Polisia was converted by a Catholic monk and baptized into the Christian faith. Her father was livid when he learned of it and went after her, intending to kill her for abandoning his pagan tradition.
To escape him, Polisia ran up the mountain nearby, which is called Monte Ascensione, and, they say, fairies protected her from her father’s wrath and helped her hide on the mountain, where she now watches over the valley to protect it. Apparently, there was a large earthquake in the area some time ago, and, according to legend, the area was completely untouched due to the protection of its patron saint, Polisia.
We were on our way out the door, stuffed with the wine and food Rocco and his family had so generously provided when we were asked if we had seen the nearby town, Ascoli Piceno. Upon learning we had not, Rocco exclaimed without hesitation, “I’ll take you!”
A short distance away we were enraptured by this small city, which oozes inspiration and charm like nothing else witnessed. Over three hundred churches dot the narrow streets that wind around buildings standing on the ruins of old Roman roads. An ancient Roman bridge spans the river, and the piazza in the center of the town is now only open to foot traffic to preserve the history and nostalgia.
Clock towers and cobblestones, reverent churches untouched by tourism, street market vendors purveying goods ranging from fried olives to fish to flowers, a coffee café unchanged for one hundred years—what a remarkable moment in time, this Italy not long separated from the era of my ancestors.
This part of Italy was really a revelation to me. I remember walking up those steep hills and seeing the Apennine Mountains in the background, knowing that the foothills of those mountains were where my grandmother Italia “Edith” DeDonato and my uncle Dom, “the fox of industrial wizardry,” came from. I could actually see her village in the far distance from the hilltop of the vineyard as Rocco pointed it out to me. All day, the story of the wolves and the mandolin resonated in my mind as I walked in the shadow of the mountains where that legendary story was formed.
As we drove through those cold, stark, but stunning Apennine Mountains on our way back to Rome, we passed through a ten-kilometer tunnel built in the 1980s to allow passage across those wolf-inhabited mountains. It was a bright, sunny day when we entered the tunnel, but dark clouds and falling snow greeted us on the other side. It’s a stunning part of the world, still wild and treacherous through all it’s beauty.
When did I realize I’d shifted my life’s mission from selling products to promoting a lifestyle? It first began with the stories of Luigi told by my grandpa Big D. It evolved with visits to Italy and really hit home when my staff handed me the first bottle of Vallorani wine and I saw my name on the label from that 2013 harvest. I think, at that moment, I realized I wanted to turn this legacy of the Vallorani name into a brand others could enjoy along with me.
It hit home again when I was at the West Virginia Italian Heritage Festival in 2015, showcasing my coffee and cigars, and I tied it together with a whole new line and philosophy. We had a picture of Luigi, we were telling stories about Luigi, and we were pushing the name of Vallorani because that name is known and recognizable, and I asked myself why we weren’t doing this all the time, everywhere.
The Vallorani name as a brand makes perfect sense. People work so hard to create marketing angles and stories around their brands, and here I was, with a whole book’s worth of stories to tell about my family heritage that tied back to the beginning in Italy.
It seems to be a daunting journey ahead right now as most of our projects are in the starting phase, but my business partner Liz continually states with confidence that the Vallorani brand can and will be as well-known as the name Armani one day.
I would like to think that Luigi is beaming with pride at the legacy he has left. I know that Big D is, because he was very proud of our products. He even drank a bottle of Vallorani wine from that 2013 harvest! Yes, he said, “It’s pretty good!”
We’ve made a lot of progress. Since 2015, Vallorani Estates has been establishing a name at numerous, local, independent shops and community events and is partnering with Kennesaw State University’s athletic department. We got in on the ground floor by providing our Vallorani wines and Vallorani coffees at their hospitality suites and fan zones at football and basketball games.
Not far from Kennesaw State University is one of our biggest and most ambitious dreams to date: the Villa Vallorani.
