“At the Table” is a series of interviews and spotlight conversations with people I admire from within and outside of the wedding industry. These conversations focus on topics related to building an intentional, relationship-first business alongside a present, connected, values-driven personal life.
Introduction:
I met Michelle at my first New York Bridal Fashion Week. We were seated across the aisle from each other at a Nardos show, and she walked over to me afterward and said, “I can tell from the way you’re shooting that you are talented. My husband is a photographer, and I’m fascinated watching you work.” We have since seen each other every season in NYC, and have attended several Engage Summits together. I am deeply inspired by her work ethic, her entrepreneurial drive, and her dedication to excellence for the sake of her clients.
Follow Michelle via her website, her IG, and YouTube. Restaurant info can be found at Gene & Georgetti.
THE INTERVIEW
→ First of all, tell me in your own words what you do for work, and why you do it?
That’s a great question. My gut response is “I do whatever it takes…” because I am my father’s daughter and that was something he taught me since I can remember. But really, I design and produce weddings and celebrations, often across multiple days and in a few countries, where the experience matters just as much as the look.
At the core of my life, I think I build structure. Communication, logistics, and transparency are the foundation of everything I do, and from that, I work with our numerous teams to create something that feels effortless, even though it is anything but behind the scenes.
I am also an equestrian, a restaurateur, and a third generation leader in my family’s business. I am an entrepreneur, and I am someone who believes deeply in building a full life. All of those things inform how I work and how I lead. I live, that is definitely something I do. And I leap too - sometimes literally with my horses and other times with a whole lot of faith :-)
Why I do it is much more layered. I love the responsibility of holding something that matters deeply to someone else and delivering it with clarity, intention, and care. I like exceeding expectations, and full disclosure - none more than my own. Maybe my dad’s if I’m being honest.
A wedding for me is one of those moments in life that happens and is magic. When our clients actively plan and look forward for months, sometimes years, to a celebration it fills my cup. They live in the anticipation, they experience it in real time, and then once they live it, they get to carry it with them forever. Being trusted with that is not something I take lightly.
And more personally, I do it because I love my life. I love seeing my family that lives in Italy. I love taking care of my horses. I love knowing that the people who work in our restaurant are supported and cared for. I love being too scared to dream and going after it anyway. I love being the one who nobody sees coming.
So why do I do everything that I do? Part of the answer is that it all matters and it all needs to move forward. I don’t have a choice, but the real answer is much simpler. I chose it anyway—and what else would I do?
→ What does a typical day look like for you?
There is no clean version of a typical day, and honestly, that is part of the draw for me. And the exhaustion!
Some days I am deep in budgets, whether for the restaurant or for a wedding client, reviewing numbers line by line to make sure expectations and reality are aligned. Other days I am walking a property in Italy, or maybe Wisconsin - thinking about guest flow, power, timing, and how a space will actually feel when it is full of people.
I might be walking a course with my horses, measuring strides between jumps. I might be on the phone with our general manager at the restaurant. I might be on calls with clients, or planning a site visit in another country.
And a lot of the time, it is all of those things in the same day.
A typical day involves solving problems, making decisions, and keeping things moving. It involves a lot of communication, a lot of recalibration, and a good amount of humor. It also usually involves my husband somewhere in the mix. Thank god, otherwise I’d have imploded years ago.
Quite literally, my days are also multilingual. Italian every day, English every day, horse speak, restaurant speak, wedding speak. It is multicultural, multifaceted, and constantly shifting depending on what the day requires. Some days I joke that I need subtitles just to keep up.
A lot of what I do is invisible. It is conversations, alignment, anticipating issues before they happen. Anticipating needs, making sure people are heard and felt and cared for.
My goal is always the same. I want everything to feel buttoned up and seamless. I want my team to feel clear and confident in what they are executing. I want people (and my animals) to know I care. I want to leave the day better than I found it.
→ In her book Dare to Lead, Brené Brown says that every person has just two core values that shape everything else that they do or believe. Do you agree with that idea? If you could boil your values down to just two, what would they be? How do those influence how you do your work & live your life?
