Profiles

Walking down the aisle in a beautiful white dress, graced with impressively coifed hair, is the picture-perfect dream for any bride. Traveling hair stylist Livia Caporale liviacaporale.com feels happy — and lucky — to be a part of that special day. A graduate of world renowned Pivot Point Academy, Caporale has had a love and passion for hair styling since her days at Trinity High School in River Forest. A typical schedule for Caporale consists of meetings and consultations during the week with her clients. She also dabbles in commercial photography, and offers lessons in hair care and maintenance. When …

Not a day goes by that Vince Chiarelli Jr. does not think about his grandfather. Chiarelli — a Rockford, Ill., native and music enthusiast — has recently taken on the role of president of Vincent Records, an independent label his grandfather founded when he moved to Rockford from Sicily in the 1950s. Also named Vince, Chiarelli’s late grandfather rubbed elbows with some of Motown’s finest to up-and-coming artists in the music capital of the world, Nashville, Tenn., and his innovative work all those years ago is helping his grandson realize his own dreams today. The elder Vince Chiarelli passed away …

Domenic (Nico) Serritella has a lot to be proud of. As a junior at Kendall College, the acclaimed school for hospitality management and the culinary arts, he was offered the opportunity of a lifetime and he seized it. As a result, he found himself interning at Trattoria Delle Tele, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Porretta, Italy. Growing up, Serritella vividly remembers watching his culinary inspiration, Mario Batali, on television, and years later he was cooking in the same kitchen that Batali once trained at. Serritella’s father, Domenico, hails from Ricigliano, Salerno, and a family friend and attorney helped Nico make contact …

Elizabeth Poli was a genetics major in her junior year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison when she decided to branch out and volunteer at a local children’s hospital. As she helped out with sick children and their worried families, it all clicked for the Park Ridge native, and upon graduation, she applied for and was accepted at the University of Chicago’s prestigious Pritzker School of Medicine. “I initially thought I would pursue a Ph.D. and do research in a lab,” Poli explains, but a more hands-on career path beckoned. That path became even clearer during her third year of medical …

Scott Aiello’s theatrical journey has tested his determination in many ways. After spending years on the Chicago theater scene making great first, second and third impressions on producers and peers alike, he decided to pack his bags and move to the East Coast. He didn’t follow the path of the starving artist, though. Aiello was accepted at Juilliard, the most prestigious theatre school in the country. And less than a year after he graduated, the industry is already taking notice. Aiello began his journey after graduating magna cum laude from Loyola University in Chicago with a degree in philosophy. He …

Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen and Innocent World are just some of Emma Bottari’s inspirations in the fashion world. But the budding designer wanted to do more than just create beautiful clothing. And so, immediately after graduating with a BFA in fashion from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, she launched her own internet-based enterprise, www.industrialkitty.com. Dedicated to showcasing “Fancifully quaint fashions for those looking to drift through a metamorphosis of dreamy elegance,” her website features designs that spring directly from the mind, hand and heart of Bottari. With whimsical names like Little Bear, Piano Keys, Cream Bow and …

Twenty-eight-year-old Chicago native Dan Fleming definitely chose the path less traveled when he signed up in July 2011 for a 27-month stint in the Fiji Islands as a part of the Peace Corps. The son of Mark Fleming and Jo-Marie Frigo, he was a recent graduate of the University of New Mexico at the time with a degree in construction engineering. Instead of diving right into the job market, Fleming chose to immerse himself in a completely different culture while reaching out to help his fellow human beings. “In the two years we’ve been out here, we’ve experienced a small …

For the last five years, Fabrizia Felella has walked past the Fred Astaire Dance Studio on Michigan Avenue each day on her way to and from work. Her curiosity piqued, she finally mustered the courage to walk through the doors, and she hasn’t looked back since. A dedicated ballroom dancer in her spare time, Fabrizia has competed on the regional and national level, bringing home a host of trophies along the way. None of this would have been possible without the world-class instruction she has received from Fred Astaire Dance Studio (www.fredastaire.com). A relative newcomer to ballroom dancing, she has …

Giancarlo Iannotta and Julie D’Agostino’s friendship was destined to happen. As a matter of fact, both of their fathers immigrated to Chicago in the 1950s by way of Castel San Vincenzo, which is in the Molise region of Italy. By the early 1990s, the families settled on South Street in Elmhurst, Ill., and both have been members of the Saint Stephen and Saint Vincent Society. Giancarlo, a filmmaker and 2011 graduate of Columbia College, has known Julie since birth, and both have been inseparable for just as long. But what makes their bond unique is that Julie was born with …

Iliana Incandela is a well-known voice throughout the Chicago-area Italian-American community. Her powerful presence on stage keeps an audience in awe of her vocal delivery and beauty. Incandela was named the Columbus Day Queen in 2010, and is incredibly grateful for the support she has received from the community. She’s also a recipient of a 2010 David Award from the IANU Foundation, which further raised her profile. On August 30, Incandela took her game to a whole new level, treating the audience in a taping at the Vic Theatre to a powerhouse version of Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain,” …