Italian Citizenship Concierge: Jennifer Sontag
Jennifer Sontag, a serial entrepreneur, is the owner of Italian Citizenship Concierge, a bespoke citizenship agency that helps Italian Americans gain citizenship in Italy through Jure Sanguinis. Jennifer sets out to help her clients gain a new outlook on life in Italy. Jennifer grew up in a big Italian American family where her nonna and 9 sisters would spend their days preparing delicious meals to share with family. Mamma to 2 beautiful adults, and nonna to adorable Oliver. Jennifer has a passion for all things Sicilian and loves to enjoy good food and wine with friends.
Jennifer can’t remember a time in her life when she did not dream of living in Italy. Life however, had other plans for her. In her mid-40s, she found myself at a crossroads. She was suddenly divorced (literally 3 weeks from leaving, the divorce was finalized), her son had just married, and her daughter had just finished university. This was the first time the idea of moving to Italy seemed like a real possibility.
She took an Love, Work, Eat approach to my move to Italy over 5 years. She had a lot of work to do personally and professionally before she could settle into Italy. She moved home to St. Louis (March 2017) to learn to Love herself again. She focused all her energy on rebuilding my self-esteem and health. She learned to nourish my body and soul inside and out with fresh, healthy food and daily yoga. Once she was feeling in tune with myself, it was time to Work (my personal religion). She moved to Shanghai China (August 2018) to teach business management. After 5 years away from the business world, she wanted to get back to my professional roots in business with a twist. She became a teacher. This was the perfect way for her to connect with a profession she loves and excels at, while giving back to the next generation of business leaders. After 2.5 years in Shanghai, she was ready to EAT. It was time to move to Italy for the final step in her journey. She arrived in Sicily (March 2021) to apply for recognition of her Italian citizenship.
She owns her own business in Sicily. She has been an entrepreneur since she was 10 years old when she made her first flyers to pass out in her neighborhood announcing her babysitting services. Her first tax paying business came a couple years later at 19 when she opened a maternity and baby clothing boutique. At the age of 19, Jennifer opened her first boutique, specializing in maternity and baby clothing. At 28, she sold The Stork’s Nest to Macy’s. From there, she owned high end boutiques that catered to clients like Michelle Obama and Madeleine Albright. She was young when she had her first child, and she was a shopper who loved style. Her first business to fill a market void was launched to combat the hideous early 90s big-bow, baby doll maternity clothes that made adult women look like overgrown toddlers at a price that made her eyes water.
She had spent time in China preparing for my citizenship recognition, met with traditional service providers and attorneys, scoured FB groups and subreddits for information and support. She found a hodgepodge of information, costs, discouragement, challenges and very little that was positive, supportive, and affordable. Discouraged after sending a lot of money to an attorney who could not fulfill the contract, upset by the angry responses in a well-known FB group, and unable to afford the eye-water prices of overly formal and complicated service providers, she arrived in Sicily for recognition, DIY (And doesn’t recommend trying this).
In Spring of 2021, 30 years after launching my maternity store, she returned to my roots to fill the citizenship assistance market gap. She opened Italian Citizenship Concierge, a female-owned, female-focused, supportive, and affordable agency to assist Italian descendants move to Italy for their citizenship recognition through the Jure Sanguinis process. This makes the move for la dolce vita smooth and easy.
Book Recommendations:
Firefly Lane, by Kristin Hannah