Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenna Capra.
Jenna, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I’ve always loved to write and I’ve always been a very proud Italian American. When the opportunity came to combine both of these passions and purchase Andiamo!, I took the plunge.
Originally, I was just a fond reader of the paper. I found it when I was in college (it had started printing in 2003) and thought it was incredible to have such a publication in Colorado. Shortly after graduating, I was frustrated with my career search and decided I should try to branch out more into the things I loved; so I did the obvious thing and contacted the Italian newspaper I enjoyed so much in hopes of becoming a contributing writer, even if it was just on a volunteer basis… At first, there didn’t seem to be any need for me, but after submitting a trial piece about my family’s own immigration story, I was officially “hired.”
My dad, Salvatore Capra, immigrated here from a small mountain town in Molise, Italy in 1966 at the age of 9, with his parents (Guerino and Adelia Capra) and sister (Dora). They came to join the rest of Adelia’s family here in Colorado, in hopes of creating a better life. Guerino’s side of the family remained in Italy, and the struggle to leave so much behind—their entire lives packed into what could fit inside two large trunks; without even knowing how to speak or understand English—was immense, but they managed and they succeeded.
Their story has always been an inspiration and growing up Italian American—as the first generation of their family born here—instilled a lot of pride in me that I’ve tried to carry through in every article and issue since…
At the end of 2010, the original owner of Andiamo! ended the paper’s publication for a time, but it was clearly missed by the community, so when the opportunity to purchase the ownership rights came around in early 2011, I realized it was something I was uniquely poised to do…
As a result, May 2011 saw Andiamo! resume publication with my first issue at the helm and now—almost ten years later—here we still are!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I’m not sure there is such a thing as a smooth road with this kind of business… Running a newspaper is a challenging industry to be in and there’s always a lot of shifting pieces and constant deadlines looming around to deal with. Not to mention just being a small business owner in general can be pretty overwhelming. I jumped into ownership head-first without any real experience or anyone to show me the ropes; so it’s been a lot of learning as I go along—sometimes the hard way.
That said though, Andiamo! is obviously still here and I like to think it’s better than ever. It can be easy to feel stretched a little too thin doing this on my own, but I try to take each thing as it comes, adapt as much as I can, and just keep going and growing.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Andiamo! – Colorado’s Italian Community Newspaper – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
Andiamo! is the Italian Community Newspaper for the state of Colorado. In short, we’re a celebration of all things Italian and seek to be a unifying source of information, news, and entertainment for our community. We work hard to represent our culture and community in a positive way, while also sharing and preserving our histories.
Our articles cover everything from interviews and personal interest features on the great Italian people, businesses, and organizations in Colorado; to informative articles about larger Italian traditions, histories, and culture. Stories range from local to international, past to present, and cover a wide variety of topics—we’ve done everything from Amaretto to Zambelli and are always discovering more (fortunately Italians have a lot of history and pride to pull from!)
We have a wonderful arrangement with History Colorado and the Colorado Italian American Preservation Association (CIAPA) that lets us print photos from their historical archives called our “Page in Time” feature; along with a more in-depth, “Community Story” from history as well. We also have rotating features and articles that often invite readers to get involved—recipes, book reviews, fun trivia lessons… sometimes we even include our very own “cruciverba” (crossword puzzle) to solve!
You don’t even have to be Italian to enjoy Andiamo! if you love Italy and Italian culture, you’ll love reading our paper (which is printed in English if anyone was wondering!) and discovering all the wonderful Italian businesses around the state that support it as well. “Andiamo!” means “Let’s Go!” in Italian, and that positive, unifying energy we can find in our Italian pride is really what drives us.
What has been the proudest moment of your career so far?
It probably sounds really cliché to say each issue is a source of pride for me, but so much work and passion goes into every edition we print that I can’t help but be a little proud whenever a new issue arrives. There are always a lot of behind the scenes struggles and stresses to manage, but holding a new issue helps remind me how important (and fun) this work can be.
Specifically though, I’ll say the September 2019 issue was a particularly notable one for me—it was my 100th issue as the owner and editor of Andiamo! I coincidentally had a “Cannoli” theme planned for the issue, and then not-so-coincidentally enjoyed more than a few of them in celebration once it was finished and off to the presses! May 2021 will officially mark 10 years of my ownership, so I’ll have to come up with something even better for that issue… Maybe tiramisù…?
Pricing:
- A yearly subscription to Andiamo! is $35 and ensures a copy is mailed to our readers, fresh off the presses at the start of every month. (Our subscription form can be found via our website or in any copy of Andiamo!)
- We also offer incredibly affordable rates for advertisers with rates based on ad-sizes and duration! (Our lowest and most popular option is the $100 quarter page – the dimensions of which are quite large and we print in full-color as well! This information can also be found on our website or in any copy of Andiamo!.)
Contact Info:
- Website: www.andiamocolorado.com
Image Credit:
Cover Photos © Andiamo! Capra Family Passport Photo (1966), Courtesy of the Capra Family, Photo of Jenna Capra with Nonna (grandmother), Adelia Capra, & other photos are provided by myself.
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