I have many people to thank along my working journey. My first encounter was a true leader and inspiration when I worked at Doncaster Council in my twenties, she was called Ness, she was so funny, fearless, full of energy and passion and totally stood out. She always described herself as ‘windswept and interesting’ and was amazing to have around in an emergency. Even now in my fifties I have odd moments and ask myself what would ‘Ness’ do in this situation? Plus, she used to come out with some blinders, which would have us rolling around laughing in the office, near to wetting your pants laughing. I now have Helen, one of our amazing team members who calls me most mornings with something to howl laughing about – what at great way to start the day.
My super hero mum who sadly passed away 3 years ago. She influenced how I looked at life, always in a positive fashion and totally stood by her convictions that all people (apart from that teeny-weenie percentage) were lovely people, might be a bit different but were genuinely nice people, just going about their daily life. My mum always had a smile on her face and would say hello and chat to everyone she encountered, which has definitely rubbed off on me.
We decided from the very start when setting up Virtual Administration 19 years ago that our set of values would be of a kind, supporting, inquisitive, hardworking and ‘straight down the line’ (a spade is a spade) type of culture. All of our team members have this attitude with a good dose of humour – which is a must.
They also know that I have extremely high standards and won’t tolerate anything less. I come from an era of learning the hard way. I had a brutal boss in my early twenties, who seriously put me through my paces, learning how to type a letter on an electric typewriter with zero errors and no Tipp-ex. She was a scary individual, who stood for no nonsense, you had no chance of being work shy back then. A lot of her stern ways helped me become who I am today.
I’m now in a new position where we’re bringing on a new Business Manager to the team, who I’m totally excited about. I know for a fact, that I’m going to learn tonnes from this person and will likely influence me as a leader in our growing company.