If you’re nodding your head to all of the questions above, then this is probably the job advert you’ve been looking for.
It was two months after returning from a ski season and seven months since leaving my last role as an adventure travel consultant that the itch for snow and sales had started. It was when I saw the position for Sales Consultant with a luxury boutique chalet company, that I knew I had to apply… and yes, my head was nodding to all of the questions.
My passion for skiing started at the age of 11, when myself and other years from school were bundled onto a coach headed for the Aosta Valley. I think a giddy excitement for discovering this new snowy sport was responsible for getting bored of snowploughs and the loss of a tooth from attempting air off of a side hit only a few days in. It wasn’t until a decade on, that I persuaded a friend to come back to the mountains with me and I’m pleased to say that I finally started learning the finesse of skiing.
From that week on, I was fortunate that skiing became an annual occurrence. Unfortunately working in London for five and a half years wasn’t particularly conducive to progressing my love of the sport and the pull of the mountains was only growing stronger. Last year was the time for change, when my boyfriend and I decided that we had had enough of the city and it was time for a ski season. Board bags packed, kitchen equipment in tow, goodbye London, hello Meribel!
Along with the cracking of 2,850 eggs, the prep of 1,920 canapés and the baking of 140 cakes, those 5 months only furthered my passion for catering, high levels of customer service and powder days. Before the season, I was riding on my beloved K2 Misconducts, in all their multi coloured, twin tip glory. We had become very close friends after numerous trips to the French Alps and Whistler. However, days of staring out of my kitchen window in Meribel, looking at the off-piste terrain from the Olympic chair to Le Raffort, I knew powder skis were needed. Queue an investment into an avalanche airbag and my new best friends, a pair of Faction Supertonics.
My love for adventure wasn’t ever going to be an option. With a father who was born and grew up in Kenya and a mother who moved around the world every few years with her parents’ careers, travel is an inherent part of who I am. As soon as school finished, I was on a plane to America, road tripping from East to West and North to South. That knowledge soon got me my job as a specialist sales consultant for a tour operator to the Americas. During my five and a half years working for them, I learnt two things. Firstly, I never wanted to stop exploring. Secondly (a very close second!) I had a passion for building and nurturing relationships with people and helping them to explore the finest parts of the World.
In between your enquiries and planning my next trip to the mountains, I will likely be found in the kitchen. One joy of travel is discovering new ingredients and recipes and bringing those back home. The only downside to pursuing my love of the mountains and new role with Ski Boutique… is my love of cheese! Beaufort, Comté, Abondance, Tomme de Savoie, Tomme de St Bon (recently dangerously discovered on a trip to Courcheval)… Averaging 24kg of cheese per inhabitant per annum, maybe sat here in Bristol, I can beat the French as the World’s largest consumer of cheese?!
Whether it be to chat about powder skis, cheese or chalets, I look forward to speaking to you soon about your dreams for that perfect ski holiday.
Your New Friend in High Places,
Jo x