Guest Contributors

Episode 17

 Senior Editor, Executive Support Media | Writer | International Speaker 

LinkedIn | Website

Kathleen Drum’s mission is to bring thought-provoking, timely and inspiring content to administrative professionals worldwide, empowering them to succeed in their roles and excel in their careers. 

As the Senior Editor at Executive Support Media, Kathleen works closely with authors and speakers, commissioning articles, researching current business trends, and providing opportunities and encouragement to new voices in the profession. She manages every aspect of Executive Support Magazine, from inception, commissioning, and formatting to publication on the website and in print.

As a former Assistant, Kathleen understands the issues and opportunities that face the profession and its people. Her administrative experience ranges from the site office to the C-suite and includes Crossrail (the Elizabeth line), one of the most significant construction projects in Europe, and the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. 

During her tenure, Executive Support Magazine has increased its content offerings to include free-to-download eBooks and supplements, some published in both English and Portuguese. Kathleen created 2019’s #AskForTraining email mini course, writes for both the magazine and website and speaks at conferences and trade shows on topics such as productivity, mindset and project management.

Episode 16

High Performance Executive Coach | Wellbeing Coach | Owner of Employees Health 

LinkedIn | Website

Richard is a high-performance executive coach, well-being coach, and Founder of Employees Health. He is also a mental health advocate, and all-around believer in unlocking your full potential. With a passion for championing personal and professional triumphs, He has honed his craft with a BSc in sport science and coaching, a qualification in performance coaching, lots of continuous self-learning and a wealth of real-world experience.
 

His journey has been a rollercoaster of overcoming challenges, weathering setbacks, and mastering the art of bouncing back stronger. For over a decade, He has been working with individuals – from budding athletes to top-tier CEOs – as they conquer their health, fitness, and performance goals. Richard is now a business owner, where he lives and breathes the hustle, alongside all of this he has been a men's hockey coach, learning the ins and outs of building rock-solid teams.

Bonus Episode

Founder of 

Nova Chief of Staff

LinkedIn | Website

  Maggie Olson is the Founder of Nova Chief of Staff, the premier and first-of-its-kind destination for Chief of Staff education, certification, and development. 

She has 20 years of experience in retail, food and beverage, and technology sectors and has held leadership roles at Nordstrom and T-Mobile. At T-Mobile, Maggie's impressive work led her to become the Chief of Staff to the President of the T-Mobile Business Group. In this role, she built the Chief of Staff model from the ground up, creating a highly efficient team and establishing an executive back-office structure. supporting the President, SVPs, and over 5,000 employees. 

She also built a Chief of Staff team, defining all roles, processes, and systems. Through Nova Chief of Staff, Maggie continues to shape the future of business leadership, providing the tools and resources necessary for Chiefs of Staff to excel in their roles and drive company success.

Episode 15

Founder of Carve

LinkedIn | Website

Fiona is founder of Carve, a series of live digital courses for executive assistants to learn AI, create capacity and develop into a strategic assistant — carving out their career growth in the process.

Before launching Carve, Fiona spent 15,000+ hours of her career redefining what modern digital learning experiences look like.

She led learning programs at Hive Learning, the innovative b2b peer learning app, creating high-impact learning experiences for an impressive list of corporate clients. Fiona previously ran learning & development for Blenheim Chalcot, one of the world’s most successful venture builders, overseeing group learning strategy and programs for 3,000 people across 25 ventures. 

Fiona started her career as an executive assistant in venture capital.

Bonus Episode 

Founder of EA Social Club | Thought leader & Creator | Coaching & Mentoring

LinkedIn

 20+ years of Executive Assistant experience, having partnered with prominent leaders in high-pressure and fast-paced companies, such as Salesforce, Twitter, Goldman Sachs, and BMO Capital Markets. 

Outside work, Becky offers admin support to a rescue in NY, offers 1-1 ad-hoc mentoring sessions to EA/Admin professionals, uses her voice to advocate on behalf of the admin profession, and focuses on building the admin community through the EA Social Club. 

