- CAREERS MY WAY
HIP HOTELIERS
Micheie Provost, eine britische Textildesignerin, und Grant Powell, ein britischer Rechtsanwalt, haben
sich ihren Traum erfüllt - ein flo rierendes Hotel in Marrakesch. RE8ECCA PERL berichtet.ust five years ago, the beautiful Riad Assakina
hotel in Marrakesh was a decrepjt brorhel. Yet
even then, Micheie Provost and Grant Powell
could sec that the riod (the Arabic word for
"horne" or "palace") had poremial. Perhaps rheir
confidence ca me as a resulr of a conference thar they
had rccenrly arrcnded, held by life srrategisr Anthony
Robbins. " I think ir was called 'feel Ihe fear and do iI
anyway', or rhat was cenainly thc thellle of ir," Pow-
eil explains. " I only wem because 1 was given a free
ticket!"
The event turned out to be life·changing for both of
them. Powell gave up his senior parrnership ar the in-
,---------, rernationallaw firm Bird &
A CLOSER LOOK Sird, where he had worked
Anthony Robbins, 50, is an
American motivational
speaker and author 01 selt-
help books, such as Awak-
en the Giant Witflin. Hisfor 20 years, in order to
rravel. After running he r
own jorcrjor-design business
for 20 years, Provost decid·
ed that she was ready for a
c hange, too. Bur, most im-
portanrly. the conference
was where the couple first
met each orher.clienls indude !isures like
fashion desisner Donna
Karan, actOf HuSh Jackman
and tennis player Serena
Williams. The Harvard
Business Press fists hirn as
one 01 America's top 200
business surus.Powell certainly followed
the mantra "feel the fear
___ J and do ir anyway" when heaocient ['clnJ;mll
brotltel ('bro&otJ
burt!aucracy (bju·'rokr.lsiJ
tatch sight 01 sb. [,ka:I] '~all o"J
challenge ('IJa'llndJ[
consultant lawyet Ik.ln,s"lI;ml 'b:j;,J
craftsman ('kro:flsm;)l1(
dl!Crt!pil (di'krepn]
deed [di:d]
degret [di'!!ri:1
design 5th. (di'zaln]
edge [cdJ]
Et hiopia l ,i:Oi'.lOpi.lJ
foundation (,fllun'dclJon)
handyman ['hH.'ndim!l'n)
homeware ['h;)()mwe;)]
locredibly Im'kredJblil
Inhabitant (m'ha:bu.lnt [
in$hallah (m'JJl:I:l1 Arab.
inlerior design [ln,lr:lri;) di'zam]
interp reter (m'13:pnl;)J
'jewellery ['d3U;.llri1
Jewish quarter l,dJu:lJ 'kw~:I~]
knack 5th. down I.nok 'daunI
alt. antik
Bordell
[wg. Aussprachel
Imd~. zu sehen bekommen
Herausforderung, Aufgabe
Berater(ln) für Anwaltskanz·
leien/Rechtsabtellungen
Handwerker(i~)
heruntergekommen
hl!f: übertragungs.urkunde
( Hachschul·)Abschluss
etw. entwerfen
hier: Ufef
Äthioplen
Fundament
Mann fOr alles
Haushaltswaren
unglaublich
Bewotlntf(in)
inschallah (so Allah will)
Innenarcluleklur
Dolmetscher(ln)
Schmuck
IOdiSChes Viertel
etw. abreißenbegan his travels. He trained as a mounted warrjO[ in
MQngolja, followed (he rejndeer migratjon in rhe Arc-
ric, and raued on the Brahmapurra in India, among mh-
er things. Thc part of thc river that Powell wenr down
was so ~ rhat the only people ro have anemprcd
it before were in th e Indian Army, " We were told (hat
loeal peoplc had walked for three days to reach the riv-
er's tdgg jusr ro c3tcb sight of their first "Westerner!"Between these adventures, PoweH joined Provosr
on a trip to Erbjopja and a lso (0 Marrakesh to look at
riads. Provos r quickly fell in love with the idea of own-
ing ooe: " I'd ne ver beeo to Morocco before. I didn'c
even know what a riod was. Ye r, within 48 hours,
I was pan-buying one," she says.
Even with their combined enrhusiasm and business
ability, nothing could fuHy preparc the couple for whar
lay ahead. Ir (ook over a year to complere the ~ and
to ger the preyjous jnbabirams out - 19 prosrirutes and
their families, who had siuin~ recants' rjghrs. The pros-
titutes were given "'generous gifts of money" to movc
ro new homes, Provosr says. '" am now a good friend
of one ca lied ezah, who presenred me with a bcauti-
ful gift of a kaftan she had made for me for Chrisrmas.
With th e gift that we gave her, she has now changed ca-
reers <tnd seils cigarettes at t he top of th e streer. We send
her coffee and cakes most evenings whilsr she worb,"IöIw degree "b: di,gri:l
law l irm ['I;,: f3:m]
Mongolia [moO'g.lOli;,)
mounted wartlor (,maunlld ' wOri3]
non·executlve d irectorshi p
l,non JQ,ZCkjUllv d~'rckI3Jlpl
overwhelmed [,:.o,,;)'wclmd1
payoff [,pel 'ofl
prt!wiom ('pri:vi.»J
raft on: -a river ['ru;ft on1
rt!indett migration (' f eIndi;) mal,grerJ'nl
remot e [ri'm;)IJt]
reslrietions lri'slflkJ.nll
review lri'vju:1
5itting tenants' right5: haWi! -
I,SIIFI) '1cnanlS raus] UI<
(sitting t enanl UI<
solicitor (S;)'IISlI.ll UI<Supreme Court (su,pri:m 'b:1]
treasure " t re3a]Abschluss in Rechts.
wissef1S(;halten
Anwaltskanzfel
die Mongolei
beriltene(r) Krieger(in)
Amt als nitht geschatts-
10hrendes Mitglied eines
AufSIChtsrats
hier: Oberfordert
51th bezahlt machen
"'Drheflg
emen Fluss mit dem Floß
befahren
Wanderungen der Rentiere
abgelegen
Auflagen
Kritik
das Wohnrecht haben
derztiligeirl Mieter(in))
melsl nur vor niedTigen
GeriChten pt1idierende(r)
AnwaltlAnw1iltin
Obelster Gerichtshof
Kostbarkeit