Staff Spotlight: Olivia Tindley

Title:
HR & Community Manager
Olivia is based on the Gold Coast working as the HR & Community Manager at Global Work & Travel. Having completed a Working Holiday herself in London for 3 years and travelled to over 20 countries and counting she loves working for a company that assists travellers in seeing the world.

What is your favorite travel memory?

There are so many amazing memories that I have! But the stand out would have to be my first trip to Europe! I decided to make the move to London, but started with a month of travelling through Europe! It was a jam packed month but I was able to see so many incredible locations from heading to one of my favourite cities Prague, to Amsterdam, Munich, Berlin, Venice, Rome & Florence! It was winter at the time so it was also my first time seeing snow in Amsterdam & Germany! It was a trip I will never forget!

How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?

Absolutely! I started working at Global when I was on my working holiday in London. It was my first big overseas trip and I had never worked in travel before. Coming from a retail management background I loved working with people but I never thought I would end up in the role I am now and absolutely loving it. Having been at Global for 10 years, now back on the Gold Coast, I have had the opportunity to work in most of our departments in some capacity and have continued to learn, grow & develop as an individual.

What is the best story you've heard from a return student?

There are so many I could name! Having worked within our arrivals team in Australia for a number of year, meeting and seeing travellers arrive to the Gold Coast from the UK, Europe or North America has always been so rewarding. Seeing a number of them being their first time overseas and being super nervous, to staying for their 2 year visa (now 3 years visa), and some even getting sponsored or moving onto permanent visas & now calling Australia home.

If you could go on any program that your company offers, which one would you choose and why?

It's a pretty big list, there are two that are at the top though! I have always wanted to do our Zanzibar Community Volunteer trip! It's always been a dream of mine to go to Africa and I would love to assist in making a difference to local communities in Zanzibar, teaching English to the children and promoting women empowerment. The second is our Monkey Rehabilitation Volunteer Trip in South Africa, I'd love to help with the rehabilitation of the Vervet Monkeys - this is an incredible volunteer trip that I hope one day I can go visit!

What makes your company unique? When were you especially proud of your team?

We are an arrival & support service that offers a premium level of customer service to ensure our customers are fully prepared for their trip. We offer such a huge range of trips so we have something for everyone! I am proud to see the growth of the company over the last few years! We have continued to grow & improve year on year. We now have our very own Social platform where our customers can meet like minded travellers in the same region as them!

What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?

For sure the team! We have such a great team behind us who are all so passionate about what we do & all want to assist our customers on their trips to ensure they are having the best time ever! We are always trying to come up with ideas on how we can be better. We are always introducing new trips to ensure we have a range of options for all of our customers!