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Let me introduce myself…
Hello, it’s great to meet you. After 30 years of unbroken full-time employment as a PA in a variety of sectors, like many people, the global and national events of 2020-21 provided the opportunity to think about what I really wanted and the spur to make the change. I am passionate about combining my proven…
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All change (once more): leaving the VA world
Reflections on being a VA, why I left the sector (it’s all good!) and some advice if you are starting out My last post is a year old (happy birthday!) and was about change, and here we are again, although this time the change has heralded in what I am confident will be a settled…
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All change! – again
Unbelievably, it is two-and-a-half years since we moved to the wetly sunny Devon for a major lifestyle change. I can still be caught saying, “Oh, we’re a long way from Kansas, Toto!” to misquote the late, great Judy Garland, as I adjust to rural life. A major element of this change has been moving away…
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Where it all began
Do you know, being a ‘secretary’ was my Plan A? I didn’t know being a writer could be a career, but when I was 5 or 6 I went to my Daddy’s office and met his Secretary – she’d be an EA nowadays. Her world seemed calm, she seemed lovely, and best of all, she…
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Resilience for a perfectionist
There was a time when perfectionism became a cliché at interviews, “What is your greatest weakness?” was rendered a pointless question when the stock answer was an airy, “Oh, I’m a perfectionist.” Not that I would ever have given that answer. The last time I was asked that question, my answer was, “Oh, I’m completely…
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An invisible but not imaginary friend: the importance of sympathy and empathy
When I was about six years old, my eyesight began to fail in a hail of migraines. My parents, one perfectly sighted and the other myopic, took me to the optician and I received my first pair of spectacles. To this day I am grateful for the little-celebrated technology of optics which allow me to…
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Belated Happy New Year
After succumbing to the lurgy and being wiped out earlier in the month, my 2023 finally got under way on Friday 13th when I met a friend in Bristol for a 24 hour adventure that encompassed shopping, good food and the “Jersey Boys” musical – great music and a fascinating story of how creativity can…
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So it seems I can’t do it all…
I had some great New Year Intentions, but instead I’m being taught the “Managing My Energy” lesson. Just before Christmas, I was all sorted for a productive week off, with glorious free days when I could go for walks with my husband, clear down my personal correspondence and admin, and ready myself for a sparkling…
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The Elusive Secretary Bird
Forgive me, readers, for I have neglected my blog recently. Exactly 2 months ago, we headed off on holiday to visit family in Namibia. My first, and long dreamed, trip to Africa. I had hoped I might see a secretary bird, but it proved elusive, as I have been these past couple of months. I…
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Finding your perfect match
No, I’m not branching out into match-making. But I have been reflecting on how much of life satisfaction depends simply on how you fit, be it in your primary relationship, your friendships and families or the organisations you serve A key match for any business owner, director or executive is to find that person who…
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Are you besieged by little flies?
Nearly 20 years ago I made a new friend who changed my world. Almost a year after looking him up and down and ruling out romance, we began dating. I took him to a favourite place of mine, Upton House near Banbury, and there in the gardens he spotted a treecreeper. I had no idea…
Priory Secretarial Services
Let me carry your admin burdens. VEA – Mentor – Sector Champion – Writer.
Priory Secretarial Services 