Rosanna CooneyCaroline Sherry has the distinction of being one of four female CFOs of listed companies in Ireland. In this interview, written in collaboration with The Currency, she talks to Business Correspondent Rosanna Cooney about the fallacy of work-life balance and re-scaffolding Hostelworld during the pandemic so it could reemerge in the black.
Sherry stepped into the role during the height of Covid. It was a time of turmoil for the company, where the revenue stream was gridlocked by the total closure of the travel and hospitality industry.Like many other businesses, the platform’s survival was not guaranteed and it was an opaque road ahead. From the outset, Sherry felt responsibility to her staff and to the company but also on another level she felt it to herself too, that she wouldn’t be the one to let Hostelworld go under.
Done at a time of intense pressure, the facility had an effective minimum 9.25 per cent rate and awarded stock warrants to HPS that could be converted into 3.3 million shares or a 2.85 per cent stake, at a peppercorn price of 1 cent. The day before we met, Hostelworld held its AGM where Sherry was able to announce that the company had refinanced its €30 million loan facility, something she had made a top priority over the past few months.
“I’ve been sector agnostic,” she says, considering the path she has scythed for her career. “I’ve always kind of thought if I get to a point where I don’t know how I can progress my career or I feel it is a bit limiting, then that’s usually the point where I think; I’ve gotten the best experience out of this that I can get and I think it’s time for me to look at something different.