PA Life Star Awards 2023 panel of judges is announced

The PA Life Star Awards 2023 opened for nominations in on August 21st and will close at midnight on September 22nd.

The nominations come in from PAs, EAs, VAs and Office Managers – who are invited to nominate themselves, a colleague or a friend – it’s a good time to introduce you to the panel of our judges.

The awards will be celebrated at PA Life’s Christmas party at Inca London on Monday November 13th.

The PA Life Star Awards panel of judges is made up of exceptional industry experts:

Suzy Sanders, Founder and Franchisor of Alchemy VA. Suzy has won awards for her noticeably different approach to running her successful VA business with collaboration and community as core. and has been featured on radio, TV and in leading industry publications, including the BBC, HuffPost and Go Daddy.

Kathy Soulsby, Founder and Director of Personally Virtual. After a varied career Restaurant Manager, Customer Relations, Sales and PA and EA roles in Management Consultancies, Recruitment and Executive Coaching Businesses Kathy set up Personally Virtual in 2014. Together with her team she provides services that you’d expect from a skilled Executive Assistant.

Sarah Howson, the founder of Strategic PA Recruitment and Strategic PA Network. Sarah is a former EA with over twenty years of C-Suite level experience. Sarah founded what is now Strategic PA Network back in 2015; she is a Business Support profession ambassador and is passionate about the role. Sarah’s talent for building relationships as well as her EA experience was a great foundation for launching Strategic PA Recruitment, a company focused on placing Business Support Professionals, into organisations.

Abigail Jones is a career Executive Assistant, currently working as an EA to a VP at Instagram. The winner of PA Life Club PA of the Year 2019 and Miss Jones PA of the Year 2018, shortlisted for Anderson Hoare PA of the Year 2019, Outstanding Achievement, EA of The Year 2018, London PA of the Year 2017, PA of the Year 2022 and 2016. She was featured on the cover of PA Life Magazine and is a regular contributor to it, and has also been featured on panel shows, key note speeches, articles, summits and workshops with the European Executive Assistant Conference, The Global PA Association, Practically Perfect, LCCI PA Club and SecsInTheCity. Abigail specialises in working at ‘C suite’ level, and is passionate about encouraging PA’s to get the most of out their careers, giving women and equal voice in the workplace, and developing skill sets to make the most of the role of Executive and Personal Assistant. She also provides professional coaching and mentoring to individual EAs and PAs and as well as corporate groups.

Marja-Leena Toseland, Editor, PA Life. PA Life is all about supporting the Professional Assistant community with the informative and inspiring content in both our print and digital platforms,  as well as through our vibrant PA Life Club activity. The Assistants are at the core of everything we do and Marja-Leena recognises the talent, hard work and determination required for succeeding in the role.

All the judges are very much looking part of  reading your nominations – so don’t delay, the process is quick and simple. You will need to email editorial@palife.co.uk  – with a subject line ‘PA Life Star Awards 2023’ – your career highlight or a career bio, include a short testimonial from your boss or a colleague + attach a recent photo.  But before you do that, please decide which category you are entering in and state that in your email.

For full details of how to enter see at the end of this article. Nominations close at midnight on September 22nd 2023.

PA LIFE STAR AWARDS 2023 CATEGORIES AND CRITERIA:

Here are the categories and the qualities, efforts and achievements our judges we are looking for.

Rising Star

This category celebrates outstanding Assistants who have been working in the sector for less than five years, but have demonstrated excellence in their approach to their role in supporting their executives and wider teams.

Virtual Assistant Star

As the name suggests, this accolade will be awarded to an individual who has shown exceptional applications of services to clients.

PA Life Club Member Star

Awarded to the member of the PA Life Club who has shown strong commitment to supporting the Club by attending events, and engaging with other Club initiatives.

Commitment to CSR Star

This award will be presented to the Assistant who has helped their organisation make a difference within the workplace or wider community, via sustainability and green initiatives, charity work and more.

Commitment to Wellbeing Star

We’re looking for Assistants who have actively helped their execs, teams and organisations with wellbeing and wellness initiatives, either by introducing projects and programmes, or by managing them.

PA Star of the Year

The big one! This award will celebrate the work of one Assistant over the past year. We want to hear from PAs, EAs and VAs who have had an impact on their workplaces, going above and beyond duty to make processes smoother and their Execs’ lives easier.

HOW TO ENTER

Firstly, it’s free to enter the PA Life Star Awards! You’ll be pleased to know that there’s also not a lengthy submission process. Simply…

• Email Marja-Leena on editorial@palife.co.uk with the subject line ‘PA Life Star Awards 2023’ and the name of the category you’d like to enter
• Read the criteria/description of the category you’d like to enter, and tell us in no more than 400 words why you should be considered for this award
• Provide us with a pic of yourself
• Please also provide a brief testimonial from your boss or someone you work with closely  outlining why they think you should be considered for the award (testimonials do not need to be counted within the 400 word main submission text)

Good luck to all nominees!