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Meet Claudia Barattolo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Claudia Barattolo.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Claudia. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was born in Italy, from Italian dad and German mum, although I’m more Italian then German in every possible way. When my parents divorced at my mum and I left Italy and moved to Vienna where she worked for the UN, we were there for a couple of years when we then moved to Kenya Nairobi, which I loved. Once I graduated high school, I moved back to Italy where I studied Marketing and PR. In the meantime, I was scouted and started modeling. It was so much fun and I think I enjoyed it because I didn’t take it to serious as I knew I wanted to do more in life. From Milan, I move back to Vienna where I did an Internship at the UN for the drug control and crime prevention unit from there, I moved to London to study criminology because I loved my internship and decided to get into that field.

While I was there, I was still modeling and very involved in the fashion industry which I have always loved and still do. I met my now husband in London, he was an investment banker and due to his job we moved to Hong Kong, where we lived for 13 years and has three kids. It was amazing, we made the best of friends, traveled across Asia and just the lifestyle in general was beautiful. While living there, I worked in Prada as a retail executive after that, I consulted for fashion brands on marketing/client development/events strategies and I was approached multiple times by brands to collaborate in the design of a collection/capsule. I have always been very social which took me to be part of a lot of fashion events and charity events. My husband was offered a job in NYC, we packed everything and moved. For the first few months, I was focused on making sure all three kids were happy settled one, having achieved that I deiced to go back to work. I started working as the Head of Client Development for Giorgio Armani which opened doors to meeting very interesting and influential people across the US. After about two and a half years my husband deiced to resign from the financial world and set up his own platform that focuses on luxury holiday homes but with a twist, there is only one degree of separation between the client and the owner of the house (which are very high end and exclusive), hence it’s called www.stayonedegree.com.

As a founding member myself, I have been involved in the process of building it up and see succeed. We moved to Miami a year ago where life is a lot easier due to the much bigger spaces and the amazing weather that allows you to take part in many activities. Since we arrived, I have been helping my husband with Stay One Degree but also consulting with a large hospitality group called Grupo Gitano, that opened a restaurant bar in Casa Faena (they have one in NYC for the summer and various concepts in Tulum). Since Covid-19 started everything has been put on hold especially because the nature of my consulting is mainly people/socializing. However, I have been keeping busy at home with three kids and consulting for a company that trades various commodities including healthcare supplies.

I have always been a very active person, I love socializing, being around people and helping people. I have a family that requires a lot of attention and organizing but I have been known to multitask. I’m of the opinion that just because you have a family ti doesn’t mean you can’t make your dreams come true. Everyone needs a chance to succeed in what they like and believe in. I had my moments of doubt and feeling deflated, it’s only human, but I picked myself up with optimism, great friends around and moved forward. I wouldn’t have it any other way, it made me stronger and better than ever. 🙂

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has been a smooth ride for the most part but having to “give up” my career or dreams due to my husband’s job was tough. It made me angry as I thought it wasn’t fair but most of all it was his attitude of “my job is more important than yours” that was not ok. Having said that, I always made sure to adapt to everything and everywhere we went. I made lots of friends, built a great social life and worked in fields I enjoy.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Stay One Degree is the world’s first trusted members’ club for luxury travelers. The company connects discerning owners of exclusive homes with a vetted member base of luxury travelers seeking special homes and unique experiences. All homes that wish to join are carefully handpicked, likewise all guests are vetted, creating a trusted community of travelers with access to exclusive homes all over the world. Members benefit from this inside access and also enjoy preferential rates, exclusive rewards and personal, local recommendations. The company was founded in December 2017 by two friends, Thomas Bennett and Jorge Munoz, who wanted to connect with like-minded, trusted guests to rent their own homes whilst also seeking special homes to rent for their holidays.

Starting with just the co-founders’ two homes, the company has grown quickly and now offers 3,000+ properties, all fully vetted, in more than 50 countries. Many of the properties are exclusive to Stay One Degree with owners who were previously unwilling to open their homes to strangers now comfortable renting to fellow members. Stay One Degree is based around the “degree of separation” concept, using technology to connect friends, mutual connections and like-minded members and enable them to rent luxury homes to and from each other within a group of trusted members. Stay One Degree makes the risk of renting to and from strangers a thing of the past. www.stayonedegree.com

I also consult in hospitality and fashion, however during this time I’m consulting with a company that trades various commodities including healthcare supplies.

What were you like growing up?
I was a very happy child surrounded by lots of friends all the time, I was always told I was the life of the party. I loved sports too, my go-to was swimming (competed a lot), track & field and soccer. Having lived in many different countries across the globe. I had the opportunity to play sports everywhere and have met the most amazing people.

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Image Credit:
www.bfa.com @bfa

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