<B>Sharing people’s dreams</B>

Meeting Portuguese-born Paula, director of Zoio Immobilier, one is hardly surprised, after a brief encounter with her past, to learn that her motto is: “Always look forward in life, do not hold on too much to your past, remain positive no matter what… and always stay open to dreams.”

“My philosophy: wake up every morning with a smile in my heart. ‘Problems’ are nothing more than lessons of life in disguise. Finding solutions remains the name of the game, they are stepping stones that bring me closer to my goals; and these help me never to lose track of my dreams”. Paula de Carvalho Zoio-Labat has had many “stepping-stone” opportunities in her past… “We left Lisbon, where I was born,when I was 7.” It was then that her father, descendant of a well-known Portuguese aristocratic family, decided to move his family to Angola, once a Portuguese colony.

“Luanda, the capital, was full of culture, music and rythms. I recall how everybody danced to all these incredible African drums in the streets during the carnival. This natural cultural mix blended with the beautiful surroundings.” Yet all this changed abruptly with the outbreak of war. “We had to leave everything behind if we wanted to save our lives. I have witnessed many bombings, the shooting of innocent people and the general traumas associated with a war. Fortunately, my whole family was able to flee to safety to neighbouring South Africa.” Empty-handed, this family of six had to rebuild their lives from scratch and to quickly learn English.

Nevertheless these years of turmoil and change contributed to shaping Paula’s character. “I know I have an inner strength, I was a long-distance runner for inter-school competitions… and I guess also that I cannot run away from my Latin temperament!” As the eldest child, Paula had to develop a strong sense of purpose, too. First, she learnt English from a crash course with “mixed classes and students of all ages”

These days had nevertheless their moments of bliss: “Due to my father’s work demand, we had opportunities to move. I have a superb souvenir of Swakopmund in Namibia, where we sat on the dunes facing the sea in the moonlight. It was magical.”

Yet Paula had to sacrifice some of her dreams. After graduation in Johannesburg, she immediately started to work. One of her jobs was as a travel consultant; at another time she fullfilled her passion for aerobics by graduating as an instructor. Meanwhile, her inner gift as a good listenner remained intact.

Today, and as a real estate agent, she pays much attention to this aspect of communication. “People place a lot of their hopes in what I do when they come for a property transaction. It is a big responsibility meeting their needs and an art trying to extract the right information out of my clients to assess the product most suited to them. A satisfied client brings me an incredible sense of achievement, that’s why I enjoy sharing the dreams of people.”

But how did Paula end up in Mauritius? “Truly, Mauritius was so far from my roots ! Yet I have learned to love it.” Destiny decided, as Paula met and married a Mauritian who had completed his studies in Cape-Town. When she came here in 1990, she was already the mother of a little boy. Once more, Paula had to quickly learn… French.

During the years she spent at Tamarin with her children, Paula was approached by the management of La Pirogue hotel to teach its staff physical education, and offer aerobics and aqua-gym classes to their clients. “I guess this brought an added value to their staff. I also met a lot of people.” Some ex-students still ask her to go back to giving these courses…

After her divorce in 1993, Paula proceeded into a full-time career in finance as a life insurance agent, then moved to real estate through a Port-Louis based agency. In 1996 Paula, with the help of her new husband-to-be, started Zoio Immobilier. Today, Paula is proud of her achievement. Despite all the new real estate agencies popping up, Paula is still considered by her portfolio of faithful clients as the “Queen of the North”.