Villa Vallorani
I have always dreamed of creating an “eat-work-enjoy” kind of multi-use facility where people can experience the Vallorani Estates line of products in an inviting and unique location. Recently, a new retail development opened in downtown Kennesaw, and we looked into renting space there. However, the amount of red tape the lawyers and landlords were imposing on us for a space that wasn’t even optimal made us decide against it. We would have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars building out a space that wasn’t, ultimately, our own.
Meanwhile, in Kennesaw’s historic district, a Victorian manor was slipping into the overgrowth on the corner of Main Street. The building had formerly operated as a B&B and event venue but had been empty and abandoned for several years, as the owners were entangled in divorce proceedings.
Our realtor connected us with the broker, and upon touring it, we found it to be structurally sound. It was just buried in junk and trash, begging to shine as a destination once more. The expansive mansion was listed for a fraction of its value, but we found that it was also only weeks away from foreclosure and, as a consequence, a bidding war on the courthouse steps.
Due to some red flags with the title, our bank was unable to fund a mortgage, and there was no way the property would still be available when the business loan came through for us after a lengthy financial investigation in the underwriting process.
Just as I had persisted in taking my trip to Cancun, I wasn’t going to let the “no” wolves keep me from seizing this opportunity to expand the Vallorani legacy in our local area!
We went into overdrive. The broker went to bat for us, and the title issues were cleared up. I had about half of the money in savings, and we borrowed the rest from friends and family. Every wolf that circled around us was fended off, allowing me to close on the property just a few days before foreclosure proceedings—outright, with cash. That was quite a day!
We went back to the bank and obtained the loan we needed to renovate the place. Tony, the handyman I have worked with for years, helped us clean up the massive amount of junk, and what a difference that made!
Now we are in the process of completing the necessary renovations with our general contractor, Vito, who just happens to be an Italian too. Villa Vallorani will be a showcase for the Vallorani Estates brand and provide a much-needed local gathering spot to encourage the enjoyment of the privileges of life in the metro-Atlanta area.
I love history, and I love creating new opportunities, so for me, restoring this magnificent building is the perfect marriage of both pursuits: a nod to the past while also looking forward to the future. One of our goals is to share our celebration of Italian heritage and quality with a community that is currently lacking Italian cultural influences.
Italians have contributed so much to American culture—science, engineering, history—and so much of what has been accomplished has been ignored or forgotten. I’d like to change that.
Villa Vallorani is in the perfect location, an up-and-coming hot spot for our local community of college students, young professionals, and growing families. Plus, it creates several viable revenue streams by allowing us to have a coffee shop, a small-plates wine bar and café, and a venue for hosting special occasions such as business events and family gatherings.
Most importantly, it is monumental for me to put the name Vallorani on a shingle in our area and provide the community with Vallorani quality goods that share the privileges of life with others around me.
Villa Vallorani actually sits on the highest point in Kennesaw, overlooking Kennesaw Mountain, just below the spot my father and I optimistically claimed as a future birthplace of the Vallorani legacy in Georgia.
At Villa Vallorani, I don’t care what you believe or think about religion or politics. I don’t care who got your vote in the election. Come experience Villa Vallorani and enjoy life’s privileges. I want you to walk out and say, “I just experienced the Vallorani lifestyle. I just experienced the enjoyment of life. I just enjoyed the music of the mandolin. I can face the wolves again.”
In the political business I’ve established, I’ve effectively cut myself off from half the United States by standing with one political party against another. Don’t get me wrong. I am still a conservative, but I am less concerned with fighting political foes these days and more interested in finding great things and great experiences friends can unite over: an amazing glass of Vallorani wine, a great cup of Vallorani coffee, the aroma of a fantastic Vallorani cigar. These mandolin moments are what make fighting off the wolves of life worthwhile.
