my story (part 1)

CHILDHOOD

I consider myself lucky: I’ve been moving and exercising for as long as I can remember. I still recall the wonder of watching a movement become smoother, stronger, and more precise over time through repetition. It was like installing a new software in my brain,what once felt impossible slowly became second nature.

At age 7, I started playing football. By the time I was 11, I had a routine: school, homework, then straight down to the courtyard to juggle the ball and practice my shots, copying the pros I admired. After that, I’d head to the pitch with my friends, come back to finish my homework (my mom had to find me with my books open when she got home from work), and then back to training with my team.

When it wasn’t football, it was basketball. I was obsessed with Reggie Miller’s Pacers, then Kobe and Shaq, and the superstars Vince Carter and Allen Iverson. Eventually, I convinced my dad to install a hoop in our courtyard

MY TWENTIES (First time in Canada)

Let’s fast forward. Sports and fitness were still my passion, but not yet my profession.

In 2011 I visited Toronto for a holiday, and when I got back to Italy, I looked around and thought: “No, I can’t stay here everything feels too small, too limited.”

I still remember telling myself, despite my fears: “Let’s spice things up.”

So I quit my (stable) job, got a Working Holiday visa, and in 2012 I jumped into a new adventure: I moved to Toronto. My English was terrible,I couldn’t understand anything and I ended up doing extremely hard work as a bricklayer. That job taught me a lot, especially on a mental level. I split my days between working on construction sites and attending evening English classes.

Me somewhere in Toronto

After 6 months, I returned to Italy and fell into a depressing state of mind. I missed the colors, the energy of Toronto, and the feeling of speaking a different language. It felt like I had evolved, while everything around me had stayed the same.

That’s when I decided to follow my passion and began the training (which still continues today) that would finally lead me into the fitness industry. I started out as a gym instructor in my small hometown and eventually became a Personal Trainer in the heart of Milan.

But wait,was it all that easy?No, no, no… there were plenty of failed attempts in between. I’ll tell you more in Part 2.