I was asked to write about my life at HVS and I am doing so whilst on my way back from Baku to London, before hopping on another flight to Marrakech next week. Yes, life at HVS is busy. And it involves a lot of travel.

I started to work for HVS seven years ago and even though my day-to-day responsibilities have shifted there are still a few key attributes that I consider crucial for succeeding in this job:

  • An endless desire to travel to foreign countries and immerse yourself in different cultures. Fear of flying or driving is not helpful!
  • An inexhaustible interest in the hospitality industry
  • Not being afraid to ask questions and interact with a lot of different people
  • An analytic mind as well as good writing skills.

Back in 2007 I started as a Consulting and Valuation Analyst at HVS London and quickly worked my way up the ranks – I am now a Director. Along the journey I always enjoyed the camaraderie with my peers who were an as eclectic, international bunch as London as a city is in itself.

At HVS you can go a long way if you are pro-active and hard working. After two years I started to supervise more junior consultants and from Associate Director onwards really had responsibility for business development, client management and supervision of my assignments. Early on in my career I developed a special interest in complex, integrated resort projects. To widen my experience globally I arranged for a secondment in our Bahamas office, and after spending two months there during the hurricane season (without a single hurricane, luckily!) I officially split my time between HVS London and HVS Bahamas.

At the same time, I pursued a postgraduate part-time Masters degree in Real Estate Finance and Investment in Reading, UK from which I graduated last year. HVS has always been very supportive of my personal development in areas that I feel passionate about and, needless to say, supported me all along the way of my career. I feel very honoured to work for such a well-known, international company in the sector I love and highly recommend it to anyone who has a passion for the hospitality industry.