FYIDC | WHO’S NEXT
WHO’S NEXT Fran Holuba and Giuseppe Lanzone dish on how to navigate life as a busy twosome.
C
all them “Franseppe.” That’s the name of the shared calendar Fran Holuba has organized for herself and her boyfriend, Giuseppe Lanzone.The White House Office of Global Engagement staffer, 26, and the Peruvian Brothers food truck owner/Georgetown rowing coach, 32, met while guest bartending a charity event at Malmaison two years ago (he joked with her about how to cut limes) and have been inseparable ever since. Well, as inseparable as two people with such demanding schedules can be. I met them for lunch at Teaism to see how they make it work. Holuba arrives after Lanzone, but not before texting him to please order her kale chips and salmon. “Your truck wasn’t there today, baby!” she says when she breezes in, impeccably dressed in a work-appropriate but still fashionable skirt suit. “I always eat lunch from his truck when it’s parked at Farragut Square,” she explains. Back from a three-week trip to Peru, both say traveling is a favorite way to unwind. “We work very hard but we play hard too,” Holuba says. “When we check out, we check out.” In Peru, she got to see where Lanzone, a two-time Olympic athlete, grew up and spend quality time with his family. They went swimming with sea lions, fishing with harpoons, hiked an island and checked out hole-in-the-wall restaurants. Several times a year, they try to take a vacation with no agenda planned. “We buy our plane tickets and a book and we explore,” Holuba says. “We’ve been to Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, to name a few. It’s a small competition who has more passport stamps.”
22
“Franseppe” (Photo by Tony Powell)
“Trips are more fun with Fran,” Lanzone says. “She’s more of an adventurer. She introduced me to new restaurants and places in Peru I’d never heard of before.” Although opposites in many ways (“I’m a big planner. He’s very much la vie bohème.”) they also complement and support each other. They both take an interest in the work and mission of Peruvian Brothers. He is an entrepreneur; she works on entrepreneurship. She helps with the marketing aspects of his company and philanthropy, while he helps her embrace a life that’s a little less planned. “When he walked into my life I was so
independent and not making time for anyone else,” she says. “And now she can’t live without me,” he adds. “I can’t live without your food truck!” she quips. On a recent trip to Morocco for work, where she participated in a global entrepreneurship summit, Holuba met a Peruvian woman with a sustainable quinoa company, and decided to visit her while they were in Peru. Now, Peruvian Brothers is working on importing a halfton of fair trade, organic quinoa to use in their trucks. “It will be the first food truck in the city to have that type of farm-to-table atmosphere,” Lanzone says. Peruvian Brothers is also working on extending hours of operation, adding trucks and offering cooking classes. As for Holuba’s career, she is now 4.5 years in the administration, where she started as an intern and quickly moved up. Recently, she planned the first-ever White House travel bloggers summit to encourage study abroad. She often attends up to three events a night, a combination of art and cultural activities, charities she is involved in and work-related events. “My role is outward facing and trying to engage young leaders, so being social is part of it,” Holuba says. “I take it to the next level I’m sure, so finding someone who can complement that has been hard, but he understands me. I’ve never met anyone as impressive as him.” Holuba and Lanzone prove it — the couple that travels together, stays together. Immediately after this interview, the happy twosome booked a spontaneous weekend trip to El Salvador.
WA S H I N G T O N L I F E
| M A R C H | washingtonlife.com
D R E S S BY LO C A L D E S I G N E R E L I Z A B E T H ST. J O H N , M A K E U P BY F L A M I N I A GARIONI OF FYUBI MAKEUP & BROW STUDIO, HAIR BY COREE MORENO OF PAR LO U R SALO N . S H OT O N LO CAT I O N AT FI O L A M AR E
BY ERICA MOODY