Licia Fertz: “The best job reaches 90 years”

In the photo floured hands and a magnet smile: “Hello Instagram, is there room for an 88-year-old girl?”. After a few seconds and down a shower of likes, shares and comments. With a debut like this, in September 2018, Licia Fertz has conquered the social people. Today her profile has 209,000 followers and she is a web star. Behind the scenes, inseparable, to assist her, advise her and resume her in the stories, is her nephew, Emanuele Usai, witness and at the same time creator of this calculated zero percent success.

“When grandfather Aldo passed away in 2017, her husband for over sixty years, my grandmother fell into depression. Going out and shopping didn’t work, so to distract her and try to cheer her up a little, I decided to open a profile on the net: Good morning Grandma ». And if at the beginning it was a game – a whirlwind of hats, colored dresses and lipstick strokes in model shots – with the explosion of acclaim and the growth of followers came the commitment, the desire to transmit messages and, to all intents and purposes, a second half of Licia’s professional life. At almost 91 years old – she will turn them on February 28th – she is an influencer and TV commentator, model for charitable causes and author, together with her nephew, of a book released at the end of September: There is no time to be sad, published by De Agostini and already at the second reprint. What effect does it have? “Very beautifull”. She apologizes for the slightly hoarse voice with the complicit grace of an attitudinal glamor, palpable on every occasion: from the covers for which she also posed “a little naked”, as she says, to the videos in which she appears in a spotted dressing gown, while knead the pizza just raised. The beauty of his age? Having very clear ideas (and intentions). Which he rattles off using strictly the we. Because she and Emanuele, in life and in work, are a stainless steel team. Before becoming an influencer she was a nurse for over thirty years. In Trieste, his city, e
then to Viterbo, where he lives.

Do you think there is a red thread between the two activities?
«Yes, definitely, and that is to be useful to others. Being a nurse was my job
life. I chose it because it allowed me to be close to many people and to help them as much as possible. With Instagram I am in touch with the world and a community has been created with which I exchange advice and opinions. We support each other. Many people write ».

Who are his followers?
«The age ranges from 18 to over 65 and more than 80% are women. Among the countries, besides Italy, the United States, Brazil, Russia, England, France, Germany, Australia and Canada ».

How do you explain such a heterogeneous identikit?
«I always say what I think, with spontaneity. I propose myself as I am, there is nothing studied. And then the followers know my story. I’ve been through a lot in my life. I lost my daughter Marina, Emanuele’s mother, when she was very young and he was very young and in 2017 my husband passed away after a long illness and more than sixty years together. Having fallen into depression, I got up, with the help of Emanuele. They write to us to thank the example. If you did it, they often say, I can do it too. I also believe that I convey a positive model of old age: the third age is not being isolated, dressed in black, on the contrary it can be a wonderful phase, full of colors, very fun and this way of dealing with it is also very popular with young people. The thing that gives me the most satisfaction is when they contact us to say that after seeing me they felt the desire to spend more time with their grandparents ».

Among the under 30s, many follow her, in your opinion why?
“There is this belief that young and old are two distant worlds, opposites, instead when a boy finds himself in front of an old man who is not there to judge him, but to understand him, to share his experience and maybe spare him suffering and disappointments, the relationship becomes very strong. I don’t like it at all when I hear young people speak badly, because they are wonderful, they need to speak and be listened to ».

Can you describe your work routine?
«Every morning, after meditation and a little gentle exercise, Emanuele and I dedicate at least two hours to messages. More than 400 arrive a day. He, or a friend who gives us a hand, reads them to me. I can’t, because I suffer from maculopathy, but I answer everyone with small videos. Then I watch a couple of television news, I like to keep myself informed and, if there are topics that I am interested in and that I want to deepen, I discuss them with my nephew. Emanuele supports me in everything, including the construction of posts and stories. Then there are the interviews and every Sunday I participate as a commentator in the show Il Mondo Insieme, hosted by Licia Colò on TV2000. In recent months I should have also dedicated myself to the presentation of the book with a tour throughout Italy. But it is only postponed ».

