At Mobilleo we would like to give you an exclusive insider on who is running your business mobility service. This month we thought we’d give you a little insight into one of Mobilleo’s main cogs, Mobility Operations Manager Joanna Grindrod.

What is your position within the Mobilleo team?

Corporate Mobility Operations Manager I head up the Mobilleo operations team looking after the day to day running, making sure customer bookings are facilitated and any queries are dealt with by myself & my team, I also work closely with our Finance,Support & Development teams.

What is your background within the travel industry?

I have over 20 years of experience of working in the Travel Industry after studying at college in Leisure & Tourism. I started my career off working on the Fares team at Ayscough Travel (ATPI) working on the best fares/routes & airlines to offer to our customers, over the years I have done everything from Corporate Travel to Meetings, Events, Conference & Incentives working in both Manchester, London & Leeds.

What drew you into working within the Travel Industry?

The Glamour & exploration of travelling to new places. I always wanted to work in the world of travel even from a little girl, I used to get brochures from the local Travel Agents & run my own shop, then when I first travelled on a plane to Tenerife my new choice of career was an air hostess although these days that wouldn’t have been the best of jobs for me as I’m a nervous flyer. I still love to Travel and experience new places & meet new people, it’s a bug that I don’t think I’ll ever lose.

What are your strengths within the role?

Organisation , knowledge & my ability to deal with people.

What is a defining moment/Achievement  in your career?

I’ve had quite a few but the satisfaction from running events worldwide & organising the travel logistics for over 2,000 people to one event with no problems is a highlight, another is dealing with the aftermath of the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull 2 weeks that I never want to repeat but the service we delivered to our clients couldn’t be surpassed.

What is the most embarrassing moment in your career?

Easy insulting Richard Branson! Quite a number of years ago I attended an awards dinner & at the time I used to weekly travel up & down from Manchester to London on the Virgin West Coast train line, while at the awards they happened to win Best Train operator only for me to scoff at what an appalling service they offered very loudly after a couple of lemonades. Well who should happen to but stood right behind me at the time, Only Sir Richard Branson, to be fair he was very nice & gave me a good talking through of his plans for the future, all of which he delivered on & I’ve admired him ever since.

If you want to find out more about Joanna you can visit her LinkedIn profile.