TIME - Travel Industry Mentor Experience
TIME - Travel Industry Mentor Experience
Career Cultivation and the Sweet Taste of Success
Embark on a transformative exploration of mentorship and connection as Mira Yates, the vibrant membership manager from Cato, unveils the impact of the TIME mentorship program on her career voyage in Australia's tourism landscape. Alongside her, Arnaud, the charming French (dragon) queen of croissants, shares an unexpected twist on the grit and endurance of marathon running and how they mirror the strides one must take in career longevity. Together, their stories weave a tapestry of guidance, growth, and the pursuit of passion that will leave you pondering the relationships shaping your own professional journey.
This episode is an aromatic blend of personal development and cultural delight, taking you from the bustling industry events of Sydney and Brisbane to the historical twists of the beloved croissant. You'll uncover the essence of meaningful networking, where authenticity triumphs over mere connections, and community support becomes the cornerstone of thriving in the tourism sector. So join us, for a conversation that promises to enrich your palate and your path, with laughter, lessons, and a shared love for the experiences that unite us.
Hello and welcome back to the latest episode of the Time Podcast, Today with the one and only the French drag queen of the croissants, also known as Arnaud. Welcome back, Arnaud.
Speaker 2:Hi Tim, I didn't know I was a French drag queen of croissants, but anyway, I'll take that I try to find something new for you every time we record.
Speaker 1:and it just came spontaneously to my mind, so you figure why. Anyhow, I know you brought someone to the studio. Who do we have today?
Speaker 2:Today we have Mira Yates. She's the membership manager at Kato. Welcome to the podcast, Mira. How are you?
Speaker 3:Nice. Thank you for having me. I'm really good and it's really nice to be here, thank you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, thank you for your time. To start with, on a Friday afternoon, we always appreciate that people come here to share their time experience. But before we get started, you may ask one question to Arnaud, just to warm him up a bit.
Speaker 2:Okay, yes, please ask Far away.
Speaker 3:One question. Okay, tell us about your last Sunday.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow, that was a good one. Very well prompted, timo. Tell us about your last Sunday. Oh wow, that was a good one. Very well prompted, timo. My last Sunday was really good. I ran the Canberra Marathon and I was really, really happy with all of it. It was a great experience. Yeah, thank you for asking.
Speaker 1:How was your last Sunday? Awesome, and, as we know, korea is also like a long distance run. It takes a long time. Obviously, we all work 40, 50, 60, I don't know how many years, a lot of years, and obviously along the way, we need some advice to understand how to either run or how to continue. This is obviously where time comes into play. That wasn't the best bridge ever, but hey, we just take it. So, mira, tell me all about your very first time you heard about time. When was that? How was that? Where was that? What were your thoughts?
Speaker 3:The very first time I read about time actually was on LinkedIn. I think Alice posted about her experience and I saw it and I started to research it more, because I was at that point exactly where I wanted some inputs and yeah, and then I started diving into it and I loved it and signed up within, I think, a month later.
Speaker 1:And what did interest you?
Speaker 3:First of all, that it's available. I wasn't aware that Australia and the tourism industry had this amazing offering right. So that was the first thing. The second one was that I realized that there's multiple intakes, which I think is a big advantage, and talking to people, that's one of the things that I realized that there's multiple intakes, which I think is a big advantage. And talking to people, that's one of the things that I keep hearing. People are surprised about it. They don't have to start it in January. So I was exactly the same. I realized there's this intake quite soon after I found out about it and, yeah, I just wanted a mentor. I love the idea. I think it's important for everyone and it was definitely the right decision for me too.
Speaker 2:Was it something that you were exposed with in your past career, because I understand that you're coming from overseas, from Europe, and when you started in your professional career, was it something that was already a thing back in? What was that in austria, where you?
Speaker 3:where you worked. I did come in contact with, uh, mentorship programs, um, sometimes a bit more through university and and and and more that kind of realm, and I worked in a, in a, um, in a consultancy company, so mentoring between the different consultants was a big thing. That was more an internal logic, so I definitely knew the benefits. And, yeah, and then having, like you mentioned, I'm from Europe. I came here five years ago, so it's a bit tough to have an overview of an industry in a continent that you haven't grown up in. And that was the biggest pull for me to have, um, someone that understands the industry, that can give me an outside perspective of my little bubble. I'm in brisbane too, right, so, um, and yeah, I think the combination of all these factors was, yeah, I signed up.
