What type of person is attracted to the hospitality industry? The hours are unsociable, it takes a long time to make any kind of money, and you constantly have to hustle for your next job.

And yet, I love it. I’ve worked in this industry for decades. It’s taken me from Portugal, where my parents worked hard just to afford to buy me a Barbie doll, to Switzerland and the Lausanne school, to London and beyond. I’ve worked in some of the most exclusive clubs, restaurants and hotels in the world, and I still can’t get enough.

There are so many who work in hospitality who have stories like mine. So why are we all drawn to this work?

When you’re low, and you’ve just moved to a new country, and you get a job as a waitress or waiter, the people that you work with become your family. You work with them, you party with them. You experience some incredible highs together, and then a couple hours later you can go through incredible lows – but always together.

I’ve worked my way up the ladder of this industry, but I still haven’t achieved even half of what I really want to do.

So this first blog serves as a challenge, to myself and to my readers and clients: it’s been a really, really tough few years. But my next goal is to create a tribe out of all the fellow scrabblers and hustlers and hard workers in hospitality. This space is where I’ll share some of my stories, how I grew up in this industry, and how I got to where I am today. I’ll share some of my hard-won knowledge, because what use is success it doesn’t mean you can make it a little bit easier for those coming up behind you?

I also want to hear from younger people with big dreams of success in this space. Hospitality is not just cleaning tables. There is so much to learn, so much to do – and yes, so much money to be made. I’m passionate about diversity, empowerment and mentoring in our industry. Talk to me!

Next time: how we can bounce back from the Covid-19 crisis