Meet an Innovator: Gianna DiGiovanni
Gianna is challenge-driven and when she sees an opportunity to make something better she jumps in. Her natural entrepreneurial spirit has led her to take on many projects, including making and selling her own sweet potato dog food to make use of her family’s farms sweet potatoes that were too large to sell in markets. Her fearless forward-looking mindset led her to be a part of the first Applied Analytic minor at USC. She is a creative numbers person who will never go with the textbook answer. She hopes to use her analytical skills to discover the information in numerical patterns to help businesses make big changes and adapt to new technologies.
Hometown: Turlock, California, USA
Current city of residence: Los Angeles, California, USA
School: University of Southern California
Area of study: Business Administration, minoring in Applied Analytics
Languages you speak: English
Role model: Karlie Kloss
Favorite product or invention: The Camera
Something you can’t live without: My Vision
Favorite social media platform: Facebook
Articulate yourself in a few words?
From a young age, I would find opportunity where others would see none, making a business out of everything and anything. If people would buy it, I would find a way to supply it. This mindset has led me to making a wide range of products ranging from tutus to homemade sweet potato dog food. As I have gotten older and matured, so have my businesses; and although some of them were more comical than professional, I have learned so much about entrepreneurism because of them.
What’s the coolest thing you’re working on right now?
Completing my minor. Applied Analytics is a new minor to USC’s Information Technology Program that has been added due to the advancements in technology and big data. Being able to take the first classes that are offered for this field makes me feel like I’m paving the way for something great. Although most people would not feel comfortable with the fact that there isn’t a set job right now for Applied Analytics minors, that is exactly what excites me. The odds that my future job hasn’t even been created yet is extremely high. Pursuing such a minor requires me to think innovatively and stay on my toes.
What excites about the Italia Innovation Program?
The wide array of industries that the Italia Innovation Program includes sparks my interest. I will be able to meet so many interesting people with different stories while simultaneously gaining important business skills that are impossible to learn in a classroom. I know for a fact returning from a trip of this magnitude will help me become a better business professional wherever my future career may take me.
What is your driving force?
Knowing that everything I do at this point in my life will lead me in one way or another makes me very cautious about the decisions I make. I have learned to take advantage of every opportunity I am given and try to meet as many people as I can in the process. Coming from a small town, the big city of Los Angeles is a big change for me but one that has offered me many experiences that I wouldn’t trade for the world. My decision to attend USC changed my life for the better and has allowed me to develop into the person I am today.
What aspect of yourself adds the most value to the world?
My creativity. The world can never have enough creativity, and no one’s creativity is the same. I am always looking for a way to do something different and something better. Although my tendency to refuse the textbook solutions isn’t necessarily beneficial in the school setting, I believe it is what the world needs. Especially since we live in a world that moves faster than our minds can function, textbook answers are no longer enough. We need to be creative.
How would you like to use your talents and energy to make an impact?
I hope to transition the business world into a more analytically based industry. Numbers and their patterns can tell us so much, yet so many businesses aren’t utilizing them. Since I have been fascinated with numbers for as long as I can remember, I can see what a success such a change will make. Making a transition towards being more technologically advanced requires adaption, something that most businesses struggle with.
What would you like other participants to know about yourself?
There are a few things that I enjoy more than a cheese plate and gelato. When I found out that I was accepted into this program, it was like my dream had come true. Although my name can be deceiving, I have never been to Italy and I am so excited for this opportunity to develop my business skills in such a beautiful place. I have no doubt that meeting people from all over and working side-by-side with them will be an enriching experience.
