Q: What was your first job and what did you learn from it that you still use today?
A: Packing shopping bags for customers in the local supermarket and taking it out to their car. Customer service still applies now – people remember the ‘little things’.
Q: What’s the first thing you do when you start a new position?
A: Get to know my new colleagues as well as introduce myself to external partners to let them know about my new role and seek potential opportunities for the business.
Q: What advice would you give someone wanting to start a career in travel now?
A: I would give the industry a glowing endorsement and advise them that, with hard work, anything is possible due to the range of different sectors in travel.
Q: If you hadn’t gone into travel, what career path might you have taken?
A: Sporting industry – Sales/Marketing
Q: How do you think the travel industry is looking at this moment in time?
A: Positive, outbound especially. Australians continue to have a love affair with travel. Despite everything else happening in the world, Australians still want to travel.
Q: Who would you most like to sit next to on a plane, living or dead?
A: Barack Obama
Q: What are some of your favourite spots around the world and why?
A: Greek Islands (The Cyclades). The images of blue and white buildings surrounded by blue water and sky in the summer is dreamy.
Aspen, Colorado. The best blend of America’s wealth and traditional western history combined in one amazing Colorado town.
Croatia. Incredible scenery, resilient and beautiful people and fascinating history.
Bali. Magical island where you can mix today’s pleasures with Indonesian traditions and friendly people.
Q: What is your best travel story?
A: When I was backpacking in Europe as a 21-year-old I caught a train on my own very early one morning from Portugal on my way to meet friends at a youth hostel in Frejus in Southern France.
It was before mobile phones, so I had to make the connections planned through the Eurail map to get there. Well, I fell asleep and missed changing trains at the Portugal/Spain border and was woken to my dismay in an empty, stationary train by the conductor.
He spoke very limited English and my Spanish was zero but he realised I was a little stressed, so he offered to drive me in his car 50km to catch up with the train!
It was a funny drive, given our language difficulties, but I’ve never forgotten that generosity as I re-joined the train and the rest is history!
Q: What are you most looking forward to about working with ETC?
A: The team at ETC are wonderful, as are the diverse range of travel brands we represent.
I’m looking forward to meeting agent partners and working with them to help them deliver exceptional experiences to their clients.
