Why are we so drawn to Italian language and culture? What is the particular fascination with Italian by foreigners? To understand the great influence that Italy and Italian has globally, we interviewed Annamaria Testa, an equally fascinating Italian. Entrepreneur and academic, expert in communication and creativity, she owns her own advertising agency, Progetti Nuovi, is a teaching fellow at the Bocconi University in Milan, as well as a prolific writer of books and articles (in her academic and professional field, in news media, on the web and in print).

This writer was enchanted, watching her at the Joint Action conference in Florence in October 2016. She was a powerhouse on stage with leaders of large Italian multinational corporations, and renown journalist and writer Beppe Severgnini. I, the Italian professor in northern NJ, was riveted by her exchanges with these leaders, about the role of the Italian language to advertise Italian excellencies, and her recommendations to safeguard Italian in the business world.