Shirley Barilla
| Shirley Barilla | |
 | |
 Who's Who of Nouvelle Alexandrie | |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Shirley Mariana Isabelle Barilla Defensor |
| Titles & Offices | Chief Executive Officer, Casa Barilla (since 1752 AN) |
| Birth Date | 14.IX.1720 AN (41 AN years) |
| Birth Place | Punta Santiago, Alduria |
| Parents |
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| Spouse | Nicolás Arriaga (m. 1746 AN; div. 1757 AN) |
| Children | Gianna Arriaga Barilla (b. 1747 AN) |
| Family | Barilla family |
| Education | Business administration |
| Alma Mater | University of Punta Santiago |
| Occupation | Businesswoman, television presenter |
| Employer | Casa Barilla |
| Political Affiliation | Federal Humanist Party |
| Organizations |
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| Known For |
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| Religion | Nazarene (Autocephalous Nazarene Church of Alexandria) |
| Languages | |
| Net Worth | est. NAX€2.4 billion (1759 AN) |
| Residence | Punta Santiago, Alduria |
| National Origin |
 New Alexandrian and  Vegnese |
| Citizenship(s) | |
Shirley Mariana Isabelle Barilla Defensor (born 14.IX.1720 AN), known as Shirley Barilla, is a New Alexandrian businesswoman and television presenter from the Barilla family. Since 1752 AN she has been chief executive of Casa Barilla, the country's largest pasta maker, which her father, Ottavio Barilla, founded.
Before taking charge of the company she built its retail and brand business, opening the first Botteghe Barilla shop in 1745 AN. Since 1748 AN she has presented the cooking program La Tavola di Shirley on the Culinary Network. Each spring she hosts her family's Semolina Ball in Punta Santiago. Her appointment as chief executive came in the same year as that of Maximinus Lahaye Kerularios at the rival Kerularios & Company, a pairing the Punta Santiago weekly The Aldurian called the "duel of the heirs".
Early life and education
Shirley Barilla was born in Punta Santiago on 14.IX.1720 AN, the younger of two children. Her father was a pasta maker from the Vegnese city of Scanzata. Her mother, Mariana Isabel Defensor, from whom she takes her middle names, came from a family of lawyers in Punta Santiago. Throughout her childhood the family made its living from her father's egg-pasta shop, where her mother kept the accounts.
From 1738 AN to 1740 AN she studied at the Faculty of Business Administration of the University of Punta Santiago. She then spent a year in Scanzata. Her uncle, Corrado Barilla, took her into the Pastificio Barilla di Scanzata, the workshop her father had left in 1716 AN, and taught her to make egg pasta by hand. Neither branch of the family made the arrangement public. She came home in 1741 AN, the year the workshop sold the Barilla name in Vegno to United Foods of Ransenar, a subsidiary of Kerularios & Company.
Career
Her father had incorporated his business as Casa Barilla in 1739 AN. On her return she joined its sales office and worked on selling directly to the public. Her elder brother, Matteo, has run the company's shipping line, Flotta Barilla, since it was founded in 1744 AN. In 1745 AN she opened the first Botteghe Barilla shop in Punta Santiago, and by 1752 AN she was in charge of marketing La Grassa, the company's premium dried egg pasta.
In 1752 AN her father became chairman and appointed her chief executive in preference to Matteo. The company's annual revenue reached about NAX€21 billion by 1759 AN. In 1760 AN it lobbied the Treasury to add dried pasta to the basket of essentials taxed at half the standard rate under the Cost of Living Relief Act, 1760; the change took effect on 1.X.1760 AN.
Television and public life
La Tavola di Shirley began in 1748 AN on the Culinary Network, which has broadcast programs on the federation's regional cooking since 1731 AN. The program mixes cooking with interviews. Casa Barilla uses her in its advertising and sells products under her first name.
Every spring she presides over the Semolina Ball (Ballo della Semola) at Villa Largoprato, the family's house in Punta Santiago. Its proceeds go to the Fundación Barilla Defensor, a family charity that pays for school meals and supports the city's Vegnese community. The fashion press covers what she wears at the ball and on television.
Rivalry with the Kerularios family
The quarrel between the two families began during the Port Wars of 1742, when Kerularios & Company held Casa Barilla cargoes in port. The group raised its freight rates on Casa Barilla shipments and canceled sailings until 1744 AN. As its chief operating officer, Maximinus Lahaye Kerularios directed the rate squeeze. When she and Kerularios became chief executives in 1752 AN, The Aldurian called the contest the "duel of the heirs".
In interviews and on air she has criticized how titles of the Kerularios Publishing Group, among them Editorial Kerularios, reported her marriage and divorce. Both families donate to the Federal Humanist Party and compete for influence within it.
Personal life
In 1746 AN she married the footballer Nicolás Arriaga. Their only child, Gianna Arriaga Barilla, was born the following year. The couple divorced in 1757 AN. Arriaga has objected to their daughter's public use of the surname Barilla. Since 1757 AN the celebrity tabloid Noticias Incógnito has run stories about a companion it has not identified.
