Playing it safe is the biggest gamble

Virgin has always been a brand that brings the world unbelievable experiences.  It’s what we do best. So it was brilliant to meet the team at Virgin Experience Days, who live and breathe this every day. It was also great to spend more time with the company's CEO, Danni Rush (one of my favourite people!) Danni lives and breathes Virgin’s values - and she’s leading a team that’s ready to make bold moves. 

Their new brand proposition is to ‘Gift Anti-Ordinary’, and it was amazing to see how the team is embedding this deeply within the business. As Danni said: “It’s so much more than a marketing strapline.” The team are using it to guide everything they do. From the boardroom ("how do we use it to challenge decisions?”) to the culture they build (empowering people to bring anti-ordinary ideas to the table). Anti-ordinary is about breaking away from the status quo, creating unparalleled experiences, and doing things the Virgin way. Anti-ordinary is also good for business. It’s how you disrupt, innovative, and drive authenticity.

Growing up on a one-bedroom houseboat that doubled as Dad’s office, I never saw a line between work and play. Everything blurred together into one big adventure. That passion for trying new things and learning by doing (and sometimes failing!) has shaped Virgin for decades. As my granny Eve once said: “If you don’t do it, you haven’t done it.” Standing still is not an option. Playing it safe is the biggest gamble of all. It was so inspiring to see how deeply Danni and the team are embracing this.  

I also loved picking Danni’s brains about culture. As she put it: “Culture is a feeling. You can’t write it on a piece of paper.” She’s right. At Virgin Experience Days, Danni has built that feeling through empowerment, ambition, and holding herself accountable. 

Tomas Jenkins / Virgin

It’s ambition, empowerment and accountability that has helped Danni achieve her dream of becoming a global CEO. Now that Danni has reached this goal,h, she asked herself: “What am I going to do with it?” Her answer: empower others and embed purpose as a competitive advantage. How wonderful. As Danni told us: “Being a disrupter and having purpose in our strategy is what sets us apart from our competitors.” I couldn’t agree more.  

For Virgin Experience Days, purpose isn’t abstract. Every anti-ordinary gift they sell is an invitation to connect: people to people, people to places, people to partners they champion. They work tirelessly to curate experiences with makers and venues who share your values on safety, inclusion and sustainability; spotlighting low-carbon and local options; choosing circular, digital-first gifting over waste; and use their platform to open doors for communities who rarely get access. That’s Changing Business for Good, one unforgettable experience at a time.

Tomas Jenkins / Virgin

People are hungry for meaning, joy, and action. Businesses that show up with bravery, authenticity, and purpose capture people's loyalty. At Virgin Group we believe that Purpose is our superpower. It’s part of how we compete. How we differentiate and win. And how we make sure we’re still around to win again tomorrow.  

This is why we took some concrete steps to ensure purpose drives everything we do at Virgin. This includes: 

• Tying purpose into leadership bonuses. 

• Hardwiring it into our legal framework by changing our Articles of Association 

• Running all decisions through our Purpose Decision Making Filter 

• Reporting our net-zero targets through the Science Based Target initiative 

Virgin Experience Day / Virgin

Thank you to everyone at Virgin Experience Days for inviting me over. And thank you for going against the grain, embracing the anti-ordinary, and never playing it safe.