Natalie and Lauren Hutchings
Tell us about yourselves, your story, what you do at Virgin Atlantic
Natalie: so for me, I have a background in construction and civil engineering but when I finished uni I decided I wanted to work in something I truly felt passionate about, and as I love travel what better place to work than Virgin. I joined the ground operations team, then quickly moved into the Virgin Atlantic holidays product team, I’m currently a Product Services Executive with a focus on the USA.
Lauren: I started my career as cabin crew for EasyJet. I left that position for an amazing opportunity to go and live in Orlando for a year to work at Walt Disney World in the UK pavilion at Epcot. When I returned to the UK I was so lucky to have timed it when Virgin was advertising, and I joined the company as a service consultant. I then became a supervisor, then a performance coach, and am now a Sales Team Leader for Virgin Atlantic holidays.
What does Pride mean to you, and why is it important?
For us, we live every day with pride. We are married, have the love and support of our friends and family around us. But we know that is not the case for every LGBTQ+ person in this country or world, so we know how lucky we are. This is why pride is so important and will continue to be important until every person on this planet can live their authentic life without judgement or danger.
Describe a Pride event for someone who hasn’t been there? Why should everyone attend at least one Pride event in their life?
A pride event is just one big celebration where everyone can just come together and party without being judged or feeling like they need to be something different. Everyone should attend at least once to just feel all the love they are surrounded by and see how everyone should be celebrated no matter what.
How have things improved, and what needs to happen next?
I (Natalie) knew I was gay when I was in my early teens and back then there weren’t too many openly gay role models. There weren’t too many TV shows or movies that showcased ‘alternative’ (for lack of a better word) lifestyles. However, now there is so much more awareness and representation for the LGTBQ+ community and it’s great to see.
However there are still traditional assumed stereotypes that need to be addressed, on more than one occasion we’ve been referred to as sisters when people have seen we have the same surname, as obviously, that is the only logical reason for us to share a name?!?. So I think there is still a way to go to break down those assumed social norms.
As an LGBTQ+ person, how do you find working at Virgin Atlantic?
I think the story of how we met is one of the biggest testaments of how inclusive and supportive Virgin are. I (Natalie) joined the company, and a couple of the people in my team knew Lauren who worked in a different department. They began finding out more about me and realised me and Lauren had a lot in common, so they introduced us and we made a plan to go to dinner! Fast forward a couple of years and all our amazing colleagues were celebrating with us at our UK wedding party when we returned from our wedding in Vegas. We’ve now been married 3 years, and owe Virgin and our amazing colleagues a lot of credit for our happily ever after!
