From Green Card Winner to Pizza Entrepreneur

It's been almost seven years since I won the Green Card in the Diversity Lottery, which many Americans don't even know exists. This lottery offers many foreigners the opportunity to change their lives, but when I started participating, I never thought I would win. But on the third try, it happened! Winning was like a bolt from the blue that turned my life upside down. In fact, the lottery only gives winners six months to leave their homes, jobs, loved ones, pack everything up, and move to the United States, without any assistance or benefits.

Many Italians who win the DV Lottery give up because of these difficulties, but I've never been that kind of woman. I believe in seizing opportunities that may come only once in a lifetime. When I decided to try my luck in the United States seven years ago, it wasn't easy at all. I sacrificed my comfort zone to end up in Airbnb with precarious jobs and many hopes for the future.

Along the way, I met people who helped me improve and inspired me to embark on the adventure of Ellay Pizza. The first encounter was with Alessio Lacco, now a famous Pizza Chef in Atlanta, Georgia, whom I contacted through his YouTube channel. He later introduced me to Vito Iacopelli, who was looking for help for his pizzeria Provami in West Hollywood.

During my collaboration with Pizzeria Prova, I was able to refine my art in Neapolitan pizza. Before that, I had gained a lot of experience with Roman flatbread pizza, but I hadn't had much chance to experiment with Neapolitan pizza. Driven by enthusiasm, I decided to go back to Italy for a while to improve even more and obtain the Italian certification as a Neapolitan pizza chef.

My dream has always been to follow in the footsteps of my grandfather, who was a baker, and my mother, who has been a chef all her life. In 2021, after seeing the success achieved by Alessio Lacco with his catering service in Atlanta, I decided to meet him again to try to replicate his business model in Los Angeles.

Arriving in Atlanta, I found my mentor in Alessio. He, his partner, and his friends, all from Naples and master pizza chefs, are very generous people who encouraged me to pursue my dream without asking for anything in return.

Thanks to Vito, Alessio, and the friends I have in Los Angeles - Val, Dalila, Marina, and Amina - who have always been there for me, in 2022, after becoming a proud American citizen, I finally started working for myself by founding the company Ellay Pizza. Now I'm trying to make it grow and find a place in this city to fulfill my American dream.

Karen