Christy Alia launched an Instagram, @RealCleverFood, during the pandemic. She could never have dreamed that would be the first step toward her becoming a driving force behind an entire movement, one focused on promoting women in the pizza space, but that’s exactly what happened.
This March, Women’s Pizza Month is celebrating its fourth iteration. It started as a dream Alia had back in 2021, after months of steadily building up a following with Real Clever Food. She began noticing that women pizza makers were not always getting as much attention as their male counterparts, and she wanted to change that.
“I realized women in the pizza industry were often overlooked, despite being pioneers in the artisan and pizza renaissance movements globally,” Alia said on the latest episode of Peel: A PMQ Pizza Podcast. “This observation, coupled with the common underrepresentation—and sometimes even disbelief—in women pizza makers was both heartbreaking and unacceptable to me.”
Related: Christy Alia Teams Up With Top Industry Vendors to Launch Scholarships for Pizzaiolas
Women’s Pizza Month started as a challenge to all pizza makers: design a pie, and name it after a woman who inspires you. The hashtag took off, and it wasn’t long before Alia was overwhelmed by the amount of pizza makers tagging her. It also made her realize the movement could be so much bigger than it already was.
“My hope is that Women’s Pizza Month continues to inspire and celebrate women in the pizza industry year-round, not just in March,” Alia said. “The goal is to create a supportive community that uplifts and recognizes the contributions of women, encouraging more to pursue their passions in pizza making.”
One of the exciting additions to this year’s Women’s Pizza Month is the five Pizza University scholarships courtesy of Alia’s partnership with Corto Olive Co. and Stanislaus Foods. The entities are teaming up to give five aspiring pizzaiolas a first-rate education in the art of pizza making.
For more information, readers can visit the web page dedicated to the scholarship.
To listen to this week’s Peel: A PMQ Pizza Podcast, where Alia talks about all of this and more, check out these podcast links:
