ALTINEA Patterson started working in the tourism industry to raise funds in order to realise her dream of becoming a registered nurse. However, the certified practical nurse has not left the tourism sector since entering over 10 years ago.

“I was working as a nursing assistant. I wanted to be a registered nurse but I did not have the funds,” she told the Jamaica Observer North and East.

She recalled that it was when team members from Sandals Resorts came to the doctor’s office — where she was employed — to do medicals that she asked about opportunities at the hotel.

Not long after that Patterson, having no knowledge of sales or how the hotel industry worked, landed a job working in the gift shop at Sandals Royal Plantation in Ocho Rios, St Ann.

“My intention was to work, save, and go back to school,” she said.

She recalled to Observer North and East how she became employed at one of the country’s finest and most acclaimed hotel chains.

“My CEO (chief executive officer) tricked me and I sold him the entire store,” Patterson said.

She explained that while working at the gift shop at the hotel, Adam Stewart visited the shop. She was not aware that Stewart was the CEO until after she had persuaded him to buy most of the items in the shop.

“You know how when you go to a place there are images of the CEO and chairman in jacket and tie? He wasn’t like that. That day, I was at the gift shop alone and I said I wanted to sell something. He walked in,” she recalled.

It was after convincing him to buy a number of items from the store that she learnt who he was.

“I fell down,” she said.

“He then said he wanted me to go to Island Routes.”

Patterson has only continued to impress with her work ethic since.

“When you are passionate about your job, you do your homework,” she said. She added that she always tries to better past performances by continuously setting targets for herself.

“When I am at home, I will say ‘How can I make this Thursday better than last Thursday?’”

It is this drive that has earned her Tourism Employee of the Year for 2015.

“I love my job, I have no regrets,” the Island Routes tour specialist, who now works out of the Beaches Ocho Rios hotel, said.

In addition to selling tours to guests, Patterson ensures her guests have the best experience possible.

“I want you to have the best experience, from the bus ride to the tour,” she said.

“I’m good with faces so I always remember them. I [also] do a lot of follow-up; I think that’s what they love,” she added.

“I love my job. They say the sky is the limit; I feel if I go to the sky, I am going to want to touch the moon and the star.”

For her, working at Beaches Ocho Rios is a wonderful experience.We are a family; we look out for each other,” she said.