Letitia Jackson | Barclays
After completing College, I started my career working for a local Solicitors as an Office Junior and achieved promotion to Senior Accounts Assistant.
Upon leaving this role, I joined Barclays as a PA, supporting 4 directors in Transaction Product Management. I then moved to support the Corporate Technology CIO (Chief Information Officer) for 3 years, before moving to support another senior Managing Director in the Cash and Transaction Technology area, supporting key initiatives such as Banking Structural Reform and Brexit.
Helen Rees | Marwell Wildlife
I have been PA to the Chief Executive at Marwell Wildlife since March 2011.
A music graduate of Southampton University, I began my career in 1994 as an Arts Administrator working in local authorities and arts centres in Hampshire before securing a PA role at Southern Arts (the regional arts funding body) where I spent 4 years supporting the Local Authorities and Education teams. I then became Project Manager at Portsmouth-based Music Fusion, one of the first lottery-funded Youth Music Action Zones in the country.
Taking a couple of breaks to look after my young family, I returned to work part-time as PA to the Head of Health at the Audit Commission for 6 years, before the full-time Marwell role enticed me away from the public sector into the charity sector (not to mention the zoo industry!) for the first time.
My role at Marwell includes providing all aspects of PA support to the Chief Executive and Director of Conservation, as well as to the Chairman and Board of Trustees (including several sub-committees). In 2018 I took on responsibility for our Reception team from another department, transforming their integral role within the organisation & supporting them as valued members of staff. I constantly seek to add value to my role, and this is described in the 'significant achievements / contributions' section below.
In 2015 I founded the South Hampshire PA Network, which is described in the 'helping others' section below.
In October 2015 I was selected as one of just 6 finalists in Executive PA Magazine’s PA of the Year Awards, and in November of the same year I won SecsintheCity’s Social Media PA of the Year Award. These accolades have also resulted in my being asked to write blog articles and take part in online interviews for various PA industry websites and magazines. I recently embarked on public speaking engagements too, at PA training & network events, leading the #OneProfessionOneVoice Choir at ExecSecLive conferences around the world, and speaking about PA networks and the PA career pathway for Hays, Vonlanthen, regional PA networks and Hemsley Fraser. I was a founder member of EPAA’s Regional Advisory Board when EPAA launched in 2017, a voluntary role I held for 2 years.
In my spare time I am a keen (not very fast!) runner, I sing and play piano, and tend an allotment growing my own produce for home cooking.
Paula Moio | Time Family Office
Paula Moio is a self-made, future-focused professional, who truly embraces her passion, advocating for change of perceptions and recognition of the PA/EA role.
Works tirelessly alongside a like-minded global network of professionals to raise the profile of the Admin Profession in today’s demanding market, and who are determined to break barriers.
Bestowed with a BBC News Award for her outstanding contribution to BBC News/ BBC World Service in 2013, where she has worked as PA at executive/Board level for 15 years.
In 2017 and 2018 is shortlisted for the We Are the City, Rising Star Award 2017 for the EA-PA category – “the award celebrates 100 individual female contributors that represent the leaders and role models of tomorrow.
In 2018 it receives the prize 'Star Award', granted by LIIFTEFFECTS.org to ordinary individuals around the world who have made a difference in the lives of others - inspiring and motivating them to become better versions of themselves.
Paula currently works as a C-Suite Bilingual-Concierge EA, at an international company in the Finance industry, where she had been headhunted on LinkedIn. She took the leap of faith and has been successfully working there since January 2016.
Hanna Stacey | Rackspace
An Executive Assistant with 6+ years' experience in high growth, fast paced tech environments.
In addition to the standard job requirements of an EA I play Project Manager on multiple strategic projects that contribute to Rackspace’s overall EMEA objectives and targets. I am also functional champion for employee engagement, business partnering with HR to make sure we align to and continually improve our People Plan (this includes Hiring, retaining, cost planning, succession planning, developing and mentor programmes). In the absence of my current leader I am aligned to I am expected to lead from the front with his immediate team making sure to keep operational order and keep us on track, often being referred to as the 'glue' of the team.
