For years, I spoke about the craft passed down to me.
On the occasion of Mother’s Day, I want to speak about the woman who carried it forward.

I’ve always said that I come from a family of artisans.
I’ve spoken about my father — how he taught me the craft, how to solder, how to use the machines, how to shape metal with patience and precision. I’ve spoken about my grandfather too, and the hands that built what came before me.

But the real foundation of our family business was always built by the women of the family.

My grandmother, my father’s mother, was the first. She imagined the products, guiding my grandfather in what to create, then went out to sell them herself. She had instinct, creativity, and a natural sense of what people would want to buy.

Then came my mother.

She was a kindergarten teacher, someone whose true gift was caring for children and helping them grow. But life had other plans. When she moved to Ticino and married my father, she found herself stepping into a struggling business that needed saving.

So with no experience in business, but with grace, determination, and a natural devotion to family and everything that comes with it, she stepped in. She reorganized what was falling apart and, with her imagination and instinct, transformed the products they were selling, modernizing them for what the market was beginning to ask for.

At the same time, she was raising me and my brother.

Not wanting to send us away to daycare, she built her office in the basement of our home, keeping us close while keeping the business alive.

I grew up through the quiet repetition of her days.

The sound of her voice on the phone — speaking Swiss German, English, French — answering clients while the house moved around her.

She stood at fairs selling products that were never meant to be hers, with the warmth and kindness that only she carries.
Boxes carefully packed, one by one, the sound of tape sealing each order.
At Christmas, the kitchen table turning into a workspace, covered in orders and parcels waiting to leave.

Always dressed with care, even on the busiest days. Always smiling when meeting clients, as if there was always enough time for everyone.

She knew how to negotiate with suppliers. She knew how to calm difficult customers with gentleness. Creating, organizing, selling.
Listening, adapting, taking care of everything that needed to be held.

What stays with me is how natural it all seemed to her — the business, the household, and the raising of two children. Perhaps it was another time, slower in its pace. Or perhaps it is simply a quiet superpower that mothers have.

Happy mothers day.