BELONG To People

The bicycle: a life and work coach

• WORK
• PASSION

“The opening of a new store is one of the things I love most in my job.  In a week of hectic work, you set up everything down to the slightest detail and when the opening day arrives you feel proud.  The last one I did in Cles, in the Italian region of Trentino Alto Adige, was amazing.  I heard many customers saying it “was the most beautiful store in the area”. 

The one speaking is Luca Barbieri: 37, from Bergamo, today he works as the Area Manager for a part of Piemonte and the entire Trentino Alto Adige.  He had a direct approach to Teddy in the beginning. In 2011 he started working as a stock clerk in a franchised store in Busnago, where over a few years he covered all the roles until he became Store Manager and got noticed. One day he received a call from Teddy Head Supervisor for Area Managers, who offered him to join his team. He first hesitated then decided to accept the challenge.

In February 2015 she started a long training period at the headquarters in Rimini, alternating it with some new store openings in Italy and business trips abroad, to Sweden and Denmark. It was a trying time but Luca is not scared by toil and ups and downs. Just like Vittorio Tadei, the founder of Teddy, he learned not to give up and to pursue his goals to the end, thanks to his passion for cycling. From his 14s up to his 20s he rode his bike in Italy and abroad, through any kind of weather conditions, in stifling heat and freezing cold. He was just about to become a professional cyclist but an accident shattered his dream, leaving him however with the right spirit to face any kind of obstacle. “Throughout my career at Teddy, my bike experience has been essential”, says Luca. A lot of hard work, hitches always on the way but in the end, you always feel proud and satisfied when crossing the finish line”. 

Besides the opening of new stores as already mentioned, there is another aspect Luca loves about his job: the relationship with the new ones employed and the communication of Teddy style. “For me Teddy style is to work and feel a sense of belonging to the Company, learning how the company started, the story of Vittorio and his vision. I therefore think that the book about his life was so helpful for both those who have been working here for years and those just employed. I frankly say it gave me a lot to be thinking about”.