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For most travellers, the vibrant atmosphere of duty-free shopping after security screening is the first stop on an exciting...
Welcome to my world: Lauren Graham, Head of Commercial Marketing
Introducing Lauren Graham, Brisbane Airport Corporation’s Head of Commercial Marketing, who is responsible for a remit covering the marketing of retail, parking, property and eCommerce for Brisbane Airport.
After joining Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) five years’ ago in a contract role and moving through various positions across the business, including working in the communications team for the new runway, Lauren secured her dream role as Head of Commercial Marketing, while out of the business on maternity leave.
Her new role covers all aspects of marketing BAC’s commercial portfolio, including the marketing of retailers in the Domestic Terminal, International Terminal and Skygate, the parking business, Property business and e-Commerce function of Brisbane Airport, supported by her team of five, and broader Leadership Team.
To find out more about her role and why she enjoys it, we sat down with Lauren to discover more about her world.
What do you like most about your role?
Every day is so different – one day you could be reviewing concepts for a new Property development, the next looking to introduce new parking products, talking through school holiday entertainment plans or meeting with tenants. The fact that you’re constantly wearing different hats makes the job dynamic and keeps it so interesting.
What do you love most about working for BAC?
One of the best things about working at and for BAC is that you’re inextricably connected to travel – no matter what role you’re in. It’s a great energy to be part of the travel industry and you always feel the buzz of the airport.
What would surprise most people about working for BAC?
Understandably when most people think about Brisbane Airport, they think of planes and operations – but there’s so much more to the business than that. BAC owns a huge parcel of land and is a big business in its own right – plus is home to 425 other businesses!
I know when I joined, I was surprised by the fact that BAC had so many components to its business – for example, it has its own in-house legal team, it invests billions in infrastructure development and sponsors many amazing community groups and arts organisations across Brisbane.
What inspires you about working at BAC?
One of the things that is so exciting about working for BAC is the fact the business is so future focussed. You’d be hard-pressed to find many other businesses with a clear master plan, who is always looking to the future and planning for what’s next.
As a mum, how do you feel the business has supported you?
As a mum of a now 15-month-old and being new to my role, I’ve been on a steep learning curve on both fronts. BAC has supported me with a number of flexible working conditions that have allowed me to navigate the two important things in my life – my family and my career.
For a start, I never expected to be promoted while I was on leave. When the role came up for Head of Commercial Marketing, I was contacted by members of BAC and encouraged to apply.
After being appointed to the role, I was supported with a transition back to work, which involved moving from three days a week to five days a week, with work from home days, to support this adjustment – with a lot of patience while I found a daycare placement.
One of the best things though, has been the return-to-work mentoring that’s offered by the business. As a mum returning to work, you are given the option of a coach who helps to support you through your transition.
The advice from my coach has been invaluable and helped me navigate the blending of my two worlds together.
What do flexible work conditions actually look like?
We have a mixture of work from home and office days, but what we really like as a team are the anchor days where the whole team comes back to the office for one day each week to connect, rather than work from home. As a marketing team, we work quite collaboratively – so anchor days have been a great way to bring the team together.
Do you catch the travel bug working at BAC?
I think I already had the travel bug, but yes, catching the travel bug is all part of working at the airport. We’re taking our little man to Fiji in September for a week and hoping for a family holiday to Japan at the end of the year.
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