Today we’d like to introduce you to Italo Mastromonaco.
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?
My story starts when I moved from Venezuela escaping from the socialist government style in which I participated on multiple occasions, causing some of the followers of communism to lash out against my family and me. We started to receive threatening calls and other threats, which forced me to migrate to the United States in 2014 searching for a better future. Since I arrived in this country, I have to work hard.
The first couple of years were quite hard. I had to do multiple jobs that I would have never thought of doing, such as working in a call center, Uber, and cleaning at a restaurant. There were times when I worked three different jobs simultaneously, till one day talking to my bother I told him that I wanted to find a better job opportunity. Back then, he was working for a flooring company and told me that the cousin of the owner (Mr. Omar R.) had a factory and carpenters supply company, from which I got an interview. After that interview, I got a job as a dispatcher the next day. On the first day, the owner (Mr. Omar R.) asked me and the manager to do an inventory of the warehouse, which had more than 5,000 items.
Three days later, we had finished knowing where everything was. After that day, the owner (Mr. Omar R.), took me to the factory to be an operator of a CNC machine. Moreover, it only took me 8 months to learn every position in the factory which allowed me to move from dispatcher to assistant manager. After working there for 3 years, I decided to leave the factory in search of a better opportunity and to expand my knowledge as a 3D designer. I started to work on a brand-new kitchen showroom, in which I had to self-teach how to design kitchens, bathrooms, and closets. I worked there as the only employee, acting as the manager, sales representative, designer, and accountant, just to mention a few.
That experience helped me throughout the years even until today, being an independent company designer. This takes us to the next chapter in my career, which was opening my own company (Mastromonaco Creative Solutions); which is based in Miami, Florida. A few years later, I got a call from a new customer sent by Mr. Omar R. This customer was calling from Washington DC looking to get a kitchen design. After the customer saw the final results, he invited me to DC to see other projects. This client paid for the entire business trip and in the first meeting with him, he offered me to move to DC and collaborate with him.
It took me around 6 months to decide on my new chapter out of Florida. doing multiple projects and collaborations with this client; a group of inversions. within a short period, I had become a contractor for them. This individual (Hamza W) has acted as a mentor to me in the real estate investment industry in all of DMV. I’m currently working on getting all the certifications of the states of DC, Maryland, and Virginia to become a certified contractor and be able to operate in the DVM under my company.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Like with anything worth having, I faced some challenges. In the process of learning, such as had to close my first company due to a few clients not willing to pay because I didn’t have proper contact with the appropriate terms and conditions.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I collaborated with the group of investors that had asked me to move to DC, including doing interior designing for almost all their investment properties, this includes making sure the executions of such designs get to the final stage. I specialize in getting the client’s ideas to be functional without losing style, luxury, and quality in every detail.
I’m best known for my modern design style in my kitchens, and bathrooms. Also, accent walls and stairs accents using the trending materials in the market. What are you most proud of: there is nothing that makes me prouder than knowing that I have designed and created something that some families will have for at least 10 years or so knowing that at least the kitchen of a house is where the average family spends about 80% of their time and where most of the precious memories are made.
What sets me apart from others is my integrity, honesty, responsibility, and reliability.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
An advice that I would give to someone who is looking for a mentor is to find someone who is successful in what they do and that also can be applied to what you are currently doing and or what to adventure on.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.mastromonacocs.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mastromonacocs
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/MastromonacoCS
