About

 

Photo Credit: Alice Slee

Calm, strategic support for small businesses connected to higher education

If you're a consultant, small business owner or sole trader with links to academia or the higher education sector, you’re in the right place.

I’m Jen, a Virtual Assistant (VA) and operations partner who specialises in working with people just like you: ex-academics, knowledge-based businesses, regional consortia, professional bodies, and independent consultants with a foot still in the HE world.

You might be:

  • Growing a consultancy after leaving academia

  • Running a business rooted in knowledge, policy, research, or education

  • Managing multiple clients, projects, or partnerships in the HE space

  • Feeling stretched by the admin and operational demands of it all

If so, I can help.

I speak your language and can bring order to the chaos

With a background in university professional services, I understand the systems, expectations and working culture of the sector. I know what it’s like to work across competing deadlines, stakeholder needs, funding cycles and institutional quirks. I offer trusted, proactive support to help you stay on top of the details and move forward with purpose.

Together, we can create space in your business for more focus, less firefighting, and the kind of growth that actually feels manageable.

What I help with

Depending on your needs, I can provide:

🔸 PA/EA-style support — inbox and diary management, scheduling, travel, logistics

🔸 Project support — coordination, timelines, light-touch project management

🔸 Stakeholder and client communications — including members, funders or partners

🔸 Business operations and strategic support — planning, systems, processes

Ways to work with me

🔸 Ongoing Support – Retainer packages give you consistent help each month

🔸 One-Off Sessions – Book a Solved in 60 to untangle a specific problem

🔸 Project Support – Bring me in on a defined piece of work as your admin wing-woman

Find out more about my services

A few things about me

I’m based in Darlington, in the North East of England, and have been working with clients since 2019. I’m a quiet champion of the calm, the kind and the well-organised. When I’m not supporting clients, I’m probably out on a muddy dog walk or curled up at home with my nose in a book.