What I Learned from Working with Richard Branson

One of the most famous quotes from billionaire Richard Branson is: 'If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say YES – then learn how to do it later!'  

This was very much the situation I found myself in in the late 1980s when I was headhunted by the very man himself. You see, I was fresh out of University in London with an Honours Degree in Russian, only to discover that finding a job was not going to be as easy as I had thought. Options were the diplomatic corps or the new world of “Information Technology”, at a time when the only computer I had really seen was the one at University that took up a whole room of its own! 

After several weeks of sending out about sixty CVs to various companies, I ended up selling advertising space at a high-end London magazine, where most of the staff were either taking long lunches at the pub, or snorting their hard-earned pennies up their nose. Or both.   

I was on a very low wage but got commission so would stay behind, doing the hard yards on the phone, trying to book half and full page spreads. It was a soulless existence and, frankly my dear, I hated it! 

The day Richard Branson called

One afternoon the phone rang. Someone from a company called Virgin Holidays wanted to speak to me. I soon learned that (the not yet Sir) Richard Branson was working on a joint venture to take British tourists en masse to (what was still then) the Soviet Union. And he needed someone to run a hotel for a year in the Crimea. 

I had never worked in a hotel, or hospitality or tourism. But I was good with people and I could speak Russian fluently, having already lived in Moscow for a year in 1984. I jumped at the chance, handed in my notice and was on a plane back to the USSR within a month. “Screw it, let’s do it!”

When the door opens to unexpected opportunity

The glossy tourist brochure was designed to entice adventurous Brits to discover life under Communism, which had relaxed a lot since Gorbachev’s perestroika. On the front cover were onion domes, Tsarist treasures, women in traditional Ukrainian dresses and the Black Sea holiday was to be the jewel in the crown. The destination was the resort town of Yalta and a beautiful 4-star historic grand dame of a hotel, first opened in 1907 and surrounded by mountains and scenery. The brochure boasted jet skis, sunbathing on the beach, evening barbeques with traditional dancing, trips to wineries and an excursion to the venue of the Yalta Conference, where Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill carved up Europe after World War 2. 

It is a beautiful resort town, also made famous in Chekhov’s short story, The Lady with a Dog. The dubiously named hotel drinking hole, the Bar Grot, quickly had its name changed to Richard’s Bar.  “The Black Sea is going to be the next Med”, I was told by Richard and people are booking! And sure enough, only a few weeks later, I did my first meet and greet, announcing to 250 British tourists that I was their “Virgin” Representative! The joke was repeated week after week and always broke the ice. It then gave me the opportunity to remind the new arrivals that a sense of humour was going to be a very essential part of their week’s Communist resort holiday. 

But as the weeks went by, my own naivety, excitement and enthusiasm of being a Virgin rep, was starting to fade. My virginity had not lasted long! 

Under the eye of the KGB

Richard (still not yet a Sir!) would ring me every 3 or 4 weeks. This was a formal pre-allocated time slot, where I would sit next to my bed in my room in the Presidential Suite and wait for the old apparatus to ring. (Oh how I miss the ting-a-ling of old telephones) 

This would give the Soviet man, with spectacles like the bottom of milk bottles, time to get into place and presumably “listen in on” the whole telephone conversation. The door to the room with all the panels and switches opposite my room was often half ajar and I was fascinated by how they kept tabs on me and my guests. And Richard! 

I would look forward to the soft pleasant tones of Richard’s British accent. The pleasantries would soon turn to reassurances that they were doing all they could back in London to fulfil all the promises they had made in the brochure. But the tourists kept pouring in. I would be primed in advance by the Soviet staff, in particular the Hotel Manager and the Head of Tourism, NOT to tell “Mister Branson” that the jet skis had not arrived (and indeed never did!), that we were having trouble getting meat, which left the beach barbeque with an option of salads and potatoes.   

To make it worse, helicopters would regularly fly over the beach warning swimmers to get out of the water, which was tested daily for pollution levels. 

And to make matters even worse, Gorbachev banned vodka! 1988 was the year that Gorbachev decided to try and do something about the 57,000 Russians who were dying every year from alcohol poisoning. Which left me with 250 tourists a week who were not able to easily get a drink and me having to source vodka on the black market! This, in turn, led to a shortage of sugar, as the Russians gave up baking biscuits and cakes for homebrew.  

Great leaders are great communicators

Richard’s regular calls continued to lift my spirits and we would laugh about my creative solutions to keep his guests happy. It was not always easy and he would laugh at the stories of those that were asking where they could get fish and chips or why the road signs were not in English.  

There was also a consistent stream of journalists and TV crews who showed up during those months, attracted by the story of the English on holiday in the final days before the Wall finally came down. 

In spite of the challenges of balancing Richard’s vision with the realities of Soviet life, it still remains one of the most interesting and exciting years of my young life.  

Failing forward is the key

Richard’s joint venture into the Soviet Union lasted for one more season and never did get a mention in his 2006 book “Screw It, Let’s Do it”. But that does not take away from the huge vision that he had about bringing the English en masse to the “new Med”. I just think he was ahead of his time. 

Richard Branson’s huge life vision continues to inspire so many and was definitely a pivotal influence in my formative years and an inspiration for my own entrepreneurial journey.  

If you see an opportunity, take it. Create a vision so big that people will be compelled to follow your lead and join you on your adventures. It will never look the way that you originally thought and you may have to work it out as you go along. Fail forward, again and again, until you can’t help but succeed. By taking the first step, new doors will open in front of you.  

So, screw it and just do it! 

If you enjoyed this piece and you are inspired by the idea of creating your own vision and business, reach out - I would love to connect. Nickie x