Introducing an insightful interview with a seasoned journalist-turned-business leader, this blog delves into the multifaceted journey of transforming a passion for storytelling into a thriving career in the dynamic realms of retail and travel. Diving into the backstory, our guest reflects on the pivotal moments that shaped their trajectory, from humble beginnings in local journalism to embracing opportunities in the vibrant travel sector. With a keen eye for emerging trends and dedicated commitment to transparency, they offer invaluable insights into the art of storytelling in both journalism and business. Through candid reflections and illuminating anecdotes, readers are invited to explore how journalistic ethics and digital innovation intersect to drive success in today's ever-evolving landscape. Join us as we unravel the strategies, challenges, and triumphs that define this remarkable journey from newsroom to boardroom.

Let’s get started…

1. Background and Early Career:

Can you share a bit about your journey and how you got started? What inspired you to enter this particular industry, and how has your background influenced your approach?

I started in journalism in local newspapers as a reporter in what was then the conventional way – having gained a vocational NCTJ qualification after university. I was working for a local paper in London when I saw a job advert for a news desk role at Travel Weekly that really appealed to me. It wasn’t so much due to being in the travel sector – it was more about the prospect of becoming very much part of an industry that sounded fun, exciting and full of opportunities. I originally chose journalism because I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, and it felt like a career that would leave many doors open in terms of specialising. At the time I saw the advert, I was open to becoming more specialised and reporting on business or employers. This was because I had become acutely aware, at the local newspaper level at least, that this area was almost totally ignored and yet was probably more important to the readership’s daily lives and local economy than many of the public bodies and organisations that newspapers spent most of their time reporting on. I have always loved to travel, and the fact that this was in the travel industry was a bonus. I had previously worked for a dot-com digital start-up producing content about sports, which is another passion of mine, and that made me realise that it is possible to blur the line between your profession and a personal interest too much.

2. Pioneering Moments: 

Can you highlight some key milestones or moments in your career that you consider pivotal to your success? What challenges did you face in the early stages, and how did you overcome them?

I’ve been lucky that pivotal moments have found me rather than being something I’ve had to go out and seek, particularly early on. Being approached to work for the rival publication of Travel Weekly after a couple of years was very important and a massive confidence boost because it was an unprompted acknowledgement that whatever I had been doing was noticed. Other pivotal moments are now only identifiable as such with the benefit of hindsight. So, the decision to take on the editorship of Travolution when I returned to Travel Weekly was not done with any great plan or vision for the long term, although it did reflect that the online and technology sector was an area I was interested in and believed to be vitally important. In terms of challenges, it’s always been about knowledge, or lack of it, because as a journalist, you really don’t know anything more than what the people you speak to tell you. I’ve never sold a holiday in my life or founded and run a company, but I have been expected to speak to people who have, on their level. Only taking a genuine interest in the subject matter, commitment and time can address this lack of knowledge and the terrible feeling of imposter syndrome that I assume all journalists must have.

3. Storytelling in Business:

In journalism, storytelling is crucial. How do you incorporate storytelling into your business strategies, especially in the context of retail and travel? Can you share an example of a situation where your storytelling skills played a key role in shaping a business narrative?

Storytelling is such a vital part of human culture, and journalism is just a reflection of that. The most important thing to remember is that the stories that most interest and inspire people are almost always about other people. That’s why stories about the ‘who’ will always be more popular than those about the ‘what’. Obviously in B2B journalism, there are plenty of stories about ‘what’, and it is our core duty to report these as a conduit of business-critical information between one side of the market to the other. However, I’ve always believed in the importance of bringing people into your reporting as much as possible. I think the best example of that has been the reporting I’ve done on start-ups because these are essentially stories about people, their backgrounds and their vision every bit as much as how they’ve turned thought into action. I really loved hearing these stories, and it was one of the key drivers for setting up the Travolution Start-Up Summit, which was a forum for more of these ambitious, smart and often incredibly young entrepreneurs to drive the narrative of the companies and organisations they’ve set up, because, as is often said, people buy people.

