Luxury Ambassador of the Month

I knew absolutely zero about the travel industry, so when I called Wendy imagine my surprise when she picked up the phone in an extremely energetic voice and said, 'Oh yes, Stefano! I heard you are The Man in Italy!'

I didn't know what a DMC was at the time, but she was recruiting me for it.

'We desperately need your help,' she continued. 'I have a movie director coming to Italy and I need eight Jaguars for our clients to drive around Tuscany. Can you source them?'

'Of course, Wendy!' I replied. I loved cars, but I didn't know anything about sourcing them. My sister was standing next to me as I hung up the phone with Wendy. I exclaimed, 'Elena, I have a client!' Elena had heard the conversation and glared at me, 'Stefano! Where are you going to find eight Jaguars?!' she said.

I didn't even have a company – only a hotmail account. What's worse was that, since Wendy was in Paris just a few weeks after that call, she insisted on coming to meet me in 'my offices' in Milan in the next couple days to thank me for my help. She was lovely and very professional, but she was also totally checking me out.

So in 48hrs my sister and I came up with the name 'Onirikos' from the Greek word that means 'related to your dreams,' my brother helped me set up the company, and I printed business cards at home.

I picked Wendy up from the airport and suggested that instead of fighting traffic back to Milan that we have lunch at Villa d'Este on Lake Como. I'd never been, but she loved the idea.

She also knew everyone there.

When we arrived the concierge even recognized her and said, 'Oh Wendy, I don't see you on the guest list. Are you staying with us?' To which she replied, 'Oh no, I'm just having lunch here with – I'm sure you know – our very well-connected Man in Italy, Stefano.'

Nobody knew me, but the concierge managed to play along and said, 'Of course!' and helped me out a lot. It was during that amazing lunch that I finally understood who Wendy really was – a real celebrity of the luxury travel industry, dealing with the big names and studios in Hollywood.

After I dropped her off back at the airport, I immediately called Jaguar's national headquarters in Rome, and they put me in touch with various places across the region – one car came from Milan, one from Verona, two from Florence... A week later I had different drivers deliver the Jags to the villa where I met the movie director personally. For me it was natural, but it meant a lot to her and her crew that I was there.

The movie director, who was very nice, came up to me and said, 'Wendy told me you're The Man in Italy. Could you please arrange a cooking class for us with a Michelin-star chef in the villa tomorrow?'

I had no experience coordinating chefs or cooking classes, but with wide eyes I said, 'Of course!'

Luckily my sister Elena – who by the way was my first employee, she just didn't know it yet – was a marketing director for a local winery. So I called her and she helped arrange the chef and the cooking classes through their contacts. Thankfully Wendy and the client were very pleased.

While rewarding and fun, I thought this was going to be a one-off experience, so I went back to thinking about how I could get back into the tech industry. I was an engineer after all, and I love technology.