With Cucina In, Antonella's Passion Became a Business

A rational mind, a degree program in Business Administration focusing on management and control suited to her inclinations and aptitudes, which she studied passionately until her graduation in 2001. Along with her partners Elisa Travagin (also a Bocconi grad) and Gualtiero Villa, professional chef, 37-year-old Antonella Marasi is now the owner of Cucinia In, a cooking school in Milan. An achievement that is probably different from what she had planned, and which was accomplished after a series of other experiences. "My first professional experience after graduation was at in marketing Yahoo!, a dynamic and stimulating organization, which put me in contact with very important clients. I was there until 2003, then I had to leave." For family reasons, Antonella took the lead at her family's business, a small company working in the textile industry, a role that led her to travel often but which wasn't completely fulfilling. In 2013, after a crisis that hit the industry, she decided to leave and dive into a new adventure that indulged her passion for cooking, that she "inherited from my grandmother and father."
"This sector is experiencing a very popular moment, there are lots of events related to food, people have rediscovered the pleasure of cooking. I took classes, I studied and I found two partners who would share my adventure." Opening a school wasn't just a matter of having the ideas, the funds and overcoming the thousands of bureaucratic snares and traps. There are also issues that seem small but are of fundamental importance. "First of all, finding the right place, the area that offers the most opportunity. The location needs to be inspected, investigated, the setting needs to be understood," says Antonella. In the end, the right venue was found on the internet almost by chance, near Corso Sempione. A subway stop is being built there which, for the future, will be a great opportunity. "We searched the area at different times of the day and we were convinced. We started with a few ideas and we came up with other ideas as we went along, while keeping the difficult economic situation in mind.

So there are not only courses, but also individual topic-based lessons, where participants learn to cook something specific, that they prepare themselves, then eat. We like to be able to offer a sort of alternative to a restaurant for an evening." A varied selection, for all budgets and all tastes, to stand out in an area where competition is prevalent, with older schools, some that are more recent and various kinds of initiatives. A marketing campaign kicked off starting with their circle of acquaintances, with flyers and then on social networks.