Speaker 1:I mean just for the records.
Speaker 3:Brisbane, of course, is a very international metropolis of the world, a cultural center and very soon also the host of the Olympic Games, so it's not necessarily a little bubble, but I understand it's getting bigger.
Speaker 1:So you were matched up, obviously, with someone. Then Did you hear about your mentor before, or how was that when you were introduced to? Who's going to be your partner in crime on this pathway?
Speaker 3:It was a funny one in that case. I was actually asked if I'm okay if my mentor is currently not working in the classical tourism industry, and I asked some follow-up questions and by Googling the follow-up questions I kind of realized who they are proposing to me and I said, yes, absolutely, that's fine. So that's kind of how I got around this, but yeah, and then I was introduced to Scott. Scott Barber was my mentor and yeah, met him the first time at the inauguration ceremony.
Speaker 2:That's when you met right.
Speaker 3:Yes, I met him just before there and, yeah, we hit it off straight away.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so can you tell us a little bit about that first time, because obviously you don't necessarily know way. Yeah, so can you tell us a little bit about, like that first time? Like, because obviously you don't necessarily know each other. You've obviously, like you said, you've done your research and how was your, how was the first time?
Speaker 3:yeah, the first time was um, we, we had a bit of time um to ourselves, uh, after the introduction workshop, so where I think think it's very, very good that everybody's in the same room and usually I think Penny goes through the kind of framework and gives you an idea of what to expect. I think that's very helpful. And after that we had an hour where we just talked. And I think the first session is why am I here? And I think that was the main reason, but for me personally it was also why are I here? I think that was the main reason, but for me personally it was also why are you here? Because in my books, I'm like I know what I'm going to get out of this, but why are you dedicating so much of your time to this? And then, why are you going to? Yeah, that's a lot of time commitment and you're doing this for free. You're doing this for yourself, and I kind of questioned that. That. That that was a really good starting conversation.
Speaker 2:So we both knew why we're here and and took it from there that's an interesting one, because I don't think that we've ever had anyone approach their mentor and ask them like, what was their motivation behind? You know the, the mentoring them or mentoring in general, and were you surprised by the answer that you received from Scott?
Speaker 3:Absolutely, and I think it kind of followed us through the entire experience, because his answer is that he's also here to learn.
Speaker 3:His answer is that he's also here to learn and now, having completed it and having experienced kind of the relationship that you can build and the give and take that you have on a day-to-day basis, I definitely understand it better and I do think he definitely got something out of the experience very different to what obviously I'm getting out of the experience, got something out of the experience very different to what obviously I'm getting out of the experience. But I think it's more a bit about being nervous at the beginning and then and kind of not understanding why somebody would put in the time, literally yeah, and he just gave me really good answers. He's like it's it's something that he wants to also do and then to to learn from other people, but also to pass on um his experience and it's it's part of of of his growing process too, and I and I love that and he's done it in the past before, so he also knew, um how powerful it could be. Yeah, yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1:So in hindsight, what was your light bulb moment of the six-month journey and what was Scott's light bulb moment? Please share now.
Speaker 3:Yes, I mean it might be easier to answer than his. I think for me it was about how do I want to shape my career in the short, medium and long term. I think Scott helped me a lot, trying to visualize a bit better of where I want to go. He kind of gave me a lot of confidence in certain things that I was questioning. So so that it wasn't this one moment, it was this kind of continuously billing and then him questioning my answers too.
Speaker 3:So every time I thought like, oh, this, you gave me an exercise easy, here it is. He was like you sure that's it? Are you sure you thought about this? Have you thought about this angle? And I'm like no, I haven't, thank you, I'm gonna go back to the drawing board. So there were loads of these little moments where I just um, expanded my horizon and also the way of how I looked at different things. The other thing was um, for me it was also a lot about work-life balance and, yeah, he also helped me a lot about this, because questioning my normal, for example, like okay, this is my baseline, how can I improve? And then saying like, hey, maybe your baseline is not how every baseline should be you know what I mean? Like there's some kind of elements were there which was very interesting for me because, again, it might be a confidence thing to understand how it is within the same industry with other companies, or just, yeah, in general, questioning what you think is normal might not be normal for everyone.
