![\"\"](\"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Gina_DiGirolamo-HEADSHOT-STORY.jpg\")
<\/a>DiGirolamo<\/p><\/div>\n
Today, DiGirolamo is a junior with a dual major in professional sales and piano, a unique pairing of degrees.<\/p>\n
Her initial plan was to get a business degree and open a music store where she could teach piano lessons. DiGirolamo has been playing piano since she was 5 years old and taught lessons in high school.<\/p>\n
\u201cI liked teaching and I liked playing,\u201d she said. \u201cThe people I worked for when I was teaching piano ran a business, so I thought maybe I could do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
DiGirolamo began to doubt those plans in her sophomore year, leading her to shadow a few business professionals. Among them were her cousins, who are real estate agents in Michigan.<\/p>\n
\u201cI worked with them and watched what they did,\u201d DiGirolamo said. \u201cIn real estate, you have a very flexible schedule. They went to the gym at 7 a.m. and got to the office at 9 a.m. They\u2019re 25 years old and have the capacity to make a ton of money. I thought, \u2018This is so cool. I want to do this.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
DiGirolamo met with Deirdre Jones, director of the Edward H. Schmidt School of Professional Sales in UToledo\u2019s John B. and Lillian E. Neff College of Business and Innovation, to learn more about a degree in sales.<\/p>\n
Soon after, DiGirolamo declared professional sales as her major and participated in two sales competitions, something she couldn\u2019t have imagined a few years prior.<\/p>\n
\u201cDeirdre was definitely one of my biggest influences as well as attending and loving the sales events I participated in,\u201d DiGirolamo said. \u201cI can\u2019t speak highly enough of the sales program at UT.\u201d<\/p>\n
In early 2021, DiGirolamo accepted an internship at Northwestern Mutual Toledo and discovered a passion for financial advising.<\/p>\n
\u201cI absolutely love my job at Northwestern,\u201d she said. \u201cI make my own schedule. I meet with clients when I want to meet with them. I build long-term relationships with my clients as opposed to making quick sales like I thought most of the sales world was. I could see myself here forever.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/a>Gina DiGirolamo has been playing piano since she was 5 years old and taught lessons in high school.<\/p><\/div>\n
Although piano is no longer part of DiGirolamo\u2019s immediate career plans, she enjoys playing and doesn\u2019t see any reason to stop pursuing the degree.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so close to getting that second degree, so I might as well keep going,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve learned so much, and I love it.\u201d<\/p>\n
DiGirolamo is active outside of classes and her internship. She\u2019s involved in UToledo\u2019s Women in Business Leadership organization and helped start Toledo Powerlifting, a powerlifting club on campus.<\/p>\n
The idea for the club came after DiGirolamo and several friends attended the USA Powerlifting Michigan State Championships in November. Several universities there had powerlifting clubs, which inspired the group to explore the possibility of forming one at UToledo. More than 20 students attended Toledo Powerlifting\u2019s first meeting in March.<\/p>\n
\u201cGina is one of the most fascinating students I have come to know at The University of Toledo,\u201d said Lora Parent, associate lecturer in the College of Business and Innovation. \u201cIn addition to her dual majors, she has gone above and beyond with engagement in her extracurricular activities. I wish I could clone Gina. Her attitude toward life is inspiring and her personality is contagious. I am proud to have worked so closely with her over the past couple of years.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Gina DiGirolamo also accepted an internship at Northwestern Mutual Toledo early last year and has since discovered a passion for financial advising.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":887,"featured_media":72575,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,32,1,71,7],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72569"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/887"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72569"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72572,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72569\/revisions\/72572"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>