences in Italy.
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She shares the art of entertaining Italian style, blending personal
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stories with time tested recipes and tips from her Italian friends.
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So you're also going to hear us talk about how she built a global brand, the Italian
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craftsmanship, and living beautifully.
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We're gonna talk all about Susan's cookbook writing and
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storytelling through food.
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And of course, what I think is also very amazing is Susan's leadership,
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her legacy and what's next for her in the next chapter of her
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life as the CEO emerita of vre.
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So without further delay, let's dive into this interview with Susan Grave.
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Hi, Susan.
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Welcome to the Cookbook Love podcast.
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Thank you, Maggie.
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I'm so glad to be back.
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Yes, I'm excited to have you back.
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We shared an episode, gosh, almost three years ago, talking all about.
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One of your previous books, Italy on a Plate.
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Today we're here to talk about Italy on in a glass, but before we get
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started, we want an update about who you are and what you do for anyone
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that didn't hear the previous show.
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Well, thank you.
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Um, my name is Susan Gravelly and I started a company called Vitri, uh, 43
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years ago with my mother and sister.
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I am now CEO as of a year ago, and I have.
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Uh, fabulous young, bright people running the company now, and I get to write books
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and go around and do book signings and, uh, dream up new ideas and meet the girls
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when we're, uh, buying new products.
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So beautiful.
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Life is good.
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Life is good.
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I, I live in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and That'ss great too.
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Great.
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And I remember on our previous episode we talked about, I was raised in
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Lexington, Kentucky, and we talked about the tobacco auctions in Lexington
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because didn't your father have a connection to the tobacco industry?
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And that's actually what took your family's.
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To Italy.
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Correct?
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Exactly.
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We had a third generation tobacco company buying and selling Burley,
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which is the sweet part of tobacco.
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And daddy had had, um, mitral valve problems, but seemed soft.
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He went to Georgia to introduce the new owners of our company to the
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Italian conglomerate, which he loved.
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Came back and sadly had a heart attack.
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At 60.
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Yeah.
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Two years later, mama invited only the daughters, not the sons to go to Italy.
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And on that trip we, uh.
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We, um, found our dinnerware and that was it.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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So that family trip turned into the business that we're talking about today,
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which ultimately turned into you running the business and you writing the books,
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which we're here to talk about also.
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Great.
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Um, let's talk a little bit about the early days of
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running a business like that.
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Some of the, uh, risks that might were inherent in that business, turning
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points that happened because there are many people that listen to the show
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that not only love, uh, cookbooks, reading cookbooks, hearing the stories
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of the people that write 'em, but many people are also in business.
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And, uh, I think that your wisdom and advice from that perspective
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could be helpful to, to them also.
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So early days of the company, risks that you took and, um,
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relationships that you developed.
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Yeah.
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Early days were, um.
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Spoon to mouth.
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We had no business experience.
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I didn't know what a asset or a liability was.
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I had a master's in, uh, play therapy and it started, the first outpatient pediatric
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play program at Duke had burned out.
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But what I did know is how to start something and create something and
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follow through with it, and had done things like that all of my life.
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So when we took this trip and decided on the dinner, wearing, got to a price.
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We used our contacts.
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I asked friends of my father's who had been successful, who had failed and then
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been successful again, some who were entrepreneurs, some who had gone to, you
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know, Harvard Business School to be my mentors and be on my board of trustees.
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Board of directors, excuse me.
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And that was very helpful because I believe that we all need to work together,
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help each other brainstorm together, listen to each other's experiences.
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I became the CEO because I was single, could give every
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waking moment to the company.
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My sister was older but had two young children, and my mother
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was going to love being part of it, but she didn't wanna work.
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So we started that way.
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We started with $20,000.
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We interviewed banks.
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Banks didn't interview us.
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We ended up with a wonderful woman banker because she understood
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what we were going to do.
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And there we went.
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You know, I found out about gifts shows, so I called the.
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Owner of the important gift show, the New York Tabletop, he said
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he had no space, but I said, please, let me show you my plates.
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And so I flew up the next day and he gave me six feet beside the registration desk.
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And the first person that walked in was Neiman Marcus, who wrote a $14,000 order.
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And you better believe when the first container came.
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And we had my mother's friends, students from the university, the UNC soccer team,
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and we went to the bus station to get people that needed work to unload it.
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We ship Neimans first, March 21st, 1984, and they've been in
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an account for every year since.
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So I would say off the start for women is to be brave.
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If you've got an idea and you can create a plan and know that it will cost you twice.
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It's going to cost and you're willing to lose that.
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If it doesn't work, then do it or start really small.
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Stay in the same direction.
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Keep your direction tight.
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And, and keep going in that direction using, enjoying every
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person along the way that you meet.
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It's fun as you know Maggie.
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Yep.
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And it broadens your perspective on life and the world and it's worth doing.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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And that sounds like words I even needed to hear today, Susan, because
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I consider myself to be in the middle of my business, um, especially working
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in the online space, developing relationships with people via, um,
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the way we're talking today, um, helping people all over the world.
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And it's interesting how important the relationships are.
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And you even developed relationships with these artisans who were.
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Um, designing and creating the dinnerware that you were
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selling here to Neiman Marcus.
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So tell us about developing relationships with real people doing real creative work
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in Italy and how, uh, that transpired.
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Well, it first trans transpired by going to the first factory that the San Pietro
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was using, which was a factory called Soleimani in Vitri Ari, and meeting the
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father who ran it with his, uh, brooded of 10 children who were babies at that point.
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He, um, was tough.
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He, uh, told us one price when we went back.
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He said that price wasn't good, that I learned with him and watching my sister
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Francis how to be a better negotiator and getting to a place where you realize that.
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It's getting to Yes.
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Which is a wonderful small book that I carry with me.
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It says that you need to get to Yes.
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By collaboration and how do you do that with Italians who seem to,
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uh, love you from the beginning.
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But I've told many people, as a Southerner, we like you immediately.
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You have to do three things we don't like and we don't have time for you.
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Italians look like they're your friends, but it takes three times of doing
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things with them for them to trust you.
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So it's kind of the opposite of being, it's the opposite and
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you have to work your way in.
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Whereas with being southern people kind of work their way out.
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Out.
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Yes, that's exactly right.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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And, and that I learned along the way.
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When you're invited to an Italian's home for dinner, you
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know you are a friend for life.
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Mm-hmm.
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And I always wanted to look at what.
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A factory was doing un understand their hand and their craft, and
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then work directly with the maestros because a design is created as
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the work of many hands and minds.
