Q&A with Jade Fearon, Rising Star 2020

At the PA Life Star Awards, Jade Fearon was awarded Rising Star 2020.

Jade is a Personal Assistant at DWF and adapted well into working from home. During lockdown she seamlessly transitioned into working for a new team, and remained a positive voice for other support staff during a very uncertain period.

PA Life spoke with Jade to find out more about her experience and how she felt about winning Rising Star 2020…

What inspired you to start a career as a Personal Assistant?

My brother. He had just completed his LPC ahead of a training contract to become a solicitor, and I’d been working in an entirely different sector and had been wanting a change for quite a while. He showed me some of his coursework and helped me to see that I could make the move and start a new career as a Legal PA.

What’s the best thing about your job?

Easily the people and my team. I have a wonderfully supportive manager, and I have an incredibly experienced PA in my team to lead the way for me. I’ve learned so much from the people around me who are always happy to lend a helping hand, and the solicitors in my team are always challenging me to be the best that I can be.

And the most challenging?

Adapting to a whole new environment and learning new systems and ways of working, after working in a different industry for such a long time was a challenge for me.

How has the pandemic impacted your job?

I have been working from home since March and so, like a lot of people, have had to set up a work station in my spare room. I keep in touch with my team on a daily basis, and we have weekly social meet ups virtually which works well (although not quite the same as meeting in person for socials).

I was already set up as an agile worker, so the transition to home working was actually quite easy for me and it’s something that I really enjoy. I find it amazing how well our industry has adapted to home working and feel that there have been some changes for the better to certain work habits and processes, and hopefully these will continue long after the pandemic is over.

How did you feel when you won Rising Star 2020?

Very surprised, proud and grateful. My husband put a bottle of champagne in the fridge as soon as my name was announced!

Congratulations Jade! If you enjoyed this interview why not check out our interview with Chris Holland, PA Life Club Member of the Year 2020?