About the Founder:
Mariacarmen
As an eclectic and cosmopolitan spirit gifted with a natural sense of grace, Mariacarmen Maselli is the founder and creative force behind the London based company Quintessenza Experiences.
She lived in Italy, London and New York . After working in banking and consultancy for world-leading firms for more than 15 years, she decided to fulfil her life-long passion: to create a meaningful project celebrating ‘Italianess’ by designing experiences to share Italian culture and beauty.
From that day, Quintessenza Experiences was born out of the ingenuity to combine the incredible heritage, art, beauty, design, style, gastronomy, music and more that Italy has to offer that goes beyond the ordinary paths, by touching all five senses.
Mariacarmen is your go-to person for immersing yourself in true ‘Italianess’ with authentic experiences that will fill your mind with exquisite memories.
Below, she explains her inspiration behind the brand and how Quintessenza Experiences came to be.
A Letter from the Founder
Italianess from an Insider
Imagine growing up in an idyllic and picturesque village in the south of Italy, surrounded by Mother Nature, in a family that embraced and absolutely loved their Italian culture and heritage.
That was my childhood, my blessing.
I grew up surrounded by loving parents and grandparents, all enriching my life with knowledge, passion and love for everything around me.
As a little girl, my grandparents made up for nursery school (which didn’t exist at the time). They taught me so much and filled my days with wonderful experiences, from picking wild asparagus and mushrooms in the forest with my grandfather to collecting my favourite cowslip flowers and presenting them to my grandmother as she sewed another beautiful outfit for me, embroidered with specially selected beads, flowers and buttons.
As a professional seamstress and haute couture designer, she created incredible bespoke boutique garments and I remember her sewing studio being filled with all the opulent fabrics, silks, decorations and tools that often with my brother we used for our imaginative play.
She was also an amazing cook and I remember how dedicated she was to creating mouth-watering dishes, incredible cakes, and jam preserves that were so vibrant in colour, smelt divine and were filled with flavours that made my taste buds dance.
As with everything she did, her patience and skills were wonderful to watch.
She was and is my inspiration!
And regardless of whether we were snuggling up
around a log fire during long, cold winter nights,
Rejoicing in spring surrounded by natures
glorious smells, sounds and sights,
Enjoying glorious summer days swimming in the
waves and embracing the cool sea breeze,
Or taking-in the colours of autumn and
Mother Nature’s amazing carpet of leaves…
There was one sacred occasion that stayed the same throughout the seasons – Sunday lunch!
With beautiful symphony playing in the background, my mother would set the huge marble table with all the seasonal colours and decorations welcoming the wonderful dishes she had created in our majolica kitchen, whilst my father would expertly choose the wines from the cellar that perfectly enhanced the flavours.
My memories are filled with all the intoxicating aromas, sounds of nature, music, flavours, love-filled moments and emotions of those wonderful Sunday lunches.
I have always been close to my mother and whilst renowned in her profession as a doctor and a highly intellectual scholar, it is her love for art, beautiful interiors and creativity that has shaped my own love for beauty and aesthetics.
Growing up was filled with so much fun and learning which shaped my creativity and love for beauty: from my classical ballet studies which helped me harness my inner grace, patience and precision, to learning to play the piano which gave me the ability to create beautiful compositions and expand my love and respect for music and those who compose it.
In addition to everything else, my parents loved to travel and although we travelled all around the world, their love for their own country’s beauty, culture and heritage meant that we travelled across Italy extensively, thereby further immersing me in everything wonderful around our country.
A love of all things beautiful
As a student I attended university in Rome, an ancient city whose name alone evokes thoughts of history, art and unsurpassed beauty which inspired my soul and mind. To be living, studying and eventually working there was just incredible.
It was like living in an enormous museum, each day filled with breath-taking architecture and art all inter-mingled with inviting aromas from a plethora of cafes, bakeries and restaurants. It was probably here that I really fell in love with my own ‘Italianness’.
As my career progressed, I moved from my fascinating ‘Roman Fairy Corner’ neighbourhood and my corporate job, to a business consulting role on the opposite side of the city. Getting to ride my red Vespa past the Coliseum each day on my way to the office and having to work in other amazing Italian cities was awe-inspiring.
An Eclectic & Cosmopolitan Spirit
Most of my adult life was then spent mainly between London and New York, two cities that I absolutely adore. My career path led me to the first of these cosmopolitan melting-pots where I landed my ideal job working for one of the world’s most prestigious banks – one my greatest dreams come true! I then successfully moved to a position in one of the world’s biggest global investment banks.
I have been extremely fortunate to work with some of the most talented people in the banking and business consulting industry.
At that time, I also met my soul-mate and together we created a wonderful young family before moving to New York - this was my other dream come true!
Here, I was able to take a career break to focus on raising my young family, whilst giving me a golden opportunity to think away from the banking consulting world I had dedicated myself to for the past few years.
New York was an incredible place – millions of people from different walks of life all bumping into each other as they rushed about their business, full of energy and surrounded by beautiful buildings, captivating lights and magnificent parks that provided places that were so calm and peaceful whilst being surrounded by all that hustle and bustle.
A city of inspiration and dreams.
Whilst in New York, my cosmopolitan friends had an insatiable desire to know and experience everything that constituted authentic Italianess, from gastronomy to art, from design to fashion and more. I met so many people from all around the world who like myself, loved and were passionate by all things Italian.
Living abroad had made me realise that the Italian beauty wasn’t at my doorstep anymore and this enhanced my calling to Italianess even more.
From here grew an idea - to create and share something “authentic and beautiful” to enable people to experience the quintessence of Italianess with the aim of preserving and passing on an invaluable legacy.
Few years later, Quintessenza Experiences was born. I have great pleasure in inviting you to experience a journey that make all your senses dance for joy – Italian art, cuisine, culture, design, heritage, music, nature, style and so much more.
Quintessenza is a way for me to preserve and declare my love for Italianess and I welcome you to enjoy exquisite experiences of everything Italian.
Welcome to ‘Italianess’.