I started out selling holidays behind the bar in my mum’s pub. I joined Lunn Poly in Preston on a YTS (Youth Training Scheme) when I was 16. Our shop wasn’t in the best location, but the “bar job” together with a tough manager helped me become a top seller. A love of smashing sales targets was my motivation early on – that and the thrill of getting customers to come back to me and book again.
A working holiday visa in Australia saw me travel all over the country. I got a job as a travel agent selling holidays to Indonesia, then spent a few months travelling through south-east Asia. When I returned to the UK, I joined Jetset in Manchester in tailor-made reservations where I could put my Australasia and Asia knowledge to good use.
I became general manager of Tailor Made Travel (a luxury retail tour operator) aged 25. I met the owner of the company at a trade show in Australia. It was an amazing three-year journey, but I had the travel bug so I resigned and travelled from Mexico to Chile overland for nine months before spending a couple of months in New Zealand and finally arriving in Sydney, where I worked for DMC Goway, later transferring to its Canada office.
Tough times bring personal growth. When we moved to Toronto, Sars hit and the company had to slash costs to survive. I took a pay cut and was earning less than I had in years and my husband couldn’t get a job for a year. It was tough, but I wouldn’t change it as we had an amazing time in Canada.
Tui brought me home to England. I was offered a job as head of product for Thomson Worldwide and Austravel working for John Constable. It was my first senior job in a large corporate company. I learnt so much – we had the My Travel/Tui merger while I was there and I ended up following John to STA Travel.
