After working in separate places around the world, alumni Damara Tanus Cruz (2006) and Matteo Cortesse (2006) have now been together for 13 years and are the proud parents of a little girl. Here, Damara explains how they made the long-distance relationship come together:
“Matteo and I met during our Kitchen semester. It took a couple of months before we actually started talking to each other and going out with friends in common, but we soon became very good friends — and fell in love. I remember many friends telling me that we would end up together, but I never thought it would actually happen, much less that we would make it work!
After we graduated from Management, Matteo left for Miami to finish his BBA, while I stayed at Les Roches finishing mine. Distance has always been a part of our relationship and we always thought that when something is meant to be you can make it work. When I graduated, I moved to Miami and started working for Hyatt while Matteo was still studying. Once Matteo graduated, he received a job offer at Le Meridien in Monte Carlo while I had received a job offer for a corporate program with Starwood based in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. It was very difficult, but we parted our own separate ways, taking two amazing opportunities and hoping for the best. After one year, I decided that it was time for me to move back to Europe so that we could be together. I moved to be with him in Monaco, where we got our first baby: a black Labrador called Lord Edgar, but we call him Eddy.
After 6 months of living there, I received an offer from Philip Morris to join their Italian team. Once again, I could not say no to such a good offer, and I moved to Italy. After being in different continents, it didn’t seem too bad to be only three hours from each other! We would concentrate on our jobs during the week and then drive either to Monaco or to Turin on the weekends. Eddy stayed with me, of course! And we did this for two years.
After that, we got married in Italy in a very intimate ceremony, and we moved to London, where we lived for 5 years. A year later, we had our religious wedding in Mexico. Matteo worked for Starwood in London, developing digital strategy, and then moved to the travel and education industry — where we worked together in the same company for the first time!
London was wonderful, but we decided to move somewhere more family-friendly. This is how we came to Luxembourg. Although first, we made a quick visit to Les Roches in 2014 — what wonderful memories!
Here in Luxembourg is where our beautiful daughter was born almost two years ago and where we made our family grow. I am currently pursuing my passion for photography while taking care of the family, while Matteo works for Ferrero International as Nutella Brand Innovation Manager.
This year we will celebrate 13 years together and 7 years married. It sure goes by fast!”
