TravelMole Time Traveller: Hurtigruten MD Kathryn Beadle

Kathryn Beadle loves working in the travel industry but almost joined the world of dentistry.

In this week's Time Traveller, sponsored by Harp Wallen, she takes a trip down memory lane…

What was your first job in travel?

My entry into travel was not by design but purely by default. My ambition was to become a journalist but as a naive 17-year-old my father suggested that I should initially get experience of being interviewed. The first interview I arranged was with a retail travel agency Hogg Robinson at 9.15 am on a Monday morning and my second was for a job as a dental receptionist at 2pm. I never went to the second interview as I got offered the job with Hoggs and I decided to accept it as I thought it would be a stop gap before I pursued my ambition – 30 years later the 'stop gap' continues. The early 80s were an exciting time to be in retail travel, package holidays were at their peak, when ILG launched their new programmes I used to queue outside their offices in Bromley from 5am to ensure that my customers got their free child places, I had so many requests that ILG used to dedicate me one person for the day.

What was the high point of your career?

For a career that has spanned so many years I have worked for very few companies, only four. The reason for this is that I have enjoyed enormously every company that I have worked for and have so many high points. Without a doubt though the highlight of my career was when I received my first managerial role as a shop manager (we used to call them office managers!). I was the youngest manager in the company and one of only a handful of females. Within a year we were the top shop in the company as I quickly learned you are only as good as your team, and if you have a great team then the sky's the limit. This ethos has carried me through my career and I have been lucky enough to work with some amazingly talented people. I am delighted and proud that many of my previous team members now hold senior roles within the industry.

What was the low point?

The lows of my career have always been when cut backs have had to be implemented. It is always sad when you have to let good staff go. Staff reductions after 9/11 were particularly difficult. I was at Virgin Holidays and all the staff had been amazing during this difficult time so it was very sad that we had to reduce numbers. Luckily when sales picked up we actually took a good proportion of them back.

What's your biggest regret?

Life is far too short for regrets but I am annoyed that I wasted a significant amount of time sitting in a loo cubicle in the 80s! As a young manager I had a young team who I wanted to impress and when it came to staff nights we used to take it in turns to get ready in the loo as this possessed the only mirror. They took hours, I had no idea what took so long and I certainly didn't want them to think that I wasn't doing whatever they were, so I used to lock myself in the loo and pretend I was doing the same! Now I look back the case full of cosmetics that they took in with them was probably the giveaway.

What would you be doing now if you weren't in travel?

I honestly can't imagine doing anything other than travel. I am really enjoying working in the cruise sector and for Hurtigruten. In my current role I have responsibility for not only the UK but other markets including the US which involves me travelling a lot. I still get really excited on every trip I take.

Time Traveller is sponsored by Harp Wallen www.harpwallen.co.uk