The Art of Reinvention: How One Founder Found Her Purpose in

Their families became fast friends. “He tried to steal my grandma,” Chiara jokes. Brent owns Stealth Venture Labs, a digital marketing incubator firm in San Francisco, and has been building ecommerce stores on Shopify for the past eight years. A few months ago, Brent and Chiara partnered up to talk about a new vision for Nonna Nerina’s experiences: virtual classes. “We wanted to launch this new way to travel without traveling,” says Chiara. The two began plans to take Nonna online. “It was obvious that this was going to work,” says Brent, “but it was just a matter of time.” That time, it turns Special Data out, is now. In February, Italy became one of the first countries to report a surge in cases of COVID-19. The Italian government started limiting travel, placing some towns under quarantine, and cancelling large events. “[Chiara] went from having 10 or 20 tourists coming in every day to zero,” says Brent. Suddenly, the plan to move the business online was accelerated. “They’ve really had to very quickly pivot their mentality and how all this works.” On a Saturday morning, I sat down, and in three hours, I built Nonna Live. With Brent’s experience building online stores, he sprung into action in early March. “On a Saturday morning, I sat down,” he says, “and in three hours, I built Nonna Live.” Even before the pandemic hit hard in Italy, the country’s overall unemployment rate was relatively high, hovering around 10% for the past five years. Italy also reports one of the highest youth unemployment rates in the EU.

“Now, with the crisis, everyone’s out of a job,” says Brent. “And they’re all trying to figure out how to adapt.” Chiara and Brent adapted out of necessity, but the business is thriving under the new model. And it has not only secured income for Chiara’s family but has also created a way for others to do the same. “Chiara has become an economy for her little village,” says Brent. “This has opened up a gateway that is giving hope and inspiration to people here in quarantine.” A family embracing change—gradually Nonna Nerina makes pasta while a camera crew sets up the shot The 84-year-old Nonna Nerina adapts to the challenges of learning new technology. (Chiara Nicolanti) COVID-19 hasn’t been the only challenge in adapting to online delivery. At first, Nonna Nerina was hosting most of the virtual classes and, at 84, she’s pretty set in her ways. “She is a strong spirit,” says Chiara. “She doesn’t listen to me. She goes her own way.” The technology was new to her grandmother and it took some time to help her understand that the people joining virtually could see and hear her.

From the 700-squarefoot apartment she shares with husband Enrico and two small children, Chiara is now hosting all of the classes due to the lockdown. When we spoke, our call was interrupted by poor internet connectivity and curious babies. But they make it work. “Fortunately, Enrico is an editor and audio/video guy,” says Brent. “He’s behind the scenes, furiously trying to figure it all out.” Thanks to the time zone, Chiara can host classes in the evenings when the children are asleep and the off-peak hour improves the internet connection. Sometimes you have no time, you just have to go. And then you will adjust, trying to make it better and better. Chiara was nervous about running classes solo without the expertise of her grandmother. She called her for advice about pasta making. “I asked her, ‘Grandma, how do I make the pasta?’ and she replied, ‘Oh, silly billy, you’ve been doing this with me since you were born,’” says Chiara. “In reality, yeah, that was true.” Full plates and a bustling future ahead Brent says he and Chiara are still working out the kinks. The online classes have been sold out consistently since launch, and the two are trying to figure out how to serve more people. Central to their plan is empowering other village grandmothers to do the same. A lot of young people have lost their jobs, so there are grandmothers with children or grandchildren with time on their hands. “Another grandmother called me and told me, ‘My son lost his job,” she says.

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