Amani Vernescu

Amani is the youngest of 5, all of whom were born in Kuwait and are of Palestinian origin. During the Gulf war they found refuge in Cyprus and as a result, Amani and her family were no longer able to return Kuwait, thus lost everything and became refugees.
From the age of 16 years old, Amani left home to pursue her education, while working 2 jobs and has been on her own since then, without the support of her family, whom she had to leave for her own safety. When she turned 18 a manager of the Four Seasons Hotel in Cyprus heard of her struggles and hired her as a waitress. Amani was blessed to find a new refuge at this hotel as they also provided her with sharing female accommodation in one of their inhouse staff rooms, so as to ensure her safety. With deep gratitude, she worked in the same hotel for almost 20 years while studying; climbing the ladder of various departments, until she was ultimately appointed in the position of Quality Control Manager of the luxurious property for 11 years out of the 20 years of her employment there. The Four Seasons Hotel management were a blessing sent from God that helped educate and build Amani’s career path into the hospitality industry.
Although Amani was far from her childhood home and birthplace, Kuwait, she found comfort in connecting with any Kuwaitis that stayed at the Four Seasons Hotel. Some of these connections were a God heartwarming blessings that kept her heart close to her birthplace through their ongoing kindness, generosity, friendship and support, such as the late Sheikha Fariha Al Ahmed Al Sabah, sister of Kuwait’s late emir Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah (God bless both their souls), she treated Amani like a daughter while in Cyprus and even took her on Official visits in Cyprus. Also the humble and caring Sheikha Latayif Al Sabah and her daughter Sheikha Munai Al Sabah, who continue to encourage Amani on her life journey and Sheikha Shoug Al Sabah, who asked Amani what food she missed the most from Kuwait and brought her boxes of it in Cyprus with her private jet … these are just a few examples blessings sent by God through people that encouraged Amani on her career journey!

With a deep passion for quality and enhanced enthusiasm for career growth and advancement, in 2013 she left the Four Seasons Hotel to pursue a new career path and set up her own company Quality Focus CY. Since then, Amani adapted a unique approach to Leadership Development Solutions, as well as Strategic Hospitality & Quality Management through diverse tailor-made services. This quickly led to the formation of a solid customer base, mainly through positive word of mouth. This high portfolio includes some of the most prestigious and luxurious five stars hotels, restaurant management companies and organizations of multiple industries, both locally & internationally, such clients continue to entrust Amani & Quality Focus team in the Enrichment & Management of their Customer Experience through employee enhanced knowledge & performance.

“Emotions are significant drivers of decision making and the enrichment of Quality, in all its forms, is essential to directing and managing emotions. However, the Quality of Communication and establishing a Human to Human connection (H2H), is the backbone of securing a fair market share and ensuring customer satisfaction is positively managed. I strongly believe that those who continue to self-evaluate the Quality of their ability to connect with whomever they wish to communicate with, would be pleasantly surprised of how effectively their message would be received” – Part of Amani’s award acceptance speech, as she won the 10th National Cyprus Business Woman of the Year 2016 Award.

Amani’s years of expertise in the Hospitality Industry accelerate the implementation of key initiatives, contributing to enhanced development of collaborative cultures and achieving excellence in new measures of ROI (Return on Investment).
This strategic formulation and implementation ads value and drives employee performance to go “beyond customer engagement” by sharing accountability for results, thus building cultures of enhanced collaboration. Enhanced collaboration leads to trust and high trust levels within an organization drives performance.

Despite her difficult childhood and the education received during her employment in the Four Seasons, with deep passion for personal growth and as an educator, Amani strongly believes that there is always room for improvement. She now holds a degree in Hospitality & Tourism, Business Administration Management and in Strategic Hospitality Management from Cornell University. She is a certified Vocational Trainer (Highest level in Cyprus – level 5) by the Cyprus Human Resources Development Authority (CY-HRDA – ANAD), she is a Certified Hospitality Trainer by the American Hotels & Lodging Educational Institute and can provide, proctor and certify courses through the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI), the premier source for delivering quality hospitality education, training and professional certification, AHLEI continues to meet and exceed its education and training mission by providing materials for all levels of hospitality personnel. Amani has conducted seminars and trained over 11,200 participants over the years.
Professional certification from the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute is the ultimate distinction of professional excellence for the hospitality industry. AHLEI certifies and validates competencies in conjunction with academia and industry experts for more than 20 positions in the hospitality industry; designations from front-line to general manager, including the prestigious CHA® – the Certified Hotel Administrator.
Amani was nominated as Arab Woman of the year for two consecutive years in London by London Arabia, she won the titles of “Cyprus Business Woman of the Year Award 2016” at the 10th (National) Cyprus Business Woman of the Year Award, in 2017 she served as a judge for the 11th (National) Cyprus Business Woman of the Year Award and was invited again as a judge in 2018. She is an active member of the Cyprus Russian Business Association; In December 2017 she served as a judge once again for the Russian Business Woman Award, under the auspices of the President of the Republic of Cyprus H.E. Nicos Anastasiades.
In October 2018 she was invited to be the exclusive member, representing Cyprus, at the Luxury Panel of the Seven Stars Luxury Hospitality and Lifestyle Awards, which consists of Royalty, high profile leaders and experts from within the Luxury Hospitality as well as the Lifestyle industry. https://www.sevenstaraward.com/panel/.

As a Panel member, Amani had the pleasure to present the awards to some of the best and most luxurious dGlobal hotels, in various countries such as: Paris (W Worldwide Hotels), Switzerland (Grand Resort Bad Garaz), Mauritius (Maradiva Hotels), Bali (Hanging Gardens of Bali), Cyprus (Columbia Resort & Grecian Park Hotel), amongst others. Amani also felt honored to be the God Mother of an Oil & Chemical Tanker a vessel of 40389 tons (deadweight) as she was invited by the owners of Winton Marine Holding to baptize the Histria Crown Petrol Tanker.

28 years after Amani was forced to leave her birth place Kuwait, she was invited by the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry in October 2018 to join a business delegation for an official governmental visit, Kuwait, to represent the Cyprus Tourism and Real Estate Industry by making a presentation/speech, during which, official Bilateral Relations Agreements between the two countries were signed, as the delegation was headed by H.E. the Cyprus Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicos Christodoulides. Following her successful speech, the President of the Cyprus Chambers of Commerce and Industry invited her to become a President of a Business Association, effective 2020.

Over the years, she has humbly served as a Motivational Keynote Speaker at various conferences. Yearly she is invited to speak at the International Creative Women Conference and is a keynote speaker at WED – Women Entrepreneurship Day Organization and the Cyprus Housekeeping Association. She is a Motivation Architect, coaching participants through Strategic Change Management. (Please feel free to view Aman Vernescu’s Facebook and LinkedIn profiles for videos and pictures related to the above). www.quality-focus.net – https://cy.linkedin.com/in/amanivernescu – https://www.facebook.com/quality.focus.9