Twenty Euros

On curiosity, precarity, and learning how to begin again at almost 39

“Why did you decide to change career?”

This was one of the questions the CEO of the Destination Management Company (DMC)¹ I am currently working for asked me during my interview. My CV boasts the names of several famous luxury fashion e-commerce companies that helped reshape the industry’s landscape, so I understood why he asked.

I am a direct person, but I also know that in certain moments a bit of shrewdness is necessary. So, I told him about the challenges currently affecting the fashion industry and how they had pushed me to look at other sectors where my skills could still shine.

It was my way of sugar-coating a much harsher reality: AI devaluing the human touch in sub-editing and translation, fewer and fewer opportunities to work remotely, and salaries becoming lower and lower.

I went to this interview with 20€ left in my bank account.

People are often misled by my appearance because I look younger — according to standards I do not really understand because, to me, I definitely look my age. It happened to be the case for the CEO as well. He politely asked how old I was while apologising for asking such a question. Given what I was telling him about my career, he realised he had made the wrong assumption.

I will never understand why society thinks it is rude to ask a woman her age because, once he knew it, he asked me again:

“Now that I know your age, I am even more curious about your decision to pivot careers.”

He wanted to understand why, at almost 39, I had decided to move into an industry in which I had no experience.

His question reframed everything.

Until then, I had never really thought about my age professionally. I started working at 26 and never considered my age an obstacle. Even now, I know getting older changes how the job market perceives you, but I still do not see age as something that should prevent me from trying new things professionally.

That is why I answered that, if there was one quality that defined me, it was curiosity.

Curiosity has driven everything in my life.

It explains why, as a child, I could watch old Hollywood movies over and over again just as easily as I could write terrible poetry at six years old. It is also why I became interested in playing the guitar, burlesque, photography, and countless other things.

Whenever something fascinates me, I tend to push that interest as far as I can. For example, I went from casually watching burlesque performances to obsessively watching interviews with performers I admired in order to understand how they developed their ideas and brought them to life.

When I work, I am exactly the same.

I research. I read. I listen. I observe.

Anything that can help me better understand what I am doing.

I am not saying I am the best. I am simply saying that I love digging deeper and understanding how things work.

So, pivoting careers at an age when society expects you to settle into stability did not really scare me.

Still, I must be honest.

This career pivot happened when I hit rock bottom.

Even before the fashion industry entered its current crisis, something in me had already shifted. I no longer felt excited by translation or sub-editing, and even editorial projects no longer appealed to me the way they once had.

The growing reliance on AI meant editorials were either reduced to the bare minimum or abandoned altogether. Meanwhile, translation and sub-editing increasingly felt like training machines to sound more human.

It was killing the creativity I had once loved so much about that line of work.

Sub-editing and translation are never just about putting words together. They require an understanding of who you are speaking to and, above all, the cultural context in which your audience evolves.

But recognising that something needs to change is one thing. Understanding what exactly needs to change is another.

For that reason, 2025 was particularly difficult.

I kept wondering where to look, how to reshape my CV, and how to present myself differently in order to access opportunities outside localisation and editorial work.

I only knew that moving forward was necessary.

But movement alone is not enough.

Moving aimlessly can be dangerous and can push you toward the wrong path — which is exactly what happened when I accepted a position at a private school as an administrative secretary only to discover it functioned more like a call centre.

3/Almost La Dolce Vita: The Price of Staying

After being fired from that scammers’ company, I sent messages to friends and acquaintances telling them I needed a job.

And believe it or not, when you reach a professional dead end, it is often the people around you who can better see how your skills might be repurposed.

One afternoon, while talking with my friend N., she expressed how frustrated she felt about my situation. With my language skills, she told me, I could work in almost any branch of tourism in Puglia.

Within minutes, she contacted an American friend I had met months earlier who happened to work for a DMC.

As luck would have it, the company was looking for a travel designer.

So, I interviewed for the role.

Before the interview, I was not only preparing myself but also researching an industry that was completely unfamiliar to me while trying to connect the dots between my previous experiences and what I could bring to this new role.

The interview made me even more curious and eager to get the job.

Unfortunately, I was not selected.

That could have been the end of the story.

Instead, R., the American woman, later told me that the CEO had described it as “one of the best interviews he had had so far.”

And he apparently meant it because, a few days later, I received a proposal to work with the company on a project basis. It would allow me to learn the ropes of the industry while understanding everything that happens before a travel designer receives a travel agent’s request to organise a holiday for a client.

I will not lie: I wanted the role badly.

While preparing for the interview, I felt a fire within me that made me realise how deeply I wanted to succeed in that position.

Financial stability was also part of the reason I felt disappointed.

Still, I understood that, even if the proposal the CEO made did not yet represent stability, it was a golden opportunity I could not afford to miss.

So, I held onto it tightly.

During the same period, I received another job offer with a stable contract and a salary of 1400€ per month.

Yet, it did not excite me.

It was not only about the salary. Growth there was not limited — it was nonexistent.

It reflected a dynamic I had already observed around me: friends staying in unfulfilling jobs with little to no possibility for growth simply because stability mattered more than fulfilment, even when those workplaces involved toxic environments or harassment.

Another reason I refused the offer was that I personally knew the founder and CEO of the company.

I feared that proximity would create an unhealthy balance.

Living in Italy has taught me that when the person hiring you is also a friend or family member, things rarely end well. There is often an unspoken expectation that you should work harder for less because you are supposed to feel grateful for the opportunity.

In that kind of environment, asking to be paid fairly, taking sick leave, or simply taking time off can quickly be perceived as ingratitude.

Hence why I knew accepting this current role was a risk.

The work is project-based and does not yet guarantee long-term stability.

Still, so far, it has been worth it.

I am learning a tremendous amount while discovering sides of myself I never knew existed.

I also do not think I would have taken the risk had the CEO not told me he saw potential in me.

I needed to hear those words.

After spending a long time feeling professionally lost, having someone clearly articulate what they see in you can sometimes become the push you need to finally move forward with purpose.

I am also fortunate to work alongside the company’s former CFO, which feels like another golden opportunity. What I am learning from both of them is invaluable, which is why I consider them mentors.

Nobody is babying or underestimating me.

Instead, they trust my previous experience while guiding me through what I still need to learn.

To give an example, during my very first week, I was already calling CEOs of supplier companies, introducing myself on behalf of the DMC, and arranging meetings.

Even though I still do not know what the future holds professionally, the present I am living feels exciting.

And if you know me, you know I will eventually tell you much more about this new experience as soon as I can.

So, keep your eyes peeled.

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I write about fashion, work, culture, identity, and the realities behind the myths we are sold.

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1. A DMC is a company that creates tailor-made travelling itineraries for tourists. They take care of all the logistics like hotel bookings, airport transfers while putting together bespoke events and excursions for the tourist. DMCs have great knowledge of the area they are located and rely on an extended network of suppliers and travel agents to make a tourist’s holiday seamless.