Susan and I started Reggio Imports with a desire to work together coupled with an idea to create a fashion company for and about women. Susan our CEO, is a natural at knowing what women look good in. Perhaps it comes from years of kneeling on a dressing room floor to try and find something that would fit our 4'11 mother. Her natural ability to carry clothes, combined with innate business savvy earned her the title of buyer and director for our upstart company. Susan also had a successful career selling art, in addition to handling the logistics of a busy filtration business she runs with her husband. Her fashion sense, combined with an eye for details earned her the title of CEO, a position she holds today.

I(Kathy) was a different story. Always pegged as the sister with the "great personality," the idea of starting a company that centered on clothing was a bit of a stretch for someone who was more comfortable in either a black suit, or a pair of jean. Since I take after our mother in stature, starting a company where fashion savvy may be needed to get your next meal ticket was a little intimidating. However, the focus of my professional life has centered around a career in marketing and sales training. Having sold both tangible and intangible products and directed sales forces I was eager to direct the company's marketing efforts from the ground-up. Currently, I serve as the organizations Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

The remaining staff and management of Reggio Imports are individuals whose expertise directs the financial and technical aspects of the organization. This team effort encourages a creative and a flexible approach to the market and its opportunities, and allows us to do what we love-work with our growing team of Fashion Fanatics. Your story is just waiting to be written, and we can't wait to see you on the Reggio road to success.

Susan and Kathy

A Little About Our "Home Office"
Being raised in the midwest gives you perspective. There is something about looking over a horizon with no borders that fuels the imagination. And so when we wanted to share with you our company's midwestern roots, we decided that truly a picture was worth a thousand words. While our careers have taken us to many places far from our home in the plains. Growing up we were typical small town midwesterners, with one notable exception...our Mom was a "City Girl."

Carmela Stefanelli was the daughter of immigrant parents, who came to this country from Reggio de Calabria, or the "tip of the boot," as we were often told. Peter and Josephine Stefanelli left Italy in their early 20's for the promise of a better life in Chicago, and there they raised two children. Our parents met on a blind date, while our father attended Optometric School and it was obvious Dad was smitten from the instant he laid eyes on this 4'11' beauty. After a two year courtship under the watchful eye of her parents and brother Joe, she left her home in the heart of Chicago to start life in a small, midwestern town. What a culture shock that must have been! However, she handled it with such grace and elegance that soon she had won over every possible skeptic. Raising six children, (we have 4 wonderful brothers) far away from the life and culture she grew up in must have been very difficult and at times even a little lonely. But together with our Dad they managed to build a midwestern foundation, with deep European roots. We hold those traditions dear, and have built our company, Reggio Imports on the values we learned in the heart of America's farmland-with one eye on the culture where it all began.