Rochelle D’souza is our onboarding manager at Avondata. Rochelle has been with us since 2019 and her experience within the hospitality industry has made her a perfect fit for the role.
We caught up with Rochelle to tell us a little bit more about her role, why she enjoys it and what life looks like for her outside of work.
Hello Rochelle, could you tell me a little bit about your career up to now?
I started off my career as a personal assistant when I first moved to Blackpool after getting married – I was in this position for around 4-5 months. I then moved to the Isle of Man, where I first got a taste of the hospitality industry as a sales coordinator in events. Although this started off as a temporary placement, I quickly fell in love with the industry and the position.
After a few years, I moved from this position to a more managerial role, as the reservations and revenue manager. After an unfortunate fire at the hotel in 2013, I had to move back to the UK, where I continued as a revenue manager at Longleat hotels. I was in this role for another 4-5 years.
Around this time, I felt like a change, so after passing my CV to a mutual contact, Sarah Cade got in contact, I have been part of the wonderful Avondata team since 2019 and never looked back!
What does a typical day look like as the onboarding manager at Avondata?
There is not a typical day as such, but generally, my remit is to help new customers through the implementation process, provide ongoing support, and offer support to the three onboarding specialists that I manage.
My forte is channel management, integrating properties, rates, and revenue management. So should any queries come up on these related topics, I can provide my support.
If the onboarding team has any queries, then I jump in and provide additional support where required. Overall, it is quite varied, and my typical day keeps me busy!
Over the years we have carefully refined, improved, and enhanced hotel management software. This is based on feedback from customers which is what makes it so sophisticated and yet remarkably easy to use.
How would you describe the working culture at Avondata?
It is amazing! It is the best team that I have worked with, we have amazing bosses, who are down to earth and part of the team, always ready to support everyone across the company. The organisation excels at team working, it is easy to ask for support from anyone in the team and lean on them for their expertise.
We have a brilliant and dynamic team. We always make time for laughter and enjoy working together – it’s a refreshing organisation to work for.
How would you usually unwind outside of work?
Well, I have a new puppy as well as nine birds, so predominantly, every lunch break I take the puppy for a walk, and in the evenings, I typically get together with another three ‘dog mums’ and take our pups on a walk. I find that after a long day, it is the perfect way to unwind and keep active.
If you had to read one book or book series for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Although I have never been too big a fan of the movies, the Jason Bourne book series is one to which I have always taken a liking, so that would certainly be a book series that I could read for the rest of my life!