Amanda Russ Ciafaldi
Pomodori Italian Eatery/Driftwood Catering

CH2 | Celebrate Hilton Head Magazine | Aug 2021

When I think of women in business, I’m immediately transported back to the Valhalla conference room at The Holiday Inn in Niles, Michigan, where on any Monday night you could walk in and see a room full of enthusiastic, empowered women in red jackets dancing and clapping to Mariah Carey’s “Gonna Make it Happen.” They would walk down the aisle of folding chairs to be recognized for hitting milestones and earning gifts, jewelry, trips to Bermuda and cars for their hard work. They would cheer and applaud and encourage each other. They would recognize the efforts and support through the struggles.

My mother was a senior sales director with Mary Kay Cosmetics for all of my formative years, and I was raised in that room of unbelievable women, every Monday night, my dad deejaying the Mariah Carey and Gloria Estefan while running the lights and sound of my mother’s career after putting in a full day of his own.

For me, women and business have always been synonymous, conjoined, inseparable. I am so grateful to my mother for raising me in that room and for instilling the importance of solidarity and strength in other women. We are all standing on each other’s shoulders to reach the starts. Just keep looking up, ladies. It’s our for the taking. And thank you, Mom.

Pomodori Italian Eatery & Driftwood Catering
1 New Orleans Rd., #1G
Hilton Head Island, SC 29928
(843) 686-3100
gopomodori.com