Now, that doesn’t mean that my personal beliefs have changed. It’s simply that I would rather talk politics over a good cigar in a friendly manner than with a drive-by assault by bumper sticker. Looking back, though, I can see this evolving mentality has been a trend in my business career. Every vine I’ve grabbed has, effectively, broadened my market a little bit to reach more people. I’m not content to stick to a niche, and I don’t want to be forced into a box.
What’s driving this change? I’d say it’s a combination of growing up, having some tough experiences, and really getting in touch with who I am and what really matters to me. I’ve always enjoyed the good life. I respect and embrace quality. I learned early on that I can’t go cheap.
Whenever I try to cut corners to be cheap it’s backfired in my face. If I try to buy something second-rate to save a buck, it invariably ends up costing me many times more than it would have cost if I’d chosen the better quality in the first place, even before I factor in the wear and tear of aggravation. One cup of good coffee is worth two cups of terrible coffee.
I also hate to hoard. When I find something good, I can’t wait to share it with others. Being able to help others experience the privileges of life keeps me going in a world rife with wolves.
Perhaps I have reached the halftime of my life. I’ve spent the first half of my life learning who I am and what I want to do with my life. Now I’m reflecting. I’m writing this book. I’m thinking over where I’ve been and where I want to go. The products that I’m creating carry my family name, and I’m curating other products that my family would also be proud to share.
To me, Vallorani Estates brings everything back, full circle, to the beginning of this book and our family legend. Life brings many wolves across our path. We can challenge them head-on to a fight and possibly lose or, at best, come out badly scarred. We can climb a tree and hide out, fearful for our lives, and hold out until we’re hungry and sore from clinging to the branch just out of reach of their ever-snapping jaws. Or we can rest in the crook of the tree and play the mandolin and enjoy the star-lit night and the sounds of a sweet melody, and we can soothe those wolves so they leave us alone.
At the time I was experimenting with these products, I didn’t realize they were converging into a family brand. I jumped into the coffee business because I enjoyed better coffee than what we were being sold and thought others should experience it with me. I enjoyed better cigars than those I’d had on the golf course and wanted to share them.
In traveling around the world, eating at Michelin-rated restaurants, and being presented with wine options by a world-class sommelier, you start realizing that just as spending money on good clothes can make you feel better about yourself, a better cigar, a better cup of coffee, or a better wine will, sometimes, help you live a better life. Yes, you get what you pay for. Why go cheap and enjoy it half as much? Why not fully embrace the enjoyment of life’s privileges?
When I look back at the moment when my dad and I stood on Kennesaw Mountain and admired the vast terrain of Cobb and Paulding counties in Georgia, I think, Wow. That was just twelve years ago, and look how far we’ve come. I own so much property here now. I own many successful businesses. Now I’ve bought one of the most historic and majestic properties, on the highest point in Kennesaw, to turn into a showcase for our products and a tribute to our family history.
Continuing a legacy for—and with—my family is paramount. Recently, I was thrilled to partner with my dad, my sister, Karissa, and her husband, Jared, on a new venture together. My cousin, Lisa, and her husband, Chris, partner with me in a different project. It’s not just about creating MY name as a brand but continuing the Vallorani legacy as a whole family. I want my kids to love working in our business, I want our grandkids to be proud to carry on the legacy. Not only do I want to preserve our family history, I also want to share the mandolin moments that I am getting to experience. I’m not a loner, so it gives me a lot of joy to share the privileges of life with others. And it’s more fun to enjoy together than it is to keep it all to myself!
Preserve family history, create a legacy, and share the rewards—those are my new life goals. Once Villa Vallorani is open and my brands are established and people are coming to see the family legacy, I believe it will open up all kinds of new doors and take us to the next step. As I said earlier, success breeds success. People will respond; the word will spread.
We’re not finished adding products to my line. There is a plethora of food products, liquor products, flavored salts, clothing, accessories, and all kinds of things from the area my ancestors came from in Italy, just waiting to be discovered and enjoyed.
