Lisa credits her time at FCTG to many memorable milestones, which include meeting her partner and creating a family together. Hear how stand down helped Lisa become the happiest she has been in a long time.

Lisa started her Flight Centre Travel Group journey in 2003 after returning from a stint of travelling and living overseas. While Lisa knew she wanted to work in the travel industry she never could’ve guessed she would become a Travel Sales Consultant at Sunnybank, one of the busiest stores in Brisbane at the time. While she reflects on her time in store as a crazy one, Lisa dedicates her longevity in the role to her amazing Team Leader and Assistant Team Leader at the time.

“They took the time, saw my potential and were just fun people to be around,” Lisa remembers.

Lisa’s drive and ambition saw her grow to become a Team Leader role and then a role looking after Flight Centre’s regional Queensland businesses, growing the brand awareness and store footprint for the area.

After a few years on the road – staying in small-town motels and travelling via very small regional planes – Lisa became Area Leader of Flight Centre’s North Brisbane businesses until she fell pregnant in 2011 with her daughter, Mia.

Following a short stint as Learning Centre Leader before Mia’s unexpectedly early arrival, Lisa was keen to come back to work in a role that gave her the flexibility she craved as a new mum. Lisa’s leaders at the time valued her expertise and strong work ethic and recognised her potential for a new role which is how she became Product Leader for Travel Associates (TA) in early 2013.

“We were a very lean team then, so I was a bit of recruitment, a bit of training and a bit of operations as well but this was perfect for me – I loved the variety that this kind of role brought me,” Lisa says.

It didn’t take long before Lisa fell in love with the purple powerhouse brand and her fellow TA colleagues. Since 2019, Lisa has been the Brand Manager looking after Brand Events and Partnerships.

“Working in TA, I have been so fortunate to travel to some amazing places – Peru, Tahiti, Hawaii, Fiji. I’ve had so many amazing moments that I am so grateful for. Like everyone at FCTG I love travelling and doing it with like-minded people is even better,” says Lisa.

As a result of the government-mandated halting of the travel industry, Lisa was one of many to be stood down in 2020.

“I thought if it means taking a few months off and stepping down to give the business every chance to survive, I’ll do it,” remembers Lisa.

“I just didn’t realise those few months would turn into over a year! Unfortunately for my family, it was a double whammy as my partner who also worked at FCTG was made redundant in 2020 as well.”

Excluding maternity leave, this was Lisa’s first break from FCTG since 2003 and she learnt a lot from her time away from the business.

“It was quite daunting to try and explain all the work I had done over the 17 years at FCTG and fit it into a resume… actually, just doing a resume was daunting!” Lisa reflects.

Lisa ended up securing a temporary role in a Call Centre and then a permanent role in administration. In total, she was away from FCTG for just over a year, returning to the business, and her role as Brand Manager for Travel Associates, in April 2021.

“I had always dreamed of those clock-in clock-out jobs – as I’m sure we all have – the jobs where you don’t think about work once you leave and are relatively low stress,” Lisa admits.

“These are all good in theory and I got a taste of this in my roles away from the business but it didn’t take long before I was ridiculously bored and desperately missed the excitement of the travel industry.”

As she reflects, Lisa has a lot to be grateful for and embraces her role today with a grounded sense of contentment that only comes from the freedom she was given to explore external opportunities when she was forced to step away from the business temporarily.

“I really missed the creativity we were able to bring into the business to challenge systems and processes, or, to find a new way to bring in revenue.  I don’t take that for granted now.

“I also met my awesome partner Brando at FCTG, and we have 2 gorgeous kids together so I can thank FCTG for that intro too!”

If you’re interested in returning to the business in a Travel Associates role, check out our current opportunities here. Interested in a store that isn’t listed? Our specialist recruitment team is keen to hear from you, please reach out to fctgcareers@flightcentre.com.