Nicola Baldacchino Barthet
Supervisor of the retention team at Melita; Animal-Lover
Years on Earth – 39
Years at Melita – 9
Status – In a relationship
I started off at Melita nine years ago, at the time as a supervisor for the call centre. Two years ago, I moved to supervising the retention team. This team is responsible for assisting customers with various issues they might have. We are responsible for giving customers different options to better suit their needs. Our ultimate aim is to keep customers happy.
Before joining the telecommunications industry, I worked in sales for a while, but for a major part of my life, 13 years to be exact, I worked within the catering industry, working in different settings, from wine bars to restaurants to hotels. As I grew older, I wanted more time to do things I love and so I decided to change my line of work and try out something new.
I have a big love for animals and I am a proud parent to four furry children, my cats Buttons, Du Du, Milo and Tali. Animals have always formed a huge part of my life because even at a young age, we always had pets at home. When I grew a bit older, I started learning how to take care of them on my own. My aunty, who at the time was a teacher, used to go away on holiday and I used to move in and care for her pets. Eventually, I started doing this for other people, offering pet-sitting and dog-walking services on a part-time basis. I’ve been doing this for 14 years now, and it fills a huge part of my life. I am a person who enjoys being busy, so it works well for me. The workload usually increases during the holidays, when children are off school and families go on holidays and need someone to take care of their pets. I am lucky that I have a lot of support from my partner and relatives who help me out when I need.
Funnily enough, I always thought of myself as a dog-person until I actually had a cat of my own. Cats are very independent animals but that doesn’t mean they are short of having personalities. My four cats, for example, have very distinct characters.
As a pet-sitter, I get the chance to take care of different cat and dog breeds, all with their own traits. I take care of any animal breed, from Sphinx to Maine Coon, Yorkshire, huskies and Weimarner. Besides getting to spend time with these furry babies, I also get to meet a lot of people and I’ve become good friends with many of them. For me, it’s a win-win situation. I love being around people as much as I love being around animals. I can talk about almost anything with anyone … I even talk in my sleep! I believe that meeting different people helps me learn different things and appreciate different perspectives about life in general.
The management at Melita believe in work-life balance and this is one important factor for its employees. I must admit, managing time is not something I particularly excel in, I find it very hard to say no to anyone who asks for help, no matter what that for. I am slowly learning how to manage time and help out without overwhelming myself with too much work … I have now learned how to say ‘ not right now’ instead of ‘ no’.
I might take care of other people’s pets when they travel, but I also love to travel myself, when I find the time for it! I love making memories, particularly when away from home. One of my favourite memories has to be when I travelled to Albero Bello in Bari – a trip which was a birthday gift I got from my best friend. The place was heavenly … the food and wine were divine and inevitably, I made friends with all the stray cats in the area. I will cherish the memory forever!
