Where were you born? In Fort Lauderdale. In fact the hospital where I was born in is less than five miles from our office.
How long have you been in the business? 30 years this month! My first ever job was as a res agent using berthing books for Paquet French Cruises in Miami.
What’s the best part of the job? The product that I sell, because it’s fun to sell and I really believe in it.
What did you want to be as a kid? A lawyer. Because I like to argue (laughs) – and I knew I could make a lot of money doing it.
Ever had a brush with fame? Yes, Richard Simmons, and I’ve met Walter Cronkite and Liam Gallagher of Oasis on board Silversea.
What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done? It’s a tossup between scuba diving with sharks and ziplining in Costa Rica.
What’s your favourite airline? Probably – and I’m not saying this just because I’m in Canada – Air Canada because they have plugs in all the seats and good inflight entertainment. My favourite transatlantic carrier would be Lufthansa.
What do people not know about you? That I really enjoy cooking Thai food and grow a lot of ingredients in my back yard, such as lemongrass.
If you could have 100 pounds of something, what would it be? Caviar.
What was your worst holiday? I wouldn’t say I had a worst holiday, but flying home once from Greece someone had olive oil not very well secured and it dripped over all over everyone and I felt – and smelled - like a salad.
When were you happiest? On my honeymoon in Santorini.
What keeps you awake at night? The same thing that keeps anyone in my position awake: how to keep our ships full and our guests happy.
What’s on your iPod? A very wide array of music from The Beatles to The Who to baroque classical music to music from the 40s.
What will be the biggest challenge for the industry in the next 12 months? Being able to adapt to the continuing geo-political changes around the globe.
Whom do you most respect in the industry? Bob Dickinson. I had the opportunity to work with him and he has the uncanny ability to convert people’s beliefs to his own – to actually change their way of thinking.
If you could change one thing about the industry what would it be? To have less expensive and better air lift to all of our destinations.
Where’s your next trip? Next week to Sao Paolo, then Madrid the week after.
What do you hope to be doing in 10 years? I hope to be running a cruise line, and retire 10 years after that.
