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Gabby Bean
RPTM 101: Introduction to Recreation Services
Brendan Taff
Career Report

Introduction

I had the opportunity to interview a woman, who in one hour’s time, opened my eyes to

more opportunities in the Recreation Park Tourism Management (RPTM) field than I could have

imagined. The candidate I was privileged to interview, was Makayla Swann. I interviewed her

on Thursday, November 10th. At that time, she was working remotely as the Marketing Manager

for Velocity Procurement. Makayla explained she would be starting a new job working for

Disney Signature Experiences on Tuesday, November 15th as their Communications and

Experience Manager. My goal was to interview someone who works for Disney, and I am so

grateful I had the opportunity to talk to Makayla. She has worked at many different job levels

for Disney, besides other non-Disney jobs. The information she shared, was so helpful to me as I

move toward my goal of working for Disney in some capacity after graduation.

Listening to Makayla talk was like watching someone climb the ladder of knowledge.

She seems to have done it all in a short amount of time. Makayla received a Bachelor of Science

in Human Environmental Science, Majoring in Hotel and Meetings Management, with a Minor

in Business Administration, and a Concentration in Event Planning, from the University of

Alabama, in 2008. During her college years she worked jobs such as photography and catering

events, any job that focused on event planning for weddings, because her goal was to work for

Disney Fairytale Weddings someday. She was able to participate in a few internship programs

such as Purchasing Intern for Mercedes-Benz U.S. International, Human Resources Intern and

Shipping Intern for Phifer, Inc, and the Disney College Program focusing on Hospitality in 2007,

allowing her to continue her passion to help create magic for others. There was a big recession
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during her first year out of college. The economy took a huge downturn which caused a position

she was hoping for, working for Disney Fairytale Weddings, to be cancelled. Makayla decided

to go to graduate school, so she applied, studied, and passed her GRE in ten days!! This was so

inspiring to me! In August of 2008, Makayla became a Cruise Vacation Planner for Disney

Cruise Line. She decided to do the Disney College Program again, this time focusing on

Merchandise in 2009. She said her biggest takeaway from the Disney programs were the people

that she met. She met one of her best friends through this program and continues to go back to

Disney because of the people and relationships. Makayla earned her Master of Science in

Marketing from University of Alabama in 2010. With being committed to the Disney experience

she became a Campus Representative which is an on-campus recruiter for Disney. Makayla got

invited to the Disney Casting Center to work as a Professional Recruitment Coordinator, she also

did an internship as Marketing Project Manager, for Owens House a Children’s Advocacy

Center. Next, she did a Disney Professional Internship as she worked in Services for Guests with

Disabilities for six months in 2011, and she told me this was her favorite job she has ever had,

she met people who truly became her family. She said, “There were more abilities to create

magic there than anywhere else” (Swann, 2022). She was interviewing for a position with

Disabilities for Guests for Disney Cruise Line, that she did not get, when she received a call from

her leader in the Casting Center, where she had worked earlier in her career. She went home to

Casting and was asked to commit to a one-year position at that time as the Employment

Coordinator Associate. During this experience she was able to ask herself if this was where she

wanted to be, doing these different jobs. She was contacted by others for positions within

Disney and turned them down because she knew there were some people who she did not want

to work for. Makayla told me to “Make sure to pay attention to those in charge as you go
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through your programs, internships, and jobs, making note of how people react to the boss and

how those in charge treat their employees. This will help you decide if they are the type of

people you want to work for in the future” (Swann, 2022).

As Makayla was working remotely during this time in Casting, she was still working as a

Cruise Vacation Planner and added Shoreside Communications Coordinator with Disney Cruise

Line to her resume. She had a life situation that changed and needed to be able to live in

Orlando on her own. She was not making a lot of money, and could not make rent, so she

decided to make some changes. Makayla met a lady at a book club who asked her to interview

for her company. She got the job at Tishman Hotel Corporation, as their Marketing Manager for

three years. In 2017 Tishman was bought out by Marriot and Makayla’s job went away. As she

was looking for a job, and interviewing, she was contacted on LinkedIn by a headhunter from

Boars Head Meat and Cheese Company. She got the job as Channel Marketing Specialist,

Foodservice for Boars Head, and relocated from Orlando to Sarasota. When the company

wanted to grow the business, Makayla was “voluntold” she would be working on the innovation

team for Boar’s Head’s CollaBoaratory Innovation Facility. She became the Innovation Insights

Specialist, Marketing Innovation for the Boar’s Head Brand and went from traveling 15% of the

time to 85% travel for the next three years. Working through the pandemic was definitely a

challenge, but she persevered through. During this time of perseverance, she decided to get her

MBA, so she did, and graduated from Stetson University in 2021. She was feeling she wanted to

start looking for a new job at this point, so she applied for and got the job as the Marketing

Manager for Velocity Procurement and has been there for the last year. Recently, Makayla was

contacted on LinkedIn by another headhunter for Disney Cruise Line Aulani to be their
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Communications Manager for Disney Signature Experiences Technology Department. She

accepted the job and began that adventure on Tuesday, November 15th.

