HIGH GEAR
A Day in the Life of Ellen Bettridge, President and CEO of Uniworld
ELLEN BETTRIDGE, NAMED PRESIDENT and CEO of luxury river line Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection last August, admits to being high energy. In her new role, that’s a good thing. By March, she was launching not only a brand-new ship, but also a whole new river cruise brand. The ship is
S. S. Joie de Vivre, delightfully Paris-centric and cruising the Seine; the new brand, U by Uniworld, geared toward those ages 21 to 45.
If anyone is up to the task it’s Bettridge, says her boss, Brett Tollman, Chief Executive of Uniworld parent, The Travel Corporation. At the launch of S. S. Joie de Vivre, he applauded Bettridge’s “passion, pride, and excitement.”
STAYING ON TOP OF THINGS_ Originally from Spokane, Washington, Bettridge moved to New York and took her first job in travel so that she could get free tickets home to see her parents. During more than 20 years with American Express, she rose from frontline travel agent to vice president of retail travel. She later held executive posts at Silversea Cruises (president, the Americas) and Azamara Club Cruises (vice president, sales and marketing).
When she joined Uniworld, she moved to Los Angeles, where her days begin early and are fast-paced — just the way she likes it.
“I’m up without an alarm clock and ready to go every morning, with that first cup of coffee in my hands by 5:30,” she says. And before she’s even out of bed she’s checking her phone. Responsible for 18 ships (12 owned and six chartered) operating in Europe, Asia, and Egypt, Bettridge says she wants to know what’s going on.
“I want to know when stuff happens, when it happens,” she says. “I don’t want to know about it hours later.” The team also knows to wake her up at any time, if necessary.
Once assured by Uniworld’s Switzerlandbased operations team that everything is okay, Bettridge then clicks into mom mode. Her youngest daughter, a teenager, often needs more than one wakeup call, she says. “It’s a typical be-a-mom morning, so I start there,” Bettridge laughs.
Then, it’s a 20-minute drive to Uniworld’s headquarters where she arrives around 7 a.m. ready for a day that she says is never typical. “There’s always something going on,” Bettridge says. “That’s something that I absolutely love about this company.” She doesn’t indulge in a second cup of coffee, because her natural energy kicks in. “Everone laughs at me because they say I can’t sit still,” she admits.
COMMUNICATION IS KEY_ In the office, Bettridge says she’s less likely to send an email to one of the headquarters’ 100 employees than to walk over to someone’s desk for a one-on-one. “I’m very much about having everybody feel very accessible to me, and I want their ideas,” she says. “If I have a question for someone, I go directly to the source and ask.”
“I’m very much about having everybody feel very accessible to me, and I want their ideas. If I have a question for someone, I go directly to the source and ask.”
Remote offices also get a form of handson treatment. In addition to daily discussions with operations, Bettridge is frequently in touch with Uniworld’s London and Australia offices.
“I’m not there as a physical presence, but I always want them to feel as if I am around and that my door is open to them,” she says. With the launch of the new U by Uniworld brand, Bettridge has been meeting a lot with her marketing, sales, and product development teams.
She also spends time each day looking at booking patterns for all the ships, noting that Tollman, who has the office next door, “is very supportive, but he expects results,” she says.
Bettridge says her days are pretty much nonstop, and she doesn’t take lunch, even though she admits she knows that’s bad for you. She also dislikes lunch meetings because, “I find that it completely disrupts my patterns and the mode of getting things accomplished,” Bettridge says.
Similarly disrupting are emails, so she tries to find a hunk of time at the end of the day to bang through them, she says. Her goal is to leave the office by 6 p.m. so she can get home to cook dinner and help with homework.
ON A PERSONAL NOTE_ When it comes to home life, Bettridge has assistance from her husband, who is the senior features editor for Cigar Aficionado magazine and works from home.
“I have an incredible husband who is very helpful and very hands-on with our children,” she says. “He smokes and drinks for a living while I travel. We’re the perfect duo,” she laughs.
Of course, being on the road (or on the water) is part of Bettridge’s job, too, and she spends a lot of time visiting the Uniworld ships.
“I love going on board,” she says. “I am responsible for the crew as well. They are all our employees and it’s important that I get to know them and understand any needs they may have,” she says.
In her spare time, she enjoys running, hiking, and entertaining friends over a big meal and good wine. She’s also a fan of historical fiction, especially anything to do with Henry VIII or Marie Antoinette, as well as romantic movies — the favorite go-to movie on her iPad is Sabrina starring Audrey Hepburn.
Bettridge is also a voracious reader of business books and keeps a large collection in her office. Perhaps that’s why starting a new brand for younger cruisers after only months on the job has her completely unfazed.
“From a sales and marketing perspective, it’s finding the right customer and knowing how to market to them,” Bettridge says. “I’m excited and proud to be with an organization that takes risks and leads the way.”•