The Moodie Davitt Report may bear the names of its Founder & Chairman Martin Moodie and long-time President (and since 2015 Co-Owner) Dermot Davitt, but there is a lot more to the company than its two leaders.
Our diverse and inclusive, multi-talented, multi-cultural 24-member team (including regular freelancers and consultants) is based across numerous locations, including Hong Kong, Hainan, Ireland, Rhodes (Greece), Wales, England and the Philippines.
They speak eight languages between them and collectively represent the leading travel retail B2B publisher and events company with distinction across administration & finance, editorial, events, film, research, sales and technology.
We are pleased to introduce the team in this regular column. Please meet our New Zealand-born Chief Administration Officer and ESG Manager Sinead Moodie.
Tell us a little about yourself
I was born in Christchurch, in the South Island of New Zealand, to an actress and a barman (I’ll let you guess which one Martin Moodie was).
When I was two, we moved back to my mother’s home city of London in the UK, and my younger brother Declan was born shortly after. I was raised in Ealing, West London by my parents and my grandmother Attracta, who was originally from Galway, Ireland. She helped connect me to my Irish roots, which was important to me with having such an Irish name. And if you’re unsure of the pronunciation, it’s Shin-Aid.
When I was a teenager, I was lucky enough to welcome two further siblings into my family, Ali and Sami. We get on so well and I have so many lovely memories of us all having fun and laughing together on holidays and at home.
After finishing school, I got my BSc in Psychology and then an MA in Criminology. It was during my MA that I met my husband-to-be Adrian, who had moved from Swansea to London to complete his accountancy training.
I am someone who often takes a while to feel comfortable around new people, but Adrian and I hit it off right away and had so much in common. I honestly can’t imagine a person for me who would be a better match. We got married in Edinburgh, Scotland; it was beautiful and we got to have the non-traditional wedding we always wanted. This year we will be celebrating our 15th anniversary of being together and we now live in Powys, Wales.
In 2020, during the height of the COVID lockdown, we welcomed our first child, our daughter Carys.
Having a first baby during lockdown was quite the experience; both good and bad. Neither Adrian nor I had any experience with babies so we had to learn quickly, and without outside help. That said, it also enabled Adrian to work from home and that helped so much during the newborn phase.
In 2023 we welcomed our second child, our son Iwan. Both Carys and Iwan have brought so much to our lives, they are such little characters and always making us and each other laugh. They have the silliest senses of humour and it’s lovely seeing their bond grow.
When did you join The Moodie Davitt Report and what is your role?
Although I had assisted with smaller jobs in a freelance capacity over the years, I officially joined part-time in 2008, while still at university. Then I was primarily editing images and story layouts on the website.
I have always had an interest in technology and photo editing and spent a lot of my teenage years building websites and learning HTML, so I really enjoyed it. I later joined full-time as Production Manager and then in 2022 was promoted to Chief Administration Officer and ESG Manager. I am also part of the digital team as I really enjoy being involved with anything techy.
One (or more if you like) highlight(s) of your time with The Moodie Davitt Report?
I would say there are two things that come to mind. The first one is getting to know our amazing team. I am blown away by how many talented people I work with. Everyone is so smart and skilled; perfectionists at their jobs and work harder than anyone I know. And yet they are still so down to earth and modest, they never boast or act as if they are above others. If you ever need help with something everyone will raise their hands to help you. They will never belittle you; instead they lift you up.
I am so happy to work among our team. It can be hard at times working remotely and rarely seeing each other in person, but we still keep in regular contact through Zoom so we can speak to each other and reach out to help when and if needed.
The second is seeing the difference our charity events and fundraising campaigns have made, from the huge funds donated and raised for Smile Train which helps children primarily in developing who have cleft lips and palates, to helping build a school in earthquake-ravaged Haiti in 2011.
Click on the video above to learn more about The Moodie Davitt Report’s Smile Raising Dinner, just one of many efforts in support of Smile Train
We have also raised and donated huge sums to cancer-related charities such as The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, which is especially important to me after seeing family members fight this horrible disease.
What is your approach to work, your business philosophy?
To establish the clearest hierarchical folder structure known to man! I can get quite obsessive with my folders, be it within emails, OneNote or Google Drive.
It’s so important to me as with my job I have so many different tasks going on at once it can get a bit overwhelming and some tasks could easily slip by and be missed. So, by organising everything and keeping notes of what needs to be done I can feel more in control and organise things in degree of importance.
What is it that makes you tick? Your positive/negative traits?
I love puzzles and problem solving, from logic puzzles and algebra to figuring out why a computer is doing something bizarre. I suppose I am a bit of a geek, which has both positive and negative traits to it. I am probably not the life and soul of a party, but I will be there for you if the party sound system suddenly stops working.
How important is leisure time and out of work interests?
Very important; you need a good work-life balance or your mental and physical health will suffer. Before we had kids, travel was my biggest out of work interest.
Adrian and I have been lucky enough to go on so many adventures all over the world, from New Zealand to Japan, Thailand to Mexico. My favourite places were Aitutaki, Cook Islands and Langkawi, Malaysia. Both were so beautiful and the people so friendly. Aitutaki has barely been touched by tourism and we were able to take boat trips to small islands and be literally the only people on them. It was amazing.
Once the kids are a bit older we are looking forward to travelling again. I really can’t wait to take them on a snowy Nordic Christmas adventure! Until then we can hopefully have lots of adventures closer to home.
A must-have in duty free?
Easy one, chocolate! My biggest weakness is anything Kinder or praline-based. Unfortunately, both my children seem to have inherited my sweet tooth so I have to hide my chocolate stash from them.
And a desert island choice of music and book – or something else?
It would definitely be a book. I love reading and always carry my Kindle wherever I go. I particularly love anything fantasy (think Lord of the Rings) or sci-fi. At the moment, I’m reading The Expanse novel series by James S. A. Corey but I would likely choose Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive series as I have been saving it for a rainy day – or perhaps a desert island. ✈
Previously on Meet The Moodie Davitt team
Introducing FAB and International Account Manager Maya Feeney
Introducing Administration and Events Support Manager Kristyn Branisel
Introducing Associate Director Events Vincci Chung
Introducing Associate Editor Camille Bersola
Introducing Development and Systems Operations Director Matt Willey
Introducing Reporter Ameesha Raizada
Introducing China Chief Representative Zhang Yimei
Introducing Vice President Sales Sarah Genest
