Life & Work with Michael Fiorentino

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Fiorentino.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
There are three things I’ve always LOVED – eating, learning languages, and traveling! I grew up with an Italian dad and an American mom – the best of both worlds. While raised in the suburbs of Chicago, we’d spend summers at my Nonna’s (grandma in Italian) home in a small farm town in Puglia, Southern Italy.

Biculturalism wasn’t always easy, never feeling fully American or fully Italian, but the food was great, the people were even better, and exploring new lands, adventuring, and learning fed my soul and planted in me a strong desire to see the world in all its shades and hues.

When I got to high school, I jumped at the opportunity to finally STUDY a foreign language – books, teacher, tests – the trappings of a true language nerd! I fell in love. I excelled at Spanish and with a summer job, working each year exclusively with Spanish speakers, I was fluent in Spanish by my Senior year.

In college, I double majored in International Studies and Italian, minoring in French and taking classes in Polish, Hindi, and German as well. I moved to Los Angeles for a Master in Linguistic Anthropology at UCLA where I worked with the Roma (ethnic gypsies) and continued to study languages – Farsi/Persian, Romani, Romanian, Portuguese, Japanese, and Sanskrit.

Straight out of graduate school, I worked for Berlitz Languages Beverly Hills, where I learned to teach using the conversational, target-language-only method. After that, I worked for Four Seasons Los Angeles at Beverly Hills where I was the Learning and Development Manager, charged with overseeing and rolling out all training for over 500 employees in 21 different departments. There, I continued to hone my teaching methodologies, work with adult learners, and online learning, and expand my knowledge of global trends in luxury hospitality and travel. Eventually, I was recruited to oversee training for the opening of a brand new Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Las Vegas, a flagship property where 5-star luxury hospitality training needed to be introduced to a fresh team of over 600 employees. In 9 grueling months, we hired and trained the finest team in the city – no small feat, but an enormous adventure and success.

It’s from there that my life took a beautiful and unexpected turn. Recruited by a team of world-renowned Beverly Hills surgeons who were opening a clinic and surgical center, I was brought on as Director of Operations, to bring luxury hospitality to health care. We started with just 7 employees, 5 doctors, and a set of blueprints and built and opened one of the largest surgical centers and clinic groups in the city, eventually home to over 60 surgeons, 50 employees, and performing hundreds of surgeries per year in more than 13 specialties. I spent 10 incredible years leading the team there before finally returning to my true love and founding Eat Speak Travel (www.eatspeaktravel.com).

I teach private lessons, typically online, to students all over the world. I teach adults and children Italian, Spanish, English, American Pronunciation, Professional English, Cooking, travel preparation, vacation planning, History, Culture, Etiquette, study methods, and more.

In addition, I own multiple apartments and a home here in Los Angeles which I Airbnb, providing guests not only with a lovely place to stay but with insider tips on experiencing all the best Southern California has to offer. My properties have a special draw to them in the incredibly beautiful edible garden which I’ve cultivated over the years.

Guests find themselves nestled amongst over 50 edible varieties of fruit trees, vegetables, herbs, and flowers. A truly unique and lovely experience for those who love to Eat, Speak and Travel!

For those planning trips to Italy or anywhere in the Spanish-speaking world, I help plan memorable experiences beyond your wildest dreams!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The road hasn’t always been smooth, finding one’s path in life while trying to make a living isn’t always so straightforward. But over the years, I’ve found that hard work and dedication mixed with specializing in one’s passion and strengths can result in really surprising success if you just stick to it and stay creative.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I think what sets my lessons apart from other language lessons is that they are completely individualized to my student’s interests. I use a multimedia, real-world approach and I keep things fascinating, using technology, culture, and history to bring language to life. We have fun, we make progress and we enrich our lives along the way.

What do you like and dislike about the city?
I absolutely love Los Angeles. It’s a true melting pot, offering the best of America along with nearly every other culture, cuisine, and people you can imagine. From tacos to Korean BBQ to kebab and avocado toast, it’s all the things. Not to state the obvious, but we also have beautiful beaches, mountains, hiking, museums, amazing shopping, and some of the best people-watching ever! Brunch in LA is a ritual unlike any other. We have some of the finest Doctors and Surgeons in the world, cutting-edge technology firms, amazing architecture, panoramic views, street art, galleries, clothing designers, and nearly anything else you might be looking for. And to top it off, you can practice nearly any language you might be learning with LA’s diverse populations and communities. It’s truly the world in a city.

What do I like least? It SEEMS inaccessible. People, including Angelenos, are intimidated by LA, and by each other.

There’s this perceived unfriendliness. And yet, every time I travel and return to LA, I feel like I’m more comfortable here. I feel like I’m reminded it’s all an illusion. I feel like we imagine the inaccessibility and once we get over it in our heads, LA is everything we want it to be and more.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.eatspeaktravel.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mfioren/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EatSpeakTravel

Image Credits
www.eatspeaktravel.com