I studied hospitality at university and I have always wanted to learn how to treat someone who was on holidays in order to provide them with a good experience for them. I wanted to treat people the way I wanted to be treated and it was great to know how to do it, how to speak with them. I really like the operations side of the business as well – it’s different every day, so you never get tired of what you are doing; it is challenging but it is great, I enjoy it.

Hospitality lives up to expectation – some days are inevitably more stressful than others but we always fulfil our roles with a smile on our faces.

It is amazing how many people you meet through work; they are a diverse group from different countries – you can learn a lot from your colleagues. Also, Accor has a lot of training opportunities, so we can grow quite quickly, which is nice.

You can also learn a lot from your guests, it is amazing how different people are and how varied their requests are. Working in hospitality has given me the gift to read people before they check in; I can study their faces to know what they would like before I even speak to them. I couldn’t do that before; it has developed since I have been here. It is useful and it pleases customers; occasionally you are wrong but most of the time something good comes out of it.

I’m very proud of how I have grown in the company, and I thank my colleagues for that. I have had four positions since I started at this hotel. I was a team member for three months, then I was a team leader for about a year, after that I became assistant manager for 10 months and I have been front office manager for one year and three months.

I am normally an introvert and thanks to hospitality and Accor, I have become more outgoing and less shy; I have gained confidence and the people around me can see that; I am happy about that. I didn’t start many conversations before and now I’m more open, I’m able to speak in a group of people; it is useful.

I want to keep growing. I did Inspire last year and through that I got to know people in other hotels. We go out for drinks and discuss what is going right and what is going wrong in each hotel; it’s amazing how much you can learn from what other properties are doing that applies to you. They may have different procedures but at the end of the day, the outcome is the same.

My next role would be operations. I really like interacting with guests but I love the operations side of the business – the numbers, customer satisfaction, reviews; and ultimately, I would certainly like to be a general manager.

Being a Heartist® is the ability to put ourselves in the position of guests. You have to open your heart to them, show that you care about them and make them feel the way you would like to feel as a guest. Being a Heartist® means giving your best to customers and colleagues. If you are open with guests, they will trust you and open up to you as well, and then you will be able to know and ultimately to meet their expectations.

It isn’t always easy to be in hospitality but if you prove yourself, I believe you will be valued and will be able to grow. Not every day will be a good day but you cannot give up on your work. Don’t operate as an individual, everyone in the team has a role to play and if we do not play as a team, we will achieve nothing. In this industry, you will always grow, if not in the company then within yourself.