How Marco Mari wound up selling perfumes for childhood pal Mirko Buffini
The international business director of niche Italian perfume brand Mirko Buffini tells of his early love for the English language and why he always wanted to work in the global business field
"Since I was young, my plan has been to study and work in international business. After I graduated from high school, I went to study business and economics in Florence and did my master's in international business management.
My fascination with this area came about because of my family background - my father and uncle's trading company, Maricart, was one of the first Italian companies to work in the China market back in the 1980s, and involved different categories such as luxury stationery and home decorations. This inspired me to look outside Italy for work.
In elementary school I was interested in learning English. I remember one of my teachers saying how passionate I was about the language. I was always watching and reading English movies and books. One of the first English I read was Gweilo: Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood by Martin Booth.
When I was older, I joined the family business and supervised all the international markets to help with their expansion. I had the opportunity to visit many countries along the way.
I learned a lot from my father, He told me everything he knew about business. He was a salesman, so he knew how to behave with customers and how to relate to people. That's very important because you need to respect the people in front of you. He also taught me to be humble and to have dreams.