where the pastry chef made and
stored the most amazing sugar
and butter creations – beautiful
pieces of art. Inevitably, I would
leave these visits with a delicious
pastry in my hand.
When it was time for me to
decide on a career path for
myself, it was a very easy
decision. Despite my father’s
warnings about long hours, hard
work and relatively low pay, I
knew this was the business I
wanted to be in.
After finishing High School in
Germany, I spent six months in
Paris doing an internship at the
Hotel de Crillon before heading
to Switzerland, where I spent
two years at the Lausanne Hotel
School. After graduating, I knew
I wanted to work oversees as I
wanted to establish a name for
myself which in Germany, or
even Europe, would have been
very difficult if not impossible
to do. Thanks to the great
reputation my father, my
grandfather and my great uncle
enjoyed in this industry, my
last name was so well known
that I would have always been
known as their daughter, grand
daughter or great niece and that
was not what I wanted.
So, at the age of 21, I left
Europe and went to Australia
to do an internship at the
Regent of Sydney and when
my visa expired, I headed to
New Zealand, working as a Duty
Manager at the Plaza Hotel in
Wellington and exploring the
country in my free time.
While in Australia, I first heard
of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel
Company and knew immediately
that that was the company I was
going to join. I approached them
through a few different channels
ILHA 79