‘I thought I could bring bit of experience to their holidays’
Julie Hastings (58) is the marketing director for Hastings Hotels. She lives in Lisbane with her husband John and they have four children, Gareth (29), Rachel (23), Caitilin (20) and Evie (14). She says:
My first full-time job after university was in a travel agency when I was about 21. I suppose the reason I went into the travel industry was because I studied geography at school and I really enjoyed learning about different places.
I have travelled quite a lot as well — we went to some really nice places on family holidays
which, of course, was very interesting and, after university, I moved to Georgia in America for my Masters degree.
After travelling a bit around the States, I returned home and realised it was time to earn some money. I was one of those people who left school, went to university and had no clue what I wanted to do.
I came across a job advertisement for a travel agency in the city centre and I thought, ‘I’d be good at this’. I always thought of it as being a very happy job, because you’re arranging people’s holiday and it’s a nice feeling. I could advise people on where to go and I really enjoyed that aspect of the job — I thought I could bring a wee bit to their experience.
I got paid about £4,000 a year but I only stayed for one year because I decided to go back to college to study marketing. I was getting paid around £400 a month, which was the most money I’d ever had at that stage — and it was all mine!
I lived out at the time, so unfortunately a lot of it went towards my rent, but I did save up to buy myself a car. There wasn’t a lot left after that.
My father ran our family business, Hasting Hotels, and although he was keen to have me and my siblings working there, we weren’t just handed jobs. We were told to go out, find our way in the world and get some experience first.
A couple of years after getting my marketing degree, my father approached me about a job in sales and I said I didn’t do sales, but I was qualified to do marketing.
He asked, “What’s the difference?” And I said, “Well, if you give me an interview, I’ll tell you!”