I take great pride in coaching and enabling my team and am currently developing a new career and personal development strategy for the EMEA admin support team for 2019. In addition to this I work with female University Interns to build confidence and understand their forward career path.
My output, organisation and positive attitude to work has won me the accolade of finalist for employee of the month at Rackspace as well as nominee for employee of the year 2017.
In addition to this, this year I have set up a women in tech diversity group in the EMEA business, partnering with the global team in the US to create true global alignment and influence positive change for our business. This is something I am very passionate about.Outside of work I volunteer for New Leaf Project which commits to mentoring Young Offenders in the Thames Valley area.
Nikki Holland | PwC
After achieving my diploma in Office Studies at the age of 18, I was still unsure what kind of career I wanted and still had dreams of being an air stewardess or a model.
So being more realistic I applied for various office roles and was pleased to secure a job working for a direct marketing company booking the inserts into magazines. It was an interesting and exciting role but unfortunately after 18 months the company went into liquidation - not a great start my working life!
I was fortunate a find a new position working for a company called Digital Equipment, now known as Hewlett Packard. My position was a Sales Administrator which involved travelling the UK working on their stands at computer exhibitions. I stayed with the company for 8 years working my way up the ladder until I left to have my daughter Emily. After a 5 year career break and a move to Jersey I took a part time role at a local trust company in a secretarial role which enabled me to get back into the working environment and build up my confidence.
After 2 years I knew I was ready to get back into full time employment so took a position as PA to the CEO of Airtel-Vodafone. The company were newly established on the island so it was just me and the CEO in a rented office where we started to build the company from scratch. This gave me a useful introduction to recruiting staff, marketing, finance, and setting up an office and generally helped me develop the skills I now call on today. Two years later we were able to roll out the network to Channel Island paying customers, an achievement that still excites me to this day.
As a result of this successful venture, I was approached by several HNWI’s and because I always like a challenge, I accepted. I was sad to leave Airtel-Vodafone but after six years I knew it was time to take the next step on my career ladder.
Over the next two years I worked for two HNWI’s. Both roles were demanding but a challenge is something I have never shied away from. The roles were complex and involved coordinating meetings in various locations all over the world so I had to be super organised which of course I am! As much as I enjoyed the roles I still felt that there was something more to be achieved.
I was approached by a friend who advised me to apply for a role at PwC as PA to the Senior Territory Partner. At the interview I realised that this was a position that played to all my strengths and would allow me to develop further management responsibilities. Fortunately, PwC felt the same way and I joined the company in September 2014. The role, as I hoped, soon grew and enabled me to take on the added responsibility of managing the Secretaries/PAs, then in 2016 I was promoted to Office Services Manager/PA adding Facilities and Reception to the Office Services team.
As I have mentioned previously, I like a challenge and had noticed that Jersey didn’t have a network for the PA community so I decided to start one myself. I successfully launched The PA Network Jersey in July 2016 enabling 250 PA/EA/VA and office managers to meet and share their knowledge and experience on a regular basis. We have had some amazing speakers, training seminars and fun social events but the stand out event so far has been our International Women’s Day event in 2018 which PwC kindly sponsored. It was attended by over 150 people from all sectors of the community, the feedback was amazing so much so we are running it again this year where one of the topics up for discussion is how gender equality in the workplace benefits the economy, organisations and women themselves. The network ended 2018 on a high by being shortlisted for External PA Network of the Year at the Manchester PA Network awards in November which was great way to put Jersey and the Channel Islands firmly on the map.
I am proud to have had an extensive and varied career and look forward to the challenges to come.
Melissa Francis | Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Melissa began her career as a junior typist at Lloyds Bank before quickly gaining promotion to support the Branch Manager and moving on to the Area Director’s office.
