One day when I came home from primary school my mum overheard me mispronouncing my surname to a classmate. She pulled me aside. “Gianna, why are you saying your name like that?” Embarrassed, I replied “Because nobody at school can say Mazzeo properly.” She dismissed the sentiment and asked, “Well can they say pizza?” “Yeah…” I said, confused. “If they can say pizza, they can say Mazzeo. Tomorrow, I want you to go to school and tell your friends that the double ‘z’ is pronounced like ‘pizza’.” I nodded in admiration, my mum was a genius. The next day, I went to school and did as my mum advised. Then everybody started calling me Gianna Pizza.
