Edward Artidiello, President

Given that Edward Artidiello is president of the US office of Stolzle, an international glassware company, one might expect to see forays into the manufacturing world or a colorful wine background when glancing at his resume. Instead, Artidiello's resume is decorated with a myriad of positions and companies from a wide variety of backgrounds. The pervasive element in his career path and life seems to be his fiery Cuban fervor. "We're passionate people," Artidiello expressed.

Ed was born in Havana, Cuba, but grew up with his family in Miami, Florida.

After high school, Ed spent three years in the Navy, which led him to Charleston. He graduated from Chadwick University in Birmingham, Alabama, with a BS and a MBA. Artidiello worked for a series of insurance and HMO companies before taking a position as vice president and sales director for HealthPlan Services, Inc. Upon leaving HealthPlan, Artidiello spent the next three years as president of One Source AutoCare. Finally, in August of 2004, Ed took over Stolzle and sold his previous business. When he began with Stolzle he knew nothing about glassware and admitted, "I had never sold anything tangible."

The gap between the industries in which Ed previously worked and his current industry was really more of a chasm, but Ed saw a future with Stolzle. "I wanted to work with European companies and knew I could grow this business," Artidiello said. Despite challenges, such as currency fluctuations and the unpredictability involved with sales in an industry like the restaurant business, Artidiello proceeded to increase market share.

No matter the industry, Ed's philosophy on sales has remained the same: "I look at it from the customer's perspective-if we can't both win then it's not a good fit. A good sale is never one-sided. An initial profit is shortsighted. I'm interested in building relationships. This is a relationship business and I'm not interested in selling you something just for today."