I understand the idea of distilling values, but for me it is a framework of four that have to work together. Transparency, work ethic, communication, and logistics.
Transparency builds trust. It means being honest about what is possible, what is not, and what it actually takes to execute something well. For me that also means no bullshit. Ever. It’s a non starter for me, especially when I look in the mirror and have to deal with myself.
Work ethic is non negotiable. This is a detail-driven business where excellence is built on effort that most people never see.
Communication, for me, goes far beyond language. It is about understanding nuance, expectation, and cultural mindset. Planning in Italy, for example, means bridging Italian reality with American expectations, and that requires fluency on both sides. And patience. So. much. patience.
And then there is logistics, or infrastructure. Nothing works without it. It is the structure that allows everything else to exist. You can have vision, but without a system to support it, it falls apart.
For me, those values are layered. They work together and shape how I lead, how I plan, and how I live. In tandem and in symphony, that’s the magic!
→ The British author Alain de Botton has this famous quote: “There is no such thing as work-life balance. Everything worth fighting for unbalances your life.” I tend to agree with this idea, that work-life balance is an unhelpful goal, and we should instead think about aligned values and healthy rhythms in all spheres of life. What do you think about the phrase “work-life balance?” How do keep healthy rhythms & momentum going in both work and personal spheres?
For me personally, and without judgment for anyone who sees it differently, balance is not the goal. Alignment is the goal. Joy is the goal. Satisfaction is the goal. My work and my life are not separate. They inform each other. My life is full, and it moves in seasons.
There are periods where work is intense, especially leading up to an event. And there are periods where I intentionally shift my focus back to my horses, to being outside, to grounding myself again. That is where I reset. That is where I get perspective.
I am very intentional with my time. I protect certain routines that matter to me. I meditate, I journal, and I stay in close communication with my restaurant team, my equine care team, my clients, and my events team, no matter where I am in the world.
For me, momentum comes from clarity, not from trying to do everything equally at once. It comes from being fully present in whatever I am doing in that moment.
→ Some people argue that a focus on people and a focus on profit are competing priorities, but I love talking about the ways that running a relationship-first business aids in building more profitable, sustainable businesses. What do you think about this idea? Are they competing ideas? Why or why not?
I do not believe they compete. I think that idea is fundamentally flawed. Everything comes down to relationships. The people you meet, the teams you build, the trust you earn, those are the foundation of any lasting business.
There is no profit without people. Period.
Short-term thinking might prioritize profit at the expense of relationships. But long-term success proves the opposite. My family’s restaurant is 85 years old, and that longevity is built on relationships with our employees and our customers. It is that simple.
The strongest businesses I know are built on trust, consistency, respect, and a shared understanding of what it means to work hard together.
→ What are some ways that running a people-first business has benefited you? How has it benefited others?
It creates longevity, and it creates meaning.
I grew up in a business where we have employees who have been with us for decades. That does not happen by accident. It happens because people feel valued. Servers with us for 47 years teach you a thing or two about life.
I have taken that into my events business. Our clients refer us years later. Our vendor relationships feel like real partnerships, not transactions. That is all about people and connecting with them.
Internally, it builds a team that cares about the outcome, not just the task. And externally, it creates a better experience. Weddings feel more cohesive. Communication is clearer. There is a shared sense that everyone is working toward the same goal.
At the end of the day, none of this works without people. So putting them first is not just a philosophy, it is necessary.
→ Our culture and our industry is fast—trends come and go in the blink of an eye, and there’s just so much noise, especially on social media. It can be tempting to believe that the only way to stand out is to add to the noise, to follow trends, to make a bigger flash than our competitors. But what if you’re a quiet brand? I have written about the difference between Fireworks and Fireplace brands here. Would you say that your business is more of a fireworks display or a fireplace? How does that influence how you market?
