From Madrid with Love
Since I started working at Havas Media in Paris 3 years ago, it has been a goal of mine to be part of the Havas Lofts program. So, it is with great excitement that I was selected to participate in this unique learning and knowledge-sharing experience.
For starters, in Paris I work in the International Media department, which represents approximately 130 people including our dedicated digital pure players. In Madrid there are … 5 people, so I met the whole team quite quickly, to say the least!
The funny thing is I don’t speak Spanish at all … I come from the South of France where Italian is much more useful, as we visit on a regular basis. So when I received the news about Madrid, I immediately downloaded an app to learn Spanish. As you may easily guess, that didn’t go too far after only a month of preparation. So right now, I am kind of repeating words as a parrot and trying as hard as I can to order food without having to use English… I am failing almost every time, but I am optimistic so I don’t lose hope on succeeding by the end of the month.
As everyone here is very warm and welcoming, the language doesn’t feel like so much of a barrier. Also, my team tries to translate the interesting and humorous stuff as much as possible so I can fit in smoothly.
My mentor is the Managing Partner of the team and is French, so that helped a lot with not feeling too lost during the first few days. He is doing an amazing job trying to fill my schedule with thrilling meetings with interesting people. As he does so, I immediately notice that everyone is happy to move some time around to make me feel like I belong, exactly like the Havas International team does in Paris!
But, the biggest resemblance with my team in Paris is the motto “work hard play hard” ! We might have loads of work and some hard moments, but there is always time to laugh and support each other.
Moving to another subject, I have to say that one of the things that makes me the happiest is the … weather! As a girl from the south, I really need some doses of sun, which I can’t get in Paris (because, as you must know, Paris is not famous for beach-like temperatures). People who know me well will agree, it is something I talk about ALL THE TIME. I say things like, “Did you notice Nice is 10° higher than Paris all year?” or “It’s raining for the 3rd week in a row, I want to cry.” The weather hasn’t been bad once since I arrived, so my mood has been very high.
“Keep your face to the sun and you will never see the shadows.” ― Helen Keller
