I graduated from Rosenberg in 1988, and have been very busy since then. After Rosenberg, I went to Emerson College in Boston for Communication Studies and finished 4 years of college in just 3 ( I think I missed Switzerland…). I then moved back and went to Business school in Lausanne, graduating in 1992. After getting my MBA, I moved to Zurich and took a job with Jurg Marquard publishing, it was a very exciting and formative time for me. My first day on the job I was sent to Poland in Mr. Marquard’s corporate jet to assist at a meeting to purchase several news publications, The meeting was held mostly in English and German with many unpronounceable Polish names and titles – at the end of the interminable meeting, Mr. Marquard asked me to read the minutes of the meeting to him on the plane… all I can say is, “thank you Mrs. Neal” for teaching me to type fast and accurately, I got to keep my job and work on projects like Cosmopolitan Magazine with Hearst publishing in New York and many JMG license projects in eastern Europe. From JMG, I moved over to the agency side. I worked for the direct marketing agency Fisch Meier Direkt and started a Point-of-Sale promotion division. We ran POS events throughout Germany and Switzerland, it was the beginning of my fascination with marketing and the best way to learn about all different types of products and services, through the different clients. As an account manager I worked with fashion, beauty, consumer goods, and hospitality brands on a wide range of initiatives. Each client was a learning experience. I balanced my Swiss/German travel with weekends in Italy and I logged a lot of Alitalia miles while driving just as many through the Gotthard Tunnel! In 1999 my affinity for all things Italian (a habit I definitely picked up in Rosenberg) finally took me to the southern side of the Alps. I was lucky enough to land a job at Prada in Lugano and started my daily commute to Milan. I held several positions at Prada, including Group Operations coordinator, Project manager in IT and finally I moved into the communications department (where I have been ever since). Soon after joining The Prada Group, I moved to Italy and travelled all over the world managing special events and fashion shows. I worked on brands like Church’s, CarShoe, Miu Miu and of course Prada in countries like Japan, China, Korea, and throughout Europe, UK and the US, and more recently Mexico, South America, Canada & the Caribbean. In between it all I somehow stopped to give birth to two beautiful sons and was fortunate enough to take a year of maternity leave with each child. As of last year I was offered the position of Vice President of Marketing and Events for Prada and Miu Miu in North America. So now I am back in my native country, but my life remains as international as it has been since I landed on the steps at Höhenweg 60 as the “girl from New Jersey”.
The best thing about my time at Rosenberg is definitely all the amazing friendships made and kept over decades. Its hard to think of myself as being old enough to have friendships for more than 30 years, but that’s what made Rosenberg so special. More than any other time in my life, the friendships made at Rosenberg have lasted despite time and distance.
I’ve been lucky to travel all over the world, both for work and for leisure, but even still New York is my favorite city in the world. I love how different the neighborhoods are, how many different things there are to do, especially with my kids. My children can live in the United States and still attend an Italian school & hold on to their languages and culture. I’m not from New York originally - but I definitely now consider myself a New Yorker.
It seems like a long time since I hung out at New York’s hotspots, as these days I can usually be found at the Soccer fields of Asphalt Green or in Central Park. That said, my job allows me to work with some of the most exciting & unique spaces in every city, lately I migrate to Miami whenever we have a few days of time to just hang out.
I have a little dream of a sail boat in the Greek islands, I’ve never been and was thinking of getting lost with someone special for an extended vacation. Not sure when that will happen but it’s top on my list!
Enjoy your time living so close with your friends, learn from each other and value your time together. Your Rosenberg friends may become more like family once you move on and you’ll cherish that special time when you all lived under one “roof”.
I’m truly lucky in my career to have worked with some of the world’s most exciting visionaries in fashion, design, business, architecture and cinema. Of course Miuccia Prada is the most inspirational of all. That said, it’s my children who really inspire me to do more. They teach me to keep trying to be better and for me, they are the light that never goes out.
That’s easy, Free time. Time to do all the little things that don’t seem to get done, time to enjoy children’s laughter, time to spend with the ones I love the most.
Right now, on the professional side, I have the mandate to help advance Prada’s sales and marketing efforts in North America. It definitely keeps me moving and brings me to some exciting places. On the personal side, my projects for the future revolve around my children and working to ensure they get the best kind of education and have all the same advantages I had growing up. It’s a big project!
…is to keep learning every day.