By Harley Benda
Newsroom@DominionPost.com
In 2017, Michael Oliverio was riding in a car with his dad, Mike.
They were arguing about Michael getting a job after high school.
As they argued, they drove passed a sign about a job, and Oliverio is now thankful he saw it.
Oliverio, a 2017 graduate of Morgantown High School and fourth-year WVU student, is now the top salesman for Cutco of all full-time college students in the country.
Oliverio said he knew he didn’t want a normal college job and the one with the knife company seems to be a good fit.
“Right as I was getting ready to graduate, [my parents said] ‘hey Michael, you need to get a job this summer. Maybe you should work at Kroger.’ I didn’t really like the idea of that. I wanted to do something different than my friends. I saw a sign that said, ‘text here to apply.’ I started the same week as my high school graduation.”
Oliverio sold the most amount of Cutco products in the spring semester’s campaign. This adds to his collection of company scholarships, for a total of five, with number six possible this summer. In his three-year career at Cutco, he has sold about $250,000 worth of products, and has about 400 customers in his database. Oliverio said he has two keys to success: the products and the people.
“The product is so good. They’re 100% made in America and everything comes with a lifetime guarantee. I think the product really speaks for itself,” he said. “And everybody in Morgantown is really supportive. I would say pretty much everybody, whether they buy something, or they don’t, they’re impressed with the product. Of all the customers I’ve met up with, everybody’s really fun to get to know. I’m really appreciative and grateful of everybody being so supportive.”
Oliverio doesn’t just sell the knives, he uses them, as do his parents, Mike and Melissa.
“My family uses the knives, along with myself because I love cooking,” he said.
Even with the COVID-19 pandemic going on, Oliverio said he’s adapted to making things virtual.
“I’ve been meeting up with people virtually a lot this summer,” he said. “More and more people are more comfortable with me swinging by their house now. I’ve also done some virtual sharpening appointments. I’ll pick up the knives from somebody’s house, bring them back to my house, and then do a Zoom call while I sharpen the knives. We’ll go over the guarantee and care and use, and then we’ll look at new products. Then, I’ll drop them back off.”
If you would like a free sharpening of your Cutco knives, you can contact him at sharp.michael.oliverio@gmail.com. To buy any products, go to mycutcorep.com/michaeloliverio.
“The company is great. The scholarship contest is great. I definitely got an awesome thing to put on my resume.”
Oliverio is studying marketing with an emphasis on professional sales.
He has no intention of leaving the company any time soon.
“At the start of the year, I was promoted to a career sales position with the company so I plan on staying with Cutco after college.”
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