I am a stewardess with Seatruck Ferries where every day feels like a new challenge. The ship is a 2nd home away from home, where I spend half the year. I feel like I am part of a family onboard, and I want the crew to feel the same way. I want to make sure that all the crew feel positive and looked after from the moment they wake up to the time they go to bed. Before getting a job at sea, I always wanted to meet different people and cultures from around the world. Travelling and meeting people was a big attraction. My parents used to take me away for holidays and I wanted to continue that in my working life.I started my sea career on cruise ships 17 years ago. I started as an assistant steward and moved through the catering side ranks into the luxury restaurants as a passenger-facing waitress and housekeeping. I enjoyed meeting all the different people, having a supervisory role with the juniors, and seeing them develop their skills. I even remember a new pot washer from India who I trained from new and who is now a hotel manager, which makes me happy. Working on a cargo ship now has given me a whole new challenge after cruise ships, and it is nice to bring a piece of the cruise ship experience to the cargo ship crew and passengers.I thoroughly recommend other women to go to sea in any role, from hotel to engineering to deck. From what I see, a mixed crew brings the best out of everyone and increases the happiness of everyone. It makes the ship more than a workplace, but a large family, it also, more importantly, allows people to see the world, and develop their own skills in a way that is not possible in a land-based job. On my current ship, I work with two other Stewardesses and a Deck Officer who are women and the atmosphere onboard is always happy.