Redundancy hasn’t deterred Madison Buckley-Schaumberg from keeping her eye on the prize: a return to FCTG and a seat at the leadership table by 2040.

“I want to be the Global Head of People & Culture by 2040. I made this decision at 18 after working under Skroo and Jude for 4 years at Spicers Retreats; I was completely inspired by the Flight Centre culture and Skroo’s leadership,” Madison proudly says. 

In 2019, Madison was promoted to Assistant Team Leader at Flight Centre Balwyn in Victoria, qualifying for Global Gathering - FCTG’s peak reward and recognition program - in 2020... before COVID came and disrupted her momentum. 

“I had started to plan my education and career moves around this goal. I studied HR, completing the grad program in 2020 so when COVID hit it really threw a spanner in the works,” she recalls.

Working through COVID, Madison stayed on for the majority of 2020, before making the difficult decision to leave on her own accord in December 2020 to continue her career progression elsewhere.

“I became disengaged and knew I wouldn’t be able to continue my career development in this current climate. I figured I could still focus on my end goal despite not being employed at FCTG.

“I want to come back one day...when the world opens up again. In the meantime, I’m sharpening my skills and am so happy to be able to remain connected to the alumni while I bide my time.” 

FCTG’s current Head of People & Culture, Allisa O’Connell, couldn’t be happier at the prospect of someone vying for her job.

“There is no greater reassurance than knowing people are gunning for your role - our future is in great hands when we know there are capable people willing to learn and grow to develop their career potential.

“The worst-case scenario for a leader is knowing there is no succession plan in place, so whenever I hear someone so passionately lay out their career plans for the future I get really excited.”