I entered in hospitality quite naturally. I have always been a very service-driven person, I’ve worked in guest or customer facing roles since high school, being a waitress or working in an amusement park.

I spent a year in Florida working for Disney and that just opened my mind to how big the hospitality and tourism world really is. By just looking at this one company that has everything as soon as one just step into their grounds in Florida, you have so many opportunities at Disney alone. Whether in front of the guests or not, you can do anything you wish.

I was working as a cultural representative for my home country Norway at Disney, basically telling customers about Norway and selling Norwegian items. That was a very cool job to do, – and I got to live in the Disney bubble! During that year I realised how much I was looking forward to going into work and how easy it came to be in front of a guest.
After this, in 2018, I decided I want to pursue my education in an international environment. I started my Bachelor studies in hospitality management at Oxford Brooks in the UK. I had a fantastic time there and I did my very first work placement in a hotel. I immediately knew that the wider hotel world is much more than just Food & Beverage or Events. I decided I wanted to stay in the UK and boost my knowledge and skills furthers, work on my development.

I came across Accor and the INSPIRE development program. I knew I wanted to have an opportunity to develop me into a future leader. It is a challenging environment, and you can try and fail, but there will always be support and boost you back up. That is the whole point and key success of this program, being challenged, whilst growing, learning and being able to work on projects that has an impact on the everyday business. Your hotel and Accor will always back you up, will do their best to get you to your next career step. It is a fantastic kickstart to a career after graduation, there’s no doubt about it.

Big highlight throughout the program has been meeting other graduates. We have our virtual sessions but the best is when we get to see each other in person, to hear everyone’s experience and support each other through their journeys. We always have such a good time together and it’s a big boost to my every day work like.

Hospitality is so international and there are endless opportunities to move from one department to another, from one hotel to another. It surely is so special because it is so diverse. It is fun, it is challenging as there’s always that human element of other colleagues and guests, but it is also the reason we are there. People are at the core of what we do, and what is there not to love about that?