Francesco Gambella

The experience at Cacio Brillo was perhaps the most formative. In a small venue in the city centre, one finds oneself not only fulfilling the role for which one is trained, but also having the mental elasticity to be able to multi-task.

Customer acceptance and satisfaction are certainly fundamental to working well.

• I started playing rugby at the age of 15. The friendly and inclusive environment immediately pushed me to do more, so when I came of age, I immediately took the training courses for educators and started coaching children and teenagers both at the sports centre and in primary and secondary schools, under contract with the CONI (Italian National Olympic Committee) and the FIR (Italian Rugby Federation).

For five years, I participated in the olive harvesting and grape harvesting season both at large wineries (Avignonesi, for example) as well as at small family-run wineries in the Val di Chiana area.

In July/August, I participated in garlic and saffron harvesting on the farms of friends and acquaintances, who were involved in agriculture.

I worked as a tour guide both at the Accademia Etrusca Cortonese Museum and at the Etruscan tombs of Sodo, where I had the opportunity to practice English even more and to regain the use of the Spanish language. The 'Aion' cooperative, which manages the museum, also organised an after-school programme for primary school children in Cortona for two years, where I participated as supervisor and educator, also thanks to my experience in rugby.

Within the facility, I held both reception and front office duties (pre-stay, check-in, live-in, check-out, and post-stay) and lounge/bar roles such as preparing breakfasts and mise en place of the room.

My level of English improved lot during these two years, thanks to the guests I had the pleasure of working with.

01/2018 03/2020