From a swimmer to director. We have been told that from the moment you “got out” of the pool, your career has been exciting.

I started swimming when I was 4 years old with Mr. Paco at the Liceo Palcam until my brothers and I were given a swimming scholarship at the C.N Barceloneta. Although I was not bad at swimming, I started to combine swimming with water polo because I was bored, until I got to the Spanish National Team where I was for 5 years. From C.N. Barceloneta I signed for C.E. Mediterrani. I participated in European Cups, European and World Championships, until I reached the World Championship in Perth in 1998, “my last trip” and the farewell to my sporting career. At those levels of high competition, women’s water polo required complete dedication, but unfortunately, we had no financial compensation. Our love of the art became unsustainable and many people from my generation quit.

Were you already clear about what you wanted to do? 

All I knew was that I wanted to set up a company that was something different and that I wanted to leave Barcelona because nothing appealed to me at a business level here, apart from the fact that I loved travelling and I needed a break. At the age of 24, after finishing my degree, saying goodbye to water polo and leaving my job, I agreed to go to Provence to work for a wealthy family in a villa they used as a “hobby farm”. That is, I went to look after luxury goats, free range chickens and pedigree dogs. The year and a half I spent in the mountains was necessary to take a break in my life and to think, plan and decide my future.

I suspect it wasn’t goat keeping. How do you get into the nautical sector without any previous experience??

It all started when I met John, my ex-husband and father of my son, in Barcelona in 1996. He arrived on a private yacht, working as a sailor, but I had no idea about this world. During those two years we lived together, I got to know the yachting industry. In 1998, after the Perth World Cup, we decided to go to Provence, France. There, we got more in touch with the cradle of yachting, very popular on the Côte d’Azur.. 

What attracted you to that world?

Apart from travelling, let me be clear. I saw that it was the industry where the highest amount of money could be earned and saved in a short period of time; the salaries were high and all expenses were paid. My main goal was to save money to, as I said, set up my own company. 

Company dedicated to…? 

I had no idea yet, but I knew I was on the right track… It was in the year 2000 when we were hired on our first boat together based in the South of France. After almost 2 years of working for American owners and sailing many miles, we returned home and found work for a Spanish shipowner with whom we stayed for 5 years. After all these years of experience on yachts and seeing this world at first hand, we decided to create our own yacht agency in Barcelona J&B YACHT SERVICES in 2005.

Just a year after founding J&B, the four partners (my husband and my two sisters-in-law, Monica and Clara) were hired by an international group to run their agency, YACHT HELP. And it was in 2010, when we left this group and set up EVOLUTION YACHTS together with my current partners.

Already another level. More responsibility, more functions, more people to be in charge of.

Undoubtedly. EVOLUTION YACHTS, a company founded in 2010 and dedicated to the consignment and services to private yachts in Spain, has offices in Palma de Mallorca, Ibiza and Barcelona, and today we are a team of 59 people.

You lead a large team that has to be on duty 24/7. What are your responsibilities?

I lead a team of 21 people in Barcelona. My main functions are to get new clients, put out fires and, above all, to teach/guide, as well as I can, the heads of departments to lead their own teams so that the company is a multifunctional company and not based on one person. This is the only way to grow. The fact that the juniors see role models in the seniors keeps this company running and growing at a good pace, prioritising 24/7 customer service. No matter how big the company gets, my great obsession is to never lose the personal touch with the customer.

People speak highly of you.

When I came into contact with the world of yachting I realised that the secret was in excellence. That is, in that extra step that is sometimes difficult to take, but when you take it, you get where you want to go. I don’t like laziness and I don’t believe in luck. I believe in work and persistence. We have many hours of not eating, crying, suffering… but also of enjoying, laughing and being satisfied with a job well done. 

That sounds a lot like a sportsman’s mentality to me. Someone who knows what it’s like to train and compete and then win or lose, but always giving it his all.

My role today is nothing more than to lead my team to success, which is in a way what sport has taught me. Along the way, I try to make my people enjoy it… It’s my favourite question to ask new people coming in: “OK, the process has been stressful, painful and almost scary, but did you enjoy it? If the question is yes, then that person is cut out for the job because this is like a highly competitive sport. It is a constant challenge and there are people who are born for this and there are others who are not. Easy.

But here, the games last longer. 

There are unexpected events every day. 365 days a year, 24/7. We receive an average of 800 emails a day and each department handles its requests. I have 5 departments. The technical department, the supplies department, the concierge department, the logistics department and the customs department. If one day it’s not a parcel stuck in Dubai, it’s the Ariel detergent that hasn’t arrived on the ship or the beef that isn’t what the Chef ordered or the VIP car that doesn’t have white leather seats or the crew member who lost his passport in Manila or the engine part that has to be flown by private plane to the island of Saint Marteen, and so on, and so forth. EVO is a constant surprise and, as I have already mentioned, only people who are prepared to overcome the challenge can work here, which means that this company is not for the faint-hearted!

What is the strangest thing you have been asked to do?   

Black toilet paper that we had to ship in a box (and pay for as a passenger) on an urgent flight to Palma de Mallorca that same day. A 2mm diameter screw that one of my workers had to fly to a remote island in the Caribbean. 40 pieces of Danone yoghurt that we flew and then took by private car to a remote island in Greece. Organising a flamenco group that performed on board and one of the owners really liked it, so that they went to his private home. A Michelin Chef service on board. Do you want more examples?

You live it every day, but do the crews know our neighbourhood or do they dock and pass by?

The crews dock and stay in Barcelona, normally for periods of at least one month. The ships come here for their winter (Caribbean) and summer (Mediterranean) “pre-seasons”. That is, from September to December and from April to June, which are our busiest months. They come to recuperate and prepare for the next season; which makes it a very popular city in our sector. They love the city and they love, of course, Barceloneta. Often people, due to ignorance of this world, identify these boats only with their owners, but the real protagonists are the crew. Normal people, of all nationalities, who have chosen to make a career in the nautical world. These people come from all over the world, earn a good living and have practically everything paid for, as they live on board. This means that they come willing, apart from doing their job, to use all the services of the neighbourhood, from the market, to the hairdresser, the club, the bar, the medical centre, the hardware store, the beach, etc. 

Every year the crews bring colour and a great desire to enjoy Barcelona. They are some of the best ambassadors we have travelling around the world selling the excellence of our great city. All we have to do is to keep the standards high.

Belén certainly has the makings of a leader and maintains her competitive past. It must be in her genes. Her brothers are also dedicated to leading teams. They – a national water polo coach David and a champion team coach Jesús – and she – a businesswoman.