Meet Luca Signorelli

Many of Luca Signorelli’s meaningful strategy conversations now happen on a chairlift high above snow-covered mountains.

As a former AlixPartners Director, Luca specialized in retail transformation and strategic change. Now, as Senior Vice President of Commercial Development at Aspen Skiing Company, he oversees growth and strategy for one of the nation’s premier mountain resort operators. The two roles may sound different, but they share a lot in common. “Whether you’re helping a client navigate transformation or curating unforgettable mountain experiences, the goal is the same—deliver something memorable,” he says.

Luca joined AlixPartners in 2017, after working in corporate strategy at Target. He was ready for the challenge of a faster pace and the reward of seeing more immediate outcomes of his team’s actions and recommendations.

After eight years at AlixPartners, what kept him there was “the people,” he says without hesitation. “All of the colleagues I worked with from day one were wonderful people that I learned a lot from and genuinely enjoyed working with.”

His tenure at AlixPartners was a time of major growth underpinned by a culture of support and trust. “The confidence the leaders in the retail practice placed in me to take on challenging assignments was fantastic,” he says. “It felt like they were invested in me, and I was equally invested in making the firm as strong as it could be.”

Luca credits his AlixPartners experience with two stand-out skills. First, problem-solving. “The way we learned to think through a problem—structuring it, breaking it down, sequencing activities to get to a good answer—is extremely helpful, especially in my role now, which is part operational, part strategic,” he says.

Second, change leadership—the ability to move people through change, not just design the right answer. “It took me six years to realize that your ability to convey the math in a way that’s impactful and gives people confidence is the real skill—and that requires being empathetic, listening, and using the social skills we developed at AlixPartners. Change can be scary, and meeting people where they’re at is critical.”

Aspen Skiing Company initially appeared as an AlixPartners client, but it soon became the one opportunity he couldn’t ignore. If you’ve been to that valley, he explains, you’ll understand why: “There’s just something about it—the ethos, the people, the scenery, the history. The first time I went there in 2017, I thought, ’This place is special.’” 

Now based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Luca regularly spends time in Aspen, where it’s not unusual for him to take meetings on skis—though he finds as much familiarity as novelty in the role. “There’s a strong people orientation at both companies,” he says. “AlixPartners talks about perpetuation—keeping the firm going for decades—and expects people to deliver memorable work. Aspen has a core value called ‘taking the long view’ that’s very similar: we don’t just do short-term things with quick economic benefit at the expense of the long term. Another of Aspen’s core values, ‘pursuing excellence,’ overlaps with that same spirit. And ‘live fully’ is all about coming as who you are, finding ways to work together, and taking advantage of being in one of the greatest towns on the planet.”

Luca’s advice to colleagues is simple: be memorable, and be human. “So many people try to contort themselves into a box and blend in,” he says, but if you want to do “really cool stuff,” you should be willing to stand out—“just be a person.” He also stresses the quiet power of relationships: you’re building them all the time, often without realizing it, so “if you’re working at a really cool company, or get to know someone interesting, find excuses to go talk to them again”—because you never know when those connections will come back around.

Luca stays closely connected to his former AlixPartners colleagues. His message to the broader community is simple: “Come ski Aspen. Let’s hang out! It’s a wonderful place to ski and amazing in the summer, too.”