Fireplace, without question. This work has never been about being the loudest in the room. It is about consistency, intention, and creating something that people return to over time. That perspective comes from my family’s business, and from my life with horses. Both teach patience, discipline, and the value of showing up.
From a marketing standpoint, we do not chase trends. We tell the truth about what we do. We focus on education, clarity, and showing the layers behind the work. We believe in respect, too. And importantly, we show the people behind the work, because that is what actually makes everything happen.
→ How do you stay authentic when it often feels that “fake it ‘til you make it” energy is rewarded?
That mentality drives me absolutely bonkers. I am pragmatic to my core. I am a Capricorn, an earth sign, and I do not believe in cutting corners or skipping steps. I believe in doing the work, putting in the time, and building relationships that actually mean something. I am a long game person.
You cannot fake what I do. You cannot fake logistics, infrastructure, leadership, or execution. Over time, that becomes very clear.
I did weddings early in my career where my fee was minimal and the flowers were simple. I built this step by step. Nothing about it was overnight.
So I focus on substance over perception. I try not to get distracted by the noise. When I step into the ring with my horse Cassius, he and I compete against ourselves. Our only goal is to leave it all out there, and to pour our hearts into what’s we’re doing.
For me, it is much less about protecting an image and much more about growing, evolving, and consistently delivering. What you see is what you get. I try to lead by example in that.
→ What is bringing you joy in your work right now?
Honestly, my life brings me joy. Even on its hardest days.
My husband brings me a tremendous amount of joy. Watching him grow, succeed, and even step into my world, like learning how to ride, has been really special.
My horses bring me joy. My farm brings me joy. Seeing that environment thrive, and knowing I can provide that life for them, means everything to me.
My family’s restaurant brings me some joy. The fact that it is still here, still standing, especially right now, feels incredibly meaningful. Chicago is a tough place to own a business right now, and the restaurant industry is harder still. That’s a big moment for me.
My work feels very aligned. We are taking on complex, multi day, international projects that challenge us and allow us to apply everything we know while continuing to grow.
And my team brings me so much joy. We went through a moment of unexpected change, and instead of letting it set us back, we used it as a catalyst. We scaled, we rebuilt, and now we are stronger for it. Watching this team come together and take ownership has been incredibly rewarding.
There is also something really special about when all the teams in my world are in sync. The farm team, the restaurant team, the events team, accounting, legal, all of it. When everything is moving together, it feels like a symphony. There is nothing better than that.
We also rescued another puppy, which has been a joy in itself. And I think often about adopting one day and paying that forward.
There is joy in hard work. In seeing people grow. In seeing lives change.
→ If we were to meet here a year from now, what do you hope we would be celebrating?
I hope we are celebrating that we are still here. There are things in motion right now that I am not quite ready to say out loud, but I hope they land the way they are meant to. So fingers, eyes and toes crossed for good measure!!
Beyond that, I hope we are celebrating continued growth, stronger confidence, and even better client experiences. I want a portfolio for this company that reflects exactly the kind of work we want to be known for. I want consistency at the restaurant.
Personally, I hope I am jumping bigger jumps with my horses. I hope I am continuing to push past fear and choosing growth anyway. I hope I am still stepping into discomfort and doing the things that make me a little nervous. I feel fear a lot, and I do things anyway and I never want to stop celebrating THAT.
And more than anything, I hope we are celebrating how my husband and I show up in the in between moments. Not just the wins, but how we handle everything else. That we are steady, resilient, and still moving forward. That our family is cared for, the people we are responsible for are flourishing and life - whole complicated is really so beautiful.
→ Final question: what is the number one book you recommend to every creative entrepreneur?
If I have to choose one, it is The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho. It was truly life changing for me and reshaped how I think about purpose and trust in the process.
And I will always come back to The Divine Comedy, by Dante. It is a book I have read multiple times and cared about enough to study more deeply. I spent 6 months studying that book, and it still resonates.
And of course Unreasonable Hospitality, by Will Guidara aligns closely with how I think about service and experience. It reinforces the idea that details matter, and that how you make people feel is what lasts.