Alessandra co-founded Shine PP in 2004 with Gaby Marcon.

As such I spend a good chunk of my time understanding the business of our clients and delivering high quality services to them. I take great pride in ensuring we meet their needs as accurately as possible. Before Shine I worked in professional services firm with KPMG and in the tourism industry with leading industry organisations, World Travel and Tourism Council being one of them.

My work in professional services firm and in the tourism industry led to an increasing interest in how people, particularly women, made their way in tough, competitive workplaces. Who stayed? Who left? And why? What would have persuaded them to stay? I looked at issues surrounding motivation, confidence and negotiation skills. I also became increasingly interested in mentoring and what a formal mentoring programme could offer both individuals and the businesses they worked for.

I studied the subject and qualified myself as a coach-mentor: soon after Shine was born.

Designing programmes, advising clients and mentoring and coaching their employees take up nearly all my time but I keep a few days free every year so that I can speak on the subject of personal and professional development at universities and conferences in Europe.

Way back, I collected a first class degree in Management Studies from Florence University and an executive MBA from the ENPC School of Management in Paris.'