Q: What was your first job and what did you learn from it that you still use today?
A: My first job was when I was 18 years old and I worked in a local pub in the UK.
It was good fun because you were working with a mixture of people who were the same age just picking up shifts, but also with workers who relied on the job as their primary income. There were also some who worked part-time just to meet new people.
I learned how to adapt my communication style and build rapport with people from a variety of backgrounds and became aware that not everyone is motivated in the same way.
You can apply the same learnings to leadership. Being able to understand what motivates your team and then giving them the right tools, resources and guidance ensures that everyone is clear on objectives and moves in the same direction.
Q: What’s the first thing you do when you start a new position?
A: My new role was an internal promotion. Usually when joining a new company you would want to “listen & learn” by understanding the company culture, team dynamics, core responsibilities, key challenges and the metrics used to measure performance.
In my situation, I already had a good handle on all of these things. So switching into a leadership position just required a different lens. Do you have the right team? Are you focused on the right type of activity? What can you do differently to leverage sales further?
Q: What advice would you give someone wanting to start a career in travel now?
A: Whether it’s a career in travel or a career in palaeontology, you need to be doing something you really enjoy.
Ask the question “why”? If I look back at my motivation for getting into travel it was built on a whimsical dream of travelling the world for free and getting paid. I think I had too many European holidays as a teenager (we lived in England, so getting to Europe was easy).
What won’t change is the evolution of technology. Travel tech in the early 90s versus what it is today is vastly different. The pace of development now has accelerated beyond what was comprehensible a few decades ago. Imagine what this will look like in five, 10, 20+ years from now?
Q: What did the pandemic teach you about yourself?
A: Home schooling is not my forte.
Q: If you hadn’t gone into travel, what career path might you have taken?
A: I actually flipped a coin. I was procrastinating about what I wanted to do. I loved food, so for a long time was convinced I’d be a chef. But I was concerned it was a lot of work, long hours, for not a lot of money. So I decided to revisit my career options.
I think to annoy my parents, I gave myself the choice between a travel course or an embalming course! The coin toss was tails – so travel it was.
Q: How do you think the travel industry is looking at this moment in time?
A: Consumer demand for unique experiential travel is high. Europe continues to enjoy strong travel demand, thanks to strong historical and cultural ties with Australians.
Social media plays a big part with “influencing” new travellers. Sustainability and minimising carbon footprints is both a focus and a priority for the Europeans.
Train travel ticks both these boxes and with the plethora of rail options available across Europe the choice of where to go is endless.
Q: Who would you most like to sit next to on a plane, living or dead?
A: Preferably a monk who has taken a vow of silence. I dread getting seated next to someone who wants to strike up a random conversation, that there is no escape from, and will often pop in some AirPods to signal that I’m “not available” for chit-chat.
Q: What are some of your favourite spots around the world and why?
A: As a massive foodie I really enjoy the street food in Bangkok, or the hawker food centres that Singapore offers like Lau Pa Sat.
But I’m equally as happy in a Parisian bistro or Italian restaurant in Tuscany. Wherever there is authentic atmosphere and amazing food and wine, I’m content.
Q: What is your best travel story?
A: I’ll never forget spending a few hours in a bar in Chiang Mai, where a baby elephant burst through the door with its trunk flapping about. It picked up a chair and threw it behind the bar… a few seconds behind it was a flustered Thai gentleman.
I never found out his relationship to the baby elephant.
Q: What are you most looking forward to about your new role with Rail Europe?
A: Continuing to support the loyal agents already using us, while encouraging new agents to engage with our platform.
We make rail bookings easy. We have intuitive technology, a website that is loaded with product information, a simple booking flow and a brilliant sales team.
