Her Story
About Emilia
Emilia Mancini Ferdinand is an e-commerce professional with more than a decade of experience across Amazon strategy, brand management, and national account leadership. She currently serves as E-commerce National Account Manager at ITW Global Brands, where she oversees a multi-million dollar Amazon business valued at roughly $60 million, managing everything from catalog content and pricing to promotions and inventory forecasting. Her entrepreneurial roots trace back to 2015, when she founded her own Amazon brand, Eat a Dish, while still based in Europe. After relocating to New York in 2016 to pursue graduate studies, she spent several years working as an investigator and mediation coordinator for the city's Civilian Complaint Review Board, handling police misconduct cases, before fully transitioning back into e-commerce around 2019–2020.
Since re-entering the industry, Emilia has built a diverse career path spanning Amazon SEO strategy, brand management, and account leadership at companies including Thrasio, Forum Brands (now Lyra Collective), and Spectrum Brands, eventually landing at ITW Global Brands, where she helped grow her team from just two people to nearly five before earning her promotion to National Account Manager. Academically, she holds a bachelor's degree in business and marketing from Università del Salento and a master's in international business from Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, both in Italy, followed by a master's in criminology from St. John's University in New York. Most recently, she graduated from New York Law School in May while working full-time and raising two young children, and she intends to sit for the bar exam in February.
Fluent in both Italian and English, Emilia attributes her achievements to her outgoing personality, resilience, and determination, along with a strong work ethic she demonstrated by completing her law degree part-time while managing a demanding career and young family. She encourages young women entering e-commerce to build confidence and push past fear or self-doubt, believing that visible self-assurance often opens doors to new opportunities. In recognition of her professional journey and personal accomplishments as an immigrant who built a successful career and life in the United States, Emilia has been selected for feature in Influential Women for 2026.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Emilia
01What do you attribute your success to?
I credit my success to my personality — I'm talkative, extroverted, hardworking, resilient, and stubborn in the best sense. A good example is that I worked full-time and went to law school while breastfeeding a newborn and caring for a toddler, and I still completed a four-year degree. I make my way through challenges by setting goals and staying focused until I reach them.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
You are never fully ready for the next step until you actually take it. I've learned to move forward little by little, trusting that the knowledge I need is already within me. I try not to let fear or imposter syndrome hold me back, because even high-level professionals often feel like they're figuring it out as they go — and if someone promoted me, it's because they saw potential in me.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I'd tell them to work on their confidence and how they carry themselves in public, and to believe in themselves more. Nothing is impossible if you commit to working toward it. Don't let fear hold you back — you can be your own worst enemy if you allow it — so show confidence even in moments when you feel scared.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge is that e-commerce, especially on Amazon, moves incredibly fast — you have to stay current through industry news and your network as things like SEO shift toward AI-driven optimization. At the same time, the biggest opportunity is that this field doesn't require a specific degree; anyone with curiosity, a grasp of basic KPIs and metrics, and a data-driven mindset can break in without taking on student loan debt.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Clear communication matters most to me, even when I have to deliver bad news. I also value being able to prioritize effectively across both work and home responsibilities, along with honesty, ethics, integrity, and holding myself accountable for my mistakes rather than shifting blame onto others.
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.