🔒CT roots firmly plant Tizziana Fusco Weber at UTC

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Senior Director, Communications Pratt & Whitney (UTC)

Tizziana Weber, senior director of communications for Pratt & Whitney, has held several marketing and communications positions at the multiple business units that make up the United Technologies Corp. archipelago, during her 30-year career there.

She got her foot in the company door in 1984 as a college intern in UTC's newly created department of community relations, among the first departments of its kind in the country, under the direction of Lois Sabatino. Two years later, she was hired as a permanent employee and, from there, she moved on to increasingly greater responsibilities at Hamilton Standard propeller makers (now UTC Aerospace Systems), Otis elevator and escalators and, finally, at Pratt & Whitney.

Along the way, she became one of the primary architects of UTC's corporate and social responsibility programs, helping to grow the company's presence in employee-volunteer projects, on nonprofit boards and financial contributions to charitable organizations. The Special Olympics, the Connecticut Valley Girls Scouts, Autism Families Connecticut, Junior Achievement and Goodwin College are but a few of the institutions that have benefitted from her efforts.

But when you ask Weber what gives her the most pride, she will tell you without hesitation that it is the life she shares with her husband Dana of 30 years and their two “strong, independent, bright, young” daughters, Maria, 22, who recently graduated from St. Michael's College in Vermont, and Alexa, 16, a sophomore at East Catholic High School in Manchester.

Born in Hartford to first-generation Italian immigrants William Fusco, a tailor, and his late wife, Maria, Weber and her two younger brothers, Dino and Anthony, spent their formative years living in a three-family home in the city's South End that was also inhabited by all of her other relatives.

“My cousins lived on the first two floors and we lived on the third floor. So, family has always been a big deal and is the cornerstone of who I am,” she says, remembering how, as a young child, she would sit at the kitchen table doing homework, while her parents took night classes at Bulkeley High School to learn to speak English.

Weber's family later moved to Hebron, where she graduated from the regional district high school, but she has never veered very far from her native city. After high school, she attended the University of Hartford and earned a degree in journalism and organizational communications. From there, it was on to an MBA at the University of Connecticut.

But it was the internship at UTC and Sabatino's influence that she says put her life and career in perspective. They remain very close to this day. Sabatino, now long retired, was at Weber's side when her mother passed away 30 years ago and is the godmother to one of her daughters.

“She's the daughter I never had,” Sabatino says. “She is very sweet and very business-like at the same time. She knew where to draw the line as far as business and personal life was concerned.”

Family unity was also instrumental in her husband Dana's decision to give up his own career in marketing after the birth of their second daughter and be a stay-at-home dad.

“Both of our careers were crazy and he determined that he wanted us to raise our kids versus having to raise them either through au pairs or different options,” she said. “He's really been fantastic at doing that — making sure that everybody's where they need to be and that we're all giving the right amount of time to the right things.”

Weber's sense of family extends even to her business relationships. Her greatest professional accomplishment, she says, is not in the many titles that she has held or the projects she has supervised, but in helping many individuals achieve their fullest potential, whether it be by staying with UTC or venturing into a new industry, in much the same way Sabatino helped her. Those she has helped include a number of young women who rose through the ranks to become fellow executives at the company.

“I have three principles I live by: Life is what you make it; treat others as you want to be treated; and pay it forward,” she says. “Someone was always there to give you a break, so it's up to you to give them a break.”

What are your keys to …

Maintaining business success:

Business, like life, is about building relationships and surrounding yourself with people who offer diverse views, skills and personalities. Business success is about being open, respecting new ideas and approaches and taking risks. It's about asking for help when you need it and providing it when others reach out to you for support. Having fun, loving what you do and sharing that passion with others who have the same drive, results in success for everyone involved.

Maintaining work-life balance:

Managing work and personal time is a juggling act and there are always tradeoffs. That said, I am fortunate to have a strong support system at home and work, and through planning and flexibility, I muddle through. I schedule vacation time early in the year and load my family activities and personal appointments as soon as they come up. A female executive counseled me early on to schedule family weekend events and stick to them.

Keeping a competitive advantage:

Surround yourself with people smarter than you then listen, watch and learn from them. Also, be open to new approaches, especially those outside of your industry, and determine if there is an application that can move your business objectives forward in a new way.

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