Over time her role transitioned to that of a PA/Manager’s Assistant within commercial banking and after starting a family, Melissa progressed to roles within Share Registration, Single Company ISAs and eventually on to a Customer Service Team Leader role within the bank’s Cash ISA product.
Greatly missing her PA role, Melissa moved on for an enjoyable seven years at a Further Education college supporting senior leaders before taking up her current role within the NHS where Melissa is employed as a Senior Executive Assistant to the Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Chief Executive at Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Melissa splits her working week across three sites at two busy NHS Trusts and is a proud Staff Ambassador, part of a wider team who advocate improving the patient, staff and visitor experience. Melissa’s EA role brings great variety however; the added dimension of Staff Ambassador duties create many opportunities and Melissa enjoys facilitating at the annual Staff Conference and supporting colleagues at Trust events. This includes career open days where Melissa has previously supported applicants, coaching them through their candidate journey as they work towards a new admin or secretarial role. Placing great value in paying it forward, Melissa sees this as an investment in the future of the organisation.
Melissa has developed a passion for networking, building relationships and attending national learning events, championing continuous professional development. Setting herself mini challenges to refresh her journey of learning, Melissa has previously 'dipped her toes' in to the blogging pond writing for the Eventopedia UK, #ProudPA blog.
Melissa is a Fellow member of the Executive and Personal Assistants Association, a Fellow Member of The Institute of Administrative Management and an Associate Member of the CIPD.
Milly Green | MUFG
Being part of a small intake of students studying Japanese at Oxford, a career in banking wasn't really the standard choice among my peers - most wanted to translate manga or find a creative role overseas.
However, my interest had been sparked by a schools programme at JP Morgan when I was 17 and from there I took part in a range of insight days through which a career in Banking increasingly felt like a good fit for me. I liked how the people I met seemed smart and driven, while still being friendly and approachable, and wanted to be a part of that environment.
I first learned the ropes as a Market Risk intern at MUFG Securities in 2015. There were loads of opportunities to meet people from all over the firm, and a number of the people I met at this time have gone on to be an immense support for me in my career ever since. I have now been working at MUFG for nearly 3 years in Enterprise Risk Management. My day to day role is really varied, involving areas such model backtesting, EUC design, risk appetite monitoring and recovery planning. I really like the combination of quantitative and qualitative skills my role involves, and how I get a lot more exposure to the key issues considered by the bank's management than I would have expected at such an early stage in my career.
Sarah-Jane Butler | Parental Choice
I am the founder of Parental Choice (www.parentalchoice.co.uk), a company dedicated to making a difference to parents through their employers.
In 2014, I was recognised by Brummell Magazine as one of the City’s Top Inspirational Entrepreneurs, whilst Parental Choice has been named in the top ten SMEs to work for by Working Families, short-listed three times for the SME Employer of the Year Award by Working Mums and shortlisted for the Relocate Awards 2018 in the Excellence in Employee and Family Support category.
A graduate of Bristol University, where I studied French and German, I became a lawyer, beginning my career in financial law at Linklaters. In 2004 I became an associate at Freshfields, a role which included secondment to the New York office and to the Real Estate Banking Group at Goldman Sachs. From 2007 until 2011, I was a senior associate at Berwin Leighton Paisner.
I retrained as an employment lawyer in 2011 and set up Parental Choice after the birth of my first daughter.
Aside from running the business since 2011, during this time I have also been / am
- a Trustee of the Family and Childcare Trust;
- consultant legal counsel for Allen Lane, a public sector recruitment company;
- non-executive director of the Association of Nanny Agencies;
- an affiliate member of the CIPD and a member of the CIPD Senior Policy Forum;
- a Changemaker supporting Working Families;
- a member of the Regulation Matters campaign working towards the regulation of domestic care in the home; and
- a fellow of the Chartered Management Institute.
