Pastorelli - The Finest Years of My Professional Life
It did not take long for me to notice that many showrooms failed to do justice to the beauty of Italian ceramic collections. Boxes were stacked one on top of another. Samples lay everywhere. Architects had to try to imagine what a floor or wall would look like without being able to see the final result. I found that especially unfortunate. A beautiful tile deserves a beautiful presentation.
So I began developing new display systems myself. I made large wooden panels onto which complete tile compositions were carefully glued and grouted. They were no longer mere samples. They were complete presentations. An architect could see the harmony among the colors. A dealer could show customers what the final result might actually look like.
Today, that may seem perfectly natural. But at the time, it was an innovative way to present ceramic products. I devoted countless hours to finding the best compositions. Choosing the right grout color. Perfecting every detail of the finish. I wanted each panel to tell a story.
When I later saw such a presentation in a showroom, I perhaps felt the same satisfaction as an artist standing before a completed work. Not because my name appeared anywhere, but because I knew it would help people make a better choice. Little by little, other Italian manufacturers also began taking an interest in the way I worked. They saw how I represented Pastorelli in the Benelux. They noticed how I presented the products.
How I built relationships with customers. And how I tried not only to sell a brand, but to give it a genuine place in the market. More and more manufacturers wanted me to introduce their brands in the Benelux alongside Pastorelli.
That was a great compliment. It meant that my work was not going unnoticed.
Even so, my collaboration with Alberto and Pastorelli remained very special to me. The trust he placed in me formed the foundation of one of the most important and fruitful periods of my professional life. I did not merely sell products. I actively participated in their development. I passed on what customers told me. I reported which colors were increasingly in demand. Which sizes architects preferred. And which technical aspects I believed could be improved.
I no longer felt like a simple representative. I had truly become a bridge between Italy and the Benelux. On one side were the Italian factories, with their craftsmanship, creativity, and technical knowledge. On the other were the importers, architects, dealers, and installers in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. My mission was to connect those two worlds. I did not merely have to translate the language. I also had to understand the mentality, expectations, and needs on both sides.
That trust grew year after year. And with it grew my network of human relationships. I met entrepreneurs who became lifelong friends. Architects who continued calling me whenever they needed advice. Importers who no longer saw me simply as a supplier, but as a genuine partner.
To me, that was the greatest reward. Not only the sales figures, but above all the trust. Alberto, like Medardo, contributed greatly to the remarkable success I was fortunate enough to experience for more than fifteen years. Medardo had shown me the door to Pastorelli. Alberto then gave me the trust and freedom I needed to walk through it and fully develop my own abilities.
Each in his own way, both men hold an indelible place in my professional life. When I think back on those years today, I still feel the same warmth in my heart. They were intense years. Years of hard work. Thousands upon thousands of miles on the road. Countless encounters. But they were also years in which I rose every morning with enthusiasm, because I felt I was building something meaningful. Not only for myself.
But together with so many other people. Even today, Alberto and I are still in contact. The years have passed. Our professional lives have changed. But the respect and admiration we feel for one another have remained. Perhaps that is the finest proof that our collaboration was always based on far more than business. It was built on trust. On loyalty. And on a sincere appreciation of one another as human beings.
Perhaps that is precisely why those years are among the periods for which I am most grateful today. Not because everything was perfect, but because each day I was allowed to do work I truly loved. And because I could do it with someone who believed in me and gave me the space I needed to bring my own ideas to life.
When a person works with sincere passion, even the longest days no longer feel like a sacrifice. They become a privilege. A privilege that not everyone is fortunate enough to experience in a lifetime. And today, I realize how fortunate I was to live through those years alongside Alberto Pastorelli.