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So I would lean a design towards the American, uh, style,
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always with Italian spirit.
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Mm-hmm.
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And so working with people in a craft, it just became our
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point of beginning a friendship.
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Yeah.
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And then with the owner's negotiating the prices and then being consistent.
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I was in the beginning there six months, a year because
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there was no way to be in touch.
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And then it moved down, down, down to.
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Probably three months, a year and maybe a little less because I knew them.
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We could do a lot by Zoom and um, I wanted them to work and we were
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building a company over here.
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Yeah.
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Friendship wise, you know, I'm the godmother of two children.
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I've been witness a witness in three, uh, uh, uh, relationships and marriages.
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And I own am now honored to have three sets of keys to three cities in Italy
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that are all related to ceramics.
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So, um, I consider some of my best friend's Italians.
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Yeah.
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And Bill and I now spend two months a year in Florence.
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Um, February and March where I'm writing books and visiting
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factories and seeing old friends.
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Nice.
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So it's a big part of my life.
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Yeah.
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And Italians are known for living beautifully, so to speak.
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If I can summarize it in those two words and how has this influenced your
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approach to what you all bring to the company and, uh, what you bring to
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your, uh, business and to your life?
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Because I, I often think that those two are intertwined together.
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I think design and business are intertwined.
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They say that people that take music as children or enjoy the arts are going
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to be better business people because they're using both sides of their brains.
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Um, for Italians.
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It is the moment that counts, the moment we are in, the relationship
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we're in, and that moves all the way to their lunch, to their dinner,
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to their home, and they don't think that much forward or backwards.
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You know, they grieve and then it's over.
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They plan and then they know when it's going to happen.
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I've learned a lot about that and trying to be more in the moment.
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Mm-hmm.
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Their homes are always, always from people without much money to, grand homes are
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filled with art and they know the history.
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They know, um, what it means to them and why they have it.
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They have many heirlooms, but then they live in a, the younger ones live in
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a more contemporary space like we do.
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Mm-hmm.
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So.
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I've, I've learned those things.
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You know, it's not how much, it's the quality of how we live and
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what our relationships are like.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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And in this world where we're sometimes surrounded by, uh, more
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things that are mass produced.
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Yes.
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People shopping for fast fashion, fast dinnerware, fast food, fast, everything.
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Um, what has it meant to have a company that is so connected to the
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handcrafted work that these artisans do?
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It means everything.
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Yeah.
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'cause what I'm selling and what I'm using and what other
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people use is a living organism.
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You know, clay and glass expand and contract with heat and cold so
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that they move and, and we work in glazes for handcrafts, not for mass
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production, so that they're warmer and you can feel that in holding them.
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When I set a table and when I see these things, I switch it around
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and every time everything I'm using, I'm thinking about the person that
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has created it with their hands.
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So it means everything, you know, a lot of.
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People that buy in Europe now buy in Portugal.
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And that's mass production and that's enormous factories.
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I still work with 30 smaller factories where I know the craftspeople.
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I say hello, I take Valentine's to them.
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Um, and that they work 'cause they know and love us because they know we will,
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uh, put it in homes that care about it.
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And if we don't, they're not the right homes for us.
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You know, they, I was just doing a, a book signing in Greensboro yesterday,
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and I was so thrilled to walk in and 30 of the 40 people were young and they
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loved Vitri and they loved entertaining and that is a really nice feeling.
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Now one of 'em buys their melamine because it's so much easier for them
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outside and with their children, but it looks just like our ceramic.
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Yeah.
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So the, the younger generations that have experienced traveling abroad who have
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experienced eating with their parents casually and not casually who love their
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home and pretty things will continue.
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Um, buying, I think air things and celebrating life
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by dining a hundred percent.
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And by eating a hundred percent, you're singing my song and I think, Hey baby,
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when the kitchen is a active place in a home, I put an introduction to
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my first cookbook, gosh, it's almost been 20 years ago, but our kitchens
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were turning into places that were sterile and people weren't using them.
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And when a kitchen is active and people are in there cooking and you
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know that they're eating or they're feeding people, there's just something
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about the way the home feels.
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So, Maggie, uh, over Christmas, I have a friend named, um, Paula Voinovich.
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She's a Serbian American, did her graduate program in Florence and now is one of
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the top, uh, art historians in Italy.
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And her sister lives in Charlotte, so her sister, brother-in-law and mother
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all Serbian, came and spent a couple of nights with us and her mother.
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Immediately wanted to teach me how to make Serbian bread.
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It was so much fun because we had to need three different times and
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the smells were all over the house.
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And her joy, yes.
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Was making this bread and my joy was learning how to make it with her.
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Yes.
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And having people in and out, oohing and eyeing how it smelled.
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So whether it's cooking or setting a table.
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Or picking flowers from your garden or buying inexpensive flowers, but knowing
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how to add greenery from your yard.
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Yeah.
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It's about gathering and enjoying each other and, and making it a home.
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Yeah.
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A hundred percent.
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It's, uh, yeah, it's, it's the, other than having a fire in the fireplace,
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which is a, probably a seasonal thing, it may be depending on where you live,
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uh, with real wood and real flames.
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I think the kitchen, of course, it's just a way to cook on that fire.
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It's like the best, it's the best thing ever.
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And I think then that food and the wine and the table and the
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community and the joy connect to.
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Your product, but also to the books that you're writing.
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Right?
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Right.
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Italy on a plate, the last book we talked about.
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And then of course today we have Italy in a glass.
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Yes.
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Um, what inspired you?
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Obviously, it's kind of an obvious answer, but I wanna hear it in your own
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words, like to take a step into the book writing space about this rather than
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just the, um, setting the table space.
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I think the reason is that I've always loved to share any
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information I have and growing up.
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In this small town in North Carolina and having lots of foreigners in their
23:59
home coming through because of tobacco.
24:03
I sat in my Sunday dress and served drinks or brought the tray of cigarettes and I
24:10
was to listen and not speak unless being her being asked, and I over and over heard
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stories and laughter and it just created this enormous world of curiosity for me.
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I was asked through all these years, oh, I wish you'd do a travel book.
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I wish you'd do a business book.
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I wish you would do cookbooks.
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And I literally slept.
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Woke up one morning and thought I'm going to do a combination of
24:39
that and it's going to be a memoir as long as well as a lot of fun.
24:46
Writing about friends or restaurants that I love and also about food
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that's placed on Vitri or drink.
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And that's how it happened.
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At the books are are stories about different people and different places.
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And Italy on a plate was more about main courses and meals.
