My family has always worked in hotels – my grandmother was a housekeeper and my grandfather is a restaurant chef – and I remember being delighted with their stories at dinner time and the affection and professionalism they had for their jobs.

My first career option would have been to follow the Arts; I always loved drawing and painting, but at the time, it was not financially possible, so I pursued languages and cultures. I have always seen myself as a people person and learning about these things and connecting with people makes me who I am.

In the last year of my degree, I had an internship at the Mercure Porto Centro Sta. Catarina hotel, and it was there that I realised what hospitality was and how I felt about it. And despite being full of fear and insecurities, I found that I could make myself useful in hospitality; putting myself in customers’ shoes and doing my best increased my empathy, I became more confident speaking in another language and above all, it showed me that I am adaptable.

After the internship, I worked at the Ibis Budget Porto Gaia hotel, which was a true school of hospitality – making up rooms, cleaning the public areas, serving breakfasts and welcoming and saying goodbye to customers enriched me so much! This versatility demonstrates how important each sector is and our customers’ journey.

Finally, I came to work for the Mercure Porto Centro Aliados. Here, I learned that we offer different services according to the hotels, but that all customers are people and people like to be treated with kindness.

It is at Mercure that I have pushed my career towards taking on more responsibility. I have learned market analysis skills, to guide my team, to be on duty in every respect, to find solutions to major problems and to prepare training, among others. This is where I am learning the journey not of the customer, but of those who take care of customers.

Accor is always up to date on the issues of the moment – I like that, and that it proactively gives more training to employees, and that includes a variety of events and activities. What I like most about hospitality is seeing children smile when they come to the hotel pool, or customers’ happiness when they notice we have prepared something for their pet, seeing older customers being treated like our grandparents, and noticing a couple even more in love when they realise we know their wedding anniversary date. Seeing others happy about something that comes naturally to us is my greatest reward.

At home, we say that only those who like people and who are a little crazy work in hospitality, because we have sacrificed weekends and a flexible schedule to give other families our affection, attention and availability. We are the ones who have to call a doctor, take care of accident insurance, pay attention to people’s allergies, and more.

One of the most beautiful moments and experiences I have had to date was privilege of opening the Mercure Porto Centro hotel, to think about all the procedures, to assemble tables and chairs and see our occupancy and the quality of our service grow; that is so rewarding.

One of the memories that I hold with great affection was checking out a customer and feeling that she needed a hug. Without hesitation, I left the reception and gave her a tight hug for which she thanked me; I knew why she needed a hug and she didn’t understand why I did it.

A few days later, my director received an email from that client to thank me for my gesture; she said a family member had passed away. And from the bottom of my heart, that’s what the hotel industry is, being family and home for a brief moment.

To new starters, I say be yourself because we are connecting with people and they detect when something is forced; being spontaneous is our greatest strength!