Ok where do I start in writing this blog. Let's start at the beginning. With the idea for what we have created and what you have joined. Firstly, thank you for becoming a member. I really hope you find being part of the Cruise Retail Academy a beneficial experience, and please let us know any ideas or suggestions you have on how we can improve the place. We love feedback!
So, my name is Adrian and for 8.5 years I was the Head of Retail at MSC Cruises. This was an amzing job with so much variety, challenge and growth. Across my time, I tried my best to get a community with my own onboard teams and bring them together in a unique way. During my time, we saw that some of the toughest and also most rewarding times came during the COVID shutdown in 2020. This was a truly tough time for the entire cruise industry, and in particular for my teams and the many other retail teams that were onboard. The challenges and the difficulties that they faced were huge both mentally and financially. It was something that was really testing us all in a way which we had never faced before. But also, it was during this time that we came together in a way which we had not done before, as a community all connected together in how to overcome this adversity. We started to create newsletters, we started to connect with Zoom and Teams, and we started to share more ideas and best practise in a way we had never done before.
For me, this was really inspiring and uplifting to see, especially during a period of such incredible fear and uncertainty.
The simple way of connecting people together across the oceans, across the globe and making them feel much more part of a community was really something that I thought could have great merit if done in a positive and inspiring way. So, I parked the idea to one side, and kept on thinking about it, until last year when I made the decision to step out of my comfort zone, quit my job, go travelling and then to work hard to really bring the idea to life in a more ambitious and creative way. And here we are!
I always knew deep down that I wanted to set up my own business and follow the entrepreneur spirit that I think has always been inside me. So, today we start a long journey which I hope you will enjoy being an active part of, in creating a community of shoppies connected together by a common spirit of personal growth, passion, dedication, knowledge and discovery. The idea of the Cruise Retail Academy is providing something really different to what you see in your day to day. No matter who you are, what position you are in, what your background is, this I hope will be a place where you can get inspired, share success and simply connect to many other people who are. Please contribute as much as you want to, we have so many different ways to reach out, connect and share. I really hope you like what we are going to have a go with!
It's time to Illuminate Your Retail World!
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