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Italy and a glass is about.
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Mocktails and cocktails and wines and wine makers, and then beautiful places
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that have, that have the most beautiful bars who, you know, bar florian in St.
25:31
Marks Square.
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That, that, that celebrating life with a beautiful glass of wine is what people do.
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Or going on a hike in the Dolomites and pulling out an array of delicious foods
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as well as a hearty bottle of red wine.
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So I choose the people and the places according to how they celebrate.
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And this one with drink with wine and small plates.
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You said something a little bit ago that, uh, both the clay.
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And the, the pottery and the glass are alive.
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They have, they expand and contract.
26:13
Right.
26:13
And I think it's fascinating to think about that as, you know, the,
26:18
even the focal point of both of the books, the plate, and now the glass.
26:21
Um, let's talk about glassware for a minute.
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If you're willing to do Yes, yes, yes.
26:25
Um, because I don't often we, we often think about the plate we're eating
26:30
off of, but I am not sure that people think about the glassware as much.
26:35
Right.
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So what's your, I want you to, um, give, give us the reason why and why
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you think we need to pay attention to the glassware as much as we do
26:47
to the plate we're eating off of.
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Personally, I think the way a glass feels in your hand is the starting
26:59
point for how the beverage will taste.
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Again, I remember as a young person, my parents having beautiful glassware, and
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I would ask about it and it would be mouth blown in Venice, or it would be
27:17
something they picked up somewhere else, and I would always wanna know the story.
27:23
The pivotal place for me was when we met a family called the Parises, who live in
27:31
Martica, which is a medieval castle town.
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And the father was blowing Christmas ornaments for us and a few glasses,
27:44
and he used a type of glass that's like Pyrex, but very, very thin.
27:51
And so you could create the fish and the cows and the angels and
27:57
the birds in figurines as Christmas ornaments, but you could also create.
28:04
Beautiful glasses where you could have a hot totty in them.
28:08
You could boil water in them as well as put them in the freezer for something
28:14
really cold and I was astounded.
28:18
I would stand literally for an hour with glasses on, watching Sinor
28:24
Parisi blow something and watch his gentle hands pulling the glass
28:31
and creating the two pieces and firing and molding them together.
28:36
And I was mesmerized.
28:38
So for me, whether it's a thin glass like theirs, or our original elli glass
28:46
that was heavy and wonderfully country, putting your lip to a mouth blown glass,
28:55
and then slowly tasting what's in it.
28:59
It's a dream.
29:00
Yeah.
29:00
It's just over the top.
29:02
Exciting.
29:03
Yeah.
29:04
Yeah.
29:04
And so many different beautiful colors of glass.
29:07
Oh.
29:07
Uh, the designs, the impressions, the, just, just the whole thing about it.
29:12
So I, um, want you also to tell us a little bit about, um, this book related
29:21
to the glass and, um, how your travel and relationships in Italy actually
29:27
influenced the recipes as well.
29:31
So the recipes are all Italian.
29:37
When I decided on who I was going to write about.
29:43
I asked them to give me their favorite recipes so that, you know, we have the
29:50
rendition of a Northern Aperol spritz, or we have an Americano, you know,
29:56
which is just sweet vermouth, Campari, and club soda with a little orange.
30:01
You know, we have mocktails and then we have two vineyards.
30:07
The, the antinori and the mazes both started in 13, 42 and 45 who would talk
30:19
about their grapes and how the taste and the flavor and the legs looked in glass.
30:30
And so it made me lean towards glass even more.
30:35
I, um, then loving color would work with the parises on.
30:42
Creating dots or stripes or plaids or two colors, rectangularly.
30:49
But always thinking how did it fit the lip?
30:52
How did it feel when you held that glass and sipped?
30:57
So, um, the drinks and their little small plates, antipasti that are either savory
31:04
or sweet, all came from discussions with them about their glass or their
31:12
wine and what did they think was right to give to Americans as our recipes.
31:20
Yeah.
31:21
And your chapters in the book, if we look, I love looking at a table of contents for
31:26
a cookbook and seeing how we are expanding on just the traditional appetizer, soup,
31:32
salad, dessert, and you are talking about.
31:36
Um, atmosphere, warmth, conversation, elegance, craftsmanship, home
31:41
entertaining, celebrating humor and, uh, letting go and enjoying and how, um, the
31:48
food and the glassware obviously lends itself to all of those experiences.
31:54
Um, let's talk a little bit about the chapter on humor.
31:57
Find the humor.
31:59
I don't know that I've ever seen a cookbook with a
32:01
chapter called Find the Humor.
32:02
This is chapter 10.
32:04
It's the ton, yeah.
32:06
Family and Sicily.
32:08
Tell us about that chapter.
32:10
Well, Sicilians are a different breed.
32:13
I mean, they would very, very much like to.
32:18
Uh, be a separate country.
32:20
They are even more laid back.
32:24
Domani, which is tomorrow, is Domani and Domani.
32:27
And the f Tony brothers and their father have always been really special to me.
32:36
Uh, the oldest son, Felipo is the true designer.
32:42
Another is the store manager.
32:45
The other is the production.
32:47
But they create everything from very large pots down to tiles, to First Stones.
32:55
And First Stones are a plaque that is put on the wall that originally every new
33:03
home would have a wall plate to bring, uh, good luck and best wishes into the home.
33:09
And we would do them with deer, with sons, with St. Francis.
33:15
With lots and lots of designs.
33:17
Well, I was up, I was in, um, this town called, um, uh, Kessie,
33:26
uh, called, uh, Santa Stef Mara.
33:28
Mm-hmm.
33:29
My mother was there and my husband was there and my mother said, what
33:34
is the name of this main street?
33:36
Because it was a almost dirt road that went, was the only street from
33:42
Palermo to Katanya on the west side.
33:46
And one of the sons said, we call it via Susanna.
33:51
For me because I had brought so much business into their little village.
33:57
And that is their kind of sense of humor.
34:00
Yes.
34:00
You know, it's always, um, Susanna, Susanna, you know, they loved
34:09
and they love all people who will come and enjoy what they're doing
34:15
and talk about it with them.
34:17
So I have seen a million pieces of products being blown or molded and
34:26
every time it's new, every time, Maggie.
34:28
Yeah.
34:29
You know, it's so, um, that's why we called this town,
34:34
giving us a sense of humor.
34:36
Yes.
34:36
And they have a, their family recipes, there's eggplant cap.
34:40
Oh yum.
34:41
Stuffed sardines.
34:43
Yeah.
