No two career journeys looks the same and by sharing our own experiences we can help to inspire others. Here’s Rosy’s development story …
Rosy Elstone, Director, Culture
My development story starts, believe it or not, with dropping out of college! Having been academic all my life, at 16 I realised I didn’t want to blindly go to University without a clue of what I wanted to be when I grew up, so I decided to leave college and get a job while I thought about my options. While I pondered the big question, I got myself a job working in our Contact Centre. I found this to be such an amazing place to start in the business. There was so much complexity to the role and I learned so much about really varied aspects of Carnival UK, from sales to operations to finance. I found myself fascinated by the business and wanting to stay.
Unfortunately, around the time I was becoming eager to progress, a financial crisis struck and a recruitment freeze was implemented. I ended up spending almost four years in my initial role but while I was there I took all the opportunities I could to get from project work to secondment and also started studying for an open university course.
My next big opportunity came when the Holland America and Seabourn contact centre opened in 2012 and I was successful in my application to be a Team Leader, supporting the set-up of the new department. Line Management was totally new to me and like anyone trying something for the first time, I made some mistakes early on.
When my line manager went on maternity leave, I jumped at the chance to take on the role of Contact Centre Manager where I learned lots about myself. I was loving having the opportunity to step back from focusing on day-to-day operations and taking the time to look for improvements in how we did things and drive new initiatives.
When my line manager returned, I applied to move to P&O Cruises as Onboard Sales Manager. I took on a revenue channel that was worth less than £10m and within five years, turned it into a £100m revenue stream. I was having a great time at work and learning more about how to write and implement strategy and getting others to buy into it. In the years that followed, I was asked to take on various, short term roles, including designing and launching a travel agent loyalty scheme and supporting the sales team to work through strategies for their revenue channels. I was delighted in 2018 when I was promoted to Director of Trade Engagement and Onboard Sales.
My role today…
I had just been about to take a sideways move to another role in the team when the pandemic hit. The role I was moving to wasn’t going to be any use whilst we were in lay-up and my role was going to be made redundant. I was totally gutted to be leaving a team and a job that I really loved. I found myself again stopping to think about what I wanted to do when I grow up! I had grown an interest in corporate culture, diversity, and inclusion and so I updated my C.V. to see what was available outside Carnival. That’s when, in a moment of total serendipity, a role came up in the People Team as Senior Manager, Culture. Since taking on the role I’ve learned so much about what it means to support the business in a HR capacity.
As the business is now building back, my role is expanding and as I write this, I’m a few weeks into an evolution of my role, as Director, Culture. I’m working on projects that ultimately aim to ensure that Carnival UK is a great place to work for everyone, ship and shore, regardless of their background. Work that I couldn’t be more thrilled to be getting paid to do! I’m so glad that this move to a totally new discipline has paid off and I wouldn’t change a thing.
My top tip for anyone wanting to develop in their career…
I’ve had so many moments where I’ve been struck by imposter syndrome. I’ve struggled to label ‘what I do’ as I don’t have a technical skill (and barely a qualification to my name), nor have I followed a traditional career path. I’ve had great mentors, friends and leaders who’ve helped me think about how I can use my transferrable skills in different roles. I almost certainly wouldn’t have applied for some of the opportunities if it weren’t for someone giving me that extra push of confidence. I’ll never forget the faith that they showed in me and will repay it by doing the same for others. Remember, you don’t have to label a relationship as ‘mentor/mentee’ to grab a coffee with someone you respect and talk things through.
I would also strongly advocate for swimming OUTSIDE your lane (respectfully). Prove that you can do the job of the person above you well before that role comes up. Of course, I’m not saying that you step on toes to do this, but I’ve benefitted from volunteering to take on tasks and projects that were ‘above my pay grade’. I’ve been fortunate to have a string of great leaders who’ve been very happy to support me in doing that and guiding me whenever I needed it to help me be successful when I was in a stretch situation.
As Rosy talks about, building a strong network is an important part of development. Visit The Cove for resources including ‘busting networking myths’ or try a short networking exercise.
You’ll also find a full overview of all upcoming development opportunities to in the latest shore learning guide, including our all new Power Hours. A great opportunity to learn new skills and network with colleagues from across the business.