4. Navigating Public Perception:

Managing public perception is a common aspect of journalism. How does your experience in news editing contribute to your approach to handling the public image of your brand in the retail and travel sectors? Are there lessons from journalism that you've applied to crisis management or brand communication?

As a journalist, you will constantly come across some extremely poor examples of brands trying to manage their public perception, so you come to innately understand what ‘good’ looks like. At the same time, you tend to be extremely suspicious of blatant attempts to manipulate brand perception to the public that don’t bear any comparison to reality. Because of this, the brands I have worked for have tended to not prioritise managing their own public perception, probably assuming that takes care of itself if they’re doing a good job. Having said that, it’s clear that public perception, like storytelling, is inextricably linked to people, and increasingly, it is the journalists, reporters and writers whom you employ as a publisher that need to personify the brand and become its public face to the readership or audience. This makes your people more important than ever, particularly in a crisis when the public will be much less forgiving than if you had just portrayed an overly curated corporate image.

5. Information Adaptation for Business Strategies:

In news reporting, staying updated with information is crucial. How do you adapt your information-gathering skills to stay informed about market trends and consumer behaviour in retail and travel? Can you discuss a scenario where being well-informed influenced a strategic decision for your business?

It’s important to be open to as much information as possible, particularly from the original source. That’s where developing good contacts comes in because these are always going to be your best sources of information that no one else has – yet. That’s why it’s important to attend as many industry events as possible and use the conference sessions as not just an opportunity to create content but also to learn about the industry and the key trends that leading brands and decision-makers are thinking about. We’ve recently launched an initiative called ‘Best Places to Work in Aviation’, which will profile and celebrate companies named as great employers by their employees. Confirmation that we have identified a crucial issue has come from a number of different sources including reports and studies from key contacts and having attended important industry events where the challenge of people and skills has been a major talking point.

6. Sourcing and Verifying Data:

Journalists often verify information rigorously. How do you approach sourcing and verifying data in the business decisions you make in the retail and travel industries? Have there been instances where a meticulous approach to data verification led to a successful business outcome?

It can be challenging to verify data, and because news journalism moves so fast, by the time you have it, it will be out of date. So the key thing is to make sure that the data comes from a reputable source and that you put it in context. There are a number of public information sources, like Companies House and the Office for National Statistics, and many trade bodies and regulators in travel that can be relied on. But these should still always be cited as the source because, despite what some people seem to think, ‘shooting the messenger’ is still not a valid way to discredit a message. A common misconception is that news reporting is the last word on a particular issue. But usually, the topic is not a settled issue, so different views and perspectives only add to the debate. However, not all views are equal, and it’s the journalist’s job to assess whether to give the information they receive credence. Finding sources of verified industry data has resulted in a number of exclusive editorial reports being launched like the annual Travolution ‘Innovation Report’, which analyses data and uncovers key trends in technology investments by travel companies based in the UK.

7.    Balancing Transparency and Business Interests:

Journalistic ethics often emphasise transparency. How do you balance the need for transparency with protecting the interests of your business in the retail and ecommerce sectors? Can you share an experience where transparency positively impacted your business?

There’s a lot of cynicism about transparency in the media. But in some ways, it is one of the more inherently transparent sectors because if anyone wants to know who our clients are, all they have to do is read the magazine or website – we all place our advertising in the public domain. All advertising or promotional content is clearly flagged as such so that it is immediately identifiable from editorial content. Journalists who are considered to act unethically will struggle to establish themselves in a specific industry or locality where trust is paramount, so they will guard their impartiality jealously because it’s in their interests to do so. Of course, publishers are still businesses with commercial interests, so important clients will be offered opportunities to contribute editorially or be invited to attend or speak at events ahead of rivals who do not advertise. No editorial relationship can come with a guarantee of favourable coverage, and I have had many a difficult conversation with good contacts. But, developing trust with key partners has resulted in innumerable exclusive stories that would not have been possible had there not been complete transparency about where the line between editorial and commercial activity lies.

