The global licensing community is powered by an incredible group of professionals whose diverse backgrounds and creative energy drive innovation and excellence. Each week we profile one of these professionals in this ongoing series.

How did you get into licensing (or how did licensing find you)?
I was the marketing director for a multinational FMCG company, and I wanted to take my career to the next level. The company I was with at the time could not, or would not, help me, so I began looking for a general manager position. I was then approached by Warner Bros. Consumer Products (WBCP), which was looking for a general manager to run its Italian affiliate office and EMEA agents network. When I was recruited I knew very little about licensing—but I proved to be a very fast learner!

What’s a “typical” day in your current position?
I get to the office (yes, I work from an office, not at home) at 8:15am before the rest of the team comes in. I check the emails I have received overnight, after which I have meetings with my team. Then it’s time for phone calls with licensors and licensees and meetings with sales managers. From time to time, I visit key licensees at their offices because I feel this adds value to the relationship—it also fuels enthusiasm and encourages new ideas.

What’s your biggest personal or professional accomplishment?
My biggest professional achievement has been to successfully launch my own agency together with my partner Michela Marchese Patti. Once I left WBCP and then Rainbow, not everyone in the Italian licensing industry was as convinced as I was that I could make it on my own. But thanks to lots of hard work, determination, and passion, I’m proud to say that my agency is now number one in Italy and number two in Europe.

What are the most significant trends or changes that you’ve seen in the business in recent years?
When I started with WBCP in 2001, licensing was still something of a novelty—certainly in the Italian market. But over the years the market has changed a lot. The big recent changes include more competition between digital and TV properties, COVID, conflicts in nearby territories, risk-averse licensees, and less discretionary spending by consumers. There’s also the fact that retailers have become wary of committing to inventory and the decrease in number of newborns, certainly in Italy, is not helping. But we haven’t stood still. To deal with this situation, our agency has adapted and successfully reinventing the way we do business to cope with the changing market environment.

What keeps you up at night? What’s your biggest challenge these days?
Consumer behaviours are changing rapidly. A good example is preschool licensing, which is drastically reducing in volume. That means doing business isn’t as straightforward as it once was. The challenge (and opportunity) is facing up to these new market realities, adapting to them, and turning them into new streams of revenues, which is what we are doing.

In your opinion, what is the top skill every licensing executive should have in order to succeed?
A good licensing executive needs, above all, to be a good listener—to listen carefully to licensees’ and retailers’ needs and to be capable of transforming their input into successful deals. A strong knowledge of the market is also essential. And, of course, a lot of enthusiasm.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received, or what’s your favourite quote?
Never say never. Push. Insist. What is a ‘no’ today can turn into a ‘yes’ tomorrow. Never give up.

What is your favourite licensing deal of all time? (It doesn’t have to be one that was signed by you.)
I’m particularly proud of the deal that brought together the hit animated programme Masha and the Bear and Leolandia, Italy’s number one theme park for kids up to 10 years old. I signed a deal for a 12,000-square-metre Masha and the Bear themed area within the park—a first for the property in Italy. It was totally unprecedented but a big success. In fact, over time it proved to be the most visited area of Leolandia.

If you weren’t in licensing, what would you be doing now?
I would probably still be with an FMCG company, heading a business unit.

The last licensed product I bought was…
A LEGO Darth Vader head that needed to be assembled. It now has pride of place in my office at home.