Ben Angell leads with purpose, not for recognition but to create impact where it matters most. He believes true leadership is not measured by the accolades you collect but by the lives you lift.
It’s a philosophy born of hard-won lessons, where resilience is his compass and humility his guiding strength. For Ben, every challenge is a stepping stone, every success a chance to empower others, and every moment an opportunity to lead and learn with authenticity and heart.
Planting the seeds of adventure
Ben’s story begins in the quiet countryside of East Anglia, England, where childhood meant wild woods, endless bike rides, and days spent lost in adventure. It was a world of discovery, unbound by roads or walls, where the freedom to roam shaped his love for exploration and the outdoors.
“I’d spend hours outside, riding bikes, climbing trees, and building dens,” he tells Karryon, “I found joy in movement and peace in nature.”
That innate connection to the outdoors, to adventure, became his compass. A family home in Lanzarote — long before the island became a tourist mecca — opened his eyes to the romance of travel.
“Lanzarote was full of fascinating, rogue characters: surfers and windsurfers passing through in the winter. I was completely under the spell of their lifestyle, and it planted a seed I couldn’t ignore.”
Years later, that seed sprouted on a backpacking trip around the world with his girlfriend.
“I remember catching the bus up from Sydney to Cairns, stopping in Noosa, and sitting at First Point, a beautiful little beach in Noosa, and just thinking, I’m going to come back and live here”. From that point, his life choices — his degree in tourism, his career, his dreams — were recalibrated to make it happen.
Turning setbacks into stepping stones
In his late 20s, while surfing, Ben ruptured a disc in his spine, a devastating injury for someone whose identity was so tied to movement and activity.
“Sport and movement were my life, and having that taken away completely redefined me,” he says.
The recovery was gruelling. Surgery left him bedridden, and doctors offered little hope for a full return to the active life he once knew. But for Ben, quitting wasn’t an option.
“I could have accepted it, given up surfing, biking, and everything I loved. Instead, I thought, ‘No. I’ll put in 150% effort to get back stronger.’”
The journey back took 18 months of pain, discipline, and determination.
“I set my North Star to getting back in the water, and took one step at a time. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was life-changing.”
Years later, when his back failed again, he faced a second surgery and another crossroads. This time, a serendipitous meeting with a top sports coach changed everything.
“She was coaching some of the top surfers at the time, including Mick Fanning and she told me, ‘Don’t hold back. Double down on learning how your body works.’ So I went all in again. I learned, I rebuilt, and I haven’t had a problem since.”
Ben Angell’s recovery became a metaphor for how he approaches life and leadership: set a goal, break it into steps, and keep going—no matter how hard it gets.
Finding pockets of peace and calm in the chaos
Ben Angell’s leadership philosophy revolves around two simple but powerful mantras: Pockets of Peace and Passionately Disconnected. Together, these mantras allow Ben to lead with focus, presence, and purpose, even in the busiest times.
“’Work-life balance’ feels outdated to me,” Ben explains. “It doesn’t give me the tools I need. But Pockets of Peace does.” For Ben Angell, it’s about creating small but intentional moments of calm — a morning meditation, a short workout, or an undistracted chat with his daughters — that bring clarity and energy to his day.
“I do my best to find space where I can, but sometimes I just have to be comfortable with the fact that I might have two weeks of constant travel and frequent events, and that might just be what it is for two weeks.
“And if that’s the case, the non-negotiable for me is meditation every morning, and I can find ways to exercise, even if it’s in the hotel room.
“It’s about being fully in the moment. I might miss reading my kids a story tonight, but when I’m home tomorrow, I’m all in.”
Ben has made the space to bring this philosophy into the workplace. At NCL, Ben empowers his team to prioritise mental health and well-being. The company’s initiatives, including the Walk for Wellness program, were inspired by this ethos.
His second mantra, Passionately Disconnected, is about perspective. “I used to let my to-do list control me,” he says.
“Now, I step back, close the door on it, and remind myself it’s just a list. It doesn’t define me.
“I’ve got so many different stakeholders from work, friends and family that it would be unrealistic to expect to keep everyone happy all of the time. What I try to do is be deeply in the moment, in every conversation I have. I’m not in any way pretending I’m great with all of this stuff, but I’m trying.”
“I have a rule: I try never to say no to invitations for time together. If one of my daughters asks me to sit and watch TV with her or wants a cuddle, I’ll always make it happen if I can. If they want to play dolls or talk about dogs, I’m all in.”
