My internship placement is with a company called Scarpelli Mosaici, they are a family owned and operated business, that make gorgeous mosaics out of various rocks and minerals. They are in the fine arts and jewelry industry, making mosaics as well as earrings, rings, necklaces, and jewelry boxes. Some of the minerals are actually found right here in Tuscany! While others are shipped from other parts of the world. The specific type of style they use is a very old technique called “Commesso Fiorentino”, that dates back to the 16th century during the times of the Medici in Florence. There are not many places left (especially outside of Florence) that still practice this ancient tradition, so I am extremely honored and excited to be able to work with them, and to experience this amazing artform up close!
To be successful in this industry I think it is very important to keep up with current marketing trends and to be able to advertise successfully. Of course, having a quality product is also very important, but I think what is crucial is being able to market that product to consumers, and to be able to explain its beauty and importance (especially in this case!). Therefore, I think it communication, creativity, and strong people skills are crucial to have in this industry, especially since the company also specializes in commissions and personalized works of art.
My Clifton strengths are Intellection, Restorative, Developer, Empathy, and Input, all which I have already found to be very useful in this position. Intellection and Input allow me to explore and gather new ideas, and think of ways to apply to apply them to the problem at hand. Through developer and empathy, I am able to understand people and use this knowledge to better understand what is wanted and needed in a given situation, while being restorative helps me provide this need. At first, I honestly didn’t understand how my strengths could be relevant in this role, but every day I am beginning to comprehend more and more just how useful these traits can be in a marketing role and how to apply them, it has been very Interesting!
It has also been very interesting to understand the dynamics of the company. Although they do not have an extremely large following on social media, they have been received many awards, been on the news, and have even been featured on TV many times! It seems like they rely on having strong personal connections with key individuals and other local businesses to promote themselves, rather than relying on a mass social media following and largescale advertisement campaigns, which I have found a fascinating.
Overall, I have been loving my internship and I am so grateful for this unique experience, and I am very excited to continue working with them to see what we can create together.
Alla prossima!
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