34:44
Ilian milk pudding with biscotti and.
34:48
Cinnamon Rosey Rosa, Leo.
34:51
That looks like it's a, um, is it a, like a infused, um, drink with
34:59
cinnamon, orange peel, water and sugar?
35:02
Exactly.
35:03
Yeah.
35:04
And 96% ever clear if you want it to have alcohol in it.
35:10
You know, Sicilians, uh, I mean, Italians don't use cinnamon very
35:14
much, but Sicilians use it more and they like drinks that have that,
35:21
um, sweet, bitter combination and they think of cinnamon as bitter.
35:28
We don't, because we always have it with sugar and put it on our toast.
35:32
Right?
35:32
Yeah.
35:33
Yeah.
35:33
But, but that is a classic drink for them.
35:36
Yeah.
35:37
Beautiful.
35:37
And those, it's neat that you then you were able to collect those
35:40
recipes from the families and, um, tell the story of the families.
35:44
How many boy, how many brothers were in the family?
35:46
Do you know?
35:47
Oh, there were three brothers.
35:48
I will tell you another funny story.
35:49
The first time, the humor chapter.
35:52
The humor chapter, the first time that my mother went with me, we were invited
35:56
down to their beach cabana for dinner with their friends who owned another
36:03
factory We worked with, well, we arrived.
36:06
They were so excited.
36:07
They said, we are going to give you specialties every meal.
36:10
The first thing we had was, um, calamari in black ink.
36:16
Black ink is the what comes out of calamari.
36:20
So it was a soup with black ink.
36:22
We looked at it and it tastes like liquors.
36:24
You have to try it.
36:25
But we didn't eat much.
36:27
The next five dishes were all made with black, oh no.
36:32
A risotto, then a pasta, then a philto, a steak with black ink and black ink.
36:40
Gelato.
36:41
Well, we had to try it and vice, but we, mom and I left and went, well, we did it,
36:50
you know, and here we're, you know, we've gotta try all the flavors of the world.
36:56
Yes.
36:56
But that would be a very funny time for us.
37:00
Yeah.
37:00
You know, blacking from beginning of the meal all the way to the end of the meal.
37:04
Right.
37:05
They didn't use it in the drink or the cocktail or the, no, no.
37:08
Thank God.
37:09
I think I drank a lot that night.
37:11
Wonder what they pair with a black ink?
37:13
Was it a red wine?
37:14
No, it was, we drank red and white.
37:16
Yeah.
37:17
And it, it depended upon, I mean, the gelato was with white, I remember clearly.
37:23
And the first course this, um, the calamari soup with black ink was white.
37:28
And then we moved into their reds and Sicilian wines are delicious.
37:33
Mm-hmm.
37:33
So that was a lot of fun.
37:35
Yeah.
37:36
But we were eating so many carbs, we had no bread.
37:39
So it was a, an interesting and new experience.
37:44
Right.
37:44
And when people finish with reading this book, experiencing this book,
37:49
may, using the book, trying some of the recipes, uh, what do you hope
37:52
they take away beyond the food?
37:55
Um, from Italy in a glass?
37:58
I think they take away a joy in living, a joy in having friends over that it doesn't
38:08
have to be a production that you can eat.
38:13
Pizzas, take out pizzas.
38:15
Just use wonderful plates and glasses.
38:18
Learn a poem that's a Sicilian and, and toast with that poem.
38:24
Talk about your trip to Italy or your dream to go and go.
38:30
I want people to know, as my father showed me on a standing globe, that wherever
38:38
they live and someplace in Italy is only a plane ticket or a phone call away.
38:44
So you need to go, you need to relax, you need to cut off your
38:49
telephone, and you need to just exist.
38:53
Just be yes.
38:56
Sounds great.
38:57
And your leadership and your legacy and your, you're directing
39:02
this company has changed over the past year and it's evolved.
39:07
Um, now that you're.
39:10
The CEO, is it emeritus?
39:13
Emerita.
39:14
Emerita as a woman, right.
39:15
You are looking at this business from a different perspective.
39:20
Yes.
39:21
Let's talk about legacy and leadership from this perspective, and then would
39:26
love to talk a little bit about, um, and closing up advice you would give to
39:31
women who are building businesses today.
39:33
We talked about that in the beginning, but I think that there's maybe another
39:36
message here related to legacy.
39:38
Yeah, I, you know, it's, luckily for me, I've never had much turnover in employees
39:46
because I've run a transparent company, everyone knows what the sales are and
39:53
knows what the goals are, and we have always had mixed teams meeting and working
39:58
together from having three of us to now having in peak season, 70 employees.
40:05
Mm-hmm.
40:06
Um, I think that is really key to building a successful company.
40:13
I've also felt that I have always walked my talk so that when there was, uh, or
40:19
the two down times in oh eight and in 18, I was the first to cut my salary,
40:26
and that when we had to do things like that and cut people, people understood
40:34
they reacted and they knew that when things came back, I would repay them
40:38
and I would hire the people we had to let go if they were available.
40:43
Having Holly as the CEO, having a fantastic woman, CFO, having
40:51
an incredible woman in design, I split my job into a lot of parts.
40:58
We also have some Renaissance men that work with us too, and they
41:02
love it, but women will communicate together and we're not afraid to ask
41:08
for advice or help or brainstorm.
41:12
And I think that has been a huge part of our company reputation.
41:18
We, um, I still mentor our CEO.
41:21
I'll meet our CEO and design person in Frankfurt for a couple
41:27
of days to look at product.
41:29
So I get the best part of the work in meeting with Holly regularly,
41:34
hearing, brainstorming directions and what we're gonna do, like
41:38
opening a new retail store in August.
41:41
And, but I also don't have to do it.
41:44
I don't have to manage it anymore, so it gives me time.
41:49
Think and reflect and write and um, and send ideas.
41:56
So, so it's a perfect combination for me.
41:59
Yeah.
42:00
And I trust these women so much.
42:03
Yeah.
42:03
I think that's foundational.
42:05
Foundational.
42:06
And I hear, I was just fly fishing and, and my husband and I, listening to a
42:12
lot of men, I, I asked several of them tell me some of the most difficult times
42:18
you have had, and they were all related to being let down and trusting people.
42:25
And then the trust was gone.
42:28
And I think that's the most important part of it, that you understand your everyone's
42:36
directions, that you still ha you all have a sense of values that you live by.
42:44
That, you know, everyone has their back.
42:47
That's right.
42:48
And I think part of being trusting of people is also being
42:51
a trustworthy person yourself.
42:53
Absolutely.