The leader who learns
Talk to Ben for more than a minute and you very quickly realise how deeply he listens. And that’s because he believes that every person — regardless of their title, age, or experience — has something to teach.
“I’ve tried to learn something from everyone I’ve worked with at every level,” he says. “There’s always a lesson, always a perspective, if you’re willing to listen.”
Ben also draws inspiration from those who push the boundaries of what’s possible, particularly individuals who challenge both their minds and bodies in extraordinary ways. It’s a value he’s passed on to his daughters, sharing moments of awe and admiration as they watched the Paralympics together.
He recalls the story of Alexa Leary, an up-and-coming triathlete whose devastating cycling accident left her with major brain damage, blood clots, and broken bones. “She had to relearn how to walk and talk,” Ben explains. “What started as swimming for rehab turned into her competing in the World Para Championships, where she won gold, set a new world record, and then won more golds at the Paralympics. Her story is just incredible. She overcame so much with such positivity and determination to achieve things most of us can’t even imagine.”
“Her story reminds me that adversity isn’t a roadblock — it’s an opportunity to push beyond what we think is possible.”
This perspective on resilience shapes not only how Ben views challenges but also how he approaches growth and leadership.
“I’ve learned to be open, vulnerable, and invite feedback,” he says. “Strength comes from admitting where you can do better.”
“A lot of people make their way into more senior roles without the structure of support to move from where they were to where they now are. That certainly happened to me and so I invested the time in learning ways to cope, ways not to burn out, ways not to be defined by the stress.”
One of the hardest lessons, he shares, was transitioning from being a subject matter expert to a leader. “There’s a saying: ‘What got you here won’t get you there’. I had to stop diving in and fixing things. My job became about coaching, supporting, and empowering my team — not doing their work for them.”
Ben also credits his team for holding him accountable.
“I fail constantly,” he admits, “but I empower the team around me to call me on it when I do fail.
“I’ve had instances where I might not have been my best self in a meeting for instance. Afterwards, my team might debrief me on what I could have done better. And I think that’s critical. It’s inviting that level of feedback as a leader, being authentic and having a degree of vulnerability.”
Learning from lockdown
Ben stepped into his role as MD in 2019 just as the world was shutting down. For a leader accustomed to driving results and celebrating wins, it was a complete paradigm shift.
“When I started, I thought my focus was clear: drive sales, grow the business,” Ben says. “But Covid turned that on its head overnight.”
“Suddenly, there were no sales to push, no wins to celebrate. What mattered most was supporting a team who were scared, isolated, and unsure of what the future held.”
In the face of a global crisis, Ben recognised that his role wasn’t just about navigating the business through uncharted waters—it was about being a steady presence for his team.
“I didn’t have all the answers,” he admits. “No one did. But what I could do was show up for people. Together, we found ways to stay connected and supported during one of the hardest times of our lives.”
One of those ways was the creation of initiatives like Walk for Wellness, a program designed to help his team and the industry prioritise mental health, stay active, and remain connected while working remotely.
Looking back, Ben describes the experience as transformative.
“Covid forced me to focus on the things that really matter: connection, empathy, and creating a culture where people feel supported.”
For Ben, the lessons of those years have stayed with him, shaping the kind of leader he continues to strive to be. “We came through that time stronger, not just because of the challenges we faced, but because of how we faced them: together.”
Together in Travel
“I made a commitment to myself through Covid that I want to leave this industry in a better place than I found it,” he tells Karryon.
“I’m just trying to be the best I can be for the things I can control,” he says.
“I want to give back. Whether it’s mentoring up-and-comers or empowering my team to lead, it’s about investing in people.”
That commitment extends to his passion for encouraging the team to prioritise their families – work is important, but family comes first.
“Set your North Star”
Ben’s advice to those in the travel industry is as heartfelt as it is profound: “Find your North Star—the thing that drives you—and take steps every day to get there. Life isn’t about perfection; it’s about progress.”
If Ben could sit beside his younger self on that Noosa beach, he’d say simply, “Follow your heart.”
“We all have an inbuilt compass within us. And if we listen to it, it takes us in the right direction. And when we don’t listen to it, it bears us off course.”
That quiet moment of certainty on the sands of Noosa was the start of a journey shaped by resilience, purpose, and the unshakable belief in trusting the quiet but sure pull of his inner compass.
