Elizabeth Arden Column

Through the Red Door

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Born in 1881, Elizabeth Arden was a woman way ahead of her time. Fascinated by skincare from a young age, she went on to pioneer the international beauty industry with many firsts including travel-sized products and the cult Eight Hour Cream. An ardent suffragette, legendary innovator and tireless entrepreneur, Elizabeth Arden was an early example of the ability of women to achieve success against the odds.

In a male-dominated era, she created a global empire with her famous Red Door Salons. Her entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to innovation, quality and excellence remain the soul of the company today. In the spirit of Elizabeth Arden, this column sets out to recognise the women in our industry whose personal and professional stories make them deserving of industry recognition.

In this regular column we speak to Starboard Cruise Services President & CEO Lisa Bauer.

Elizabeth Arden

Starboard Cruise Services President & CEO Lisa Bauer

Introduction: Lisa Bauer grew up in Pittsburgh, in the US state of Pennsylvania. A competitive swimmer from the age of seven, she was introduced to the world of travel and cruising by her mother. Lisa’s passion for the industry is matched by a love of spending time with her family and friends… and her animals. She talks with The Moodie Davitt Report’s Associate Editor Colleen Morgan.

Lisa Bauer

Let’s start at the beginning with your childhood and upbringing.

I grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. My parents were divorced, so I spent weekends at my grandparents’ farm and those times marked the beginning of my love of animals.

That said, I also spent a lot of time with my Mom. I definitely got my work ethic from her, as she worked three jobs at one point. One of those jobs was as a travel agent and she eventually opened her own office. Mom had a love of travel, and my brother and I were very fortunate to get to accompany her on trips all over the world. She especially loved cruising, so I was introduced to cruising at a very young age. It’s fair to say I fell in love with the experience.

I was a competitive swimmer from the age of seven until my junior year in college and a 13-time All-American swimmer, specialising in the 100/200m backstroke and long-distance freestyle. I think the discipline of the sport, teamwork and leadership as team captain all helped position me for where I am today. However, I have been told that I am very competitive, not just in the swimming pool.

When I thought about my career aspirations, I was passionate about both the business and the veterinary worlds. I decided that going into business was going to give me the ‘free pass’ to avoid chemistry, so off I went to Allegheny College to study Business, with a laser focus on the travel industry.

And the start of your career?

I started my career at Midwest Express Airlines, headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as a sales manager. It was a great company and I was there over 11 years. It’s interesting because I must have still had some jet fuel in my blood as I also spent time at Delta right before joining Starboard.

After Midwest Express, I was 12 years at Royal Caribbean, where I was fortunate enough to lead both the front of the business with sales and marketing, as well as operational experience when I was the SVP of Hotel Operations.

I really appreciated the opportunities that Royal Caribbean gave me to move from sales and take a chance on me running operations. That afforded me the ability to appreciate the entire customer journey and certainly helps me in my current role, as Starboard was one of my partners.

“Every time my husband Bob asks me what I want for my birthday or Christmas, I keep saying more animals” – Bob and Lisa with their five dogs and (below) five goats and two donkeys

Do you consider yourself hands-on in management?

I do consider myself hands on, but not a micro manager. My favourite part of the role is visiting our shipboard teams. They are with the cruise guests 24/7, and I always want to hear them share what the guests are asking for that we don’t have, or how else we can better support them.

Our senior leadership team travels to the ships with a programme called ‘Leadership Listening Live’. For example, in May we will go to Juneau Alaska for six days and visit 16 ships. We do the same type of programme for the Caribbean, as well as Europe.

In my role as head of guest experience at Delta, I went through the full FAA flight attendant training programme. I didn’t want myself or my team to be putting together products or services that couldn’t be delivered by the flight attendants. I would go out and fly with the flight attendants and get firsthand feedback from them and also the guest reactions.

I think it is critically important to always ‘stay grounded’ and have a real recognition as a leader to never ask anyone to do anything you aren’t willing to do yourself. It is also important to recognise what it takes for our teams to do their jobs, whether at land or at sea.

I am also an avid shopper, so I enjoy spending time with the merchants on our selections as we curate for each of our cruise brand partners.

You’ve been described as a visionary, an inspirational leader and one of the most powerful women in travel. What do you regard as your main skills? And your not-so-positive traits?

Thank you for sharing that feedback. I’ve been told that I share strategic vision well. My goal is to paint the picture, and then get out of the way. I support the team when they need it, otherwise my superpower is surrounding myself with amazing people. My leadership team includes several previous colleagues: I know how incredible they are and trust them.

I also love to challenge the status quo and am constantly looking for innovation and process improvement and operational excellence. I challenge the team and look for firsts at sea and new experiential retail concepts. I think cruise retail is still too traditional, and there are so many more opportunities to make the stores as exciting as the rest of the guest experience.