42:53
That you are a person that people can trust and the trust
42:58
then is reciprocated back.
43:00
I often think that, um, this is something I guess I've, you know, as I've, um,
43:04
matured and grown and, you know, raised children and running a business, that
43:09
often what I want to see in other people, I have to build that first
43:13
within myself because I'm only gonna see whatever the reflection that I.
43:18
You know, it's kind of like a reflection of my, my interior,
43:22
uh, relationship with me.
43:24
And I think when you talk about your values and being willing to let your
43:27
values, uh, lead, so to speak and be part of your business, it's not always easy.
43:34
Not easy, not easy.
43:36
And, and you will go through times where you've turned right
43:42
or turned left and hit a block and then you've had to turn around.
43:46
You have young children that's taking time.
43:48
You don't feel you're giving the company enough time.
43:51
Your husband is working and he works in a different way than you do.
43:55
And so how does that cause comradery and conflict?
44:00
And I would say, you know, to young women to trust your gut.
44:07
Start small, but start, I still am dismayed at, at the number of women that.
44:17
Do not have the confidence they need to have.
44:20
And Maggie, I think you've said it better than anyone, which is,
44:25
there is nothing wrong with therapy.
44:27
There is nothing wrong with having two good friends that you get together once
44:34
a once a month if you don't have time to talk about the good and the bad, because.
44:42
It's not it, you are growing up.
44:44
You're growing up.
44:45
Yep.
44:45
I would also say there's never a, you are never too old to start something.
44:50
Yep.
44:51
You know, I think thirties are the beginning of your life.
44:54
You have more experience, you feel a little more confident.
44:59
You starting to decide who are really people you wanna spend time with and that
45:04
you don't, and you are molding yourself into your moral identity, like you said.
45:11
Yeah.
45:11
And then it gets better and better and better.
45:15
I'm 74.
45:16
I feel like I'm 50.
45:19
Uh, and I still am molding, I'm still listening and thinking about what you said
45:26
and how I want to think about that more.
45:29
Yeah.
45:29
Yeah.
45:29
And your business is a product-based business.
45:31
It's, um, tangible products.
45:33
Absolutely.
45:34
Yes.
45:34
Um.
45:35
Dinnerware, glassware, tableware now and books, tangible products
45:40
that are created that people buy.
45:42
Now, not all businesses are, um, selling tangible products.
45:45
Correct.
45:45
Some are information businesses, correct.
45:47
Some are services that people provide, but this tangible business requires, uh, the
45:52
craftsmen, the people to create 'em, the warehouses, the stores, uh, the shipping,
45:58
the fulfillment and the end consumer.
45:59
The yes.
46:00
And the people that are actually buying these products.
46:03
Absolutely.
46:03
Yeah.
46:04
So it's, it's a, it's a long chain of, uh, creating tangible things.
46:08
I think books, obviously, this is my personal bias, but I think
46:11
they fit beautifully in a kitchen space because we're dealing with
46:15
food and ingredients and knives.
46:19
Pans and heat and tangible environments.
46:22
Um, kitchens, as far as I know, are not digital spaces.
46:26
We're not eating that way.
46:27
We can't, we're not designed to eat that way.
46:30
It's all about tangible things and people I agree.
46:33
Real people.
46:34
I agree.
46:34
Yeah.
46:34
So I love the books just fit for you.
46:38
To me, it just all makes sense because it all, um, you could imagine close
46:42
your eyes and imagine someone having maybe some of your dinnerware, your
46:45
glassware and your books, and it kind of just completes the whole thing.
46:49
All they really need then is the wine, the food, and the people.
46:52
There you go.
46:52
They can gather together.
46:54
That's right.
46:55
And you know, you don't have to have a big kitchen.
46:57
No.
46:58
People gather in the smallest space.
47:00
No, a hundred percent.
47:01
It always is that way.
47:02
And opening up kitchens.
47:05
To eating spaces is so smart because you can have more people gathering
47:14
with enjoying all their senses.
47:18
You know, their eyes, their smell, their touch, their feeling a part of a group.
47:24
And it's not a happy time right now for a lot of people on feeling isolated.
47:31
Yeah.
47:31
And it.
47:33
Just takes that step of risk to say, I'm going to invite two people over.
47:41
It's, and not worrying about anything except being together
47:46
and eating and drinking something.
47:47
Yeah.
47:48
We're, no, it's predicted that the weekend, we're recording
47:51
this weekend, we're supposed to have some bad winter weather now.
47:54
Maybe in your neighborhood also we're too.
47:56
Yes.
47:57
Yeah.
47:57
Yeah.
47:57
And as I was walking this morning, I, I was thinking about the night
48:01
that it's supposed to snow here.
48:02
It's supposed to be on Saturday.
48:04
And, uh, we have a neighbor who is a widower, but him, him and his wife have
48:09
been good friends of ours for a long time.
48:11
And I, it occurred to me that it's fun to get together with him on the weekend.
48:16
But, um, I'm, I'm.
48:19
Said to myself while I was walking, I'd like to make a point to try
48:21
to do something, but I'm not sure he would be able to walk here.
48:25
So maybe we could bring food and walk there and, um, carry our food with us
48:31
and go visit and still get together.
48:33
Even in the snow.
48:34
Even in the snow.
48:35
And because to me it's all meant to be shared.
48:39
It's uh, and even if someone has to eat solo every now and then, I still think
48:43
there's benefit to cooking something good for our bodies, something fun to
48:48
eat, and then enjoying a nice plate and glassware even when we're alone.
48:53
I couldn't agree with you more.
48:55
And there are, you know, there are a lot of single people.
48:59
Yes.
48:59
And we have the same situation as you.
49:02
It's a single man and I've already invited him.
49:05
Why don't you come spend the night with us?
49:08
Yeah.
49:08
We've got extra room.
49:09
So you're not alone with this bad weather, especially if the electricity goes off.
49:14
A hundred percent.
49:15
A hundred percent.
49:16
Yeah.
49:16
So I think, um, it's very important.
49:19
I think the connection's very important.
49:21
I think talking to people, sharing food, sharing meals.
49:24
So I just have always admired the work you do.
49:27
From the first time we talked, I'm so excited that you're continuing
49:31
with Italy in a glass and obviously your business is evolving and
49:34
there's some exciting things happen.
49:35
You happening.
49:36
You mentioned a retail store is now going to be open.
49:39
Tell us a little bit about that.
49:41
We are so excited.
49:42
It's going to be in Chapel Hill.
49:44
It'll be on Highway 54 right in town.
