Un caffè con Paolo Zapparoli

Istanbul-Milano

Elif_bilgi_03_13 Paolo_zapparoli_03_4

In finanza cambiare lavoro è all’ordine del giorno e spesso vuol dire anche cambiare Paese. Normalmente lui fa carriera e lei lo segue per il mondo. Ma c’è anche chi pensa che in una coppia entrambi abbiano diritto alla realizzazione professionale: "I was brought up thinking that there was no difference between a man and a woman as far as professional life was concerned and I am lucky that Paolo agrees" osserva Elif Bilgi, 40 anni, direttore generale dell’investment bank HC Istanbul di cui è anche azionista. Paolo, il marito, 42 anni amministratore delegato di Sinergo Sgr, racconta con orgoglio la loro storia, che lo scorso anno è rientrata anche nella selezione di Fortune dei “Gobetrotters for love”.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/04/magazines/fortune/love_hajim.fortune/index.htm

"I have left Italy in 1992 and started coming back only in 2006.  I was a different person and Italy seemed a different country.  I went to the US in 1992 to expand my horizons and look at opportunities from a global perspective.  I have attended a business school where I have met my soul mate and future wife.  She was not Italian but she saw the life ahead of her with the same rigor and energy as I did.  After graduation we worked in New York for a few years.  Then I left to start-up a management consulting company in Turkey.  My wife, weary about leaving her career in the US, followed me a year later. In Turkey, I practiced consulting for several years and then went into private equity, the profession that I love and am currently in today.  After almost ten years in Turkey, I moved back to the US to do bigger deals in more markets.  In the meantime, my wife and I had a child and my wife had started a business in Turkey so she could not move with me.

After a few years of intercontinental existence, we said “enough” and I started thinking about moving back to Europe.  I did not have Italy in mind but an old friend and mentor whom I trusted and respected offered an opportunity that was not passable.  I have been back here for two years now.  Having been away for so long, I feel more objective and more appreciative than I used to be.  I do not take Italy for granted; I can see the problems more clearly but I am also more forgiving of them due to the years of missing them and knowing that every place has its pluses and minuses.  Italy is a special country, blessed by God for the natural beauty, creativity of its people and wonderful way of life.  But Italy is only one country among many, all of which deserve recognition."