How many of you have been hit on by a colleague (or boss) you didn't like? How many of you have been hurt because they promoted someone else or have come home at night and seen your children for just a moment because it's late and they have to go to bed? It happens to so many women, even to privileged young mothers like Barbara Berlusconi or Minister Marianna Madia. Also to the president of Rai, Anna Maria Tarantola, and to Fernanda Contri, a famous lawyer and later judge of the Constitutional Court. Maria Latella writes about the milestones we all share, from the school years to our first job, from defeats to great joys, through the exclusive confessions of women who have made it. Actress Paola Cortellesi, Paola Severino, Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti and House Speaker Laura Boldrini, magistrate Lucia Aielli, and fashion designer Frida Giannini, among others, tell their stories. Alpha women, they call them today. «From each of them I learned a trick for better living», says Latella.