Our story
His earth, her sky.
Filippo and Annalisa, and the land that brought them back to each other.
I'm Annalisa. He's Filippo. We met in 2021, by chance, on the hills I had left when I was a girl.
Him
Filippo belongs to this land. He was born among these olive groves above Rapolano Terme, and he carries forward a family that has worked this soil for generations. These hills shaped him: they taught him devotion, steadiness, and the quiet strength that comes from working with nature. The groves you see today were replanted after the great frost of 1985, when almost every olive tree in Tuscany froze and died. From that loss came resilience, and thousands of young trees that now give their fruit with quiet generosity.
Me
My story begins here too, but it unfolded somewhere else. I left Siena at thirteen, lived abroad for seventeen years, and built a life that was entirely international. My work grew out of a laptop connected to places and people very far away. My roots were the world itself.
Us
In 2021 we met by chance and fell in love. Meeting Filippo meant finding a soulmate and, at the same time, finding again the hills I had left behind. I fell in love with him, with his family, and with the timeless rhythm of Rapolano's fields. Walking this land together feels like a promise that will carry us to the end of this life. When Filippo told me his dream of opening Rapolano to the world, I brought everything my journey had given me: a global eye, digital skill, and the wish to honour the land that shaped him.
Who does what
Today Filippo tends the groves. I take care of everything that reaches you: the website, the emails, the labels, the shipments, and the questions that arrive at midnight. AYOT was born where our paths meet.
His earth, her sky. His lineage, my journey.
The sacred story of the olive tree
Some trees grow. The olive tree endures.
It survives drought, fire, war, and time itself. When cut, it rises again. Where life struggles, the olive tree remains.
For thousands of years, it has been more than a tree — it is a sign.
To the Greeks, it was a gift from Athena, a blessing of wisdom and peace.
To the Romans, a symbol of honor and victory.
Across ancient lands, its oil gave light, medicine, and nourishment — a sacred companion of life.
But its deepest weight is carried in the story of Christ. In the Garden of Gethsemane, beneath silent olive branches, Jesus chose sacrifice over fear.
And when the floodwaters fell, it was the olive branch that returned to Noah — a promise of life restored.
The olive tree is a keeper of roots, a guardian of faith, a sign of rebirth.
It takes years to give fruit, but once it does, it can live for centuries — outlasting empires, carrying memory through generations.
What is sacred grows slowly. What is true takes root. To adopt an olive tree is to enter an ancient story — one written in soil, light, and hope.
Come and see whether we are telling the truth about the light.
Adopt a tree