Samantha Rodriguez
Samantha Rodriguez's story
Originally, when I was deciding on my career, I wanted to be a doctor. But medicine is a long degree and I would have had to go to Granada from Málaga, where I’m from, and that would have been financially difficult for my family, whereas I could study tourism locally. Once I started my tourism degree, I got hooked! The world of travel caught my imagination and it is a way to help people and make sure they have a good day, or rescue it if it is not going well.
I love the variety in hospitality, it is different every day; people from all over the world tell you their stories and that makes it interesting and lively.
My proudest moment is the two times I left everything to start again in a new place. In 2011, after finishing my studies, I went to live in London. I spent four or five months there and worked as a waitress, but then I had to go home for family reasons. I was 20 at the time and now I have moved again, to Madrid, and I am older. That was important in my personal life and I am proud of myself for that.
A Heartist® means to cry with people when they are moved. I am very empathetic and sometimes I cannot control my feelings when I start to connect with a client; to be a Heartist is to connect with a client but not just in a standard way. Sometimes I feel very emotional when I do something that makes someone happy.
My advice to a newcomer is to enjoy it. Get as much as you can from people and places and colleagues, from everybody – because we can keep in our life what we learn and make it our own, it shapes us. Learn from everything that is happening around you.
- Samantha Rodriguez
- Receptionist
- ibis budget Madrid Calle 30 (Spain)