A Q&A with Laurentia, who recently was promoted to Senior Sommelier & Restaurant Manager.
Q: What obstacles did you face and how did you
overcome them in your journey to
becoming a butler/sommelier?
Laurentia: The learning path to becoming a
professional sommelier is a difficult one and demands a lot of sacrifice in order to
guarantee success. I had to rethink my goals, my time and my finances to be able to
balance my family needs besides my professional career.
Q: Could you tell us about your journey with
Uniworld? What do you love most about
your job?
Laurentia: I started in 2012 as a waitress onboard the River
Ambassador. In 2014, Uniworld became the first company on the European rivers to
implement the sommelier position and so I became the first Sommelier. I was
recognized by senior management and colleagues as being hardworking, thirsty for
knowledge, openminded and having strong knowledge of food and wine. Since then, I’ve
trained three generations of sommeliers and enriched thousands of guest experiences.
I love to make wine an accessible subject of conversation by using everyday language
and to expose the whole purpose of enjoying wine by associating it with food. [Wine
is still a notoriously intimidating subject, but I don’t think it should be that
way].
Q: What advice would you give to other women
looking to pursue career paths that
aren’t traditionally female-oriented?
Laurentia: In order to be
successful, you
must know who you are, have well defined goals, be open-minded, adapt quickly and
learn something new every day. Knowledge is power. When a challenge presents itself,
take it and push through the limits of your comfort zone and never settle for
average.