Mission/Purpose of the Agency/Department

Makayla said that Disney’s Mission Statement is, “The mission of the Walt Disney

company is to entertain, inform and inspire people around the globe through the power of

unparalleled storytelling, reflecting the iconic brands, creative minds and innovative technologies

that make ours the world’s premier entertainment company” (The Walt Disney Company, 2020).

She said her personal mission statement is “My mission is to be happy and present for my

family. I will be loyal to family and myself first. I will work to live not live to work” (Swann,

2022).

Clientele Served

Makayla’s clientele will be the Technology Department. She will guide the team whose

ages range between thirties to fifties. There are no membership requirements or fees for this

department, they are just employees. The overall Disney clientele is anyone. If an employee or

any Disney clientele would like to go to a Disney Park, then they would have to pay to gain

access in the form of a ticket. An annual pass holder card is similar to a membership card,

participating in Disney Vacation Club is part of Disney Signature Experiences, and those clients

have purchased a Lifelong membership. Her Technology team will be based in Celebration,

Florida, and her internal clients will work part of the week in the office and the rest of the week

remote. For the Disney Experiences, clientele come from around the globe. Disney is

everywhere, Aulani is in Hawaii, The Disney Cruise Line primarily is out of Port Canaveral but

has other ports like Barcelona, Disney Vacation Club locations are in Orlando, it is a Global

Company. Makayla said generally there are no demographic characteristics. Her internal clients
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are from a diverse background, and you have to be of legal age to work in the United States.

With Disney there is a focus on diversity and diversity is encouraged across everything Disney.

Services and Programs

Makayla’s department will provide help to the Technology people so they can tell their

stories as to why they need to do something the way it needs to be done. She said that

Technology Project Managers are not the best communicators. The Project Managers needs, for

their role to be successful, is for someone to tell their stories for them. Makayla’s department

will provide that service so that all runs smoothly moving forward with the Technology. As for

Disney wide services and programs, the list is vast, but medical is one of the major services

provided for all Disney clients. With regard to facilities, Makayla said she will work remote

with a few in person meetings. Facility wise, every building that is open to the public has its

own services and facility requirements, for example accessibility for clients with disabilities.

Each facility has a list of requirements to be met.

Staffing

The total number of staffing for Makayla’s team is seventeen. Five of the seventeen are

under a year contract and could be considered seasonal because the scope of work needs to

match the need, for the position to be filled. The total number of staffing for “Disney is 223,000

employees, 55% are women, while 45% are men” (The Walt Disney Company Statistics and

Demographics, 2022). Makayla said that Disney is Florida’s largest onsite employer, and a

greater majority of Disney employees are seasonal. There are no volunteers that work in her

department or for Disney.

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Funding Source(s)

Makayla said that the funding to pay staff, and to maintain services, maintain facilities

and keep up programs, comes from a mix between theme park attendance, cruise sales,

merchandise sales, food sales, as well as other funding sources such as Disney Vacation Club

memberships, Disney Hotel stays, Disney Movies and Disney + streaming services. The funding

comes from entertainment as well as tourism.

Professional Issues

In the field of RPTM, Makayla said that her biggest challenge was during the pandemic.

When everything closed down, there was no money coming in from the funding sources. So, the

agencies could not pay the staff and that became a challenge. Other times of challenge were

when the recession hit, and 9/11 happened. People were either afraid to travel or could not

afford to travel, and tourism took a hit. She mentioned being in this field has also taught her to

be prepared for all types of situations. “We know these things will happen, so we need to be

ready with what to do and how to accomplish each task” (Swann, 2022). She said, “You need to

be willing to roll with what is happening around you. If you are not willing to move around

positions, and you stay stuck on one job, then you will sink and not swim and you will definitely

struggle in the industry” (Swann, 2022). She also mentioned any job or career that is not

recreation and tourism related will still be an asset to personal growth for your dream job.

In the field of RPTM, Makayla said the thing that excites her is the ability to travel. She

loves to travel, to plan a trip, make that trip happen, and getting to see and explore the world.

During the pandemic she travelled to the national parks because there were no restrictions with

being outdoors. When I asked Makayla what her favorite part of her job was, she said she loved

having the ability to create. She loves any moment to be creative. To create and prepare for an
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event is exciting. “The rush you get when an event is happening, and everything is going well is

amazing” (Swann, 2022).

This opportunity, to interview someone with such experience and knowledge, was truly

eye opening for me. With being a first year RPTM student, I had no idea there were so many

avenues that could help support my future goals. I am grateful for the personal wisdom Makayla

shared with me throughout each step of the interview. Her wiliness to offer me assistance as I

move through my RPTM college and personal career is appreciated so much. I will be forever

grateful for how this class has taught me that my goals are worth all of work. No dream is too

big to achieve.
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References

“Disney - Leadership, History, Corporate Social Responsibility.” The Walt Disney Company, 2

Mar. 2020, https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/about/.

Swann, Makayla. Personal Interview. 10 November 2022.

“The Walt Disney Company Statistics and Demographics - Zippia.” The Walt Disney Company

Statistics and Demographics, https://www.zippia.com/the-walt-disney-company-careers-

11541/demographics/.