Our most recent product-acquisition plans are to import from the Valdobbiadene region a prosecco not yet found in the US. We even envision hosting tours to the beautiful countryside found at my ancestor’s homesteads, where you can drink wine on a balcony overlooking vineyards and villages untouched by time and stress!
There’s also something called the pepperoni roll, local to where I came from in the Italian American settlements of western Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Very basic—it’s just pepperoni baked into dough, sometimes joined by mozzarella. Simple, and simply delicious, it was the kind of lunch an Italian immigrant could carry down into the mines because it wouldn’t spoil during a long day. In every gas station, and in every grocery store, you can buy pepperoni rolls. My mom made me pepperoni rolls to take to school. I just assumed that everybody enjoyed pepperoni rolls, until I left West Virginia and discovered nobody anywhere else had heard of this tasty delight.
That’s why I am going to bring pepperoni rolls made in Clarksburg, which are some of my favorites, to Villa Vallorani and introduce Georgians to the pepperoni roll. I’d love that to be part of my legacy—to spread this enjoyment outside the West Virginia area.
That’s my philosophy now, so you’ll find Vallorani coffee, cigars, and wine in my home, in my Christmas gifts, and in the homes of my family and friends. I am proud to carry on the legend and legacy of Luigi Vallorani, of Eugene Vallorani, of my uncle Gene, and my dad. I hope to give my children that same pride in their last name, and their children after them.
Marcus Aurelius’s words in the quote at the beginning of this chapter remind me to always be grateful for the privilege of life. I’ve enjoyed, and continue to enjoy, success in business and personal life, and now, with my Vallorani Estates line, I’m selling things that I personally use and believe in. To me, much of life and success is marketing, and marketing yourself is part of that, especially when your name is on the products you’re selling.
That’s why I’m more conscious than ever that the quality of my products has to be top-notch and that who I am will have an impact on whom I attract with my brands, in my businesses, and among my inner circle.
I’ve done some thinking about how that works,
based on my own experiences, and I’d like to offer some suggestions.
Life is marketing. When people first see you, you have about seven seconds to make a good—or bad—impression. If you carry yourself well, if you’re dressed nicely and look healthy, if you can speak articulately, if you’re genuinely interested in other people, it makes a great first impression. If you shake their hands, look them in the eye, and remember their name, they’ll remember that you made them feel they mattered to you.
Do this enough times, and you create an aura about yourself. You attract people who’ll want to be part of your inner circle, and they will believe in your brand and, in turn, you can help them realize their own dreams.
I think back to how I felt as a kid, seeing my uncle Gene’s lifestyle—the gracious home, the pool, the steaks, and his cigars—remembering how much I wanted all that even as a kid and how it kick-started my ambitions. My goal is to provide that kind of example for my kids and their friends, and everyone who comes in contact with the Vallorani Estates brand.
Be what you want to attract. The way that you carry yourself, the clothes that you choose to wear, the words that you say, the things you talk about, the car you drive and how well it’s cared for, the posts that you share on Facebook—all of these things are important to your overall brand. Let’s talk about why.
Frequently, I see people post on Facebook, complaining about how bad their day was or how this person hurt them and so forth. What they’re asking for is sympathy: “Let me get as much sympathy as I can get from others. Tell me how bad I have it. Poor me.” I don’t do that, and I don’t enable those who do. Seek to only post positive things about others and the highlights of your own day. Life can be good, and that’s what we should want to project and, in turn, attract. Focus on the mandolin, not the wolves.
Polish your elevator pitch because you never know when you’ll need it. I recently met a man who’s done something very successfully. Now he is trying to make a living by letting other people use his idea. He spent thirty minutes hemming and hawing as he tried to explain what it is he does and what value he provides. This is not a great way to inspire confidence. If you make a pitch like that, you’re telling me you don’t know exactly what you do, and even if you do know, why should I choose you over the next vendor who has the ability to describe to me the specific value he or she offers?
The Wolves and the Mandolin: Celebrating Life's Privileges In A Harsh World Page 13