What inspired you to work for your organization?
I was looking for a role and a company where I could channel all my different skills and expertise. Beyond Academy has offered me this opportunity and allows me to continuously learn, develop, and improve.
I was also really inspired by the idea of combining travel and adventure with valuable work experience. I wish I had known programs like this existed when I was a student or early in my career.
Scenes from our Seoul Immersive Program
What is your favorite part of your job?
I love how diverse my job is—there’s always new and exciting projects going on. I am Head of Admissions and Global Community Lead so I get to work with candidates at the very start of their travel and internship journey, right through to when they complete the program and become Beyond Alumni.
It’s extra rewarding when we hear that their internship has gone so well that the company has offered them a full-time job! It's so encouraging and hugely exciting to watch their career kick-start.
How do you use your education and international background in your current role?
I have a colorful background! I trained and worked as a professional actor in London for 10 years, as well as a personal trainer, restaurant manager, and drama/music teacher. I then re-trained as an arts psychotherapist working in many clinical and non-clinical settings.
I moved away from Northern Ireland (where I grew up) at the young age of 17, and have now lived in London for many years.
The combination of all this diverse experience, both professionally and personally, helps me to better support, coach, listen, and understand both our interns and our fantastic internal teams. We have great relationships, and although we are a global company and work from all over the world, we have such a strong team bond and sense of community.
What are some current projects you are working on?
There’s lots going on at Beyond Academy! Currently the focus for me is on Tokyo. We have lots of new interns preparing to arrive there in January, which is exciting! It's definitely a city I wish to visit myself. We are also preparing for a busy time in admissions as lots of people want to firm up their plans for the summer.
What advice would you tell your pre-travel self?
I would say to my pre-travel self to just go ahead and do it! There’s no better way to learn about yourself and the world around you than by taking the leap of faith and boarding that plane!
There are so many incredible places in the world to see and explore. Good planning is essential, then enjoy every second!
Quiraing, Isle of Skye
What makes your organization special?
What makes Beyond Academy so special is that we are all so passionate about what we do. We care! And we want the best for our interns. We’re hands on and want every intern to have the best experience.
It’s a big deal to travel abroad, especially combined with work experience. With Beyond Academy you are in good hands.
Why should someone choose your organization over competitors?
At Beyond Academy, our aim is to provide an all round immersive experience for our interns. We aim to delight and go the extra mile to ensure everyone has the best time on our programs. We are inclusive and we listen. Feedback is important to us and we always strive to learn and grow.
Also, as an organization, we all come from such diverse educational and professional backgrounds. This brings extra richness to the career advice and support we can offer to our interns.
Are there any developments with your organization that you would like to share with us?
We are very busy post-pandemic at Beyond Academy and have lots of exciting projects lined up for the coming year ahead. We have quite a few locations across the globe that are gearing up for a busy summer season 2023.
You can choose from awesome locations such as Sydney, Barcelona, Toronto, and Dublin to name but a few!
What is your organization's mission and how do you continue to work toward it?
One of Beyond Academy’s core company values is customer obsession. We care deeply about our customers. We are always thinking about how to improve the customer experience. Our aim is to continuously listen to feedback and understand our customer wants and needs. We want to continue to exceed customer expectations.
Back home in Northern Ireland
What do you hope participants take away from your programs?
A travel and work combination experience can be transformative, so I hope our participants take away from our programs a rich tapestry of experience—as well as long lasting happy memories and friends for life. I also hope they gain very valuable professional skills that springboard them onto the next phase of their career.
How is your company handling Covid protocols? What should participants know about your Covid readiness? How are you assisting participants with navigating the new travel landscape?
As an organization we are continuously staying up to date with the latest government advice per location.
If travel restrictions prevent our participants from leaving their place of residence or from entering the country of their program, we want to make sure that we offer them enough flexibility to plan ahead.
They will be entitled to delay their program and join any of our future start dates, with timing that works for them. We stay in regular contact and discuss with them if we see any challenges with their program going ahead.
We also give them plenty of advice on any new protocols or restrictions that may be in place in airports or countries.
If you could participate on one of your organization's programs, where would you go and what would you do?
I’d say the Seoul Immersive Program. I’ve never been to South Korea and would love to visit. What I love about our programs is that you get to travel and have a proper adventure, whilst gaining valuable work experience. To live in and explore an amazing city such as Seoul whilst supercharging my career at an awesome company—dream come true!
Why is it important for people to travel abroad and experience new cultures?
If you are able to, it is so important to travel abroad and experience new cultures. Traveling broadens your horizons and expands your thinking. It’s an incredible world we live in and it is exciting to connect with people from all over the globe and learn from each other. It offers perspective and is inspiring and enriching.
Scenes from our Seoul Immersive Program
Why do you think learning a new language is important?
I believe it is super important to learn a new language. Learning a new language can give you an insight into other cultures and can boost your confidence to travel the world and explore. It will also give you a better chance of landing a good job or advancing in your career—especially if your dream is to relocate and live in another country.
What does meaningful travel mean to you?
Travel allows us to share experiences with people and places different from our norm. It takes us out of our comfort zones and challenges us to adapt and explore. We get to learn about ourselves and the world and people around us.
Travel memories are memories for life! My latest adventure was visiting the Isle of Skye in Scotland. It was breath-taking and so good to be surrounded by amazing nature. I’ll never forget it!
