eKourier Oct 2015

WHO’S WHO

10 Questions... With Darryl Lewisson - Centre Manager Fyshwick

you would like to be treated”. Treating your fellow teammates and customers in a respectful and honest way will ultimately make your own life much easier and happier. Have you always lived in Canberra? I grew up in Canberra but moved away in my early twenties. After travelling for a year or two, I started working for Hilton Hotels in Sydney, Adelaide and for Hilton International in Minneapolis, Minnesota USA for a couple of years. I returned to Australia in 2001 and worked for a hotel in Surfers Paradise. Eventually I returned to Canberra to work for another local hotel chain before starting with Kennards in 2005. What hobbies/interests do you have and like to do in your spare time? I love to catch up with family and friends when I can. I also enjoy playing golf (my aim is always to get one hole perfect and then it doesn’t matter so much about the other 17). I’m also a huge fan of the Mighty South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Carlton Footy Club (don’t mention the wooden spoon this year) it’s a real sore point. But if the footy doesn’t pan out there’s always the cricket. I think all our values in FREEDOM are important but I do very much see KSS as an ethical, honest and straightfor- ward company. I appreciate the amount of time and effort KSS has made to let everyone know of the KSS culture and what is expected. I am often reminded by our customers how easy it is to deal with KSS because it is so straight- forward. No little hidden charges, everything upfront and everything made as simple and easy as possible. Tell us about having to run a stand- alone Centre? At times it can be a very challenging role. However, I’ve always appreci- ated the show of faith I have been given from everyone in KSS, especially my Operations Manager, Darryl Hodgson. It’s always good to know that there is help and advice just a phone call away. I guess being the only property in What values do you think best describes KSS and the Team?

Canberra also means you have to often think for yourself and make decisions. I’ve also been very lucky to have such a dedicated and hardworking Team at Fyshwick which I rely on a great deal. What aspects of Customer Service do you feel are important? There’s been some monumental changes even in my 10 years with Kennards, be it new technical systems or procedures, but I like to think that good honest service will never change and that is ultimately what our customers want. People want to be looked after in a respectful and thoughtful way and that is what we are here to do. I also believe that as a person you have to want to engage with other people, to talk to them, to listen to them and then of course to help them. Otherwise, what are we doing here? And finally, to sum up Kennards in one word would be? Rewarding. To me the word rewarding can mean many things. It’s been a very rewarding time for me personally working for Kennards and it’s also been a very rewarding time for me profes- sionally. I have also been lucky enough to build many rewarding relationships during my 10 years with Kennards and I sincerely hope I can build many more.

What year did you start with KSS and at what centre? I started with Kennards in August 2005 at the Fyshwick centre. I saw an advert in the paper asking for people “interested in a career in space”. I thought that seemed like an interesting job, little did I know that it would develop into a 10 year (and counting) career. What was the first job you ever had? The usual first jobs while at school, paper and milk runs and working at KFC. But my first real job was as a Trainee Duty Manager for a new five star hotel. It was very exciting helping a business start from scratch and grow. Over your years with KSS what would you say is the most memorable experi- ence you have had? There’s honestly been too many to nail down to one, however I would say the whole experience has been something that I’ll never forget. Of course, you have your up days and down days, but it has been very gratifying to see the Fyshwick centre grow over the years and know I was a part of that. Celebrating a big milestone this year with 10 Years Service at KSS, What would be the best advice you could give a fellow teammate? It’s an oldie but a goodie. “Treat others as

3 Kennards Kourier October 2015