“The things, which were repeated during my childhood and which we will perhaps talk about later, led me to build this strong side of my character and taught me not to give too much weight to life's problems, but rather to exalt my happiest moments and those of others.”
Photographic material provided by Annamaria Savarese
When I thought about interviewing Annamaria I didn't have many doubts about the questions to ask her, because she has so many beautiful things to say inside herself!
I immediately thought of one thing: her incredible ability to react to life's blows with strength and determination, but above all with a smile and love, for herself and for others.
Having Annamaria in your life is a precious gift. Not only does it allow you to learn to appreciate the importance of the little things, which we often forget in the frenzy of everyday life, but it is also able to show you that an ash-colored canvas can become a fantastic work of art: you have to want it, you have to find the strength, you have to have the courage to struggle every day, to put an original and new piece every time on top of that ash!
I thank Annamaria for giving me the opportunity to talk about herself and the sincerity of soul with which she answered these far from simple questions. Humility, from which simplicity and sincerity derive, is a rare quality. Annamaria is one of the few people who truly embody this quality.
And for those who will read this portrait: remember to treat the words and facts that you find before you with delicacy, because sometimes, when dealing with the life of the person in front of you, this rare ability is needed.
Table of Contents
1-The EMPATHY of those who have been through a lot
Hi Anna, here we are… it’s been 8 years since you and I ended our relationship as office “colleagues”… but even though we practically never see each other, when we think about one other we feel an immense affection in our hearts. I would like to start from this very concept: you are a person who actively remains in the heart! My first memory of you is that smile that welcomed me in the office in the morning at the desk and your ready availability to help me, every morning, important elements of care towards me that have never been lacking.
So, first difficult question: how do you manage to be so welcoming, strong and warm in your interpersonal relationships despite all the blows you have received in life?
<<Very difficult question indeed! It is very complicated to define this aspect of mine, because it is as if I had to boast of being like this, but in reality it is a side of a character: the fact of always being positive and seeing the glass half full, is what Mirco constantly repeats to me, it is my vision of the world pink and glitter, which will now become blue and glitter!
I have always had this vision of the world, certainly dictated by all the difficult experiences I have lived in my life: having lived so many and negative ones, led me to build a strong personality to have to overcome the umpteenth fall. If it had been just one fall, it was that fall that you have to process and then maybe you can live it well or badly. If then another one happens to you, you cannot allow yourself to fall again, especially if you have people who count on your strength, even though you are a child and you are still small.
The things, which were repeated during my childhood and which we will talk about later, led me to build this strong side of my character and taught me not to give too much weight to life's problems, but rather to exalt my happiest moments and those of others. As if part of my happiness is seeing someone else's smile. I'm fine like this. The fact of having that attention towards others, the fact of being very empathetic... a look, a second's view, I immediately see and feel how the person is in that moment and therefore I can be closer to them. The person perceives this thing. In life we are so stressed and driven to rush, that having that person you meet even for just five minutes in the morning at work or who you see again after a while, but who notices how you are even if you haven't seen each other for months, gives you a lot! And there are these people in life, few but they exist!
Many people wonder how I can be like this and have found a balance on my own... and I'm proud of it. It's not a boast but I'm happy to be like this and that people notice it. Not everyone has the same sensitivity and maybe not everyone fully realizes it. In life you learn to select and keep close to you especially the people who resemble you and walk with you on the same tracks.>>
2-THE STRENGTH of a little girl in the face of life's difficulties
You had a challenging youth in many ways, but you always lived every day of your life with great determination, with a smile always and in any case, even in the most difficult moments, and even in the face of trials that every now and then in your life presented themselves in a sharp way. Where do you find this strength?
<<Tell you where this strength comes from and… only easy questions today!? I think it started with the loss of my brother Mauro when I was very young.
Unfortunately, the loss of a child for a parent is a heartbreaking thing. So I didn't just lose my brother during that time, but I had to grow up quickly. In my family, in fact, after the loss of Mauro, nothing was the same for me, for my parents and for my other two brothers. My aunt Gina, one of my mother's sisters, the only one who lived here near us (because our other relatives live in Naples), was very helpful and her presence helped us to try to move on.
When everything happened I was only 8 years old and when a little girl faces a tragedy like that she is led to an early growth spurt compared to a little girl who only has to play with dolls and sand castles. At least on me it had this effect. I felt the need to move from taking care of the dolls to trying to take care of my family. This certainly strengthened me: young, but facing something terribly bigger than her. The weight of this situation led my parents to separate shortly after. I don't remember exactly how long they were separated. But... guess how it ended? After some time they got back together and even remarried!
