Last month’s issue of Hi Life introduced Millennium Hotels and Resorts’ “Gems of Millennium” campaign, an initiative to highlight employees and their journey of growth with the company. This month, we take a look at 26-year-old Singaporean Leonard Mathew Teo, a student from hospitality school Cesar Ritz Colleges in Switzerland, whose journey has taken him from an overseas internship in the UK to being part of the Global Loyalty Marketing team in Singapore.
Can you share with us your background?
I was born and raised in Singapore and am the youngest of three boys. My parents come from humble backgrounds but worked hard to provide my brothers and I with amazing opportunities like giving me the chance to study abroad in Switzerland.
I attended St. Joseph’s Institution and went on to Ngee Ann Polytechnic, where I graduated with a diploma in Mechanical Engineering.
What sparked off your interest in the hospitality industry?
During my time at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, I started taking on part-time jobs to earn a few extra bucks. I had a New Year’s resolution to learn how to cook and this turned out to be a passion that guided me towards the hospitality industry, with me taking jobs in kitchens as a stagiaire (or an intern cook). I worked countless hours in kitchens with no pay to learn the ropes and experience life of a chef first-hand.
I realised that I wasn’t cut out to be in the kitchen full time and my chef recommended that I move to the hospitality industry as he saw the chance for me to grow in this area. I applied for Switzerland’s hospitality school, Cesar Ritz Colleges, towards the end of my National Service*, after which I worked as a housekeeper for four months. I tried my best to get as much knowledge of hotels and hospitality from the backbone of the industry and the hard workers. During my three years of studies at Cesar Ritz, I took up several internships, including one in Sales at a watch company in Interlaken, Switzerland.
It was definitely tough but worth the experience and growth I had.
Why Millennium Hotels and Resorts? And what contributed to your decision to go to the UK for this internship?
My seniors in school spoke well of Millennium Hotels and Resorts and I had some pride hearing that, since it is a Singapore company. My decision to go to the UK was heavily based on where my partner was, as she was in Northumbria University doing her masters. I also had never been to the UK and thought it could be a great opportunity.
How has Millennium Hotels and Resorts nurtured your growth in the hospitality industry?
While in the UK, I was a Marketing Coordinator and placed under the guidance of the Operations Manager at Copthorne Newcastle and learnt much about the hospitality industry as well as real life scenarios. I got to see the job from both a trainee, learning and developing my skills, as well as seeing a well-established manager guiding his staff.
Returning home to Singapore, I became a Marketing Trainee under an experienced team who runs the Global Loyalty Programmes, working on projects not only locally in Singapore but collaborating with teams on the global scale.
It is an eye-opening experience to work on projects that affect a company on an international level. Learning to craft promotional content that reaches out to clients is a big step and seeing the work have an impact as the content gets sent out to our clients and customers is rewarding. I realised that wording and how to phrase content is a skill that is often overlooked and something I have had to develop in this role. It does take some getting used to and reworking of the brain but it’s a challenge that is welcome.
Slowly being given more roles to help with Loyalty Programme queries and connecting with our members has been slightly scary but also rewarding, having customers reply a simple “thank you for your help” has been comforting.
What opportunities did Millennium Hotels and Resorts offer that could not be found elsewhere?
I, along with many of my classmates who studied hospitality, feel we have only a certain number of roles we can apply to, coming from this background. Mostly being accepted in service roles like housekeeping, front of house etc.
However, Millennium Hotels did give me the chance to try my hand at marketing, something I found very interesting and approachable when I had a marketing module in school. The more time I spend in this marketing internship role, the more I realise that it is a real blessing that I was given this opportunity as it takes a lot of work and trial and error, and I understand why most companies would think twice about hiring someone who does not have a marketing background. That being said, the team has been very accommodating and helpful, and it has facilitated my learning.
What is the best takeaway you have received from this internship experience?
I am still in the process of completing the internship but something I will takeaway is that there is always something to learn.
