The Italians have a saying: “Quel che semini raccogli”, translating to, “What you sow you reap”. 

Or at least, one Italian does. That man is Guido Scatizzi, who has been a fan of his father’s wisdom since a young age. “In its simplicity, it still resonates with me today,” says Guido, when asked about the influences throughout his life.

It’s a poignant place to start an interview, but as Guido knows, sometimes you’ve got to get straight to the point. “Life is too short, and as cliched as this sounds, it is all about the journey. Don’t spend too much time getting caught up about the things you can’t control.” 

Guido’s demeanour is calm and measured, with a level of mature insight. They suggest a penchant for perspective, and prosperity. Yet, behind his success lies the narrative of a self-made man, shaped by a picturesque upbringing in Milan. One that instilled in him the values he holds closest today: “Integrity, empathy, honesty, loyalty, respect, kindness, gratitude.” I’d asked about his top two or three, but someone who has more values than they can count on one hand is surely someone to be celebrated.   

 

“I was born and grew up with my parents and younger sister and in Milan. We spent some summers at a holiday house in the South of France and my Aunty also had a villa in Portofino,” he says, nonchalantly. 

“We would also visit a country house in Tuscany that our dear family friends owned. We would pick olives and make olive oil and red wine from the produce of the estate. Winters we would ski in the Italian Alps and fish for trout from Lake Como.” It’s hard not to picture a young Guido, navigating his way through a postcard worthy landscape, filled with bountiful farm-to-table produce. “I was, and still am, a huge fan of football club AC Milan and I would go to San Siro stadium with my scooter to watch all their games,” he says, adding colour and depth.

 

It wasn’t long before scootering turned into studying, with Guido graduating university with a double degree in Economics and Management, specialising in International Enterprise Markets and Strategies. 
[Insert ‘kicking goals’ and other puns here.]

“I was keen for the next adventure, and I landed in Sydney pretty much as soon as I finished uni. I loved it from day one.” A fork in the road in his early career years led him away from finance, sales, and entrepreneurship, and down the fast-paced freeway of real estate. “A good friend of mine had said that I would be good as an agent. I hadn’t really given it much thought before but the more I did, the more I realised that the skills I had would be a good complement.”

That was in 2014 and looking back on his 10-year career – eight of those which were spent at BresicWhitney – he’s back in the seat where his career took off, with a focus on the Lower North Shore. 10 months outside of the business saw him further develop his high-end real estate skills, selling homes from Warrawee to Lindfield, Greenwich to Kirribilli, and Elizabeth Bay to Bellevue Hill.

He shares some of his lessons from the last decade with me: “You will fail sometimes, expect it. And when you do, fall fast, fall forward, and move on quickly. And never take things personally!”.

 

He now lives with his partner Kellie, and their dog Pepe (a fittingly Italian pet name) and is intent on gaining even more mastery of his mind and body in 2024. “My alarm goes off at 5am and the first thing I do is make myself a cup of coffee and sit on my balcony for a few minutes overlooking the water in stillness,” he shares. “This is where my mind flows the best. I ask myself, ‘how can I be a better person today?’ This helps set up my day with positive energy. I guess it’s my kind of meditation routine, although it’s quite unstructured.”

 

In the evenings, he tunes into gratitude. “Something that’s important for me is to continually think about all the good things in my life. There is so much to be grateful for especially when there are a lot of things happening across the world and in our daily lives. So usually at the end of the day I’ll practice this, and connect in with family and friends, some of them who are overseas. Generally, after 9pm I limit screen time and just focus on reading or listening to Andrea Bocelli or Ludovico Einaudi.” 

Our interview concludes, and I’m left with one burning question: You can take the man out of Milan, but can you take Milan out of the man? If Guido is any measure, no you can’t, and frankly, there’s no reason why you would want to. 

Until next time.