“DO NOT BE EMBARRASSED BY YOUR FAILURES” – RICHARD BRANSON
Due to confidentiality, no names or finer details are disclosed in this post. But let your imagination run wild. Royal families. Forbes 10. Iconic innovators. Professional athletes and Oscar-winning actors. Successful designers and famous supermodels. Millionaires. Billionaires.
I have worked in an industry the past few years epitomising the playground of the rich and famous. Luxury yachts are the assets and toys of the world’s wealthiest. The most elite. Most accomplished and most acclaimed. Working on several super yachts has afforded me the opportunity to host – and meet – iconic and recognisable figures in society. To be in the same room, within the same space as some who make very impactful and influential decisions worldwide. As service stewardess, I have been the ‘front of house’ of their lunches, dinners, parties. Fulfilling the role of an onboard event planner, I have planned and executed high profile events attended by their A-list friends, business partners and family. Each season I have learned something new. Each event planned; each charter, party, VIP dinner hosted.
I have found these lessons to be most relevant, applicable and worth sharing.
THE SURPRISE FACTOR.
Hosting billionaires has taught me unexpectedness. Regardless of prior plans, budgets, travel itineraries and bookings – if the owner changes his mind, plans change. It is what it is. And you either adjust or become the adjustment. Your time is not your own, neither is your schedule. I have learnt to expect the unexpected. To roll with the punches. Preparation is a prerequisite for less stress. The more you anticipate the unexpected, the more proactive and less reactive you can become.
THE NOW FACTOR.
Hosting billionaires has taught me immediacy.
The super yacht industry is a very elite industry. The Luxury Yacht Market is expected to reach $12.8 billion by 2031 (alliedmarketresearch.com). These luxurious vessels can charter anywhere between $150 000 – $3.2 million a week. They can sell anywhere from $275 million upward. What does this mean, essentially? It means money has no boundaries. Work long enough in this industry, and the accuracy of that statement becomes blatantly evidential. A flower delivery for the Mrs via helicopter? Normal. Fresh bagels from New York, whilst at anchor in the middle of the Caribbean? Doable. (boatinternational.com) Personalised toilet rolls, gold toilet seats, gold gym dumbbells? Average. And if the owner wants it now, the owner gets it yesterday. When you’re paying this amount of money to charter or own these yachts, there is no amount of money that won’t be spent to make requests a reality. Immediate service means satisfied expectations.
“STEP FEROCIOUSLY” – JEFF BEZOS
EFFICIENCY.
Hosting billionaires has taught me productivity. There is a common misconception of what working in super yachting entails. Reality TV series ‘Below Deck’ is partially to blame for the most inaccurate, somewhat entertaining depiction. There is a whole lot more to yachting than serving drinks or scrubbing teak. Working in this industry is about getting the impossible done, in the least amount of time, and to the highest of standard. The importance of working in an efficient manner is learned quickly. Thinking fast. Adapting. Always having a Plan B, C…and D.
As for work ethic, tenacity suits efficiency well. I have learned a tenacious work ethic. Not just a driven one, or a goal-oriented one, but a persistent and determined one. Pitching up, doing the job better than before, getting quality results. Having this kind of work ethic will ensure you meet the results desired.
“PRICE IS WHAT YOU PAY, VALUE IS WHAT YOU GET” – WARREN BUFFET
HIGH STANDARD.
Hosting billionaires has taught me excellence. Considering the exclusiveness of super yachts, it is to go without saying that the highest of standards are expected to be achieved from every aspect and angle. It’s top rate service, flawless conditions, breath-taking amenities, exotic back-drops. It’s raising the bar. It’s always ‘yes’. No matter the cost. No matter the time or hour. The guest’s contentment is priority. I have learnt that the hard way, the tired way, the nervous way, the confident way. Good hospitality is offering quality, not necessarily quantity.
Ultimately, the end goal should be quality, outstanding, distinction – a better experience than the yacht next door. This enactment has taught me that in order to reach standard, it first needs to be defined, created and enforced by example.
CULTURE CLASHING is real.
Hosting billionaires has taught me diplomacy. Working in yachting means working with an array of nationalities, different backgrounds, beliefs, ages and languages. This means making friends from all over the world. It also means spending most of your time with people you don’t get along with, in isolated conditions, for long, hard working seasons.
A clash in culture can separate friends, destroy a team, miscommunicate information, and cause distortion. I’ve experienced it. But working and mixing with a diversity of co-workers can also grow you as a person individually, build and strengthen teams collectively, and offer unique life experience. Whether you’re working on super yachts, in an office cubicle or online from home – how you treat team members and co-workers, counts. How you handle confrontation or argumentative situations, matters. Every member has a place, every co-worker has value. And we can all learn from each other.
“PRIDE MAKES US ARTIFICIAL, HUMILITY MAKES US REAL” – THOMAS MERTON
HUMILITY IS A CHOICE.
Hosting billionaires has taught me about humility. Often wealth is synonymous with pride, a sense of entitlement. With that level of affluence, attention, access – it’s almost unavoidable. Yet the most attractive, impressive guests onboard the yachts I’ve worked on, have been the humble. Those who greeted a crew member, remembered a name, made eye contact when talking. That there have been so few, have made them all the more noticeable, and all the more ‘real’. It has shown me that humility is actually a choice. A powerful characteristic. Humility benefits relationships, betters work performances, prevents hostility, makes someone’s day.
A lot of the time in this industry, I have seen people think of themselves and treat others according to assets, status or position. Having been so easily replaceable, treated for the most part as merely a number by those I have worked for and with, has of course at times aggravated me – being an educated, qualified young adult with talent, vision, goals, direction – but has also humbled me enough to realise that each of one of us have so much more to offer, so much for to live for than the perceptions of those around us. Any situation will be what you make of it. And remaining humble in your actions, will take you far in life.
My greatest takeaway from yachting is not the experiences, the money I’ve earned, the places I’ve been. The greatest takeaway for me, is the lesson of humility. Whether I have the least or most in the room, I want humility to be evident in my interactions. The more I achieve, the more humble I want to become.
Of all of these lessons, humility has been the most impactful and useful. Perhaps it will be for you, too.
