Maria DiZio and her husband Tommaso came to Canada in the 1950s. Tommaso was a farmer and Maria's family didn't approve of their marriage so the young couple came to Canada to start a new life. They settled in Timmins, Ontario, where many Italians found well-paying but often dangerous work in the mines. But Tommaso lost his opportunity to work in the mines when his employers discovered he had health problems. Italian women in the 1950s were expected to stay home, but Maria knew her family would face great hardship if she didn't find a way to help. She found work sewing skating costumes in Timmins. With the $25 that she earned for her first costume, she was able to pay the rent and feed her family for a month. In the decades to come, Maria would develop a thriving buisness sewing high couture wedding gowns.