And those not so positive traits? I think that would depend on the audience you asked. I’m sure my husband Bob would tell you that I’m not very good with work/life balance and have the philosophy if the ships are on 24/7, I should be too. My team would probably say my impatience for how long things take to get done or implemented.

“I would highly encourage everyone to go out and sail and see the customer journey and experience”

–Lisa Bauer

The greatest challenge of your career?

I joined Starboard in June of 2019, and COVID hit six months later. I never got to see the company in full operations mode at scale for any length of time. We had to spend the time getting our shipboard crews home from all over the world. We also had to downsize our corporate staff and the entire cruise industry was devastated.

With the restart, while it was great to see the industry come back so strong, it put a lot of stress on the organisation trying to start up over 80 ships in a condensed timeframe that would normally have been six or so ships in a year.

One of my favourite sayings is ‘you can’t get out of something unless you go through it’. So, here we are on the other side of COVID, and stronger than ever.

Mixing business with pleasure: Lisa and Bob with Celebrity Edge, which joined the Celebrity Cruises fleet in January 2018, as a backdrop

And your latest appointment to the male-dominated IAADFS Board?

I’m so honoured to have been asked to join the IAADFS Board. I’ve been in male-dominated industries my entire career, especially at the airlines and operations of Royal, but I’ve never felt that I was treated any differently as a female.

I think if I can contribute to the board and move our industry forward, my efforts will be well received.

Lisa is also a huge baseball fan and a staunch supporter of the Milwaukee Brewers

Lisa with her colleagues and staff of the Royal Caribbean’s Harmony on a recent Leadership Listening Live ship visit

What advice would you give to a newcomer to the travel retail and/or cruise industries?

For anyone being new to travel retail, I would suggest being curious about what is possible and to challenge the way things have always been done. I would highly encourage everyone to go out and sail and see the customer journey and experience as much as possible.

Lisa at a Dior event during Paris Fashion Week

Tell us about Lisa Bauer away from the industry.

Colleagues and employees that would see me at home wouldn’t believe it was me. While my public persona is very much to ‘look the part’ and dress in my favorite designers, at home I also dress the part. But then it’s to take care of all my animals.

I have seven chickens, five goats, two donkeys, five dogs and three cats. It is such stress relief for me to feed them, play with them, and yes, even occasionally do goat yoga with them. We live in Southwest Ranches, 30 minutes west of Fort Lauderdale, so I have my mini farm, but can be in Miami or Fort Lauderdale in less than an hour. It’s the best of both worlds.

Every time my husband Bob asks me what I want for my birthday or Christmas, I keep saying more animals. His usual comment is why couldn’t I be a normal wife and ask for jewellery!

I also love spending time with my family and friends and hosting everyone at our crazy house; and of course I love to travel and am addicted to Peleton classes.

Lisa and Bob at the Dior Paris 30 Montaigne apartment as part of her birthday celebrations last year

Elizabeth Arden will supply each of the remarkable women who takes part in our series with a special gift box which will include:

Elizabeth Arden Advanced Ceramide Capsules Daily Youth Restoring Serum, 60-Piece

Pure. Potent. Precise. Our ceramide serum has triple the power for visibly firmer, smoother, healthy-looking skin.

Elizabeth Arden Hyaluronic Acid Ceramide Capsules Hydra-Plumping Serum, 60-Piece

Powered by Double-Lock Hydration, 98% see visibly plumper skin with a more youthful bounce.* Moisture magnet hyaluronic acid and skin-strengthening ceramides work together to visibly plump, firm and hydrate skin.

*Consumer study, 55 women after 4 weeks.

Elizabeth Arden Advanced Ceramide Lift and Firm Day Cream SPF 15, 50ml

Advanced Ceramide Lift and Firm Day Cream SPF 15 is an anti-aging cream with 5x the Ceramide.* Features 3D FIT Technology with Ceramides, Tetrapeptides and Edelweiss Extract** to Firm, Intensely Hydrate and Tighten. 1 week to visibly lifted, firmer and more defined facial contours.*** *Based on reformulation vs. existing Lift and Firm Creams. **From Cell Cultures. ***Based on independent consumer studies of Day & Night Creams; 58 women; 1 week.

Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour® Cream Beauty Must Haves Set

Ready to help you keep you moisturized and protected, these Eight Hour® hydrators are the perfect take-anywhere travel companions.

This Travel Exclusive set includes: Eight Hour® Cream Hand Cream Intensive Hand Treatment, 75 ml (full size). Eight Hour® Cream Skin Protectant, 50ml (full size) Eight Hour® Cream Lip Protectant Stick SPF 15, 3.7g (full size)

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