When Ruth Mills stopped thinking her leadership style was a disadvantage, she realized what strengths she could bring to the table—and was met by a Volaris community that welcomed her
Ruth Mills used to think she knew exactly how a business leader should behave. She imagined a leader as someone who was authoritative and who made all the decisions—the person with all the answers who sat at the head of the table.
So when she stepped into her first leadership role as the Managing Director of IndiCater, she felt pressure to fit into the stereotype she had in her mind—even though it didn’t feel natural to her.
After spending a few years as a leader, she began to realize she had a unique strength. Her social nature meant that she enjoyed communicating with others and listening to her team. She realized that her instinct to listen first, build consensus, and make room for other voices wasn’t a weakness to overcome. It was her personal style, and it was working for her team.
She sat down with Acquired Knowledge to talk about how she became the head of a leading provider of catering and hospitality software solutions in the UK, her battle with imposter syndrome, and how her leadership was encouraged by other people seeing her potential—even though she didn’t see it in herself right away.
You’ve worked in the hospitality industry since 2008. How did you get your start in it?
I got into hospitality by accident, really. I traveled for a year, and when I came back, I found a temping opportunity that turned into a permanent position. That was my first job working in the hospitality industry, and I ended up staying at that company for several years.
While at that company, I attended an industry networking event about women in leadership. There, I got to know Lou Willcock, who was a co-founder of IndiCater alongside Mike Day. Lou has since passed away, so she wasn’t part of the IndiCater story after the company was acquired by Volaris, but working with her was what first attracted me to IndiCater.
You spent eight years at IndiCater before you became the Managing Director, working in client services and operations. How did you get into the leadership role?
Before we joined Volaris, I knew Mike was looking to sell the business and that he had met with Volaris. He told me that Volaris asked him if there was somebody who would be able to take his role when he retired, and he asked if I would do it.
It hadn’t really ever been the plan before that point. But I asked myself, “When will I get another opportunity to run a business that I already know, with the customers and staff I already know—along with the support of an organization like Volaris?” I thought that if I didn’t try, I probably wouldn’t ever do it, so I said yes.
After selling IndiCater to Volaris in 2019, Mike Day stayed with the company for two years after the acquisition and left at the end of 2021. I became the leader after that.
Knowing that I had the support of a bigger company was the reason I accepted the opportunity. It meant I had other people around me at Volaris who I could reach out to.
What was it like to lead the business for the first time?
Had we not been acquired, I wouldn’t have taken on the leader role, because I would have been totally on my own trying to lead a company for the first time.
Now that IndiCater is with Volaris, it’s such a safe home for a first-time business leader like me. Leaders have access to support from other business unit leaders, a group leader, a team, and many other people to speak to and learn from. I just think that’s such a key part for somebody who comes into a leadership position and doesn’t know everything right away. It is a really supportive place.
I saw it as a really big opportunity when we were acquired, because we had ticked along quite steadily for a long time. We would lose a customer, and then we would win one, so we didn’t really grow.
What early observations did you have about IndiCater after it was acquired by Volaris?
We have some competitors in the market in the UK that were acquired by other companies. And if you talk to people about them, they’re quite negative about how they’ve changed. If you asked our customers, I don’t think they would say they’ve seen any negative changes.
The IndiCater team has all the benefits of the larger Volaris ecosystem—all the resources, events, and opportunities. I talk to my team about leaning on the other Volaris business leaders as allies. Many of our employees have built their own little networks within Volaris that are outside of IndiCater.
The team has more opportunities to develop their abilities. They can get excited about the opportunity to complete an initiative, and there are new projects that they wouldn’t have had before. I think it’s been positive for everybody.
Now that you’ve stayed at IndiCater six years after the acquisition, what kind of longer-term improvements have you seen?
We’ve improved on practical matters related to revenue. Volaris gave us new ideas to consider, and we’ve matured in the way we look at serving our customers.
We’ve also made improvements in the culture. As a leader, I make everyone aware of our company’s performance, and we make decisions in response to that. We still think like a small company that makes its own decisions, and everyone is part of those decisions, not just the leadership.
Was there a growth journey you went on since becoming a business leader?
During a leadership program organized by Tony DeSilvester’s portfolio, we did a psychometric test that told us what kind of leader we were based on our responses. Everyone got different results—for example, some people had an analytical preference. Mine said my preference was social, and none of the others got that result.
I remember going on a bit of a journey to accept that I was a different type of leader because I was stuck in the thinking that all leaders should be a certain way.
What sort of leader did you think you should try to be?
There are some business leaders within Volaris who have had years of corporate experience and are comfortable with all the jargon. If I compare myself to them, I think I am nothing like that, and I can put myself down quite easily.
But I’ve realized that doesn’t mean I’m a worse leader. I’ve just got a different style. I realized after spending a few years in this job that leaders can be totally different from one another. There isn’t a mold that I should be trying to fit into.
What have you learned about the advantages of your leadership style?
My style is to reflect quite a bit from day to day, and I’ll think, “Who can I call to talk about it with?” Then I’ll get on the phone with my group leader. That’s just because that’s my preference, you know?
I think my team would say my leadership style is a real positive, because I’m very collaborative and I don’t claim to have all the answers. So everybody feels like there’s some decision-making responsibility. It’s not a top-down style of leadership where people think, “Oh, Ruth says we’ve got to do this.”
What have you gotten out of being part of the Volaris community?
I often wonder if the other leaders are just super confident and know they’re doing the right thing all the time, or if they have imposter syndrome and they just hide it.
After five years as a leader, I still question and doubt myself. But I’m doing the job, and I’ve been doing it day to day. At Volaris, I’ve had the chance to participate in several leadership programs, and I come out of each one a bit more confident and with more belief in myself.
What is your advice to other leaders who may be going on a similar journey of developing confidence as a leader?
There are a couple of other Volaris business leaders in the UK that I speak to quite a lot who feel the same way, and we kind of boost each other. We tell each other we’re doing a great job or share ways of doing things, and that’s been really helpful.
I always say to my team: Find the people who are the ones you would phone to get advice from. Find your network of people who will pick you up and say, “You’re okay. You’re doing it.”
