It All Started at a Career Day

“My life changed thanks to a Career Day. I met Procter & Gamble, the company that trained me, hired me even before I graduated, and allowed me to become the manager I am today.” Cristina Scocchia is now CEO of illycaffè, having previously headed Kiko and L’Oreal in Italy. She is one of the famed 3 percent of women at the top. And she says: “There are still only a few of us, it’s true, but it’s a marathon. I’m convinced that we will not achieve women’s emancipation without the support of the 97 percent of men who today are making the decisions.”

Born in Sanremo, Italy, to a family of teachers, Scocchia moved to Milan to study at Bocconi. In her words: “The first year was a year of discovering the city. I volunteered with the Red Cross, a very powerful experience, and taught Italian to foreigners. Then I said to myself: ‘OK, if you don’t concentrate on your exams again, it will take you a century to get this degree.’” So, she rolled up her sleeves and finished her degree with top marks. In the meantime, she also worked at P&G. 

“At the end of the internship, they hired me, even though I hadn’t yet earned my degree. So I committed to finishing my studies in three years and with top marks, otherwise I would have to quit. It was an incredible opportunity, I worked long hours and studied at night, but I was at a company that believed in me and invested in my professional development. I remember that the whole office was cheering me on: the day of my last exam, they all called me to celebrate,” she adds. Scocchia stayed with P&G for 16 years, during which time she also earned a PhD in Business Administration from the University of Turin, and in 2012, she was promoted to Global Managing Director – Cosmetics International Operation. 

Then in July 2013, L’Oréal chose her as CEO for Italy. She was tasked with making the subsidiary profitable again: a goal she and her team achieved in three years. She then decided to move on, not to be a co-pilot but “the real pilot, the one who’s in command not of a subsidiary, but of the whole company.” 

Next up was Kiko, where she took over as CEO in 2017. This cosmetics company was having a hard time staying afloat, so Scocchia embarked on a journey of transformation and reorganization that ultimately led to doubling the profits in just two years, and expanding from 23 to 43 countries worldwide. “It was a momentous change: after so much experience at big multinationals, this was the first time was I working in an Italian company and I was really the head of the company, with the possibility of choosing my team and designing the business strategies to relaunch it.” 

As far as her leadership style, she says: “I don’t think it depends on gender, but on skills and character. Leadership is not about power, it’s about responsibility. It’s the ability to integrate value with values, financial metrics with ethical, social and environmental ones.”

Now she has taken up the reins at illycaffè, and Scocchia’s new challenge is going public. “I came with this very specific goal. Listing a company is a tremendous professional challenge.” 

Scocchia advice to younger generations is to have determination and courage: “There are many professions that are in fashion for a while and they then pass. You have to look inside yourself and understand what you are really passionate about. 
And you need to know that a career is never a sprint; it takes commitment, time, and perseverance.”