49:49
So there'll be a wonderful awning that says Vitri.
49:52
It'll be August and it will, we'll finally have a place to showcase everything we do
49:58
as well as special things we buy in Italy.
50:02
That'll only be in the store from food to, to wonderful small items to art.
50:10
So that's very exciting.
50:13
I really wanted to do that.
50:15
We, um, have an outlet store that's in Hillsborough, North Carolina, and
50:20
we have online and tangible sales.
50:25
Uh, the big ones are the first weekend in May and the first weekend in October,
50:30
and that will have thousands of people come because it's the way we can
50:35
sell overstock first quality returns.
50:39
It is not a bump and dent.
50:43
Um, type of sale.
50:45
Mm-hmm.
50:45
Because that's not worth selling, but that's a lot of fun.
50:49
And then we sell online and to over 500 stores in the United States.
50:54
So I hope people will ask for V Htri and we can get it for them.
51:00
And if they don't have a store, they can call us and we can help them in any way.
51:05
Yeah.
51:06
You know, the most important thing is quality and we make sure
51:10
that what we sell is quality.
51:12
Yeah.
51:12
What's your, um.
51:14
What are you hearing about the future of retail stores like department stores?
51:19
Yeah, I, I was asked that yesterday.
51:21
I, what I see happening is the, there will be less, uh, department
51:28
stores and they will be consolidated.
51:30
You know, sacks is gone.
51:32
Yeah.
51:32
Neiman's had bought Sack's.
51:34
Um, our top store is Bloomingdale's now and they are doing really
51:40
well, have been managed well and didn't open as many stores.
51:44
I think that brand stores.
51:47
Are the thing.
51:48
Now there are less specialty stores, uh, though there are spec
51:55
fabulous specialty stores in almost any resort that you can go to.
52:00
And I think those stores are really, really important because people
52:05
need to be able to see variety and also create their own lifestyle.
52:10
Yep.
52:11
For us, because we sell linens and so much dinnerware and flatware and glass
52:17
and wall pieces, we can show people things from being very contemporary to
52:24
our original compan line with the animals.
52:26
We have melamine that works if you've got another house and
52:31
then we've got big urns for.
52:35
So we're really excited about it.
52:38
I've wanted to do this.
52:39
I love the idea of buying from some of their favorite people.
52:43
We're going to be introducing a line by somebody named Oria, which is the
52:49
name of an island and Sicily, and these will be, um, bath soaps and, you
52:56
know, the perfumery things as well as bags and pocketbooks and cat scans.
53:02
So anything we can find, uh, that's handcrafted, that has a
53:09
story that's, that we know has an American spirit to the Italian
53:16
design, we're going to bring that in.
53:19
Wonderful.
53:19
Yeah.
53:19
And that'll be in the, uh, retail store that you're opening.
53:24
Uh, people will be able to see it and yes.
53:26
Enjoy the, the line.
53:28
Wonderful.
53:29
Yeah.
53:29
I do have a question now about the, the quiet life of.
53:33
Uh, Susan in, yeah, say in Mar February and March, you go to
53:38
Florence, you get to spend some time away from the business, so to speak.
53:43
Uh, which I don't know if it's really possible we're ever a
53:46
hundred percent away, but you do some writing and some thinking.
53:49
Um, what kind of tips do you have for people to enhance that part of their life?
53:56
So many people aspire to write more.
54:00
Maybe it's for personal reflection, maybe it's for publication, but, uh, the value
54:06
of writing in your life and the value of this expression of yourself in words.
54:10
What did you, tell us a little bit about that.
54:15
I think that, you said it earlier, and for me it has been
54:25
a journey to become more quiet.
54:28
I have been around so many people and my personality is one of loving to
54:36
dig into people and places that I, I go, that I find that if I can go to
54:42
a familiar place and have a spot at that familiar space where I choose
54:53
to not see many people and breathe, then it opens up all these creative
55:04
pores and allows me to start writing.
55:09
I will, um, get to Florence 15 days before Bill.
55:14
I'll have a wonderful friend come visit who lives in a Rome
55:20
for a couple of nights and.
55:24
Every morning I'll get up, I'll take about a two mile walk by myself,
55:29
will not have on earplugs, and I just look and I have my phone.
55:35
If I wanna take pictures, I'll come back, have another coffee, and I'll sit down
55:40
and kind of calm myself and start writing.
55:44
And that's how I do it.
55:46
You know, if I'm going somewhere to write about a place, I take lots of
55:52
notes by hand because I find that if I'm writing it, it's coming in
55:58
in a different way than taping it.
56:01
And I remember more if I'm writing it, I'll then go home and I'll rewrite what
56:10
I wrote into more coherent ways so that I have at the beginning of a chapter,
56:19
I think peace.
56:23
Is part of learning how to quiet yourself, learning to get to your consciousness,
56:31
your out of body relaxation, where you thought, I thought about that
56:37
a while ago, or you are allowed to think freely that you don't get when
56:47
you are around people all the time.
56:49
A hundred percent.
56:50
Yeah.
56:51
And for me, who has lived such a people focused life,
57:00
I find that if we go to the beach, we do not entertain.
57:07
If I go to Italy, I don't invite that many people because I treasure
57:14
the time to now reflect and to make sure I am still aligned.
57:22
To what is important in my life.
57:25
Not your life, not Bill's life, but that's important in my life because
57:29
we challenged all the time, Maggie.
57:31
Yeah.
57:32
Yeah.
57:32
Does most of your writing for your books take place there or
57:35
are you able to carve out those kinds of spaces during your life?
57:38
In North Carolina?
57:39
I write mostly there.
57:40
Yeah.
57:41
I here, I've only been retired for a year and I said to myself, I'm
57:47
giving myself one year to unwind.
57:50
Yeah.
57:50
So what I, I didn't have time to read.
57:53
So I found that in the beginning I was watching Netflix to kind of calm myself.
57:59
I got so sick of it and then I was desiring books.
58:03
Yes.
58:04
Um, this has nothing to do with what we're talking about, but if you have not read.
58:10
Theo of Golden.
58:12
You're the, I just heard someone mention that the other day,
58:16
Maggie, if I could only have one book in this house, including
58:21
cookbooks, I would have that book.
58:23
Wow.
58:24
It is thought provoking.
58:27
It is about a man who is successful in New York that moves to a small southern
58:32
town and you don't know what he did or anything, but you progress through
58:37
these months to years where he lives there and then you find out at the end
58:44
it is kind of what I'm talking about.
58:46
I mean, this person wanted to slow down and find a space and
58:51
then find something to care about.