8.    Adapting to the Digital Age:

Journalism has undergone a significant shift in the digital age. How have you adapted to the digital transformation in the retail and ecommerce industry? Are there specific digital strategies that you've found particularly effective in these sectors?

Before I joined Travel Weekly in 2005, I was working in an office with just one computer console connected to the internet. Technology has transformed journalism over the last two decades and has given reporters an increasing number of sources of news and information as well as distribution channels. On the flip side, it has also enabled the rise of citizen journalism – effectively the disintermediation of established media brands – by, essentially, giving the traditional sources of news the ability to cut out journalists entirely and go directly to their audiences or communities. The digital age has also meant that journalists are expected to produce multimedia content – not something that many of those trained in traditional print media entered the profession to do. This digital transformation has served to make the personal brand or online profile of the individual journalist or editor more public and prominent and therefore important for the publishers that employ them. Different channels require different approaches, and it’s important to stay on top of emerging channels. I personally have found Twitter, now X, to be a great platform for finding and disseminating news quickly and building a brand presence, and LinkedIn for more considered content about business-critical issues. As a business, we’re currently experimenting with SMS and messenger apps, TikTok and Instagram because of their ability to build communities at scale, quickly. I spend a lot of time on TikTok but am more of a passive consumer of content than an active content producer. The big talk is now about AI, which I’ve no doubt will be producing more and more of the content we consume in the years to come. However, it will, I think, struggle to replicate the sort of journalism that generates engagement and content audiences want more of. Ultimately, journalists are looking for engagement with their content, and digital platforms give them the ability to track in real time whether that is happening. AI is likely to apply a colder, statistical approach and leave humans to be more creative.

9.    Covering Industry Trends:

In journalism, covering industry trends is a common practice. How do you stay ahead of trends in the retail and travel industries, and how does this inform your business strategies? Can you share an example of a trend you identified early and successfully incorporated into your business model?

An emerging trend that was turbocharged during Covid was, obviously, working from home. This was interesting for travel, which already had a large and successful homeworking sector. So, we identified areas like remote-selling platforms, particularly those incorporating video calls, as potentially something whose day had come. For me today, it’s highly unusual that I do an interview over the phone rather than on a video conferencing app. This switch in formats has led to a proliferation of content outputs because you can record a video call to create a webcast and transcribe the conversation to create written content. You can also record just the audio to create a podcast, so one interview can generate multiple different forms of content for multiple channels.

10. Communicating Business Stories to the Public:

How do you approach communicating your company's story to the public and customers, and how does your journalism background shape this narrative? Are there specific storytelling techniques from journalism that you find effective in the business context?

This, again, comes down to how, as journalists, we have the greatest impact communicating what businesses stand for through their people and putting them front and centre. People buy people, and they, much more than a profit loss account or marketing strategy document, personify a company’s vision and values. As a business, we have decided to invest in people and in having the skills in our business deployed in the right places to maximise their impact. We’re a partnerships business, just like most of our clients, and we have evolved our marketing department into a customer success division that reports in a transparent, data-driven and collaborative way to the accounts it manages – in exactly the same way our editorial team does when handling stories and working with clients and contacts. We want to be doing more of this sort of communication in the future and look forward to celebrating our individual colleagues’ achievements and successes as well as those of our business as a whole.

Thanks for reading and joining our conversation. This interview not only illuminates the professional evolution of our guest but also underscores the enduring power of storytelling in shaping industries and fostering meaningful connections. From navigating challenges to embracing digital transformation, their journey serves as a testament to the enduring relevance of journalistic principles in the fast-paced worlds of retail and travel. As we look ahead to the future, armed with insights gleaned from experience and a commitment to transparency, their story inspires us to chart our own path with purpose and passion.

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