Meet my trajectory: from watermelon salesman on the outskirts of Foz do Iguaçu to ambassador for Divine Academie Française des Arts Lettres et Culture

Successful people are generally admired for their bottom line, i.e. celebrities who are on the rise, entrepreneurs who have reached the top, women in high-ranking positions, among other examples. What I mean by that is that almost never people have access or learn of the choices we had to make to get there.

Currently as president of a traditional and renowned thermal hotel, there are many challenges until the final work is successful and this not all professionals are willing to pay. And there’s no problem with that. Leadership is not for many because what would leaders be without the key people responsible for the operation? I’d say absolutely nothing.

Therefore, having obtained the honor of having become ambassador for Divine Academie Française des Arts Lettres et Culture by co-authoring the book “Secrets of Success – Stories of Senior Management Executives”, on October 17, 2018, becomes a milestone in my career as a professional. Just as the publication’s autograph night is recorded in my memory at the Divine Académie booth at the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris on October 19 and 20.

Styrofoam and fruits on hand and lots of disposition

During the week I was in Paris, I increased my networking, reviewed friends, celebrated this achievement and revived it as a film of Lumière passages of my professional life. Who knew that the boy born in Foz do Iguaçu, who “sold” watermelon on the outskirts at the age of 12, would be here today. The idea was from my mother, Dona Margarida, who bought a box of Styrofoam and the fruits so that I already had a direction to work. Before finding my purpose in hospitality, I was a minor apprentice at Itaipu, a supermarket repository, a pizzeria attendant and even a receptionist.

The opportunity that would make me build a career in hospitality occurred when I was hired by the Bourbon Hotel & Resorts Network in Foz do Iguaçu to be a sector cashier. There, I went through several sectors, from tax bookkeeping, accounts payable / receivable, billing, purchasing, cost analyst, general cash and internal revenue auditor. I can say that it was there, during the almost 5 years that I remained in the network, that I decided that this was the profession that I would follow.

It turns out I’ve always had the vision of professional growth. Therefore, I had no doubts: I boarded a bus to São Paulo and, getting there, nothing happened as I planned, because I could not get a job in any hotel, I ran out of money and decided to go to Curitiba. In the capital, he lived with four people in a kitchenette and at night worked as a waiter.

Persistence and resiliency

But I was never discouraged: I left early to deliver my resume through the city’s hotels, walked 15 km on foot to go downtown and then another 15 km to return. That was my routine for 20 days until the next opportunity that was in the Mabu hotel chain as a financial assistant appeared. After much effort and persistence, it was in the Bristol hotel chain that I was able to reach general manager at the age of 24.

With an overview for having gone through several areas, besides having improved to work in management, I went to Four Points by Sheraton as operations manager and later assumed my second general management within the network, this time at the Quality Hotel. Since then I have always been taking on new challenges, passing through other hotels, such as Radisson Hotel Curitiba and finally assuming the Four Points by Sheraton Curitiba as general manager. To achieve today what people consider as a professional who reached the top of his career as CEO of The Termas de Jurema Resort Hotel.

In all these passages by companies, I proved daily that I deserved to be there and the only way to do that was through results. That’s how I keep myself up to date in my profession I can do everything inside a hotel as long as I deliver the best result.

And for you to achieve that you need a very good team by your side. When I was part of the team I did everything for my General Manager to deliver his result and so I also engage my current team to let them know that the part of each of them helps me build the whole.

20 years ago I fell in love with hospitality and it was this profession that helped me get out of a vulnerable situation, below the poverty line, towards a more dignified life. If I can do it, so can you. But to do that, you have to be willing to do whatever it takes to get there.