Translated from Italian,vivere una vita bellameans "Live a beautiful life" and I do, both at home and here at Cisco.Raised in a tight knit Italian family, the majority of my life has been spent in the kitchen or around a table. My grandmother, Nonna, immigrated to the U.S. from Italy 55 years ago and brought with her some super yummy, super-secret recipes that may or may not have influenced my husband's decision to marry me.

Gnocchi, a traditional potato dumpling served withsugo, or sauce, has always been a family favorite. My mother and her sisters grew up watching Nonna mix, cut and roll these tiny pillow of deliciousness by hand every Sunday, and as the next generation came along, my cousins and I were also able to witness her covering every flat surface in the house with them. Nonna, with flour in her hair and spotted on her face, hands still covered in dough, was unable to catch us as we would grab one from the counter and run off to enjoy it.

As we all grew up and my grandparents aged, our regular Sunday dinners became fewer and  farther between, but recently my mother was able to herd us all to her house so Nonna could give us all a lesson in gnocchi making... on a Tuesday evening. Luckily my job as a recruiter allows me to be pretty mobile and with Cisco's tools and technology it makes it easy to take my talent acquisition show on the road! What made this Tuesday evening even more special was that my own daughter, Fiorenza (named after my gnocchi making Nonna) was able to come and relive a bit of my childhood with me. I was even able to snap this sweet picture of four generations of women making memories, passing down traditions and sharing the joys and comfort of family.

As a recruiter my job is connecting amazing talent with meaningful careers at Cisco. Not only do I get to connect great people to innovating and challenging roles, I also get to introduce them to a company that values "yourbeautiful life". At Cisco we believe that the diverse perspectives and lifestyles of our employees help us shape who we are as a company. Most of my team is spread out across the United States, and many of us work virtually. We have adopted some fun activities to keep us connecting on a personal level and sharing our lives and traditions. One of my favorites happens during the holidays when we submit our silly family photos, celebration, traditions and even recipes that we hold dear. We compile those into a slide show that we share on our final team call before the year end shutdown and everyone gets an opportunity to bring a bit of their family to the team.

The support from company leadership allows me to make my family a priority, and our inclusive environment makes it easy to be who I am.  My advice to futureCisconianswould be to bring usyourauthentic self, and/or family traditions. Come join us and#lovewhereyouwork.

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