Meet Marine: From 5-Star Hotels to 5-Star Projects
Marine Durand has been with East On Projects for just over a year and in that time has made the transition from Operations Coordinator to Project Experience Manager. We caught up with her to find out how the business supports career progression:
Hi Marine, we’d love to know more about how you came to be part of the Projects team at East On and about your earlier career.
My degree is in Hospitality and I trained for this in both France (where I’m from) and Mauritius, which led to my first roles in London, at 5-star hotels where I specialised in housekeeping. I gradually came to realise that my organisational and customer service skills were transferable and that I could use them in more traditional business settings, especially if I wanted to base myself in London and have a more traditional work/life balance.
What’s been the main difference in moving to a Design & Build business?
Now I get to see the real “before and after” in all our projects. Whilst the hotel industry is obviously very design-led, particularly in the luxury sector, I was not so involved with that aspect, which is a real contrast with what I do here. Initially, at East On, I was very involved with the Finance team and ensuring that we stayed on budget, which I was used to in hospitality.
Of course, I never had to wear PPE in my hotel days so yes, that was a big change!
How were you supported as you transitioned to the Project team?
My director, Scott says that I’m the bridge between the Operations and Projects team and it felt like a natural transition. When I started in the business, I was really struck by how kind people were in the team; I had 8 months with Hayley White, our Operations Director, which really helped me to understand how the business functioned, so I always felt that I’d be encouraged to progress.
The change in role gives me more of an insight into each of our projects and that means that I can keep on track of how things are running and offer support to Scott and the rest of his team wherever they need it.
Can you draw any parallels between your original degree and the role you have now?
Health and Safety in any business where there are manual operatives is obviously fundamental and I’ve always had to ensure compliance in this. But the most important thing for me is that I’ve been trained to look after customers and to put the effort in to ensure that they have a superb experience, hence my job title of Project Experience Manager. I just don’t want to let anyone down and that drives me personally.
On the other hand, I occasionally get invited to supplier events and I still haven’t got used to being the guest!
What has struck you most about the company?
Teamwork is at the heart of what we do, I genuinely like hanging out with everyone – even out of hours! I set out to find that balance between work and life so was delighted to learn that the ethos of the business was to switch off and then come back to work refreshed. Finding that the business values personal time so highly has made me keen to get even more involved as the company grows.
Thanks Marine, we look forward to seeing what your next year brings!
Main image photo by Ylanite Koppens: https://www.pexels.com/photo/make-it-happen-book-with-black-stylus-843227/