Speaker 1:So I think you started your new role in January this year, if I'm correct. Yes, did the mentoring part have anything to do with you swapping jobs, trying a new career, not a new career, trying a different aspect of the career, or or was that completely unrelated?
Speaker 3:I don't think anything was unrelated within that six-month period, right? So my journey was not, hey, I'm starting this to change jobs. That wasn't the beginning. My journey was I'm starting this to understand better how I can grow in my current position and if I realize that I can't grow, what are my other options. So this is kind of how I approached it. So it's also the first couple of months was a lot of what is my day-to-day helping in day-to-day situations, and then kind of from this building of what I don't want to do and what I like to do, right? So that's kind of what was the first exercise. And then, when I got to the point where I started thinking, okay, I want to have a look around, if actually all the things that I'm discovering and that I'm kind of fragmenting in my mind into one perfect job is actually out there. Plus, yeah, it then just kind of happened and then there were different options out there and I mean probably people know that once you then start looking I have never looked really you see that there's actually quite a few options out there. And yeah, and then the cater job came along and my niche in the tourism industry is the touring industry.
Speaker 3:In the tourism industry is the touring industry, and that was a perfect fit. That's what I've been doing for the last five years. I worked with two operators across Australia and then Asia, and by joining Cato, I knew most of the people already and, yeah, that was a perfect fit. I really enjoyed it. Plus, yeah, it's a national company. I worked for an international company before. Meaning you wake up in the morning and people, there's two time zones that have worked since you locked off ideally. So that means early morning calls, very late calls, and by working for an Australian organization, surprise, people don't want to have calls at 10 pm. It's just not the normal. You know what?
Speaker 2:I really don't know. I can't relate, actually I wouldn't know.
Speaker 1:You work international anyways, so that's different. As soon as you have several time zones involved, things get complicated, right? Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:I do agree. But look, I'm glad I mean I'm really glad that we've had that open conversation about that, because what I hear sometimes not within the time sort of like networking events and all that sort of stuff, and I'm sure that we'll get to that but sometimes within the industry I hear some people that are not willing to invest for their employees in the time program because they have that fear that their employees are doing that. So then they are stepping up to looking for another job somewhere else, um, and so it's interesting to for you to, to to share your thought process. So then I think that you know, like, if we have people who listen to the podcast and we know we have millions of them, um, then at least least it talks a little bit more openly about the motivations why you did that, and then for them, as employers, to potentially address this, you know, maybe at an earlier stage or in the career path of their own staff. So I think you know it's a thank you for bringing that up, or to talk about it openly.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's why I'm here. Any other questions?
Speaker 1:Haves, haves, Just wait. We're just in a one-off phase.
Speaker 2:I think that we also want to talk about your experience at networking events. You say that you're based in Brisbane, and so well, yeah, I just wanted to know. Uh, you say that you're based in Brisbane, and so, um, well, yeah, I just wanted to know, like you know, how, how many of the those, those events have you? Have you had the chance to? To go to? Um, have you been to um events in other States? Um, you know, obviously, if you, if you work for Cato, potentially you would have gone to some of the Sydney ones. So, yeah, can you share with us a little bit about that?
Speaker 3:Sure, sure. So that was kind of my commitment initially. Also, I definitely knew I would fly down for the first meeting, I would fly down for the graduation, and then initially I tried to map it out that I could attend as many of the Sydney functions as possible. I think besides those two, I managed another one or two and then additionally there would be other. So, like the Cato Christmas party, I was there and there was a time event in Brisbane that I could go to as well, so I did go to a few of them.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think it's beneficial, if you're in other states, to fly down to Sydney, obviously, particularly for the first and the last one. And it's also just talking about bubbles. Again, I'm going to call Sydney a bubble too, so that nobody in Brisbane is angry at me calling it a bubble. But people know each other and I think, um, particularly if we work in the tourism industry, you need to understand who knows each other and um, to experience that. Yeah, I think it's, it's it's beneficial on a lot of different levels yeah, I mean I.
Speaker 2:I would imagine also that the size of the events in Brisbane are probably obviously not the same size as the one in Sydney.
Speaker 3:Getting there, getting there. We had a K2 event in Brisbane recently and a lot of people actually came up from Sydney. So particularly in the touring sector, brisbane is also bigger brands are are moving up. So it's it's getting a bit more of a hop um. But yeah, the funny thing is brisbane is everybody has worked together at flat center at one stage of their career. So if you are not from brisbane, uh, it's even more um visible that everybody knows each other. Right, it's even more visible that everybody knows each other.