I have been involved with Government consultations on childminder agencies as well as speaking publicly at Government policy briefings on topics such as “Bridging the Gender Equality Gap - The Future Role of Women” and the “Back to Work for Women” programme. I have attended several HR summits in my role as director of Parental Choice, including speaking at the Institute of Director’s “Women in Business” conference and appearing on panels on gender diversity in the workplace, I also present at law firms and corporates on family friendly benefits, childcare options and businesses’ family rights obligations at work including flexible working and shared parental leave reforms.
In October 2018, I opened our office in Hong Kong to extend Parental Choice's services across the APAC region as well as the UK and EMEA. Over 8 years, Parental Choice has developed successful collaborations with family focused businesses in a variety of sectors, including Law, Retail, Financial Services and Media, enabling employers to support parent professionals combine long-term careers with, amongst other services, childcare, well-being support and family global mobility support, making a real difference to their lives.
Sky
Sky is Europe's leading entertainment company, serving 23 million customers across seven countries - UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain and Switzerland.
The company has annual revenues of £12.9 billion and is Europe’s leading investor in television content with an annual programming spend of £7 billion.
From exclusive partnerships with HBO, Showtime and Warner Bros. to Sky Original Productions, Sky offers the best and broadest range of content along with the best viewing experience to suit each and every customer. Whether that’s through the multi-award winning next generation box, Sky Q, or Sky’s contract-free online streaming service, NOW TV, customers have access to the latest movies, drama, sports and kids entertainment wherever and whenever they like. This is all supported by Sky’s best in class customer service.
Sky’s success is not just based on what the company does but how it does it. Named as one of the Top 10 Green Companies in the World by Newsweek, one of the world’s most recognised rankings of business’s environmental performance, Sky ensures its responsible business strategy is embedded right across the group.
Three new major commitments have been launched for Sky’s corporate campaign Sky Ocean Rescue; the reduction of our own single-use plastics by 2020; an investment fund of £25 million over five years in technology solutions; and support of marine protected areas across our markets.
Sky has over 31,000 employees and is listed as one of The Times Top 50 employers for women. Sky is listed on the London Stock Exchange (SKY).
Emma Adie | Talbot Underwriting Ltd
After completing a degree in Microbiology I took the unlikely career choice to move into insurance, or so I thought.
As it turns out, my degree has benefited me greatly in managing a varying workload and thinking analytically. After a year working in an organ processing lab, I hung up my lab coat and moved to a brokers to begin learning the basics of insurance. Following this I worked at a smaller insurer for two and a half years, and then moved to Talbot where I felt I had a great opportunity to develop my compliance career. Since joining Talbot two years ago I have really enjoyed embracing responsibility as well as challenging the current way things are done, both in my day to day work tasks as well as the overall culture of the company.
As the Compliance business sponsor on the Brexit project, and attendee on the steering committee, I have worked on mapping out the overseas office process, coordinating with the reinsurance team to assess the impact and mapping procedures. A key aspect to the project was challenging processes that did not take into account the wider business impact. I also deal with all sanctions matters and am a go-to person for underwriters, claims staff and AIG’s sanctions team. It has been a challenging year with major changes in sanctions but I enjoy the pressure and fast pace nature that sanctions and financial crime issues bring.
I am passionate about work culture and mental health, organising Talbot’s first Wellbeing week last year. I nominated and am the main liaison for Talbot’s Charity of the Year CALM - Campaign Against Living Miserably (leading a movement against suicide, the single biggest killer of men under 45). This is an exciting 2 year relationship in which I will be organising quiz nights, running and challenge events, a football tournament and various raffles, all in aid of CALM. This has lead to me joining Talbot's Social and Community committees, in addition to becoming a founding member of the Wellbeing committee following completion of the mental health first aider course. I also volunteer for the Lloyd's Aim2attain workshops, helping secondary children with post education choices and educating primary school children of financial awareness and budgeting in the Tower Hamlets area. I have run two marathons for charity and will be running Brighton marathon in April for CALM.