Peter Felix’s life has been packed full of travel and adventure, as he pursued a career around the world. From his early post-university Voluntary Service Overseas role in East Pakistan to an incident-packed tour of Vietnam during the war, and later stints living in Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, the United States, France, and Algeria, Peter has traveled extensively while forging a career in commerce and non-profit organizations.
Surviving 9/11 and a world of other experience
Among his catalog of experiences are many he will never forget … not least the events of September 11, 2001.
Shortly before the terrible day that saw two planes crash into the Twin Towers, killing more than 2,000 people, Peter and June had moved with their young son, Max, to New York from Hong Kong, where they had lived for four years. While June pressed ahead with the latest challenges of a fast-track career in financial services, Peter took up the running of the Association of Executive Search Consultants—the professional body for “headhunters” that he turned into a global organization. He even developed an online platform called BlueSteps—predating LinkedIn—that enabled senior executives to connect directly with executive search firms. In his spare time, Peter became president of the St. George’s Society of New York—a charity established in 1770 to help British and Commonwealth citizens in the New York area who had fallen on hard times.
Few people can forget the horror of watching 9/11 unfold on their television sets, but the events were deeply personal for Peter. June had been invited to a seminar in the Windows on The World restaurant at the top of the North Tower that morning, and although she had mercifully declined, she was in her office to witness the second plane flying between the tall buildings of Wall Street.
For the rest of that agonizing day, with all communication cut off, Peter had no knowledge of what had happened to his wife, and they were only reunited many hours later after June walked the eight miles home, having taken shelter in her building’s secure bunker as both towers collapsed.
Among Peter’s first tasks for the St. George’s Society had been to organize an exhibition titled The British in New York since 1770. However, with the Twin Towers falling before the festival could begin, the name was changed to UK with NY to provide a focal point for the grief and sympathy caused by the horrendous event.
A life that reflects the changing times
Peter has enjoyed a huge range of adventures over his lifetime, though thankfully none anywhere near as traumatic as 9/11. As he says in the introduction to his captivating memoir, Around the World in 80 Years, he has visited as many countries as his age since turning 23, with his life and opportunities inevitably reflecting the political, economic, and social changes of the times in which he has lived.
Perhaps the most important journey of Peter’s life was one that he did not undertake himself but was made by his father, Albert, who fled Nazi persecution in 1939 (partly at the suggestion of a friend in the Gestapo) and, penniless, made his way to England via Sweden. It would seem that adventure was pre-programmed in the family genes.
An education at Haberdashers’ Aske’s Hampstead school included fellow pupils such as Home Secretary Leon Brittan, media magnate Martin Sorrell, and renowned historian Simon Schama. Peter went on to achieve a combined honors degree in sociology and law at Exeter University.
After his initial burst of globe-trotting, Peter joined IBM in a marketing-support function before being promoted, at the age of 26, to the Manager of Marketing Practices role. After four years, he applied to the INSEAD business school in Fontainebleau, France, to study for an MBA, a decision he has never regretted.
“Never assume that you are individually or corporately invulnerable”
After graduation, Peter secured a position with Bendix Corporation Home Systems Division, based in Paris, where he traveled around Europe as an assistant to the European vice-president and the head of the personnel department. The company was severely hit by the oil crisis of the mid-1970s, however, and Peter’s role required him to agree termination packages for all its leading staff—including himself—throughout Europe. As Peter says, “Never assume that you are individually or corporately invulnerable.”
Peter was soon to be off on his travels again, this time to Algeria, working in the oil-and-gas industry. On his return, he joined with Dr. Anna Mann to form a headhunting company that was to lead to an involvement in executive search that lasted for 37 years. He practiced with several different search firms until 1998, when he was appointed full-time president of the Association of Executive Search Consultants.
On first arriving in New York in 1981, Peter had joined the British–American Chamber of Commerce. Before long, he had become a director and then president. His contributions made over 12 years there were recognized in 1992 with the receipt of a CBE for his contribution to British commercial interests overseas.
The Donald Trump experience
Peter also got to see how none other than Donald Trump operated, describing how he once sat next to Princess Margaret at a Chamber function, with “le Donald” on the other side:
“With his arm around the back of her chair (decidedly not done), and looking into her eyes, he said, ‘Princess, you have the most beautiful eyes. My mother, who is Scottish, is beside herself tonight knowing that I’m here with you.’”
One of the lesser-known attributes of Peter’s CBE was that it entitled him to marry in St Paul’s Cathedral, London. So, in June 1993, June and he were married there, joined by friends from around the world.
June has had her own brilliant career, becoming one of the first women of Chinese heritage to be appointed CEO of one of the 120 largest British companies. Peter has been fully supportive of her journey, and, in 1994, he resigned his post in the United States to move to Hong Kong for her work.
And, finally, back to the U.S. …
His return to New York before 9/11 was eventually followed by a final stint in London, although in a last gesture to the U.S., Peter traded in his green card and became an American citizen.
After another busy period in the British capital, Peter and June moved to Miami to enjoy a quieter life. Certainly, that is something they each deserve—and you can be sure that they will make the most of all the free time they now have!
Written by Stephen Pitts, LifeBook Memoirs editor
