Away from home to discover a passion for accounting
“My inspiration was my sister. We grew up in Grotte, in the province of Agrigento, Sicily. A small village where we lived with my father, a nurse, and my mother, a housewife. My sister was the first to go to Milan to study, a pioneer. I owe so much to her, she paved the way for me.” This is how Maria Salvaggio describes the beginnings of her journey “far from home,” which has led her to become the Head of Administration, Finance and Control of the Italian Golf Federation. A role she took on after graduating from Bocconi’s CLEACC (Bachelor of Science in Economics and Management for Arts, Culture and Communication) and discovering her passion for accounting.
When she describes her university years, she says: “The move to Milan was complicated, I was homesick because I only got to go back to Sicily twice a year, and during my first year my sister was doing an exchange program in Paris. But after the first few months, I settled in and met a lot of people like me. What saved me was solidarity from the other students who weren’t from Milan.”
Salvaggio was one of the first CLEACC graduates in 2004. “We were hybrids. The course mixed elements of economics and management for cultural activities, but finding a way to access the market didn’t happen right away. I chose Ernst&Young to deepen my knowledge and technical skills.” It was there that the “holy fire” for accounting ignited. “I remember the absurd hours, the car rides in the Milanese hinterland, but I was also learning fast and I had extremely competent managers and supervisors.”
After this experience, Salvaggio worked for a leading pharmaceutical distribution company, Comifar Distribuzione. Her stint there gave her a taste of corporate life at a multinational. What changed her career in 2010 was a job advertisement that did not mention the employer. “There was this anonymous ad on Monster, they were looking for someone to do budget analysis in the sports sector. I applied and they called me. That’s how I found out the employer: it was CONI, the Italian National Olympic Committee, in Rome.”
But Salvaggio was sure they wouldn’t hire her. “I remember the negative assumptions of my relatives and friends, who said: ‘You know how it works in those circles.’ Instead, after a logical reasoning test and more interviews, complete with accounting exercises, they offered me a temporary job.” The choice was not an easy one, as accepting meant leaving Milan and taking a step down in terms of the contract. “I decided to jump without a parachute.” And she succeeded. Salvaggio would work at CONI for seven years, dealing with accounting and budget analysis and accelerating innovation. At the beginning it was just paperwork and files. “I scanned the budgets of the forty-four sports federations, one by one,” she says.
Meanwhile, Salvaggio got married and started thinking about her family. “I didn’t have a permanent contract yet, but I said to myself: if I wait for a contract, I risk never having children, and I only have one life. So, I decided to try.” Salvaggio talks about her first pregnancy, which ended in a miscarriage, and the difficulties of returning to work immediately, but also the happiness of returning and being given a permanent contract. “I went back to work right away, also because I loved my job and I knew I could make an important technical contribution. I was surprised and satisfied with this professional recognition.”
Then in 2014, came Agnese, who is now nine years old. “Again, a high-risk pregnancy. I had to leave work and I was worried, but as soon as the baby was six months old, thanks to the babysitter and my husband, I was back at work.” In 2015, she followed the Ryder Cup and connected with the Golf Federation, which recruited her in 2017 as head of administration. In the Federation, she also continued to work on the project, participating in fundraising and liaising with the institutions. She says: “My advice for young women? Be serious, professional, and technical. I don’t believe in gender quotas. You have to earn your seat at the table, whether you’re a man or a woman.”
