Milan behind him, almost no English and only a vague idea of what it really meant to move to the other side of the world.
Like many others, he started out doing what he knew best: working as a pizza chef. But over time, Sydney changed the course of his journey.
His first jobs were varied—one even as a pool maintenance assistant in the city centre—before returning to pizzerias, securing sponsorship and eventually permanent residency.
Once that stability was in place, Davide made the decision to go back to the trade he had already practised in Italy: tiling.
That marked the beginning of the path that led him to found Milano Tiling & Waterproofing, now a business specialising in kitchen and bathroom renovations, with a strong focus on insulation and waterproofing.
It was a trade learned on the job, first alongside Italian professionals, then Australian ones, completing the training required by the local system and obtaining his licence in New South Wales.
“At a certain point I realised I was ready,” he said, “I had the licence, the skills and enough experience behind me to go out on my own.
“The beginning is slow—it takes years—but if you work well, the work speaks for itself.”
Today, Davide mainly works in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs and Inner West, with a client base largely made up of Australians.
His story is one of steady construction, without shortcuts: apprenticeship, hands-on experience, long hours and a reputation built through word of mouth.
It’s a path shared by many Italians in Australia, shaped by adaptation and craft, where success is not a stroke of luck but the result of consistency, skill and work done properly.
A trade can be learned with time and effort, but the courage to go out on your own cannot.
