A Luxury Shoemaker's Surprise Family BusinessPhilip Nappi discovers that his passion of footwear runs in the family.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Phillip Nappi was orphaned at age 11. After moving in with his mother's relatives, he lost touch with his father's, knowing only that they were Italian immigrants. While growing up in rural Mississippi, Nappi worked in shoe stores and imagined that one day he would open his own. But even the wildest of childhood dreams couldn't predict how the pieces of his life would come together.
Fast-forward to adulthood. In 1999, Nashville, Tenn.-basedNappi, a salesman by trade, bought a recycling business through a newspaper ad. He learned the industry as he went along, and in 2008 sold the company. He used some of the profits to move temporarily to Florence, Italy, with his wife, Dana, and infant daughter. Naturally curious about his father's family, he wanted to research his Italian roots while looking into the possibility of starting a handcrafted boot and shoe business. His investigation turned up a serendipitous link: While going through old papers documenting his ancestors' passage to the U.S., Nappi was shocked to see that his grandfather, Peter, listed his occupation as shoemaker.
Continue reading this article — and all of our other premium content with Entrepreneur+
加入互联网领先的企业家群体狗万官方! With your subscription you’ll get:
- Unlimited access, including premium content
- No ads
- Subscription to狗万官方magazine
- Four free e-books a year
- Subscriber-only events with our experts