In those years I found in writing what we then called "secret diaries" a valid help to get out my emotions. Writing allowed me to entrust my thoughts and emotions about everything that was happening to a "safe". It's as if, for personal protection, I felt the need to lighten up and put aside the heavy things to make more room for the beautiful things. I felt the need to rediscover the beauty of life, to see the glass half full. To find my mission, my inner strength. I discovered that trying to make others happy gave me joy, all it took was a smile in return, paying attention to others, making them feel listened to, as the secret diaries did with me. It made me feel good so why not try it in person?
I fondly remember the attention my aunt Gina had for me in those years. The key word is “attention”, I felt seen. She stimulated my creativity. I suffered a lot when she passed away due to a tumor in 2013.>>
3-BECOMING A MOTHER: the most beautiful challenge
When I think of you, one thing always comes to mind: you are proof that fairy tales really exist, they are not just read in books! And now let's talk about beautiful things... motherhood! It seemed impossible... and instead here you are! With a big belly and a baby on the way! How did you feel when you realized that you were going to be a mother?
<<Even “becoming a mother” was a great challenge: because, rightly so, not everything could go smoothly… it wouldn’t have been like me.
Our search for pregnancy was a long one (long is a very subjective term, there are couples who took even longer than us, but while you wait, even one more month seems too much). After a year of searching we started a hormone therapy that could last a maximum of six months, at the end of which if we still hadn't succeeded in our intent we would have had to resort to a medically assisted procreation (PMA) process. Unfortunately my problem was that I couldn't ovulate properly due to my micro polycystic ovary. Basically, every month we have two or three fertile days and that egg that was supposed to mature and be fertilized in those days never matured enough. We could try as much as we wanted on our own but without help it would have been difficult. However, the six months of therapy didn't bring any results so we started to find out about PMA centers near us. Here nearby we have two public hospitals that deal with it but the problem was the timing: to do even just the first interview in the public there was a minimum wait of 4/5 months. We also contacted a private facility nearby, but the prices were really unrealistic, too high for us. After a bit of research, however, we found the Biogenesi center, at the hospital in Monza, therefore still in the public sector: here, the following week, I could have an interview with them. We started with them at the beginning of September 2023 and we had a great time. After the first tests, in October we started the therapies: Mirco gave me an injection in my belly every evening until ovulation. Every 2 days I went to Monza for the monitoring to see how my eggs were growing and to calibrate the drugs correctly. We got to my first insemination where, essentially, they took the "spermini" (we have always called them that jokingly) more capable than Mirco and injected them right where they have to work. We then had to wait two weeks before seeing the results.
The first insemination had also gone well: we had a positive beta test, but then we lost it in the very first weeks. Despite the disappointment, however, something had moved: so in the despair of saying "ok we have to start over" we had found a positive point, because it was the first time that after almost two years of trying we had seen a small result. We were ready to start the therapies again with renewed hope. The center had advised us not to do therapies in December because, since there had been a spontaneous abortion, it was better to let a natural cycle pass first and then start again. So in January 2024 we should have started the therapies again.
But… right in December I got pregnant: incredulous. And I found out almost by chance: we had to go to a party in those days of mid-January and just to be on the safe side before going crazy I decided to take a pregnancy test even though I had no symptoms. There are different types of tests on the market, a very cheap one called Canadian where two lines appear if you are pregnant or the very famous Clearblue digital one that writes pregnant or not pregnant but it costs a lot more. I was so used to seeing negative tests and throwing them away that I decided to take a Canadian and since I didn't want to see yet another negative test I left it in the bathroom and asked Mirco to read it. He goes to the bathroom and tells me: so there is the control line, then there is another line and then there is… and as he said “and then there is…” I rushed to the bathroom and there was also the second line. The right one! Scared.
The first emotion we felt was not joy, as you might think, but fear. The fear of saying, is this test true? Am I fooling myself? Then the fear of losing it again. And just think that the next day I did the Canadian test and it came out positive, but I waited a moment longer to do the Clearblue because I was really scared: I asked Mirco to come to the bathroom to wait with me for the digital test to show the message we were waiting for.
I was pregnant! We looked at each other and that's when I really realized it. It was January 13th and I know it might seem incredible, but on New Year's Eve 2023 we flew a wish lantern, with the words that we hoped to have our baby in 2024. Also, January 6th would have been my brother Mauro's birthday... Mirco likes to think it was a gift from him.
