Parenting with purpose

"I feel like I was chosen for this."

Jul 29, 2026

Pia Baroncini works hard—and parents harder.

But when she isn’t spending time with her kids, Carlo and Carmela, you’ll find Pia lending her creative talents to LPA, leading marketing at Ghiaia Cashmere, and hosting conversations on her podcast “Everything is the Best.” She’s also the co-founder of Baroncini Import & Co. alongside her husband, Davide.

Even with a busy schedule, Pia has made it a priority to take in every experience—from raising her family in her childhood home to seeing the world through Carmela’s eyes. “We’ll go to doctor’s appointments at major hospitals and see people hoping every day that their children beat a disease,” Pia began when asked about Carmela’s autism journey. “While it can be challenging, this experience has made me realize we have a very beautiful, healthy child who’s safe and in a great family. It’s also given me lots of empathy for other families.”

That empathy shows up in every aspect of Pia’s life. This week, she chatted with us about how parenting has strengthened her marriage, how work and family give her purpose, and what she hopes Carlo and Carmela learn from each other as they grow up.

We need to talk more about the joys of parenting. I said this recently to someone, but it’s almost become a competition of how hard it can be. Being a parent—from the moment I got pregnant, and even with how challenging it was—has brought me so much closer to my husband. The joy I feel in my relationship with him is incredible. I didn’t know I could love him more, and I love watching him be a dad.

I also think we should be talking more about what kind of life you want to live, and have really realistic, long-term planning with our partners before having kids: How much work is going to make me happy? Do I want to work this much? We tend to separate who we are as people in the workplace from parenting way too much. The way I keep myself organized at work is how I organize our house: Everything is very routine. There’s also a richness to the way that we live, especially with Davide’s business. When you go to his store, it’s so beautiful and personal. You really feel like you’re walking into his world. We make everything like that.
We’re really excited about Carlo working with us at some point: bringing him to the factories, teaching him about the importance of legacy craftsmanship, creating lifelong relationships with the people that you work with—and having those work relationships come from a place of mutual respect before finances. We enjoy our work, and we’re really passionate about it. Our kids are always around for that, and we feel the same way about them. We’re just so excited to live life with them.

Carlo’s going to be the guy because he’ll have grown up loving women and having so much empathy, which he already has, and that’s all I want for my children. Success is all relative. They already seem like good people, and they’re a perfect combination: Carmela is in another world, ethereal and playing with her stuff by herself, while Carlo’s always bopping in her room trying to kick it. I think he’ll teach her how to be social, let loose, and have fun, since she wants to do what keeps her safe and what she knows. He’ll expand her world in that way. And Carmela just slows him down so perfectly. He’s got to meet her where she is.
Carmela is a unicorn—just pure magic. My theory about autistic children is that they know the answers to the meaning of life, and it’s too much for our minds to understand. That’s why they have issues communicating. I really feel that she’s on another frequency and, if we’re lucky enough, one day we’ll understand what she knows. In that way, Carmela has really expanded my consciousness. There’s a lot of ego involved with having children, which I hate to say, but often you assume the perfect things about you are going to morph into this other human. She’s humbled us, brought us back to earth, and made us realize what’s truly important. I feel like I was chosen for this.

“We enjoy our work, and we’re really passionate about it. Our kids are always around for that, and we feel the same way about them. We’re just so excited to live life with them.”

Pia’s joyful parenting reflections 🤍

We were out with one of my friends who has two daughters. They’ve known Carmela since she was two; she never plays with them, but this time, one of the kids grabbed Carmela’s hand. It was the first time all three girls held hands and walked together. It was also the first time I saw Carmela be with friends. It was so cute, and it made me so grateful for things that people take for granted every day.

Carlo loves Carmela so much. I knew he was going to be a little brother/big brother. We’re always like, “Look at Carmela, isn’t she so beautiful?” and he’ll say, “Bella Carmela!” He does what Davide used to when he was little, which is hold his sisters and call them “Bella.” I didn’t consider how much I would be giving birth to my husband. Seeing how Carlo already loves women as the people who make life happen is amazing. It was really unexpected for that to happen with him so early.

Our house was filled with bliss and joy the second we brought Carmela home. I remember sitting on the patio and Carmela was in a bassinet (my bassinet from when I was a kid). All the doors were open, a breeze was going through the house, and beautiful music was playing. I thought to myself, “This is happiness.”