Meet the Cheesegang – december 2016
by Tomi
Marcello has found a really good balance between being a friend and being the boss. This was very important when I first started, because I didn’t know anybody in London, I didn’t know the city and everything was very new.
Even though he was the boss, I could talk to him about other things—though that could be a bit tricky as I could speak very little English. He was really good at helping me to settle in to both the job, and to London.
Marcello has been a really good mentor to me since I have been here. He knows a great deal about the cheese, of course, but also the world in general. When I come in in the mornings he’s always talking about the news, sports… all kinds of things apart from the cheese, which makes things more interesting for me.
We try to separate work from our lives outside the stall. We joke that we never talk about cheese with our girlfriends and don’t even have cheese in our fridges at home, but we never actually manage this. I do not think it’s possible if you love what you are doing.
Marcello knows a great deal about cheese, of course, but also about the world in general.
Tomi
We both love working at Jumi Cheese, so of course the conversation will come around to cheese sometimes, but Marcello does tries to make sure it is not the all the time. I have to admit that occasionally the odd text message will pass between us when we are off duty about something to do with cheese.
Marcello is a little bit different from when he is working to when he is off duty. Not a lot, because you have to put yourself into your work so you cannot have a completely different personality, but when he is at work he is a bit more focused, a bit more intent on what is happening and what has to happen next. He is always thinking about the next thing to do—How is the stock? What’s happening with the cheese?—that type of thing.
When he is off duty he is definitely more relaxed. But I think he is always more reserved than me; I am a bit of a party boy and while Marcello likes a good time, maybe he is not as crazy as me. He’s definitely more mature, I would say that I am still probably a bit of a big kid and so having Marcello around while I have been getting to know this city has definitely been a very good thing.