Our journey has certainly been emotionally challenging and to help me manage my emotions, I started writing a diary again. The first few weeks I was very anxious, I don't know how many tests I did to see if I was still pregnant. In the eighth week of pregnancy, we were able to do the first ultrasound to see if the implantation had taken place in the right place. Unfortunately, it's not like you take the test and you're calm. If only!! You can breathe a sigh of relief after the first three months which are the ones with the highest risk. Even if you know that until after the birth anything can still happen! Towards the fifth month I started to feel it and every movement is indescribable. You are creating a life that week after week becomes more and more perfect. We are very happy and can't wait to see his face and hold him in our arms. We are waiting for Max to arrive!>>
4-THE COURAGE of a young entrepreneur
Let's move on to work, another chapter, another challenge: you went from being a very young student to a young entrepreneur in a very short time. What were the biggest difficulties you had to face emotionally in that courageous choice?
<<Ten days after graduation I was already in the Naturhouse world in Desenzano with a part-time contract. I lived in Rezzato at the time, it was 2017, when I graduated in restaurant science and technology. I worked there as a food consultant. I did a year and three months there, before realizing that I wanted something more than part-time and that maybe I could make it on my own without being an employee. There was no possibility of increasing my hours to full-time and so I said to myself... okay, let's try!
I had just bought a house in Rezzato, so I needed a loan if I wanted to open my center near home. In those years (2018) the bank had some loan concessions for women entrepreneurs: for those who opened a new business with a five-year loan, the interest rate was zero for the first three years. My adventure proved to be a success right from the start. In the first three months of opening, I had already exceeded my expectations and even those of the accountant!
So speaking of difficulties, without obviously leaving out the tax blows of the ordinary regime that came the year after the opening, I would say that the thing that touched me most emotionally was the negativity of the people with whom I shared the thought and the desire to open a business: "but no, it's difficult, are you sure? Look, as an employee you have more benefits and protections, whether you get sick or not...". Then opening a business in Italy, imagine: "everyone runs away abroad and you open it here?" "you'll regret it". It was challenging to overcome emotionally, but my determination was certainly stronger than the voices of others. That adventure really brought me a lot, humanly on one hand and in economically on the other.
After 6 years, the pregnancy has put my work activity into question. Consider that every week I saw between 60 and 70 people in total, I couldn't conceive the idea of going back to work immediately after the 3 months paid leave (miserably ...) by INPS and taking the baby to a consultation, exposing him to so many people and managing the breastfeeding that I want so much.
I tried to move to find a new employee to replace me in those months (in the months of trying for the pregnancy I had already had an employee, but after a year she preferred another path), but I didn't find her. Instead I found a girl who was available to buy my shop. So at that point I preferred to take a step back, dissociate myself from that world and preserve the thought of enjoying the first months of my son's life serenely and seeking our balance. A choice not easy, but necessary.
So for me it was a happy adventure. Challenging but happy. I was never afraid because it always went well. This side of my character that we talked about at the beginning, empathy, allowed me to get word of mouth going among clients. There are so many reasons that push a person to want to lose weight! Some (a few) simpler, others very complex. Seeing a person every week leads you to create a bond and knowing how to listen was one of the winning cards. In the consultation we didn't just talk about what they had eaten that week, but also about why they had cheated, what was behind that need to cheat or on the contrary to be too strict with themselves to not even allow themselves a little cheating...
I've been at home since July 1st and maybe what I miss most about my job is the contact with people. Having the certainty of being useful. But soon I'll have an even more important job and I can't wait!>>
5-ANNA'S CREATIVITY: Anna Magie Lab
Your six years at Naturhouse Rezzato have flown by and now there are already new ideas in your head… Your creativity and ability to adapt and evolve are elements that are always present in your soul. But where do they come from? And where will they lead?
<<Creativity is definitely one of my strong points. I started with writing: the secret diaries I wrote very consistently as a child are a first creative form. Then the person who introduced me to the real creative world was my aunt, to whom I was particularly close, who always gave me colored pencils and creative games. They were gifts that led me to experiment with different types of materials since I was little. Then I don't deny that creative passion was also a way to vent. I took refuge in my creative world to distract myself from the rest. And even today when I'm working on a project I detach myself from everything that is external.
Initially I started with sugar paste to create cakes (a world that I had to leave behind due to the perishability of the materials when I opened the shop).
Since July that I've been home I've picked up everything again between birth bows, little pictures with the birth data of the children with polymer clay, personalized items and much more and I love it so much. I also bought myself a new machine to make writings in thermovinyl that I apply on my creations! For now I do it as a hobbyist, I would then like to display it in some local markets to make myself known and to make my creations known! It's really nice when someone sincerely appreciates what you make.>>
6-THE OPEN HEART of those who truly believe in love
Love, I haven't forgotten about this immense chapter! And yes... Two similar souls who met by chance in a very particular period of life and together built their love story. We're talking about Mirco, your prince charming, now your husband. Seeing you on the altar was an infinite emotion for me.
