Christine Duffy: Getting a No and Successfully Taking a New Direction

Read The Article On Women Leading Travel & Hospitality

Written By: Cindy Bertram

When it comes to dealing with a no, sometimes people get a bit depressed and feel there is nothing in their future left where they can get a yes and then become successful. But in the case of Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, this is not how she dealt with getting a no. Instead, when she was interviewing for a position and then got a “no” she decided to take a new direction in her career. And Duffy’s success is an extraordinary example.

Duffy fell in love with the travel industry when she was a young child and admits that’s when she got the travel bug. Duffy’s mother is from France, and when Duffy was growing up, she had the chance to spend summers in France, where she was able to be with her cousins.

“From an early age, I had the privilege and opportunity to travel and knew travel was something that I wanted to do as a career,” she said.

After being two inches too short to become a flight attendant for Pan Am, Duffy began working as travel agent, and her passion and love for travel continued to grow. As far as taking her first cruise? Duffy explained, “My first cruise was actually my honeymoon. And I was a travel agent at the time.” Duffy then worked her way up into becoming president of McGettigan Partners, an organization that transformed itself into being a $250 million business. It was later sold to Maritz Travel, and Duffy became the first woman to serve as the company’s CEO. From there, Duffy moved on to become CEO of the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) in 2010. In 2014, Duffy became the president of Carnival Cruise Line.

Christine Duffy’s Suggestions

• After getting a no, go in a different direction. Duffy knew she wanted to have a career in travel and decided that she wanted to be a flight attendant. She applied to become a Pan Am flight attendant but got a no. Why? Pan Am had specific height requirements – you had to be 5 feet 4 inches tall without having shoes on. And Duffy was only 5 feet 2 inches tall. But after getting that no from Pan Am, she was able to get a job as a travel agent in Philadelphia, and that began the start of her career journey in a different direction.
• Find ways to utilize fun. Carnival Cruise Line is well known for creating fun on board their ships. Duffy is well known for applying that when it comes to the company’s quarterly employee town halls. At a recent employee town hall, employees celebrated the new movie “Barbie“. Duffy channeled her inner Barbie, wearing a beautiful outfit with vibrant energy, and was joined by Chief Commercial Officer Ken Tate, who joined in the fun as well, representing Barbie’s companion Ken.
• Be part of the family. “Today’s world is faster and more complex than ever, so vacations have become even more important in everyone’s life. And while the many features and innovations on our ships is important, ultimately it’s the friendly and attentive service and family-like atmosphere we create onboard that differentiates Carnival and keeps our guests coming back,” Duffy said. “We have nice ‘hardware’ but it is our ‘software’ that makes the difference. When you take a Carnival cruise vacation, you become part of the ship’s family and that creates a special and unique experience for our guests who come back again and again to sail with us.”
• Make good on your promise. When Duffy became president of Carnival Cruise Line, she made a promise to visit all of the Carnival ships. And their ships were deployed across the globe. Duffy made good on her promise and she completed her mission on Valentine’s Day, where she visited the Carnival Liberty in San Juan. She said she was glad she made the commitment to do this, and then commented, “What happens on the ship is the heart of what our business is.”

After getting that “no” from Pan Am, Duffy took a different path in her career where she worked as a travel agent and booked lots of her clients on cruises. Back then, Duffy never would have believed she would advance in her career finally becoming the president of Carnival Cruise Line. But now she’s successfully achieved this and is a role model who mentors young women, telling them that “the sky’s the limit”.