Simone Frattini, Sales Director, Visconti

To help current students and recent graduates navigate the world of work, several USI Alumni shared their career paths and career story. Here the story of Simone Frattini, Sales Director in Visconti in Florence (I). USI Degree: Master in Management, 2015.

How did you start your career?

I started immediately after finishing the master, working for Fendi in New York city. It has been an internship within the Retail operation team. Main responsibilities: Create and distribute monthly reports to store network; create schedule to understand how to control and develop a retail network; follow up on any retail activities, whether they are recurrent or not; create best practice improving working conditions within FENDI boutiques; prepare competitive analysis in Retail and Wholesale distribution.

Why did you choose a career in Visconti?

After several years spent working in huge companies, i decided to make experience also working in a small and Italian company. Visconti is part of the luxury segment, which is the fil rouge of my career; thanks to its very strong Italian craftsmanship, the company is recognized worldwide, with a huge distribution across 35 countries worldwide. Had the chance to become the sales director of such a big distribution can represent a big step for me to improve my skills and to strengthen my international relationship.

What is your current role/duties?

I am actually in charge of the sales team, responsible for meeting the global budgeted sales and gross margin, as well as creating and delivering sales strategies. I am also in charge of developing the business and the collaboration with distributors, covering 35 countries worldwide.

In your opinion, what are the qualities necessary for a successful career in Visconti?

Considering actual scenario, people need a strong dedication to stand out from the crowd. After pandemic period, we need lot of resilience to adjust skills to include new capabilities. Empathy is another very important soft skill to keep into consideration, mandatory if you are responsible for people who work directly with you and help you reaching common targets.

What positive aspects and qualities meant most to you during the study programme you attended?

1. The possibility to have a master fully in English (not for granted in 2013)
2. All courses required a workgroup project as part of the final exam, which gave me the chance to start working on team and understood these dynamics
3. A very strong exchange program, which gave me the possibility to spend a semester in Singapore

What competences and/or skills acquired in your USI Study Program have been useful/are useful to your professional career?

1. Team working;
2. English language skills;
3. Open minded approach;
4. Economics' learning

What is your advice to USI students entering the job market?

Try to be as more proactive as possible. Do not refuse working opportunities if they are in line with your studies.
Don't be scared to make experiences abroad, it represents the key to enrich your resume and make your profile more visible to recruiters.