Antonio Danese Exclusive Interview – ‘My Definition Of Success Is FREEDOM’

Antonio Danese was recently interviewed by RootsAndRoutesMag.com and below is the Q&A session we had with him.

Antonio Danese As Cover Story – January 2024 Edition – (Swipe Left)

Could you provide a brief summary of yourself, including your background, interests, and any significant life experiences?

My name is Antonio Danese but since I was little everyone calls me Anthony, I was born in Naples on 2 December 1991, I am the second of three children. My parents raised me with values ​​and principles, they taught me to always set a good example and help others.

I attended a design and construction school for surveyors, but then after graduating I realized that it wasn’t what I wanted to do. So I took the path of work, starting with animation, then becoming a real estate agent and manager of an early childhood shop, until 2018, a year that left a huge mark on me.

In 2018 I had to abandon my land I had to leave Naples to try to find my way to try to build a better future given that here in Naples it is very difficult.

So I decided to move to Bergamo together with my soul mate Maria (met in 2010), there in Bergamo I started working as a waiter in a restaurant and then became its director, then in 2020 we all know what happened, the Pandemic arrived, the COVID- 19 a real blow. But it was precisely that year that gave me the desire to cultivate my passions, the desire to change something in my life, and it was from there that I became a Content Creator, thanks to my passion for fashion and technology, I decided to sharing everything I liked on social media, and I saw that people who had the same passions as me were asking me for advice and information on where to buy, how to wear clothes, and asking me to make videos to show them the products more closely.

My work consists of creating quality content for brands and companies, thanks to this work I have had the opportunity to collaborate with important companies and brands such as Siksilk for fashion or Kajal for artistic perfumery or Braun, Gillette for personal care until becoming an ambassador for the Honor brand in the telephony sector.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced in your life and how did you overcome it?

As already said, the most important challenge, in addition to Covid, was to leave my city and my origins to seek my fortune elsewhere, and I overcame the bad times thanks to my wife Maria, but fortunately today I am happy because we have returned. in our city, namely Naples.

Can you share a significant aspect of your cultural heritage that has played a crucial role in shaping who you are today?

Being an enterprising, proactive person, with excellent communication skills, allowed me to escape from the crowd, then I was lucky enough to be born in Naples, where there is art and poetry in every corner, and I believe that being Neapolitan means having a march more.

What motivates and inspires you on a daily basis?

What has always distinguished me and continues to do so is my desire to learn, my desire to try new things, not to set limits, and to be an ambitious person.

How do you balance work, family, and personal life?

I got married in July last year, after 13 years of engagement, we practically grew up together with my wife, we spend a lot of time together, work permitting, we have projects underway, we have the same passion, that of fashion, and our dream one day, it will be to open our own shop.

Can you describe a turning point in your life that helped shape who you are today?

The turning point in my life came during the pandemic, when I decided to cultivate my passion for fashion and electronics, bringing it to social media, and sharing it with the whole world and becoming what I am today.

Can you share an experience where you felt a clash of cultural values and how you resolved or navigated through it?

When I moved to Bergamo I encountered a different culture, with a people very different from the Neapolitan one, we from the south are very warm, we love to eat every second, dance every moment and party whenever we can, while Bergamo is a different city where there is also a lot of culture and a less hectic life, if I had to use an adjective I would use that they live life with more serenity than us in the south.

And I settled in immediately, also having the fortune of working with colleagues from the same country as me, this made it a lot easier for me.

How has your cultural background influenced your personal and professional aspirations?

My desire for ambition has always pushed me to do better and as a good Neapolitan pizza lover, that period pushed me to work as a waiter because my desire made me become a director.

What is your definition of success and how do you measure it?

My definition of success is “FREEDOM”, when you are no longer tied to anything when you no longer have to compromise to get ahead in life, so when I decided to change jobs I promised myself to work for my own happiness and no longer that of others.

Can you share a situation where language presented both a challenge and an opportunity in your personal or professional life?

Thanks to my work as a waiter I have strengthened my knowledge of the English language, it is wonderful to be able to interact with people of various ethnic groups and speak the native language as if it were the only one, so I also tried to learn some phrases, words from other languages such as Polish, Russian and Bengali.

Additionally, how do you actively contribute to and give back to both your first and second homes, be it through community involvements, philanthropy, or other means?

As already mentioned, my parents raised me and educated me with healthy principles and values, I love helping others, making myself useful for the community, I am a strongly Catholic person and a very believer, often when I can I also try to involve my community in my work in fundraising with donation initiatives for hospitals for non-profit organizations, etc., helping others is the first step towards fully loving oneself.

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