About

Gillian Smith, Business Owner, G.S. Virtual Assistants

"I started my Executive Assistant career working for Apple retail. It was my first role 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 Medicinal 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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More latterly, I am proud to support 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."

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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 generally have a multi-year 'corporate Executive Assistant' background.

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