58:54
Um, I know what I wanna care about.
58:57
Mm-hmm.
58:57
I just am carving a space now.
58:59
Yeah.
59:01
It's, it's great.
59:02
It's great.
59:03
Yeah.
59:03
And I think that that's exactly what people, I think people desire to
59:09
be able to carve that space, but I think sometimes they don't know how.
59:12
And then when they carve the space, I think sometimes we run from what
59:17
that feels like to see and not be stimulated by talking to people.
59:23
Our phones, Netflix, what, even reading, whatever it is, because I, I just said
59:29
this to my daughter the other day.
59:30
She, um, happened to get the flu and she had been ill, she was getting better
59:35
and she said, I just don't feel well.
59:36
I said, Julia, I understand your body might not feel well,
59:39
but you're not allowed to.
59:40
It's not understand, not allowed, but boredom sometimes doesn't feel good.
59:44
That's right.
59:45
But boredom doesn't have to be boredom.
59:48
I think sometimes we get afraid of feeling what's being still looks
59:53
like and having that space, what that feels like is not what we're used to.
59:58
I could not agree with you more and because, you know, for running
1:00:03
the business, we've got this, we've got that, we've got an
1:00:05
appointment, we've got a trip to take.
1:00:07
We got people to meet, we have things to do.
1:00:08
We have finances to look at, we've got emails to write, and then all of a sudden
1:00:12
if we carve the space in the midst of all that without it, like who are we
1:00:17
without all that I Dito, Dito, Dito.
1:00:21
Yes, yes.
1:00:22
And you know, as it's uncomfortable, it's, but that's good.
1:00:26
It is good.
1:00:27
So, and then it's, I mean, I know people like you're saying, who
1:00:31
are so afraid of having downtime.
1:00:34
Yes.
1:00:35
And I could understand it, but I also knew that that was what I was missing.
1:00:43
And that I was going to work through that to find afterwards
1:00:51
what I wanted to spend my life on.
1:00:54
Yeah.
1:00:54
Versus this volunteer, this volunteer, this volunteer, this volunteer, these
1:00:59
people, this new thing and Right.
1:01:02
Um, I'd, I've done all that.
1:01:05
Yeah.
1:01:05
I've done all of that for 74 years now it's time to, yeah.
1:01:10
To not, to also not be afraid of aging, not to be afraid of.
1:01:16
What's next?
1:01:18
Well, it's part of the human experience.
1:01:19
I mean, unfortunately, unfortunately, yeah.
1:01:23
You know, mortality and aging is part of our life as is suffering.
1:01:28
And those are two things that can never, ever be removed, be taken
1:01:32
away from the human experience.
1:01:34
If amen.
1:01:34
People are trying, um, technology might be trying, but it's not possible.
1:01:40
Correct.
1:01:41
For us to run from those two things.
1:01:43
And I will say that one of the things I've learned by being with
1:01:47
so many Italians is that they are much less afraid than we are.
1:01:54
Yeah.
1:01:54
They, uh, bring their older family members into their home to live.
1:02:00
Now, I'm not saying to do that.
1:02:02
Yeah.
1:02:02
I'm just saying that for the, it's part of their culture.
1:02:05
It's just part of the way they do things.
1:02:07
It is why, it's part of the way, why can't, yes.
1:02:09
Yeah.
1:02:09
But why can't we move?
1:02:11
To places of comfort and accept that this is just the next step.
1:02:17
Yeah.
1:02:18
Yeah.
1:02:18
We are, we, we do, I think we run from that.
1:02:20
And I think sometimes we think creating space and slowing down to create
1:02:23
that, we kind of gotta face that.
1:02:25
And that's, I, I think that running from that, and I know my audience, I
1:02:29
know there's people listening that are maybe at a transition in their life.
1:02:33
Yeah.
1:02:33
Much like, uh, you might have been over this past year transitioning
1:02:37
to a new role in your company.
1:02:39
Correct.
1:02:39
Um, transitioning to writing a different book, uh, transitioning
1:02:43
to be people, retiring, people whose adult children are now on their own.
1:02:49
Um, this whole feeling of what's next and how do I figure out what's next?
1:02:54
But I, I believe the path is creating the space to get quiet and sit with ourselves
1:02:59
and listen to our life for a while.
1:03:03
I agree.
1:03:03
And I don't want your listeners to think it was easy.
1:03:07
No, it's not easy.
1:03:08
That's why I say I think it's the most uncomfortable thing in the world.
1:03:10
It is.
1:03:11
I would wake up and I'd look at Bill, or I'd look at myself and
1:03:14
go, what am I gonna do today?
1:03:16
Yeah.
1:03:17
I mean, what am I gonna do?
1:03:19
And then I'd say, I'm gonna try to do nothing but read.
1:03:24
Yeah.
1:03:25
But it is not easy.
1:03:26
It's not, it's not easy.
1:03:28
The path is so necessary.
1:03:30
Yeah.
1:03:30
Especially if you've been super active in your life.
1:03:33
Yeah.
1:03:33
Yeah.
1:03:34
And I think if, if anyone's a parent for sure.
1:03:37
Oh, uh, people own a company on top of that for sure.
1:03:40
Yeah.
1:03:40
Um, people are active in their communities for sure.
1:03:44
Um, but I, I, I believe it's what we need.
1:03:47
I think we need the space to think.
1:03:49
And writing is such a healing way to do it, even if it's reflective in using
1:03:54
your hands in a notebook, in a pen, and getting those things out of our brain.
1:03:59
It's like, it's just wonderful.
1:04:01
I, uh, I think it.
1:04:04
It's been the path for me.
1:04:06
It's, uh, I know people that write books, you know, you can, you can tell
1:04:11
by the stories they're writing, the things that they're talking about.
1:04:14
And then the fun of it, of course, for cookbooks is having the cooking
1:04:17
and the kitchen and the work and sharing meals with people on top of it.
1:04:21
I think that they're the best genre of book now, Theo of
1:04:24
Golden, I need to read that.
1:04:26
Some great fiction, uh, stories that are just so, uh, heartfelt
1:04:31
and so thought provoking.
1:04:33
Uh, wonderful.
1:04:34
The book I just read was called On the Calculation of Volume.
1:04:40
It's about a woman that is on a business trip and she wakes up and realizes that
1:04:44
she's experiencing the same day over.
1:04:49
So she thought it was gonna be November 19th, and it ends up being November
1:04:52
18th and she goes home and every day she wakes up at home with her husband.
1:04:56
It's the same day.