Speaking of hot topics, in several posts you ride the news to deal with important issues, from civil rights to body positivity, revealing an activist côté. Which ones do you care most?
“We recently focused on the vaccination campaign against Covid 19. Unfortunately, there is no precise information about it and many friends have called me to ask for support. So we tried to clarify for people of my age and for an important but underestimated social category, namely that of family caregivers, who take care of the elderly. Specifically, we addressed a letter to the URP of our local health authority, highlighting all the problems and difficult details. We are waiting for the answer, which we will naturally share on the profile ».

Many of her posts are dedicated to women and freedom of expression. During a charity shoot she asked photographer Julian Hargreaves to portray her giving a sapphic kiss. The target?
«I wanted to convey that love is universal. Diversity does not exist, we are all human beings ».

It also uses the network to support virtuous, non-profit partnerships. A leading example among these?
«We like to embrace the causes of those who want to redesign the world and make it the way we like it: more inclusive, respectful, free from social schemes, because after all, even the concept of old age that has persisted today since the dawn of time is a stereotype. Among the many projects we mention the one with Yarn Bombing Viterbo. Under the motto “No more doilies on bedside tables”, this association deals with unconventional crochet, made by old women and girls together. So it favors dialogue between generations and counteracts loneliness. With them we thought of a traveling event throughout Italy to bring together our followers, young and old, and create all together pom-poms destined to create a maxi work of art inspired by pointillism. Of course, now it is not possible, but we have every intention, once the pandemic is over, to make the initiative come true ”.

Some photos on his Instagram have sunflower fields as a background. Behind there is a beautiful story of solidarity. Can you tell us?
«We are always happy to support the activities of our territory, Tuscia. The collaboration with Tuscia Flower is an example. This reality of young flower growers, due to the lockdown, found themselves on their knees after investing money and time in a tulip field. To find a solution, the boys decided to deliver flowers all over Italy. We tried to help them by tagging them and sponsoring the story behind their wonderful creations. The outcome made us very happy. In fact, the expeditions increased to the point that they could hardly follow them any more ».

With the success a mechanism of engagement was triggered. Has the profile therefore also become a source of income?
“Yes, and luckily because, although these are not huge amounts, they allowed Emanuele, who studied copywriting at the IED and is a digital strategist, to leave his consultancy and follow me full time”.

What guides you in choosing brands?
«An ethical gain. We always choose products that we know every day and that are part of our tradition. We avoid those we don’t believe in. For example, we said no to a company that produces a collar that releases hormones to keep dogs at home or to a gambling agency, which asked us for a sponsorship ».

Do you have any new projects in the pipeline?
«We are working on the blog. Emanuele has already registered the brand: it will be called Buongiorno Nonna, like the profile and the video column that we publish in the stories on Instagram. It will be dedicated to positive aging with articles and podcasts. We would like to get it started on March 4th, which would have been my daughter Marina’s birthday. And then there’s that other thing that I really want to do… ».

You mean the line of bras for ladies âgé?
“Yup! In the morning it’s a tragedy, because as a stubborn old woman I don’t want to get help. But it really is an impossible task to fasten your bra without getting cold. So I went to see here in Viterbo some models that could be fastened on the front, but I only found the nursing ones, made of canvas, and at 91 years old I don’t accept it. The underwear I wore when I was young I want to continue to have it even when I was old. Items for my age are considered health products. But it must be understood that old age is not a disease, but a phase of life. Having trouble tying my bra back? Okay, I tie it up in front of me, but this doesn’t mean that every time I look in the mirror I have to seem close to an intervention. A lace, a beautiful color is always good. Above all, the fabric cannot be made of canvas. I want to be independent and see myself beautiful. And like me, so many other people feel that way too. I’m sure”.