Work Your World: Traveling Across Portugal

Madison Wagner, Supervisor, Operations, Liv Adeszko, Senior Associate, Operations, Grace Mcmanaman, Senior Associate, Operations

Madi, Liv and Grace here—three teammates on PHM’s Operations team, based out of the Chicago office! Chicago is known for its brutal winters, so when we heard about Publicis Groupe’s Work Your World program, we jumped at the opportunity to escape the cold for a little while. Some of us were in college during the COVID pandemic and missed out on the opportunity to study abroad‚ so participating in this program gave us a second chance!

We decided on Portugal as our destination, staying in Lisbon, Porto and Lagos during our stay, with some weekend trips to Barcelona, London, Florence and Vienna planned in-between. Before we left for the trip, we were excited to experience a new culture and learn what it’s like to live and work abroad—while also having some natural jitters about what the experience would entail! Safe to say, it exceeded our expectations.

We worked from 2-10 PM local time to accommodate for the time difference with our teams back home, ensuring that we could still engage with our colleagues and stay up to date with client deliverables. Once we adjusted to this routine, it became our new norm, and we grew to appreciate having our mornings free to explore. This gave us time to wander around the several cities we visited, visiting monuments like Pena Palace in Portugal, the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona and the Royal Palace in London. This also allowed for a slow transition into our workday, while still taking advantage of all these countries had to offer.

It was during these times that we discovered so many different things—including our new favorite local dessert, the pastel de nata and the joy that is European coffee and lattes! We also experienced European café and restaurant culture. In the U.S., we’re used to moving quickly through meals and always moving on to the next item on our to-do list. In Portugal, we were forced to slow down, be present and enjoy the experience.

We learned a lot during our time abroad, including how to pack efficiently (who knew you could fit so much in a carryon?), but most of all, we left with memories that will last a lifetime. Work Your World allowed us to immerse ourselves into the culture of the places we visited, giving a deeper look into what it’s actually like to live there—which we never would’ve experienced during a shorter stay. For any Publicis employee curious about Work Your World, we say, give it a try! And if you end up heading to Portugal, try out a pastel de nata for us while you’re there. 

Connect with Madison, Liv and Grace on LinkedIn.

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