1:04:57
Oh my God.
1:04:59
And he's doing the same thing and she is like, what is going on?
1:05:04
Unbelievable.
1:05:05
So she starts writing on a notepad.
1:05:07
Okay, this is day number one of experiencing November 18th.
1:05:11
Here's what I'm doing, here's what he's doing and how she comes in
1:05:15
and out of his life, because he just thinks it's the same day.
1:05:21
Now, this was written, I think, in
1:05:25
it's either it was Finland or Denmark, I can't remember, right,
1:05:27
but it's been translated to English.
1:05:29
Now there's seven books.
1:05:31
So, I don't know, I've, I've read the first one and it ends on a year later on
1:05:36
November, the night of November the 18th.
1:05:38
The real November the 18th on the calendar.
1:05:40
So you don't know in the next volume if she's gonna jump to the 19th or if
1:05:44
she's gonna have a whole nother year of experiencing November the 18th?
1:05:49
Uh, well I'm getting that book on the calculation of volume.
1:05:52
Volume.
1:05:52
So, yeah.
1:05:53
And this is a book, I don't know if you have to start with volume
1:05:55
one, but I would start with volume one 'cause I'm not sure they've
1:05:58
translated all of 'em into English yet.
1:06:00
But, um, it's an unbelievable story because it made me wonder, Susan, if
1:06:05
we're all not experiencing, if our lives have become so routine that we're kind
1:06:11
of doing the same thing day after day anyway, someone just wrote about it.
1:06:16
And maybe the challenge for all of us is to kind of shake things up a little
1:06:19
bit so that every day isn't the same.
1:06:21
I love that idea because that is a question.
1:06:24
So many people ask me, you've been to Italy so much, do you get bored?
1:06:31
And I say Every day is different.
1:06:34
Yeah.
1:06:34
But every day can be different if you try to use different
1:06:39
perspectives and you mix it up.
1:06:41
Yeah.
1:06:42
But there are people that are looking for something else than their routine.
1:06:48
Yeah.
1:06:48
And um, for me, and for you, that's writing.
1:06:52
Yeah.
1:06:52
Right?
1:06:52
Yep.
1:06:52
And it's, it's having that time for ourselves to reflect and as fearful
1:06:59
as you said, that is how great if more people were doing it a hundred percent.
1:07:04
I think it really expands.
1:07:05
And obviously you can see how your books.
1:07:09
Are able to multiply your, uh, friendships with people Yeah.
1:07:14
Your experiences in Italy in a way that nothing else can do.
1:07:18
Right.
1:07:18
Because people can now experience it and read about it and people that you've
1:07:21
never even met, which I think is also the most fascinating thing about a book
1:07:25
like this is, uh, you are being read about in places that you don't even know.
1:07:30
Right.
1:07:30
And how wonderful that, that is.
1:07:32
Uh, it's scary too to think about that, but I, I try to think about it
1:07:36
in a way that's very, uh, life-giving and really does help people to
1:07:39
experience their life in a better way.
1:07:41
Well, I, that's what cookbooks are about.
1:07:43
That's what cookbooks are about.
1:07:44
I, I have many, many people that want to tell me about their
1:07:49
experiences in Italy and what they've eaten and what they've cooked.
1:07:53
And that's exactly what you're saying.
1:07:56
Yeah.
1:07:56
It brings enormous joy to know that others understand the old soul
1:08:05
of Italy or the old soul of life.
1:08:09
That's right.
1:08:10
That's right.
1:08:11
Well, what a wonderful way to end our conversation talking about books and
1:08:16
writing and Italy and glassware and for your, uh, book Italy In a Glass.
1:08:23
Uh, it was a beautiful book.
1:08:24
I hope everyone, uh, gets their hands on a copy of it.
1:08:28
And why don't you tell everybody, uh, how they can connect with everything
1:08:32
we've talked about related to, uh, your business that you're now the CEO emerita
1:08:37
of how they can connect with you online?
1:08:41
Absolutely.
1:08:42
I mean, you can connect with me because there's a blog, Susan Graveley.
1:08:47
At vitri.com, you can buy the book through Amazon.
1:08:51
You can buy the book through vitri.com or possibly your local stores.
1:08:58
We self-publish, so we are not going to be in the big, big book sellers yet.
1:09:04
But, um, you can see what we do, uh, on our website, vre.com.
1:09:10
And if you, anybody wants to write to ask me about places to visit s
1:09:16
graveley@vre.com, I will answer you.
1:09:20
And in this second book, Italy.
1:09:22
In a glass, we put a list of the places I talked about and their addresses.
1:09:28
Wonderful.
1:09:28
So people could visit there and, um, eat there.
1:09:32
Yes, exactly.
1:09:32
And drink, eat, drink and visit and be married.
1:09:35
Talk to the people that are creating all this beautiful glassware.
1:09:39
Yes.
1:09:39
Yes.
1:09:39
Well, it's been a delight to reconnect for the second time, Susan, and I
1:09:43
hope in the future we'll have other conversations about other, uh,
1:09:47
books that maybe you're working on.
1:09:49
And I can't wait for those days.
1:09:50
But until then, um, I hope you have a wonderful time in Florence.
1:09:55
Um, will be thinking about you, you think about us in spirit and,
1:09:58
uh, let's encourage everyone who's listening to carve out those spaces
1:10:03
to not only cook and share meals, but also to, uh, reflect and to write.
1:10:08
It's a amazing life when you can combine all of those things together.
1:10:14
I agree.
1:10:15
And Maggie, you are something spectacular.
1:10:17
I'm so glad that our paths have crossed.
1:10:20
I am too.
1:10:20
Thank you.
1:10:21
I am too.
1:10:21
Thank you so much.
1:10:22
Thank you.
1:10:22
Bye.
1:10:24
Thank you so much for joining us today for this episode of the Cookbook Love Podcast.
1:10:29
Again, all the links can be found in the show notes@www.cookbooklove.co.
1:10:34
And if you are interested in writing a cookbook of your own, please check out the
1:10:39
free cookbook writing masterclass called How to Get Paid to Write a Cookbook.
1:10:44
It is designed specifically for food or nutrition experts,
1:10:48
and you can check that out at www.cookbookwritersacademy.com/free.
1:10:56
So that's it for today's episode of the Cookbook Love podcast.
1:10:59
This is your host, Maggie Green, and until next time, have a great
1:11:02
day and keep loving your cookbooks.
1:11:09
Thanks for listening to the Cookbook Love podcast.
1:11:12
You can find out more information@www.cookbooklove.co.