Last week I sat down with Mattia Bertoli, our onsite manager at Swiss Escape this season.
(view from the office)
When Mattia finished his bachelor in business law in 2019, he did a couple of internships in the consulting sector and quickly realized, this was not the world for him.
In the meantime Mattia also launched his own startup with two friend, In Ticino.
A platform promoting local and unique experiences in their region in the south of Switzerland, partnering with local guides and artisans.
This experience in ecotourism, in addition to his passion for the outdoor (Mattia is a scuba diving instructor and ski teacher) inspired him to do a Master in international Tourism instead of pursuing finance & law.
It is through his university in Lugano that Mattia crossed the path of Swiss Escape, when he discovered, looking through the alumni network in search of an internship, that Swiss Escape's co-founder had done the very same master.
The concept of coworking and coliving was not completely unfamiliar to Mattia, he had after-all lived in a coliving as a students, loving the interactions with his housemates. But the rise of the digital nomadism/remote work trend with the COVID pandemic definitely got him more curious and eager to learn more.
What better way to do that than to live and work in a coliving - coworking space!
Mattia got the onsite community manager part time position for the winter season of 2021. He is in charge of the space and the wellbeing of all residents as well as making sure everyone checks in and out properly, feels at home right away and that there is always something fun to do or something new to learn during the week.
We asked him what a typical day looks like, but that's the fun part, no days are the same.
Mattia first organizes his time around his lectures that he still has to follow online. Every morning he checks in with the residents and gets a feel of what everyone is up to for the day. Some might go skiing or on a hike, other might have a lot of work.
Mattia plans 2 events a week for and with them. One is a social event, the other one is more professional oriented, and of course everyone is welcome to come up with their own activities!
He is definitely enjoying meeting new faces, people from different parts of the world, or Switzerland, with different stories and skills. He also loves the change of scenery and the possibility to join the others on the slopes within minutes when he has some free time.
It is definitely an interesting experience to be both the person in charge and a resident and it also depends if the people are from abroad or from the region, then Mattia's role changes and evolves according to the needs.
"Before COVID the majority of the guests were internationals but lately we have seen a lot of Swiss who are not usually digital nomads but are trying it out" he says.
He understands the attraction. Swiss Escape answers to all their need: a comfortable and modern space to work and live, people around you to bond with, beautiful nature and great food.
Mattia wonders if he could move around as much as digital nomads do though.
I ask him what he will do next, "... an internship in Barcelona" he answers. Maybe he is already more of a digital nomad than he realizes...