CRUISE EXCELLENCE - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Leader
- Aquila 's Founder
- More Information
Aquila's founder and trailblazer, Beth is passionate about community and about making a difference and has affectionately been nicknamed by the Aquila team as "Our Fearless Leader." Mentoring and leading her team to become leaders themselves has been her life's purpose. Today Beth is deeply involved in coaching and mentoring partners Danielle and Melanie into their managing roles - and her succession - so she can spend time with passions such as new Aquila projects, as well as travelling with her husband Russ and having fun with all their grandchildren.
As Co-creator of Aquila's Center for Cruise Excellence with her partners, she spends much of her time in the Caribbean and Central America coaching other Tour Operators and Tour Guides into the Best Practices of the cruise industry.
A visionary not just for her business, but for her industry and her community, Beth is also a leader in the tourism industry. She has been recognized with numerous awards and accolades, including being named one of 25 People to Watch in Atlantic Canada, and one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada. Aquila celebrated 40 years in business a few years ago.
By far, Beth's favourite thing about her Aquila family is "the energy of the team and how much fun we have together. It keeps me going and is so rewarding!"
With her range of experiences and talents, including working with Aquila for over 25 years, Aquila is very fortunate that Danielle decided to return home to Saint John in 2004 with her husband Lance to start a family - both an Aquila family and her own family, Ben and Emma! Since returning she has become a partner in the business. We kindly refer to Danielle as our Jill-of-All-Trades as she runs the day-to-day operations of the shore excursion side of the business, manages cruise ships, books all the motorcoaches, and hears us calling her name whenever our computers stop cooperating with us. We'd be lost without her! Dan has many things she loves about being at Aquila, including "The team I get to work with; they're all spectacular women! Also, it would have to be that I get to try different things all the time, so this job is never boring!"
Aquila is thrilled to have Ellen as part of our growing team of Global Trainers! A 37-year cruise industry veteran who now splits her time between consulting and semi-retirement, Ellen's previous responsibilities covered global shore excursion operations and destination development for over 700 ports across multiple cruise brands. Most recently Ellen was at Holland America Group (representing Holland America, Princess, Seabourn and P & O Australia), which followed a long career at Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Throughout her career Ellen strived to facilitate healthy relationships between the destinations, tour operators and cruise industry to ensure success for all stakeholders.
A highlight of Ellen's career has been coaching her team members to maximize professional and personal successes. She's happy to see many of her former teams now thriving in high level positions throughout the travel industry.
In reflecting on her career, it has been the long-lasting relationships she has made across the globe that she treasures most. Ellen has found that most people choosing a career in travel and tourism are creative, fun, solutions focused, inspirational and generally people she wants to engage with!
Originally from the Northern Virginia/Washington, DC area, Ellen now resides near Seattle, Washington. She continues to be passionate about traveling and engaging with cultures and people around the world.
An Aquila Team member since 1993, Jennifer has a passion for learning and has always enjoyed the challenges and new opportunities that working for Aquila offers. Jennifer works hard at managing our cruise day logistics and enjoys solving the giant jigsaw puzzle that a triple-ship day can be! She also is a core evaluator for all tour guides enrolled in Aquila's International Tour Guide Excellence certification program. Jennifer's favourite part of working at Aquila is working with the wonderful and inspiring team of women who have become her second family. Not to mention that each day brings something new, and that she is never bored!
Kelsey was born & raised in New Brunswick. Her core identity is a true east coast, Maritime Canadian. Her extreme wanderlust landed her a position in the travel and tourism industry, gaining close to 10 years' experience travelling, working and living all over the Caribbean & Central America. Kelsey first started working with Aquila as part of the pier side team and transport team in 2018. She is now the newest addition to our Cruise Manager team. To date, Kelsey's most memorable experience is: "The very first time I got to go on a cruise ship, the captain of the ship found out I have never been on one before and he went above and beyond for me. It was fantastic! He even gave me a big chocolate model of his cruise ship which is now on display at my house and I refuse to ever eat it!"
Lori joined the Aquila team in January 2016. After gaining many years of her experience in law offices, Lori says she has finally found her dream job with Aquila!! She enjoys the Aquila family while being responsible for the Accounting and Payroll departments and takes pride in keeping things balanced!!! Lori can occasionally be seen pier side - pitching in to help on busy cruise ship days!!! Lori loves spending time with her family and says that her all-time favorite title is "Grandma"!!! Lori's most memorable moments working at Aquila (so far!) has been "the awesome week we shared at the Cruise Symposium in New York City or the fantastic Summer Fun Day driving with the top down in Beth's red convertible - both top my list!!"
A member of the Aquila Team since 1992, Melanie has come a long way from her early days at Aquila as a student tour guide, complete with Loyalist dress! Melanie is now a managing partner with the company, playing an active role in Aquila's strategic planning. She also spearheads our Center for Cruise Excellence, coaching and mentoring tour operators and destinations on providing service excellence to cruise lines. There is no mistaking her passion for Aquila and for the cruise industry, and we are thrilled to have Melanie as part of Aquila's leadership team. Melanie's most memorable moment while working at Aquila (so far)? "There are so many! But I'd say one has to be the marriage proposal from the very wealthy Australian Sheep Farmer on one of my tours. Tempting offer!"
Melissa joined the Cruise Excellence team as our Project Coordinator in March of 2020. Melissa is originally from Mexico, her husband is Russian and her two children are from the U.S. She loves to travel and learn about new cultures - having lived in Mexico, the United States, Germany, and now Saint John! She loves building relationships with the people she meets. She recently graduated from the Supply Chain and Logistics program and she has been a great addition to our team! Melissa's favourite thing about joining Aquila has been learning something new each and every day! She also appreciates that the Aquila team is made up of women who are unique in their own way and have such varied skills that make the team stronger!
Trina joined the Aquila team in 2017 and eagerly took on the role of Cruise Manager and Supplier Management and Relations. With a background in customer service management, she has a keen eye for negotiations and as the Supplier Manager, is also the first point of contact for new business and attractions interested in developing experiences for visiting cruise passengers. She is always eager to share her knowledge and work with the team to ensure that all our cruise guests have amazing experiences while on tour here in Saint John. Trina's favourite things about Aquila are the continuing opportunities to learn and stretch herself in new directions and the chance to develop independently and at her own pace all the while receiving incredible support and encouragement!
Yessika joined the Aquila Team in 2022 and is our extraordinary Office Manager. She loves that working for Aquila has been an opportunity to know Saint John and the nature of the Bay of Fundy closer. Yessika is instrumental in helping us welcome thousands of guests every season and believes working with Aquila has been the best experience to serve our community. She says it's magical to take this journey along with a magnificent team of women with excellence sense to achieve goals! At Aquila, she really enjoys contributing to the efforts that help Aquila deliver the best experiences to people around the world with our training programs. Yessika's passion and commitment to helping people make her an Aquilamazing addition to our team!