I know how much you believe in love and how much you've always invested in it... what is it like to be the wife of an infinite romantic? And what does it feel like to live love like this?
<<You made me emotional… But it's really beautiful!
Mirco arrived at a difficult time in my life because I had recently broken up with my ex who I was supposed to marry after six years of relationship but it didn't work out (thank goodness).
And here too the coincidences with my brother… Mirco reappeared in my life on my brother Mauro's birthday. On January 6, 2021, Mirco wrote a funny post on Facebook, which appeared on my home page after we hadn't spoken for ten years (we had met at his graduation party many years before, there was already some interest at the time but then each went their own way) and I sent him a message to comment on this post. The first week we started writing to each other very intensely via messages because we were in the red zone due to Covid 19, we couldn't see each other immediately in person. We had decided to wait until January 15 to see each other, because that day I had the deed, where my ex was selling the shares of the house to me and I was becoming 100% owner of the house and we had decided to wait for that chapter to be closed before seeing each other in person. We saw each other immediately after the deed and where do you want to find yourself in the red zone? In the parking lot of a supermarket! We had agreed on a safe word (“carrot!”) via text. We had honestly said to each other (since the past 10 days had been very intense just through texting) that if seeing each other in person hadn’t triggered that physical thing, we would have said that safe word. Neither of us used it!
We kissed and then we saw each other again and we started to build our fairy tale… Mirco is extremely romantic, his vows at the wedding was wonderful. He is truly a person who carries you in the palm of his hand, a very mature person, who knows how to talk a lot, who lets everything out and doesn’t hide behind anything, a person who knows how to take on his responsibilities and who puts himself on the line, even at home. I had never had a relationship like this. He is a beautiful person. And we are very close.
I know that the birth of a child upsets the life of a couple, because it puts you to the test, especially due to the stress of the first few months, lack of sleep, etc., but we are so used to talking and comparing ourselves that if there are divergent points, I am sure that we will know how to deal with them together. We are not used to pitting ourselves against each other, but we are always together against the problem. And this is a strong point.>>
7-STOP AND DON'T LIVE SUPERFICIALLY
If you had to leave a piece of advice to those who have read this far into your portrait, what would you say?
<<To live life “Pink and Glitter”! That’s my motto! I’m kidding, it’s hard to give advice to others… Maybe paying attention to the little things. In reality, I think it’s my experience more than advice that I can leave to those who read us.
I've thought a lot about what has allowed me to be the way I am and I think it's the fact of not living superficially. Listening. Stopping. Even those two minutes of reflection on yourself or on the person you're having a coffee with or something else, those two minutes then come back to you. What you give in any way comes back to you. Maybe not from the same person you dedicate time to but also from others, the good you give comes back to you.
In the end, what does living superficially give you? I like how I've built my life and the importance I give to certain things. Before, the judgment of others weighed heavily on me, I always had to worry about being performing, about being up to par... But in the end you reach a point where you say: I am Anna.
I know that life has led me to discover, at least deep down, that I am worth a lot. Even if I sometimes forget it.
I know that life has led me to surround myself with people who see my value. Without wishing harm to those who do not see it or, simply, to those who are different from me or incompatible with me.
I know that life and my nature have led me to love with sincere spontaneity.
To love my family of origin.
To love the family I'm finally creating and that I've always wanted.
To love the friends and loved ones around me.
To love those people I meet and towards whom I feel feeling and empathy.
To love people with all my heart.
To love people who know how to love.
Here. Maybe I might have learned that, in the end, finding a way to love the people who love us… does that mean I’ve learned to love myself?>>
BIOGRAPHY of Annamaria Savarese
Annamaria Savarese, born in 1991.
She was born in Manerbio in the province of Brescia, where her family had recently moved from Naples for work reasons.
At the age of eight, she lost her brother Mauro prematurely. During her childhood and youth, she participated in community life with renewed joy, studied with passion, devoted herself to creative hobbies and found her own fairy tale in Mirco.
She graduated in Food Science and Technology at the University of Milan in 2017. In 2018 she opened her Naturhouse store in Rezzato, which she managed completely independently until June 2024, when she decided to sell the business to devote herself to a new full-time commitment: becoming a mother. In 2023 she married Mirco, the most beautiful love of her life.
Guided by passion, in 2024 as a hobbyist, she created Anna Magie Lab: an innovative and artisanal laboratory that creates personalized gifts for children and for adults. Always sunny and available, she never stops giving emotions!
Disclaimer
This article is written without any advertising collaboration with any private brands mentioned during the interview: the intent is to share the experience lived by the protagonist of the interview.