PORTRAIT OF EKATERINA, CHARTER BROKER AT ABYS YACHTING

ABYS YACHTING CELEBRATES INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S RIGHTS DAY ON 8 MARCH

In honour of International Women's Rights Day, discover the portrait of Ekaterina KONINA, Charter Broker at Abys Yachting. Through her fascinating job in the world of Yachting, she shares with us her daily life and her challenges in an environment where the trend is towards men..

8 MARCH, INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S RIGHTS DAY

March 8 is a day of awareness and mobilisation around the world, which remains dear to Abys Yachting. On this special day, every year, we highlight all those women working in the nautical world. An environment that is predominantly male, but where women actively contribute to the travel of the most passionate cruising enthusiasts. They are adventurous, determined and above all passionate about their jobs.

They work as captains, brokers or sales representatives, or even as agency managers... And they are constantly striving to fulfil their potential in all areas of their lives. Today, we introduce you to Ekaterina KONINA, Charter Broker at Abys Yachting. Discover her most rewarding daily life, whose goal is to provide unique and unforgettable experiences to a very demanding clientele, whose needs are constantly evolving.

EKATERINA KONINA, CHARTER BROKER AT ABYS YACHTING

COULD YOU INTRODUCE YOURSELF IN A FEW WORDS?

I work as the Charter Department Manager, which is a combination of two roles within the agency. As Yacht Manager, I manage our Abys Yachting charter fleet and I am a Retail Broker for our international clients. My job is to be the central point between owners, charterers, captains, fellow brokers, but also between the company's partners and agents. My aim is to coordinate our business in the best possible way, to the satisfaction of all parties.

WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND? HOW DID YOU BECOME A CHARTER BROKER?

After two years of higher education, I first gained work experience in a large international company. I then intended to work in a private bank in Monaco. But it was by chance that I found my place in yachting. When I moved to France, I decided to do my Master's degree here and I was particularly looking for an internship. So I started as an intern at Abys Yachting and in my second week I signed a contract for 5 yachts at an event. It was an interesting and challenging experience, and loved it. At the end of my internship I was offered to sign a contract of employment and ten years later I am still here admiring our friendly, serious and super efficient professional team, with whom we have achieved so many great goals.

I also fell in love with the beautiful French Riviera and I am very happy to be able to offer our clients the opportunity to discover it. Of course, I can also help people discover other destinations such as Greece, Italy, Croatia, Spain, etc., but the Côte d'Azur and Corsica remain my favourite destinations!

WHAT EXACTLY IS THE ROLE OF A CHARTER BROKER & YACHT MANAGER?

As a Yacht Manager, we act as the owner's representative. We promote the yacht to potential clients, partners and the international brokerage community. We then organise charters. This involves many steps, from creating a marketing plan to promoting the yacht and preparing contracts. It also involves all the paperwork, collecting payments, etc.

As a Charter Broker, I help the clients to organise their yacht charter by proposing the best yacht selection, itineraries, organising all details and bookings, following up during the charter, it’s very diversified activity and I like it a lot.  

WHAT ARE THE MOST CHALLENGING AND REWARDING ASPECTS OF YOUR WORK?

I like working with people and I have an eye for detail. Everything is important in order to organise the dream trip for all our clients. Of course, there are things we cannot control, such as weather conditions, human reactions. Sometimes it is even difficult to get access to ports at the last minute. But for everything else, we make sure that we are always patient, professional and pay attention to all requests.

The most rewarding part of this job is seeing the same customers come back every year! We see families growing, children getting older... We are happy to see our regular customers, who eventually become like dear friends. And of course, we appreciate even more when they recommend our services to their friends!

ISN'T BEING A WOMAN IN A MALE ENVIRONMENT TOO COMPLICATED?

At the present time we can see many brilliant women working in charter, in sales, in yacht construction, in crew. The “male oriented domain” is now more diversified and it enriches all aspects of this field. Every gender has its strong points but the most important is to love what you do, to work hard and to improve your skills, to not stop learning and to use your unique personality as an advantage . 

At Abys Yachting, we support gender equality! They even represent 64% of the total wage bill. At Abys Yachting, we support gender equality! They even represent 64% of the total wage bill. Well, a challenge for the men… Last year, we made a portrait of Angélique CIURLÉO, Director at Abys Yachting, don't hesitate to discover it too!