Speaker 1:It's a small world in the end, that's for sure. That's for sure, very much so. Which of the workshops were you actually able to attend?
Speaker 3:I did a really cool workshop on change Funny enough because I worked in a change management before and it was really interesting to actually look at it from my personal career. Of which change element am I in currently? Obviously, I think everybody in time has some kind of change element in their career as some kind of change element in their career. And what I found really interesting there is, you know, with change, a lot of emotions come with it and there's excitement and there's also sometimes change happens and if you don't feel like you're part of that change process, then you actually have other emotions too. And even though I did that professionally before, having somebody just kind of say, hey, take a second and just look at where you're at in this process was beneficial on a personal level. But also I found it funny that I just needed someone else to kind of put the mirror up and take a look at where I was, and it was super beneficial Because if you understand that, then it gives you power to act right.
Speaker 1:I think that's also such a fantastic example as to why you need someone, a mentor, whatever from another side, even sometimes telling you what you already know but potentially not have mentioned, emotionally registered for yourself, you know. So it's a very good example of that love that yeah, so that I know yeah, I mean, um, yeah, I don't have anything to add to that.
Speaker 2:to be honest, did you? Was there other other workshops when you because obviously I I imagine that you get prompted to you know, like the other workshop that are taking place, whether it's for the events in brisbane but also the ones in sy or in Melbourne Were there some of them that you missed out on and then you wish that you had attended?
Speaker 3:I think every single event. They sound interesting. I think from the organizational point of view, when you go to your initial time event, you miss the workshop because you speak to your mentor. So there was this crucial um meeting up for me and I think it was um. At my graduation I also participated in this really really cool uh workshop where we ended up dancing and and uh, it was really cool um, but yeah, otherwise I think that the workshops are also always really really interesting, but it's it's a time constraint, if, if I can make it to all the Sydney ones.
Speaker 3:The Brisbane one I went to didn't actually have a workshop. It had a panel discussion as the as the elements, which was also super interesting because like and maybe that's the time for me to mention this because you asked me about networking functions in general I, particularly in an american environment, don't really like networking functions because it is a very much like I'm going there to be seen and to get something out of it, and before I attended my first time networking function, that's how I expected it to be. It's like everybody is just going to be there for whatever reason and then you join the time community and you actually realize people are there because they want to be there and because they want to be helpful, because they want to connect, they want to empower and they want to be super nice. And I hope when people listen to this, this is really the case. Whether in the Brisbane community or the Sydney community or the overall community, people are super nice and if you stand at a networking function and you feel uncomfortable, I bet you any money, within 30 seconds to a minute, somebody will walk up to you and completely take that awkwardness away because they've been there Right.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, I, I love that part, even, even, probably more than the workshops, even though I love the workshops too. It's this, it's this and really and that goes back to the initial thing why are people doing this as mentors? They are literally doing this because they believe in the industry and they believe in empowering other people and that creates this special energy. Without sounding stupid, but these networking functions, I think, are interesting because of that element too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, not stupid at all. I think that really describes the energy of a normal time meeting quite well. It's not a show pony, you know function I mean, sometimes Anu has pretty nice shoes, but otherwise, you know, it's just all about being there and connecting. And that makes a difference totally. And it's not connecting for oh, what can you do for me? But it's connecting for how can I help you?
Speaker 3:absolutely, and it would be. I've also had the experience that other mentors would work up to me and say, oh, where are you at in your mentorship program? And I would just say kind of the discussion I currently have with my mentor and they would be like, oh, that's a really good point, have you thought about this? And just within like a five minute conversation, give me another point of view. And because you can be so honest, because you know everybody has is in this situation, it's um super valuable and, yeah, empowering, I think absolutely so.
Speaker 1:If you have to describe your time with time in one word, what's the word?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I stick with empowering Our thoughts.
Speaker 1:I was expecting that?
Speaker 3:Yes, thank you, you asked it at the right time.
Speaker 1:All right, it's time for your favorite question, Arnaud my favorite question?
Speaker 2:My favorite question would be it's actually one of Timo's, but my favourite question would be for you. Obviously, you haven't graduated a long time ago, but if you were, you know, projecting yourself in one year, two years, would you do time again?
