My path into hospitality is partly funny and partly sad. When I came back from Spain where I had been on a student exchange as part of a scholarship, my parents’ bank account was hacked and they lost all their money, so I had to find a job very quickly.

In my city, Kielce, the independent Binkowski Resort was looking for a receptionist for the preopening. At the time, I spoke Russian, English and Spanish and there was an international event in the city, so I got the job as a Front Office Agent in a day, which I didn’t expect!

Later I moved to Krakow and worked as a Receptionist in a boutique hotel, which gave me even more experience in personalised guest service. After a while, when I was looking for a new adventure in my career and in hospitality, I decided to come to Warsaw, and I applied for an internship at Novotel Warszawa Centrum – one of the biggest Accor hotels in Europe. At the time, I didn’t realise that 742 rooms is a huge number of rooms! I was the last person they saw, and I got the job as a Sales Coordinator and that was how I discovered my true passion in sales and in hospitality.

To be honest, it wasn’t my first choice of career but I found the right place when I went into hospitality. I studied journalism and thought I would be a popular journalist in Poland. Now, I still work in Accor in Mercure Szczyrk Resort, which The Sun newspaper described as the longest hotel in Europe. I was part of the preopening team and 11 months ago we opened the hotel.

Accor represents innovation, diversity and a strong sense of purpose. I love hospitality because it allows us to welcome guests from all over the world, we can create best moments for them, which makes us part of their life; we see times like marriage, the best trip ever, a first trip with a new child, and we are part of these guest journeys.

Accor combines a global vision but with an authentic local view. And the company cares for both employees and guests – they have equal importance for Accor.

Hospitality is full of opportunities, challenges and rewards. When I come to my office, I can plan everything I would like to achieve that day but there is no chance I will do that because something always crops up. Working with guests brings huge numbers of unexpected situations – and we also have fun. Every day hospitality teaches me about people, creativity, and it opens my eyes to other cultures.

I can connect my job with my passions – sport and movies – and through working in hospitality I have met lots of sports people and actors and actresses, and some of them are now my colleagues because of my job and I’m sure that would not be possible in other sectors.

Being a Heartist® means putting my heart into everything I do with my colleagues, my department, everything I organise during the day; it is all about empathy, heart and passion.

My first proud moment was in Novotel when I joined. I came to Warsaw as a young employee and after a few months I was made Employee of the Quarter at the Novotel Warszawa Centrum and for me that was an incredible recommendation for a young girl starting my career. That was when I knew I was in the right place.

I have a personal goal to do everything I can to show young people that hospitality is a good career. From time to time I hold workshops for universities and hospitality schools to show them that hospitality is not just standing in reception and handing out keys, it is part of a life.

And my advice is simple: believe in yourself, even when you are starting out in your career, and take every opportunity that you have on your way, and don’t be afraid of any challenges – challenges are wonderful!

Also, hospitality can open doors that you would never imagine, like the actors I met in my job who are now my colleagues, it can open our mind to all sorts of people and situations. Care, listen and stay curious, and success will follow.