Don't Be Afraid to Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

“After high school, I didn’t have a clear idea of what I wanted to do, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to study philosophy or not. Then I chose economics because it allowed me to keep lots of doors open.” Melissa Ferretti Peretti, today Google’s Country Manager for Italy, explains that she has made many gut decisions in her life. Especially after graduating from Sapienza University in Rome.

“I loved marketing and I was good at both humanistic and scientific subjects. So when it came to embarking on my career, after an internship in Switzerland with a bank that invested in start-ups, I decided to start with consulting, to test the waters, and because it was a traditional path. Also, at the time, companies in the sector were looking for a lot of university grads,” she adds.

Her first job was at Accenture, back and forth from Rome to Milan. At this company, she moved from Process Engineering to Strategy in the team developing business models for digital start-ups.  
As she tells us: “I learned so much, and I challenged myself in different contexts. Looking back on my journey, I can say that it was during those years that I developed the tendency to step out of my comfort zone, which would later be a distinguishing feature of my career.” Ferretti Peretti went on to specialize further with a Master’s from SDA Bocconi in 2002. “I lived this experience as a great gift. After years of working, to go back to being a student again with a backpack on my back, with greater, more mature motivation – it’s priceless,”
 she adds.

After a brief stint as a product manager at Vodafone, in 2003 to offers came in at the same time, from Poste Italiane and American Express, both based in Rome. “It was a difficult decision, made from the gut. I chose Mama Amex, as I call it. In retrospect, it was the right choice because it’s the company where I stayed for 17 years and where I became the manager that I am today. I’ve often found myself in roles that I felt were almost bigger than me, but I eventually learned to make them my own.” Leaning to go above and beyond the job description.

Over the years, she moved from Marketing, Partnerships, Head of Consumer Service and Head of Small Businesses to CEO. “An enormous satisfaction, because I was the first Italian woman to get that role and the youngest. I had my team and a clear objective: to recoup double-digit growth.” A target that Ferretti Peretti already hit in 2016. She explains: “As a leader, I’ve always tried to be myself, for better or worse. I tend to build authentic relationships that go beyond work. I also like to imagine where we need to go and share that vision with my team.”

Joining Google Italy as VP and Country Manager is her latest challenge. “It was the right time to make a change, but it was a painful decision because of my strong ties to Amex. After months of mulling it over, I couldn’t find a single reason to say no: I liked the idea of working on the digitalization of the country, having an impact.” Ferretti Peretti explains that the move was also a life change. “I think I was brave, and I think generally speaking I’m a brave woman. I’m the mother of a young boy, and I moved from Rome to Milan with him, leaving behind family and friends. But I’m convinced that I made the right choice, because I believe that difficulties are opportunities.” And to young women she says, “Practice being brave and making mistakes, because they enrich you. I’m passionate about horse-riding and tennis, sports that teach you to try and try again. And the same goes for work.” Your serve improves with practice, and if you fall off your horse, you have to get right back in the saddle again.