High-Flying Executive

By Dana Matuson

Flying can be seen as a great metaphor for the journey of life. Just as pilots on their first day learn that flying higher reduces air resistance, successful business leaders understand the value of continuing to push higher, and to keep on learning. While not a pilot by trade (although she can fly!), recently appointed Executive Vice President, Freda Cheung, is embracing her love for flying in a business context, by taking on the challenge of elevating the duty-free presence in North America to new heights.

Congratulations on your recent appointment to EVP Duty Free, North America. Tell us a bit about your new role, responsibilities and challenges. How will the new duty-free team structure in North America positively affect the business and the growth of the North America duty free presence?

Thank you and I’m truly excited about this new opportunity and looking forward to a year of positive changes. In this new role, I have full accountability of P&L for all duty-free operations throughout Canada and the US; my responsibilities focus on store operations, commercial, supply chain and logistics. I believe the key to success in terms of leading 1000+ employees scattered across 20+ airports in two countries, within a highly regulated environment and in a volatile market, lies in my ability to create a cohesive high performing team of members who do not just work alongside each other, but also collaborate with each other. Having shared common goals among team members is critical to the success of driving business growth and creating a great place to work. The new duty-free structure allows us to focus on the two largest operations in Division 3 – Vancouver and Toronto. It also affords a dedicated Regional VP to be in charge of all operations in the US, which is a very different market than Canada. Together we will be able to cement our presence in North America as the largest duty-free operator, as well as pursue opportunities to expand our footprint and deliver world class passenger experiences.  

Hudson and Dufry have recently secured an 8-year duty-free contract with Toronto Pearson International Airport which is set to transform the airport´s retail experience. What are the plans? Are there other key duty free wins in the past year that are also important to highlight?

Big and exciting plans are in the pipeline indeed! Recently Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA) visited us in Basel and together we celebrated this important milestone in our partnership, which also marked the beginning of our Joint Management Committee. We have plans to do some limited refurbishment in our existing footprints to enhance our offers and improve our performance, this is Phase 1 which would cover from now till 2023. Then Phase 2 is 2024 and beyond, in which we are planning a facelift of our entire duty free program in Toronto as the airport has great plans to double our current footprint to 100,000 sqf – equivalent to 9,300 m².  

In addition, we have been successfully awarded the RFP for Newark Airport Terminal B. Together as a team, we are very proud of such recognition by the Port Authority, given that we didn’t offer the best financial terms compared to other bidders. As we already operate Newark Terminal C, this further strengthens our presence in New Jersey where Hudson’s Headquarters are located.

The American business is somehow different to the rest of the Dufry portfolio – Duty Free represent just 23% of the total Net Sales. However, it is a well-established business that is permitting Dufry to win share in more widely defined ‘airport concessions’ covering Duty Free and Duty Paid retail, convenience store and Food & Beverage concessions. How´s the group progressing?

Since our first store opened in LaGuardia airport 30 years ago, Hudson has grown to 1000+ stores across 37 states in the U.S. and 4 provinces in Canada. Our programs consist of 4 lines of business – travel convenience, specialty retail, duty-free and food & beverage (F&B). This comprehensive and diverse portfolio allows us to offer a “package deal”, especially to some of the smaller airports in the U.S. It also affords us the opportunity to expand into less familiar terrain such as F&B. Through our recent acquisition of OHM Concession, we could instantly tap into new markets and further position ourselves as “The Traveler’s Best Friend”.  

Your career is an inspiring example for many of us in Dufry as proof that being a mother does not necessarily mean its an obstacle for professional development. What´s the secret?

It’s no secret that time has changed and many aspiring women would like to have a family as well as pursue a career that brings professional development and a sense of accomplishment. In both Canada and the U.S., while women outnumber men in post-secondary education, the workplace unfortunately is still not very mother-friendly. Unconscious bias towards professional women who also have family responsibilities is prevalent, and the willingness from organizations to foster a more flexible culture to accommodate them is still very much lacking. What I have learned over the years is that:

1. I need to be clear on what I want to pursue and make sure I communicate it to my employer and my family. It’s amazing how people around me make an effort to give me opportunity and help me achieve my goals once I have made them known. I do believe that human nature dictates that we all have a desire to help others.
   
   
2. I need my spouse to share family responsibilities as well as domestic work. It’s the 21^st century, men are just as capable as women when it comes to child caring and house chores. There will never be gender equality if it doesn’t start at home.
   
   
3. I choose my battle and prioritize what’s truly important to me. I may not have been the one to drop off my kids at school every morning, but I have been to every single hockey tournament that my son played over 12 years and every single figure skating competition that my daughter participated over 10 years.
   

All in all, I would encourage other fellow professional women to remember that motherhood is a privilege, a blessing and a journey; don’t forget to celebrate the small wins.

You have had the benefit of learning from different and strong corporate cultures and ways of doing business. What have you learnt from each of them that has proved beneficial for your day-to-day work?

My professional background is Accounting and Finance, and the majority of my career has been spent in corporate service industry as well as high tech industry. In my almost 30 years of professional experiences, I’ve come to learn that creating the right culture in an organization is by far the best investment as it yields the highest ROI in the long run. It’s a daunting task that is much easier said than done. Not only does it take years but it takes good judgement on characters, courage to hold others accountable, and determination to make difficult decisions. Having had the fortune of working in some of the most forward-thinking organizational cultures, I must say that an open, curious and learning mindset, coupled with clear, concise intentional communication are what I strive to practice on a daily basis.  

Tell us a little bit about your involvement with Women@Dufry and as a member of Hudson’s newly formed Diversity & Inclusion Taskforce. How is Hudson championing diversity and inclusion as it heads into 2020?

As many of us know, Women@Dufry was initiated by our Group CEO Julian Diaz and it began in the summer of 2017. Julian recognized the lack of gender diversity at the senior management and executive level; he called it out as something that Dufry could improve. Women@Dufry is a committee that comprises of 17 female leaders including myself. We meet with Julian for two hours every six month to share our experiences, observations, thoughts and ideas on how to improve Dufry as a more gender-inclusive workplace. We also champion the celebration of women’s impacts in our society across various Dufry locations. Many of us serve as mentors and share our experiences with other women across the organization. Personally, it definitely has been a very rewarding experience for me.  

Hudson’s newly formed Diversity & Inclusion (DI) Taskforce started in September 2019; it is made up of 18 members across functions, across geographical locations in Canada and the U.S., duty-free and duty-paid inclusive. Our mission is to identify, understand and remove existing barriers that keep us from being a diverse and inclusive workplace. The end goal is to stay relevant in a changing demographics environment, both in the US and Canada, as well as globally. This is particularly the case given that we are in travel retail. In order to understand our customers, our DNA should reflect the customers we serve.

Since then I have been chairing a 90 minute session every two weeks and our discussions focus on: Recruitment, Career Road Map & Development, Succession Planning, Compensation & Benefits, Work/Life Balance, and Organizational Culture. I’m truly grateful for the active participation and constructive feedback from all the members over the last 5 months. I’m very excited to share that together as a taskforce, we just finished putting together a “Diversity Impact Plan” to be submitted in two weeks to Hudson’s executive team for consideration. I’m confident that tangible, positive changes will come as a result, and together we can create a better place to work.   

Tell us about yourself – what you like doing in your free time, your hobbies …

I left home when I was 16 and crossed the Pacific Ocean alone to study in Vancouver, Canada. It has shaped me to be an independent thinker and a curious learner. I enjoy spending time with my family including my cockapoo Lilo. I believe that building memories is an investment and a legacy.