Founder

Gillian Smith, Founder, G.S. Virtual Assistants

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Discreet Operational Architect Supporting High-Profile Individuals & Growing Organisations

 

"I began my career supporting leaders at global brands and have since specialised in ensuring operational continuity, governance confidence and strategic delivery for executives, boards and high-profile organisations.

 

Apple Retail provided my first challenge out of University, and I progressed from shop floor to sales administrator, assisting the manager within the business sales team.

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From there, I moved onto a challenging sales role with Thermo Fisher Scientific (then Life Tech). Whilst this role took me away from the Assistant role for a period, TF taught me how to be an articulate and dedicated salesperson over email and on the phone - skills which have been vital through my entire career. 

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I progressed onto supporting a HNWI CEO and clinician who had many projects and responsibilities. They chaired a charity which grew from having no staff and a small board of Trustees to being nationally known during my tenure. The charity ran several successful campaigns of which I was proud to be apart and we regularly received positive press coverage and celeb engagement thanks to my comms. I was very much responsible for the day to day running of the charity - supporting the Board and Treasurer and preparing for meetings whilst also performing the comms function. I produced digital content, websites and digital insights. I was also involved with an All Party Parliamentary Group - liaising with MPs over policy issues, organising meetings, events and complex travel bookings. During this period I won awards at the North West and Scottish PA of the year awards.

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I previously worked with three businesses in the Medical Cannabis/Hemp/CBD sector. This involved supporting the executive committees and their Chairs with meeting preparations and diary management. I also performed an administrative function with two of the businesses being successful membership organisations and I would help to arrange 'all member' events and clinician focussed roadshows/conferences across the county.

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Latterly, I am proud to work with the My Name'5 Doddie Foundation. A well loved and well known MND charity set up by the late Ex Scotland rugby player Doddie Weir. In my role, I support the Board and C-Suite. I continue to support the Foundation's C-Suite and Board as a contractor.

 

Since becoming a contractor, I have developed my skills and now offer my clients support in a Chief of Staff and Online Business Manager capacity, working at a higher level to drive strategic goals within the business, where required. Over the past decade, my work has expanded beyond traditional assistant services to include executive operations stewardship, digital infrastructure coordination and cross-vendor governance assurance - helping organisations scale securely and sustainably."

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A note on my team

The Associates that make up the G.S. Virtual Assistants team are spread all over the UK, are multi-disciplined and as a rule have a multi-year 'corporate Executive Assistant' background.

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