Basic HTML Version
30 SUMMER 2012 | ST. LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE
“I have always loved what happens
around a table,” says Carolyn Gioia ’05.
“ e conversations that are started, the
food that is shared, the connections that
occur among people while eating are
fascinating to me.” at fascination led
Gioia to Paris and San Francisco and
careers as a chef and then a marketer of
fine wines.
“In high school, my senior internship
was in the kitchen of a club, and I spent
my summers in a catering kitchen,” she
explains. “At restaurants, I always fought
for the seat with a view into the kitchen,
longing to be in ‘whites’ someday.”
After St. Lawrence, the speech and
theatre (now communication and perfor-
mance arts) major got involved in maga-
zine marketing and advertising. But
the world of haute cuisine continued to
beckon. She took what she calls “a leap
of faith – I moved to Paris to attend one
of the most prestigious culinary schools
in the world, Le Cordon Bleu.” Upon
graduation, she started cooking profes-
sionally at Spruce, a Michelin-starred
restaurant in San Francisco.
After a year there, “the stars aligned,”
Gioia says, “and I was able to marry both
previous careers at GMR Marketing, an
agency that represents Visa and manages
all of its global sponsorships.” She is on
the fine wine and food team, working on
Visa Signature – “Visa's affluent portfo-
lio,” she calls it.
What does this job entail? Prepare to
be envious if you love eating and travel-
ing: “I get to travel all over the country,
eating at some of the most renowned
restaurants and meeting the chefs. I also
help manage Visa’s relationship with the
James Beard Foundation – the ultimate
authority on both food and the chefs
who create it. My job allows me to stay
very much involved in the world of food
that I love so much, while also being
knee-deep in the marketing world.”
Gioia says her St. Lawrence education
prepared her to change careers in several
ways. Taking classes in many disciplines
gave her a flexible mind. “In particular,”
she says, “my French language studies
helped me adjust to life in Paris. In my
major, I honed my communication skills,
which I use all day, every day.”
But it was not only in the classroom
where she acquired life skills. “Playing
field hockey and lacrosse helped mold
my character, and made me mentally and
physically capable of being pushed to my
limit, whether in school in Paris, in the
kitchen at Spruce or in a meeting about
marketing a vintage wine or discuss-
ing a Beard Foundation proposal,” she
says. Clearly, St. Lawrence prepared her
to be versatile in a world that demands
versatility.
by Neal Burdick ’72
CAROYLN GIOIA ’05
At her superior graduation at Le Cercle de l'Union Interalliée in Paris, Carolyn Gioia received a
medal, the classic chef’s toque and a diploma, making her officially a chef.
LAURENTIAN PORTRAIT
photo provided
NAVIGATING THE WORLD OF HAUTE CUI S INE
St. Lawrence editor Neal Burdick can
whip up a killer fried egg, but his
culinary skills end there.