Our Q&A with Monaco’s Brazilian community
continues with Tereza Mahot, who, together with her husband, launched NavigatorsYachtClub.com, the
mega luxury yachting guide

ML: You moved away from Brazil when you were in your twenties. How did you end up in Monaco?

TM: I was born in the inland state of Minas Gerais, in southeastern Brazil, where I lived until the age of 20. As part of my family is French, I decided to come to France to learn the language and to finish my university education. I came to Monaco in 2000, and this is a love affair that has lasted 16 years.

ML: What makes you proud to be Brazilian?

TM: I am naturally very proud of being Brazilian. My country’s joie de vivre is amazing and it can’t really be found anywhere else! You must be Brazilian or live there to understand this alegria [joy ]which is very characteristic of home.

France is also an important part of my culture and my life as my French name testifies and I have been made to feel very welcome in Monaco.

ML: Tell us about the business you run in Monaco.

TM: My husband and I work in NAVIGATOR, a company created in 1939 that specialises in the construction, sale and management of luxury yachts.

Three years ago we created the online platform NavigatorsYachtClub.com to provide yacht owners with practical and useful information – such as addresses of nearby hotels, restaurants, boutiques, hospitals, airports and so on – about all the ports in the Mediterranean, to help them make the most of their cruises.

ML: As Portuguese is your native language, how hard is it to run a business in Monaco?

TM: Over the years I managed to overcome the barriers of the French language and French has become my second language.

ML: You work in French here but are you also active in Monaco’s Brazilian community?

TM: Monaco is the ideal place for our business and the education of our children. There are around a hundred Brazilians living in Monaco, and we know almost all of them. We get together every so often for a feijoada – a typical dish of beans and pork – when we start to feel too homesick.

ML: What do you think of Rio hosting the Olympics this summer?

TM: Every year I go back to Brazil. I find it very important to go with my son because Brazil is also his country and I would like him to be proud of his origins. “Being Brazilian is a state of mind.” We are very resourceful, easygoing, full of desire to do well and succeed while respecting others.

And Rio is a wonderful city! And I am confident that the Olympics will be a success. Those who watched the opening ceremony were able to see that the Brazilian people, despite the crisis facing the country, are joyful and full of enthusiasm.

READ MORE ABOUT MONACO’S BRAZILIAN COMMUNITY
The Honorary Consul of Brazil in Monaco
Luciana de Montigny, President and Founder of the Brasil Monaco Project
Severiano Alves-Pereira,Executive Director J. Safra Sarasin Bank