Giampiero is the CEO of Treatwell Group, the leading SaaS enabled marketplace for Beauty and Wellness in Europe on a mission to digitalise the way Beauty and Wellness professionals and their customers connect. He came to Treatwell through their merger with UALA Group, the top online beauty and wellness marketplace across Southern Europe, where he led all operations and drove the integration with Treatwell.com.
The business has since scaled to over 1000 employees and now operates across 13 different geographies, with Giampiero having spearheaded company growth both organically as well as through M&A activity. They now manage around 100 million appointments a year and provide management software to more than 50,000 partner salons.
Prior to this, Giampiero comes from a background of working in high growth tech companies such as Uniplaces, the online student accommodation platform, and AUTO1 Group, Europe’s leading digital automotive platform for buying and selling used cars online, and was previously a strategy consultant at BCG. In 2022, he received recognition by Forbes Italy in their 100 Top Manager list for his leadership capabilities
1. What values are most important to you as a leader?
The first thing I try to “build” when working with my team is trust. Beyond the cheesy stories on why trust is important, I believe that also from a practical point of you as a CEO, it is important to make sure your leadership team is able to lead the company even in your absence.
The way I describe it is “distributed brain” and “making myself disposable”. In this way, I make sure that my team is empowered in executing the strategy we set together. In this context “trust” is the key pillar to build a successful leadership team, able to execute the strategy as a distributed brain. They trust me in making sure the strategy we set for the business is the right one and I trust them when they take decisions in their day-to-day to execute according to that strategy.
2. Who or what is your biggest inspiration?
My biggest inspiration as a Manager is Sergio Marchionne, former CEO of Fiat Chrysler. His passion for his work, his creativity, his strategic thinking and his vision for the entire Automotive industry are qualities hard to find in a single person.
3. Best piece of advice you have been given?
One of my former bosses once told me “Giampiero, the reality is that nobody really knows anything… a lot of it is about common sense”
4. What would you tell your younger self?
Be kinder to yourself and a bit less emotionally attached to your job.
5. What has been your most important or profound lesson as a leader?
I learnt that culture and values are a key element of any company. They are a key element and tool to achieve your goals as a leader and your vision as a company. They cannot be underestimated or things that one can underinvest in. Certainly, they (company values) are not just words on a office wall.