Episode 14

 Microsoft Certified Trainer | Educational Technologist |  Technology Strategist  | Technology Change Agent | Agent of Innovation | Technology Thought Leader 

LinkedIn | Website

We pride ourselves on our exceptional customer service and attention to detail. Our team of personal assistants is experienced, reliable, and dedicated to helping our clients achieve their goals. When you choose The Crodie Files Podcast, you can rest assured that you're in good hands.

Bonus Episode

 Founder of Premier Admin Services 

LinkedIn | Website

Zoe Hill is a seasoned professional with 16 years of experience within the administration industry, coupled with nearly 10 years of leadership experience. With a background
spanning various organisations, Zoe’s journey has been marked by excellence and innovation.

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For 12 years, Zoe worked at JPMorgan where she held the position of Senior Assistant Supervisor / Senior Executive Assistant. Her tenure within the company helped to shape her
into the dynamic professional she is today honing in on administrative skills, project management skills and people management.

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Driven by passion for the admin industry, Zoe has now embarked on her entrepreneur journey and launched Premier Admin Services earlier this year. Through this venture, Zoe looks to provide a platform for empowerment, elevation and inspiration to admin
professionals worldwide. 

Bonus Episode

 CEO & Founder of Whole Assistant | EA Trainer & Coach 

LinkedIn | Website

I've worked for over 20+ years as an assistant for boutique companies across multiple industries including accounting, marketing, nonprofit, private wealth management, and venture capital.

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Working in a variety of settings has led to a diverse understanding of the executive assistant role and the many challenges that often come with it. 

I have been where you are.

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There is no other role on the planet quite like the role of executive assistant, and nobody "gets it" like another assistant.

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I'm also a certified coach, which means I'm trained to point out the limiting thoughts and beliefs that are keeping you from your highest potential.

The PA Show Live Episode

  Founder and CEO of Klowt 

LinkedIn | Website

 Amelia Sordell is the founder of Klowt, the UK’s leading personal branding agency, and a trailblazer in helping professionals create authentic and impactful personal brands. Her journey into personal branding began after returning to the workforce and excelling in sales as a Tech Headhunter.

Amelia quickly realised the power of marketing herself on social media in the same way she marketed her business, which became the foundation for her expertise in personal branding. 

Episode 13

Marketing Coach | Entrepreneur and UK Top 10 Singer | Songwriter | Co-Founder of Marketing Agency, Hello Social Avenue. 

LinkedIn | Website

Starting his career in marketing as a social media specialist and videographer, David quickly discovered he had a passion for coaching and building businesses with great marketing strategies. He’s passionate about real marketing that grows revenue and guiding business owners through it. 

He started creating effective video marketing strategies with some of the UK’s best business coaches, after a small successful career in the music industry. David has generated over 100k streams, reached #7 in the UK singer/songwriter charts, been on European tours and grew an audience of over 10,000 followers. He now uses that experience to help businesses create raving fans.

After becoming an award winning marketer.

In 2023, David and his wife Abbie Coslett launched their business Hello Social Avenue, and have worked with Hammer Films, Anderson Entertainment, and ActionCOACH through to LinkedIn Top Voices, startup founders and leadership teams.

Episode 12

 CEO & Founder of Design Training | Author & Speaker 

LinkedIn | Website

Podcast

Founder and CEO of Success by Design Training, an award-winning entrepreneur, author, speaker, and corporate trainer on time management and productive wellbeing. She is a qualified coach and creator of the renowned 888 Formula and host of The Time Management Podcast.

Success by Design Training is on a mission to teach 1 million people how to Become the Productive Professional using The 888 Formula by 2025. 

Abigail has over 10 years’ experience in Financial Services Marketing (Investment Management, Asset Management and Hedge Funds).

She holds a BA Hons Degree in Business & Marketing Management, a Professional Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing, DipM ACIM, and is a qualified coach.

Episode 11

 Executive and Administrative Assistant Trainer | Founder and CEO | Author | Speaker | Coach at Office Dynamics International 

LinkedIn | Website

Joan Burge is the pioneer of the administrative training industry and the founder of Office Dynamics International. 

