I’ve always had a huge amount of admiration for the Virgin brand. This was solidified when travelling to New York with my mum when I was younger. We got stuck in the big apple due to the Icelandic volcano eruptions for nearly three weeks! During that time, we were looked after so well by Virgin that it instantly became my desire to work in the travel industry, and one day Virgin Atlantic Holidays.

Being a Trainer, I’m responsible for leading, maintaining and creating training materials for our Virgin Atlantic customer centre. Facilitating and delivering training on subjects that help our customers take on the world from system and product to our signature style, as well as being the friendly face that welcomes new starters to our fantastic company.

It’s been a journey to get to where I am today. Still, I love that I get to use my experiences from my time at Virgin Atlantic Holidays to bring real-life examples and coach them through to give them the tools and confidence to overcome these, setting them up for success in their careers

I believe the ‘Be yourself’ agenda really allows all employees to bring the best version of themselves to work. For me, this is hugely important as I am a creative and not necessarily an academic.

I didn’t do very well at school and, in fact, despised it. However, Virgin as a company has allowed me to play to my strengths, think outside the box and challenge the status quo. Somehow this has resulted in most of my career at Virgin being in the training department. If you told my teachers that I had become a trainer, they wouldn’t believe you.

Incredibly, before starting at Virgin Atlantic Holidays, I was a fruit and veg worker in my local supermarket. Since joining Virgin, I have been Sales Advisor, Cruise Advisor, Trainer, People Operations Co-ordinator and most recently, a trainer.

I have learnt a lot since joining the company, not only about our fantastic destinations but also what are the most important parts of the customer journey. Five roles in under eight years have allowed me to learn various skill sets across other business functions and I’ve most defiantly developed in that time.

Open-minded, accepting, encouraging. Those are just a few of the words I would use but working at Virgin Atlantic is extremely fast paced. There hasn’t been a day since starting that I haven’t learnt something new.

We really do have a work hard, play hard approach. If someone asks you to do something, simply say yes; every new experience and challenge will result in the next adventure. Networking and communication are of the upmost importance; building relationships and connections with your colleagues will open your eyes to new experiences.

The best part about the culture is just how multicultural we are as a company. Speaking to people around the business has really opened my eyes to new backgrounds, cultures, religions, beliefs, and experiences. Helping me to grow both personally and professionally.

There is no script – Virgin don’t want us all to be the same. Sure we want the customer experience to be consistent regardless of how much our customers spend, but there are no scripts to follow and no guidelines for going the extra mile for our customers. Allowing people to have different approaches or opinions means that collaborative work will always succeed.