Cruise Control

 

Cruise Control

Words: Catherine Murray

Add opportunity and risk to a healthy dose of chance and you’ve found the ingredients of one woman’s success. Ann Sherry is the CEO of Carnival Australia, Australasia’s largest cruise ship operator, and believes good fortune comes to those who do their best and have a go. “There’s a piece of alchemy that goes with most people’s success that is peculiar to them, so I was lucky enough to have my piece,” she claims. “Ultimately life is a great journey and a great exploration – you find things to do and you have a go.”
 
It seems such a simple mantra for someone who is changing the face of the cruise shipping industry. Ann took over the helm of Carnival Australia in 2007 at a time when the sector’s reputation needed some repair. Since then the only consistent element in the company has been change. “We have really looked at every single aspect of the business - nothing has been left out,” explains Ann. “Everything from the sort of food that is served on board the ships, the number of crew, where we hire people (for example to provide economic opportunities in the South Pacific), right through to the way we answer telephones in the office and do marketing campaigns. So, absolutely everything has changed, and the benefits are pretty obvious with 20% growth year on year and 20% plus in some years since I became CEO. We are now the fastest growing cruise market in the world and the benefits of it are there for everyone. For people in the business there are long term jobs along with the excitement and energy that go with such dynamic growth. People have to work hard but this creates opportunities.”
 
Ann herself is not one to shy away from doors that open, whether they’re in her path or slightly off the beaten track. She’s also the first to admit that some career choices throughout her life have been anything but logical. Her first career was in radiography, and coming from a family of health professionals it seemed like the obvious choice. “My parents had a pharmacy in the main street of town, and we walked by there on our way home from school,” recalls Ann. “My family were all pharmacists, doctors and nurses, so health really was a logical choice for me. In keeping with the times, my mother valued education and a good marriage. She was very keen that I meet and marry a doctor and thought a hospital was a great place to work. That’s how I ended up in radiography. So, my first career choice was my mother’s. The rest have been mine!”