Ana Beatriz Machado, 30, is a vibrant, warm-hearted woman who greets customers with a bright smile at the world’s largest Hooters, located on Water Street in Liverpool. Today, she’s thriving — a beloved team member and proud mother — but the journey that brought her here has been anything but easy.
Raised in the city of Sorocaba, Brazil, ‘Bea’ came from a large family and was raised by her mother after her father killed himself when she was 5 years old. Despite a difficult start in life, she studied both teaching and law and built a life of ambition and education in her home country, where she also gave birth to her first daughter.
Bea had always been fascinated with the UK and this curiosity and admiration eventually led her to connect with an English man online. In November 2019, she arrived in Liverpool on a tourist visa, intending to stay only briefly. She could never have imagined how dramatically her life would change.
Soon after arriving, the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a global lockdown. Flights were cancelled. Travel stopped. Bea found herself stranded in a foreign country, with no family, no legal footing and few options. During this time, her relationship with her British partner grew serious and she became pregnant with his child. But behind closed doors, things were far from healthy and happy.
What began as minor controlling behaviour soon escalated into regular violence and emotional abuse. After giving birth to her second daughter, Ella, Bea’s situation worsened. “I felt completely trapped in a violent, abusive relationship,” she says. “I had no money, no visa, no friends, and I was afraid of what would happen if I asked for help.”
Desperate and isolated, Bea reached out to an online community of Brazilian women living in the UK. They encouraged her to go to a refuge, but she was terrified — of deportation, of losing her daughter and of potential retaliation. At the time, she didn’t realize that as the mother of a British child, she was eligible to apply for a visa and build a new life legally in the UK.
Everything changed when her partner was arrested for something completely separate. With nowhere else to go, Bea and her baby moved in temporarily with his mother. That’s when the police connected her with social services, who referred her to Georgia’s House, a women’s refuge in Bebington.
“I was scared walking in, but they were so kind, so understanding,” Bea recalls. “It was the first time in years I felt safe and honestly I can’t thank them enough for the love, care and support they haven given my daughter and I. It’s thanks to them that I could finally work on building a life and a future.”
The refuge helped Bea get back on her feet. With support from local services, she secured a council house in Birkenhead in May 2022. From there, she began to rebuild, step by step. She found a job at Hooters Liverpool — the largest Hooters in the world — and quickly became part of a welcoming, empowering community. The team embraced her not just as a colleague but as family.
Barry Morris, the owner of Hooters Liverpool, recognized Ana’s resilience and dedication, naming her Employee of the Year. As a token of appreciation, he surprised her with tickets for a long-overdue trip back to Brazil — for her and daughter Ella to finally visit Ana’s eldest daughter and the family she hasn’t seen in over five years.
“I have had a couple of jobs but I absolutely love working at Hooters,” Bea says. “The girls are like family to me and I finally feel like I belong here. I absolutely love Barry — he has always stuck by me, had faith in me and has always given me advice like a father figure. He accepts who I am and what I’ve been through. To be named Employee of the Year and to be given tickets to visit Brazil is just incredible!”
Now, Bea is passionate about using her story to inspire other women who may feel trapped in abusive relationships, especially those navigating life in a new country. “If you’re afraid, know that you are not alone,” she says. “There is help out there. You can build a life for yourself and your children — a life full of love, respect, and dignity. There are good people out there and you CAN break free.”
From the shadows of fear to the spotlight at Hooters, Ana Beatriz Machado is a living testament to resilience, courage and the power of community. After suffering control, violence and abuse, she is now living a thriving and happy life with her daughter — and will soon re-connect with her other daughter and family in Brazil too.
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