Speaker 3:Absolutely yes, and I would do it again as a mentee and I would do it again as a mentor. Okay, yeah, on every element. I love it and yeah, yeah for sure?
Speaker 1:So now time for your really favorite question. Arno, Must have been a really favorite question.
Speaker 2:No pressure. I think that you know with you it's going to be, it's going to be a really interesting one, especially because you know you have kind of a diverse you know background and all that sort of stuff. What we usually ask, I guess, is to share something with us that you know, background and all that sort of stuff. What we usually ask, I guess, um, is to share something with us that you know, like not a lot of people in the industry know. Timo like likes to call it a bit of a dark secret, um, but I was just wanted to know if she could, if she could, share a little dark secret dark secret.
Speaker 3:good question, dark secret, good question. I mean, I can that's probably not a secret. I'm a terrible singer, so don't ever, ever get me involved in karaoke.
Speaker 2:Good to know.
Speaker 3:Yes, even though that's kind of how I met my husband, funnily enough. So he has no, he has a special.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but it's not really dark secrets. But I tell you that story. I think it's um, it kind of shows a bit of my background and also why I love the industry. Um, I actually met my husband in bogota, in colombia, in a hostel, both of us traveling by ourselves, and um it, yeah, and I, I walked up to him and said like hey, where can I get a beer? And he's like well, we're going to this karaoke bar. Would you like to join? And I did. And then he sang and he's a terrible singer. And then I sang and I'm a terrible singer, and yeah, things, things went from there and now we're nine years on, second baby on the way, and I've moved to his country. He moved to mine first. He can speak German too, so we lived in Austria for a while. But now, yeah, it's not a dark secret and not much of a secret, but it's a little story.
Speaker 1:It's a great story and the headline I had in mind was, straight away, the howling wolves. The headline I had in mind was, straight away, the howling wolves.
Speaker 2:You know like love can happen in so many different places, and obviously your lack of talent on both sides actually brought you together, which is a great story. So you don't have to be an expert at anything. You can always find someone that will love you for having a big lack of that talent. You know what I mean.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I love it. We're turning this into a dating advice. Yes, be yourself.
Speaker 1:Let me put it back on a career growth pathway. Embrace your opportunities right.
Speaker 2:Yes, well, you know, I think that we can say that we're happy for you to, you know, make the industry a little bit more rich because of you know, some things that you've brought with you from Europe.
Speaker 2:So, thank you, thank you to my fellow europeans here this is one of the few uh european only podcasts we've done so far exactly a few months ago I was in salzburg, um, and at the airport they have a counter for people who think that they booked tickets to go to Australia. Yeah, it's actually quite funny and they even have a big sign. Like I remember, at the baggage carousel when I was waiting for my bag there was something. There was a telco that was doing an ad and cross off the LIA of Australia just to make fun of that. I think it's quite funny.
Speaker 3:It's a funny one. I think in every souvenir shop in Austria you get that kangaroo sign and it says there is no kangaroos in Austria. Number one selling item.
Speaker 1:Just shows. There's not much more on offer in Austria, right? No, not much.
Speaker 3:I think if you put Austria on the Australia map 100 times, 200 times, it's tiny. I guess we have a big ego based on our history Nice to hear. I mean imperial history. I hope that's clear.
Speaker 1:That's why we have palaces and royal family history.
Speaker 3:We used to rule most of Europe pre-Hitler times so I don't want to get into that discussion.
Speaker 2:Going back to the story of the croissant, everyone should know on record that basically this is where it's coming from, from austria right, yes, every austrian knows that.
Speaker 2:Not a lot of french people know that french people don't really know that, but you know, I think it's a, it's a, it's a really beautiful story. But again, like going back to the, to the french, because we need to, I need to show a little bit of pride there. You know, we've taken a lot of things from you know, our queens that have come from other countries and we've always perfected it right.
Speaker 1:That's why our ice creams are better and our pastries are better, right yes, well, thank you so much for your time, your insights, especially the last 60 seconds. That was um, yes, thank you. Highlight of my life. All right, um, but anyhow, we're actually at the end of the podcast because we're on time. Thank you so much for joining us and for sharing your insights. I really appreciate that, and do make sure you come back to Sydney to catch up with us in person, for sure.
Speaker 3:Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:And we'll see you in Brisbane then as well.
Speaker 3:Yes, please Let me know when you come up here.
Speaker 1:Will do. It's a threat and a promise.
