About Us
Emma:
I was born in East London and later moved to Romford, Essex. During my first 5 years, I didn't sleep much - I just wanted to play. Because of this, my mum had to endure a lot of time with me in the lounge, in the middle of the night, playing with my toys. Then, my sister Joanna was born. From then on, I slept really well - It turned out I just wanted a sister!
My childhood was filled with toys, parties, bouncy castles and plenty of family around me. Even today, I still enjoy a good old bounce on a bouncy castle! My favourite game was to play ponies with my dad. Many a day he would get home from work, sit down with me to play with the My Little Ponies and by the end, I was bored and he was still playing - enjoying it more than I was! he he he...
From an early age, I knew what I wanted to do when I grew up - be a teacher. So, it was quite natural that's what my chosen profession would be when it came to chosing my University. I hated every minute there - so much so that I went through the effort of travelling all the way across London every day rather than staying there for the week and coming home on weekends. Anyway, I completed my degree, got my teaching qualification and got a job in St Josephs in Dagenham (my old primary).
From there I went on to Chafford Campus. However, I was plagued by some unfortunate events and unsupportive staff there. On top of that, I quickly realised that teaching was not entirely about teaching and quite a lot about admin. So, with all of this in mind, I decided to give teaching a break whilst the memories were still good and maybe come back to it at a later date. I still miss teaching and the interaction with my kids but I hope I will go back to it some day.
I then went to work with my mum at a waste management company. There, I took care of the credit control and helped my mum with the accounts. It was nice working with and being able to support her as that is one thing she was missing in that place. It was trying at times as she can be quite head strong but we are mother and daughter and we understand each other and at the end of the day, that was the key to our successful working relationship.
Whilst all of this was going on, in June 2005, I met Vic. We had a whirlwind romance and within a month, I had moved in with him. He had a flat in South Ockendon and I quite liked the idea of us having more time together so when he offered, I didn't hesitate. Within a couple more months, he whisked me off to Sherwood Forest and proposed. We set the date of June 2006 as that would be a year after we met. We got married at Friern Manor (a beautiful Manor House in Dunton) and had the dream wedding I had always wanted. It was a beautiful sunny day and everything went just as we had wanted. The following day, we went to Paris for our honeymoon.
We then decided that we wanted to start a family straight away so within a few months, I became pregnant. Our lovely daughter was born on May 9th 2007 and is called Kristina. click here for photos She is perfect and my world is like a dream come true. Then, in September 2008, Tatiana was born. click here for photos We moved to Portugal in November 2007 to start a new life in the sun. We have a lovely 2 bedroom apartment in a city 8km away from Faro called Olhão which we rent out and a 3 bedroom one which we live in. We wanted to make sure we had the space for our children to play and grow up in and that they have a secure future so having these two apartments sorts both issues out. However, we are now back in the UK due to unforseen circumstances but hey, at least we are all healthy and that is what counts. It may not be ideal but, it's not where we live that counts but that we are together, healthy and happy. I am now working in a school in London and in September I start my new role there as SENCO which is fab!
Victor:
I have always been quite ambitious and it has paid off through hard work. My first job was in a hotel washing dishes and I had a part time job cleaning offices. I then left that job to work in a sandwich bar in Mayfair. I worked there for a while and then decided to leave, so I got a job as a Porter in a residential building. That job was nice at the time but, being sat there for hours on end just letting people in and answering the phone gave me lots of time to think. I decided that I could use all this time to get some study in and a few qualifications. I did some courses with a school called International Correspondence Schools. One was a Book-keeping and Accounts Course and another was a Writing Skills for Business Course. I then got a job in a domestic employment agency as an office co-ordinator. I worked there for a year before moving on to work in an Estate Agents in Mayfair. I worked there as a lettings negotiator for a year as well. I then got a job as a shop assistant in the Museum of London as I wanted some retail experience. I left there after a year and moved to Portugal and got another job in retail working as a stock auditor in a hypermarket in Faro. After 18 months, I returned to London and went to work for a security company as an office administrator. I worked there for two years and then left to set up my own business. Unfortunately, that didn't work out and after six months, I decided to fold the business. At this point, my previous bosses heard about this and offered me a job with them as their office manager. I accepted this offer and returned to the security company. After six months working there, I decided to re-do 2 GCSE's and then get a degree in English Language. I did my GCSE's with Oxford Open Learning and got a C in Maths and an A in English.
I then decided to look for a job nearer to home and got an assistant manager job for the supermarket chain Lidl. As it turns out, I was only there for about six months. I thought it would be easier as the travelling was nearly non existent, the pay was better and the job prospects also sounded good. Unfortunately, things didn't quite work out as planned and the job wasn't all it seemed. I had to work very long hours (in excess of 50 hrs per week) and soon found I had no time for myself. When this situation didn't improve, I decided I wanted my life back and returned to my 9 - 5 job with weekends off. As I discovered, food retail is definately not for me but I am glad I tried it. I then worked for City of Westminster Council for a Year but decided it was too slow paced for me. It was a great place to work but I needed something more.
Then I worked for a company called MBT as Commercial Manager which I really enjoyed. They manufacture and distribute ergonomically friendly shoes and are rapidly expanding all over the world. These shoes improve the body's biomechanics which in turn helps to reduce lower back pain, walking posture and muscle activity. I also taught Portuguese part time for a whilst studying at University level. I have now completed my last year of a Bachelor of Arts Degree through the Open University and am delighted to say that I have graduated. I put my studies on hold for a couple of years when I became a dad but did my final course last year and am glad it's all over. It is quite hard to juggle work, study and a social life but, I think I managed it quite well. It is hard work but, it is definately worth it if you achieve your goal in the end.
As for personal life, I met my lovely wife Emma on 11th June 2005, we had a whirlwind romance, I proposed in October and we married on 10th June 2006. We are blissfully happy together and have our beautiful daughters Kristina & Tatiana. We moved to Portugal to begin a new chapter of our life in the sun in November 2007 and in February 2009, due to unforseen circumstances, we moved back to the UK again and back at MBT. It seems I can not get enough of the company. I worked for them during 2006 / 07 in the UK, then in portugal 2008 / 09 and now in the UK again... still, it's nice to know your work is appreciated in one organisation... - If you are interested in knowing more about this and other stuff we have been up to, check out our blog www.torcato.co.uk/blog.html .
To look at pictures of our apartments Click Here