Unsung Hero – Ms Luciana Piddock

Unsung Hero – Ms Luciana Piddock Ms Luciana was born in the city of Londrina, in Brazil (famous for its coffee) and is the youngest of 4 siblings. As a child Ms Luciana wanted to become a Policewoman and loved cats. So much so that by the age of 13 she had 13 cats but unfortunately no pets now as she travels frequently with her family and that would be unfair on any pets.

Ms Luciana was born in the city of Londrina, in Brazil (famous for its coffee) and is the youngest of 4 siblings. As a child Ms Luciana wanted to become a Policewoman and loved cats. So much so that by the age of 13 she had 13 cats but unfortunately no pets now as she travels frequently with her family and that would be unfair on any pets.

Ms Luciana’s motto in life is “You are the Protagonist of your Own Life” and she has certainly lived a life full of achievements; personal and professional. Ms Luciana started working in a company as a Receptionist and then Business Administrator at age 17, whilst also studying for an exam to enter UEL - Universidade Estadual de Londrina to study Economics. At the time she wanted to become an Economist so undertook a Bachelors in Economic Sciences and then a Post Graduate programme in Business Strategy and Entrepreneurship. Concurrently, Ms Luciana progressed at work and became an accredited Auditor of quality management systems and ISO9001. Ms Luciana worked a s a Quality Control Consultant for 9 years and one man she consulted for on a new product, ended up selling his company for $85million!

At the same time, Ms Luciana was accepted on a 2 year programme to become a Prison Guard at the Penitentiary in Londrina. During this programme, Ms Luciana sharpened her observation, analysis, memory and self-defense skills as well as learning about psychology. She was very aware that a simple mistake like allowing a paperclip in the facility could end up costing the life of a colleague or start a rebellion. She also saw that only 1% of prisoners reformed – this made her mentally strong and resilient.

As Ms Luciana worked shift work at the penitentiary (worked 24 hours and then rested for two days) as well as being a consultant, she started working as a Business Studies Lecturer at the university. But holding down 3 jobs just wasn’t challenging enough so she started a Law degree at the same time! 

However, in 2008 she met an Italian tourist called Stefano, who would become a lifelong friend. Stefano made Ms Luciana realise that she was working too hard and that life was for living. So she resigned from her university job and took a 2 year sabbatical from the penitentiary to travel. In May 2010, whilst travelling in France, she met fellow tourist Mr Chris. They exchanged MSN Messenger contact details and started chatting every day and fell in love. 6 months later Mr Chris flew out to Brazil and proposed with a ring made of two black pearls he had retrieved when diving – of course Ms Luciana said yes and in July 2011 they got married in Londrina.

It was hard for Mr Chris to find employment in Brazil, so Ms Luciana had to make the difficult decision to leave behind her successful career, family and friends in Brazil. The TQM lady of Brazil then moved to Qatar with Mr Chris and continued working as a Quality Consultant and a Business Studies Teacher for private schools in Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The couple then shifted to Abu Dhabi where their son Ben was born and then on to the Cayman Islands, where Ms Luciana worked as a certified Spinning Instructor and also started a business importing and selling sportswear. Next the couple worked in Tajikistan, where Ms Luciana worked at a school as a Business Studies Teacher and also set up a Kidpreneur Club.
Now the family is settled in Uzbekistan and Ms Luciana is working as the Librarian and teaching her son Ben (5) to be fluent in Portuguese. Ms Luciana loves travelling and has had many adventures – she is currently also trying to capture all of these and life lessons in her self-help book – “Be the Protagonist of your Own Life”.

Ms Luciana has travelled 46 countries so far and her dream is to achieve 50 before she is 50. Knowing of Ms Luciana’s energy and determination we are sure she will and can’t wait to read her book once its published. Good luck Ms Luciana.