After an incredible career dedicated to the business travel industry and Focus Travel Partnership, Hazel Dawson’s phased retirement over the last two years – where her responsibilities have already been seamlessly transitioned, has been completed, and she has officially retired. We caught up with Hazel for a special Q&A ahead of her recent retirement party!
What are you most proud of during your career with Focus Travel Partnership?
I can wholeheartedly say that I am very proud of all the work I’ve done during my time at Focus. Although the air programme was already well known when I joined over 8 years ago, more was needed in terms of growing it and ensuring that our TMCs got the maximum benefit. Over the years, we’ve negotiated, brought in more suppliers, and secured the programme as marketing leading, I guess my proudest moment relating to this was when we got the go-ahead to build, what is now, a hugely successful relationship with British Airways. The continued growth and success of the Focus air programme has been led by the brilliant Dani Ives and the team for the last two years now.
Outside of my specific role within Focus, I am super-proud of the entire Focus Central team. Each person is an expert in their own field, and we work so well together as a team which has been exceptionally important over the years. I won’t single out any specific person – a team is only successful if everyone contributes and steps up where needed .. and our team does exactly that .. we look after each other!
Who has had the greatest influence in your career to date?
Within the industry, the person who gave me the opportunity and encouraged me to grow within the field of Supplier Relations is Mervyn Williamson. I joined Phoenix Travel as a PA back in he mid-1990’s and following the company being sold to TQ3, I was offered the opportunity to take on Supplier Relations under Mervyn’s guidance .. and I have never looked back – thank you Mervyn!
Outside of the industry, the one person who has encouraged me to continue to do what I most enjoy is my sister. She is the strongest person I know and despite us working in completely different industries, she’s always there to support and encourage me to achieve my dreams.
What are the most important elements in your work ethics?
I need to trust and respect the people that I work with, as that’s the way I have always wanted the industry to see me. If I don’t trust someone, I find it hard to build a relationship and my job has been to drive strong relationships for many years. I would like to think that I’ve been a good communicator and mentor to colleagues as again, these are two very important elements to a successful career – I ask questions if I don’t understand things and try to pass on my knowledge where needed. Above all is that I can say that I am passionate about what I do – my friends have always told me that when I talk about my job and my career with Focus, my passion massively shines through.
Now that you are retiring from Focus, what will you do with your time?
Those who have already retired often say that they don’t know how they ever had time to work .. and that’s where I am at the moment. With summer in full swing, I have so much going on in my personal and family life – my garden looks the best it’s ever done as I have time to spend in it, I stay active with Pilates classes plus I’m back to doing my open water swimming, and I continue with daily walks with my adorable spaniel Nell, finding new places to explore together.
I love to keep in touch with friends and family with the downside to that being that I seem to drive an awful lot, plus drink coffee and eat cake way too many times for my good! My biggest joy when I reduced my hours for my phased retirement with Focus, though, was getting on a train at 0930hrs (using my free pass!), going up to Peterborough, meeting my sister for lunch and then coming home .. how indulgent is that!
However, as many of my industry friends know, I am also a full-time carer for my husband who has Parkinson’s, so we have lots of activities which are Parkinson’s related. This has grown over the last 9 months into me being an Ambassador and Volunteer for Parkinson’s UK which I am immensely proud of. Since deciding to go part-time and eventually retire from Focus, I wanted to find something that filled the goal of ‘giving back to the community’, however, many volunteer roles require commitment to be available on set days or at specific times which I didn’t want to be restricted by. Thankfully the role I have taken on came quite by chance when I discovered that a local Parkinson’s Support Group in Reigate, Surrey, was about to close as they didn’t have enough volunteers to run it. I now organise the monthly meetings with guest speakers, run any events for our members and produce an informative newsletter on a monthly basis. I was totally out of my comfort zone when I started but I know so much about Parkinson’s now and am passionate about providing support for those affected by the condition. I support research studies and campaigns to build awareness of the condition and hopefully find ways to limit symptoms for the 153,000 people living with Parkinson’s in the UK.
Looking back, is there any one role that stands out?
When I look back at some of the jobs in my 40+ years of working, a funny story always comes into my head. My father asked me one day “will you ever stop travelling and settle down?” To most people, this is an innocent question from their father .. but for me, it was funny as I was born and brought up in Hong Kong, travelled on BOAC and Qantas as well as on ships on a regular basis, all due to his career .. and I couldn’t believe that he wondered why I hadn’t settled down!
So, the answer to the question is that the job that taught me so much in terms of life skills and gave me so many stories that I could write a book was when I was a tour guide for Contiki 18-35 coach holidays. Every day was an adventure for all of us. Most adventures were fun ones, but I had to deal with so many “unscheduled” challenges (property damage, lost people and goods, a coach fire to name just a few).. but these made it the most fantastic job around. Having escorted nearly 1000 young people (mainly Aussies and Kiwis) around the UK and Europe, I can truly say that I became very confident as a person and passionate about my role as a mentor, which I believe I brought to my roles within Focus.
Have you got any words of wisdom as you enter your next chapter?
Love the job you do .. if you don’t enjoy it, then try to move on as there’s nothing worse than working with people who don’t really want to be doing what they are employed to do. And always find something to smile about every single day!
