We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Maria Natale a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Maria, appreciate you joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I began selling baked Italian and Italian-American goods from home to raise money for my pitbull dog, Gio’s, knee surgery. After I raised enough money for his surgery, individuals continued to seek me out as there were no Italian markets with unique products in the area. After selling at the Fountain Inn Farmer’s Market for 2 years my family and I discussed opening an Italian and Italian-American mini market with an array of baked items, coffee, espresso and retail items especially ones that were difficult to find here in the South. That is how the vision of Gio’s began.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a native of New Jersey, born to two Italian immigrants from Abruzzo, Italy. As a first generation Italian-American I have been immersed in the Italian culture from my parents and also the Italian-American side growing up in thr Northeast. Growing up I was surrounded by a lot of love that was especially shared around food and cooking. My father owned several small food business in NJ including an Italian deli at one point. After 25 years in healthcare I decided to venture on to something different.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I believe our reputation was built by customer experiences and then sharing information about our shop, location and products with family, friends, Co workers etc.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

After I was done baking to fundraise for Gio’s knee surgery, I was still being sought after to complete orders. My career was in Healthcare, so I continued to bake on the side doing it at night after work, on the weekends and selling at events every spare chance I had. I also sold at the Fountain Inn Farmer’s Market every Saturday and it began to grow more and more. People became familiar with our offerings and I had more clientele. I continued this for 2 years and stayed committed to it to ensure the bigger picture would come to life. I eventually saved enough to have a foundation for the business in addition to the help from my family. When we found the location that we knew financially would make sense and give us longevity we secured it and began to prepare to open the storefront.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Giospastryshop
• Facebook: Gio’s Pastry Shop, Caffe & Italian Market