30 under 30: Meet Shanice Midda
Despite being a fledgling in the travel industry, Shanice Midda has already impressed with her innovative ideas and tenacious attitude. TTG finds out more.
Shanice-Daniella Midda (26) is already making waves after just 14 months of working in the travel industry. Before starting her role as a marketing and communications executive at youth tour operator Contiki, Shanice had been working in various marketing roles after graduating with a degree in business and management from Aston University in Birmingham.
“During a placement year at university I worked for Black and Decker in Frankfurt which introduced me to marketing,” she explains.
“I was considering a graduate scheme but decided that I wanted to try working in different industries to understand which one I wanted to build a career in.”
After moving to London to work at a start-up, she later took a job as a marketing assistant for Ernst & Young, where she was able to take advantage of the professional service company’s training schemes and work on a campaign highlighting the gender pay gap.
She then went on to join a marketing agency, where she worked with a travel client and discovered that the travel industry matched up with some of her own values.
“I liked their way of doing things," she says. She says that a passion for sustainable travel "brought [her] to Contiki."
"I spoke to a recruiter and was drawn to the sustainability element in Contiki’s work, something which is very important to me,” she explains.
Multiple projects
Shanice says the beauty of her role is that there is broad scope to work on many different projects and campaigns, including storyboarding video content and coming up with new merchandise.
Innovating through the creation of new ideas and implementing them is also a big part of her role. "While I was taking part in Veganuary, I had just launched the vegan food trip around Europe, which was something we had never done before. It was a gateway to targeting millennials," she says.
Having her many ideas supported by her team is Shanice’s favourite part of her role. “If I have a new idea I have the opportunity to execute it. My team really supports me to test out what works and what doesn’t,” she says.
New horizons
Being part of the 30 Under 30 class of 2020 is one of Shanice’s proudest moments, particularly as she is so new to the travel industry. “I didn’t know much about the programme until my manager told me she wanted to put me forward. Her reasons were that I keep going and don’t look back, that I have faith in what I’ve done and am constantly thinking of new ideas.”
Shanice is hoping to meet people who can help her expand her horizons. “It’s not about meeting like-minded people because if you’re doing that you’re not learning anything new,” she says.
“I want to meet people who have a different perspective on travel, because that’s the best way to broaden my travel knowledge. Listening to other people with more experience will help me open up my mind.”
Looking to the future, Shanice says that sustainability will continue to be one of her big passions. “When it comes to wildlife and nature it’s not about doing it for the ‘gram; travel is about immersing yourself in different cultures. I see myself using my own platforms to continue championing sustainability.”
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