Joan is an accomplished author, speaker, consultant, and corporate trainer who has worked with premier clients like Cisco Systems, The Boeing Co., and Procter & Gamble.

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She started her business in 1990, overcoming the stereotypes and prejudices about administrative professionals. Joan has created numerous innovative programs and courses that inspire excellence and empower assistants to reach for the stars. 

She is the host of the Annual Conference for Administrative Excellence and the author of four books for administrative professionals.

Connect with Joan Burge and Office Dynamics to explore training options and learn more.

Episode 08

Autograph Events | Sales Director

LinkedIn | Website

Twenty-three years after falling into the events and hospitality industry, Flow is still as passionate and excited by the challenges and opportunities it holds.

From starting off in an association conference and events team, Flow has steadily moved through her career experiencing both operational and sales roles at venues and event management agencies. Three years ago, whilst furloughed and fearing the worst for her beloved events industry she came across a Sales manager role for Autograph Events and the rest as they say is history.

Now, as Sales Director, following a promotion last year, Flow’s passion is to build meaningful, genuine relationships with Autograph’s clients and suppliers to ensure the best possible service and creative, memorable events are achieved for all. As a self-confessed Venue Geek she is always looking out for the next new space for her clients; even if that means getting the family involved in a sneaky peak into hotels when passing by!

Episode  07

 The MS Office Maestro 

LinkedIn

Known as The MS Office Maestro, Shelley has been a Microsoft Office trainer for over 20 years, delivering face to face training sessions, presenting at events and training people remotely with various online tools.

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Helping Assistants keep up to date with Microsoft Office is her passion. Shelley does this via her Virtual Live training sessions, webinars and her suite of self-paced courses – Essential Office for The Savvy Assistant.

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Shelley is a Fellow of The Learning and Performance Institute and holds the COLF (Certified Online Learning Facilitator) and CDOL (Certified Designer of Online Learning) qualifications from The LPI.

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Over the last several years Shelley has spoken or presented at a variety of events specifically aimed at PAs, EAs and VAs helping them to improve the way they work. Events include The PA Show, ESTech, Hemsley Fraser, PA Forum Conference, Practically Perfect PA, Miss Jones PA

Episode 06

 Chief Value Office – Cohesive Group

LinkedIn

With over 30 years in the construction industry David is a Chartered Construction Manager by background. He has previously worked as a director with major organisations including Balfour Beatty, Mace and AECOM.

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As CVO he is responsible for driving customer-centricity and creating sustainable value for our clients across their asset lifecycle and portfolios. He is also lucky enough to work with Jodie who he know is the real boss of the outfit. 

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David has been Involved in delivering innovative projects, digital change strategies and digital asset management strategies across the globe from UK, Hong-Kong, Singapore, Australia and the Baltics and has therefore worked with many EAs and PAs in his time and sees the value in remaining one step ahead by CPD.

Episode 05

 Founder & Franchisor of Alchemy

Virtual Assistance

The award-winning, family-run, professional Virtual Assistant team

LinkedIn

Suzy has since self-published a book, ‘The Alchemy of Virtual Assistance: creating a successful virtual assistant business around your family’ and continues to explore and advocate the importance and value in developing meaningful relationships in business.

Suzy holds the belief that this focus will enable her to amplify her business success, create more meaningful impact and value to her team and achieve her ultimate ambitious vision – for Alchemy to become the VA company of choice in the UK.

Episode  03

Talent Acquisition Specialist

LinkedIn

Website

 Discover the remarkable journey of Steven Hutson, Founder of Superstars, a disrupter and innovator in recruitment and Talent Attractions, Steven has met over 12,500 amazing talents and assisted hundreds of clients globally in filling challenging roles. 

Learn how Superstars is revolutionizing the industry with its commitment to real diversity, trust and making a positive impact. 

Episode 02

Executive Assistant

LinkedIn

Karen Smith is a successful Executive Assistant to the directors of Rectella International Ltd. She has been with the company for over 10 years and has a proven track record of providing outstanding administrative support.

Karen is highly organized and efficient, and she is always able to meet deadlines. She is also a skilled communicator and is able to build strong relationships with her colleagues.