London

Rhonda Scharf

Insightful … humorous … entertaining … even contagious  … words that are often used to describe Rhonda Scharf.  A speaker with the uncanny ability to look at the normal and see something quite different.   

Rhonda is a Professional Speaker recently inducted into the Canadian Speaking Hall of Fame, Trainer and Author, based in Ottawa. She has spoken to tens of thousands of people in 20+ countries.

Rhonda will share some things she has learned to help you thrive in your work environment, emerging at the end of the day with a smile and a sense of accomplishment. Audiences far and wide sing her praises for her relevant and useful tips on administration, communication and workplace effectiveness!  

Her natural warmth and sincerity are balanced by a healthy sense of the absurd, a combination that is useful in any situation. With her CSP and HoF designations, combined with her Spirit of CAPS award, she is only one of two speakers worldwide with the trifecta of honours. 

Rhonda’s professional speaking career began at age two… when her mother would offer her 25 cents to be quiet for five minutes!  

Vickie Sokol Evans

Literally making the audience’s jaws drop, Vickie Sokol Evans, author of the bestselling “100 Tips” series for both PC & Mac, is one of the leading tech trainers in the world right now. Who knew that Microsoft Office could be so fun? She’s witty, sharp, pointed and knows more about how to get the most from Microsoft Office – teaching Assistants tricks to turn what usually takes hours into solutions that takesminutes, by learning how to use the programs to their full potential. Vickie is a Microsoft Certified Trainer, specializing in Microsoft, Google and Apple productivity platforms such as  Microsoft Office, OneNote, SharePoint, Skype/Lync, Office 365, Google Apps, Gmail, the Cloud, and more!

Vickie has taught at every LIVE event and is our most requested return speaker, with 98% of our audiences wanting her back. Vickie travels the globe as a sought-after international speaker delivering live Jerry Maguire-inspired keynote presentations to major brands including Microsoft, Starbucks, MasterCard, The New York Times, eBay, American Airlines, The Gates Foundation, and most notably, Bill Gates’s Admin Team. Vickie helps businesses to save time and deliver better results faster – showcasing an immediate ROI after each session.

Julia Schmidt

Julia Schmidt is an award-winning Executive Assistant with over 20 years of experience working in different industries. She is known for being a passionate advocate for people development and in helping others succeed and embrace their leadership skills. Julia is a respected influencer, public speaker, and a proud graduate of the University of Norway with a Masters’ Degree in Portuguese Language and Literature and has also studied
Business Administration. Julia is the author of “The Executive Secretary Guide to Building a Successful Career Strategy”, available now on Amazon.

John Shaw

John Shaw is a small-town boy who grew up in a very rural community in the American South. At 18 years old and living in Nashville, he was thrust into the world of privilege when he began his career as an executive assistant supporting country music royalty. After 13 years of providing administrative support to award-winning recording artists and celebrities, John left the entertainment industry to broaden his knowledge and skills, and hone his talent further with a move into management consulting. He eventually returned to the world of entertainment, supporting the head of marketing of three major television networks, but John still felt he had something bigger to offer to the world.

He found the opportunity he’d been looking for to make a bigger impact as part of his career, when he was hired in 2014 by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation CEO, Sue Desmond-Hellmann, to be her executive assistant. He now enjoys spending his time with some of the brightest minds in global health, global development, and US education, and no one seems to care that he never finished college. When John’s not at work, you can find him with his family and three dogs.

Lizebeth Koloko-Green

Lizebeth is bilingual in French and English. She is currently the Executive Assistant to the Senior Country Director of Symantec France. Lizebeth has been with Symantec for fifteen years. Before that, she worked as an Executive Assistant to the CEO of one of Microsoft partners, Areda Computer Systems, in San Diego, California. Lizebeth is very passionate about learning and teaching Information Technology Software. She often trains Executives, Sales Reps, and Administrative Professionals on Microsoft OneNote, Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Teams.

Lizebeth is a proud member of IMA France (International Management Assistants) and IAAP (International Association of Administrative Professionals). She enjoys lecturing and speaking about Information Technology in general, at administrative conferences and events. Lizebeth holds a degree in Office Management from the University of Paris Créteil and is certified as a Microsoft Office Specialist in Outlook, OneNote and PowerPoint.

She was born in Paris, France but grew up in Fremont, California. Currently, she resides in Paris, with her seven-year-old daughter, Aaliyah. In her spare time, Lizebeth loves studying and learning foreign languages and new information technologies. She is currently studying German and Mandarin Chinese.

Jeremy Burrows

Christy Crump

Christy Crump was appointed director of operations for Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association’s RCS Training in 2012. Her background includes 20 years in high level administrative positions and five years as founder and President of Crump & Associates, a training and professional development company with a client list including Fortune 500 companies. Christy now leads a team of 40 trainers who provide hospitality regulatory training to over 1600 clients in Florida and professional development training throughout the United States.

Christy has been married to a law enforcement officer for 27 years and is the mother of two beautiful daughters.

Bonnie Low-Kramen

International speaker and trainer Bonnie Low-Kramen worked as the Personal Assistant to Oscar-winning actress Olympia Dukakis for 25 years. She is recognized as one of the most respected and influential thought leaders in the profession. 14 countries in, Bonnie now travels the world working to be a catalyst for change. She is an outspoken advocate for closing the wage gap and for ending workplace bullying. Her mission is to build healthy, strong, and productive partnerships in the global workplace to make the world a better place for her granddaughter Madison.

Bonnie is the author of the bestselling “Be the Ultimate Assistant” and her work was featured as the Forbes cover story in May, 2019.

Danny McCubbin

Mentor, food campaigner and social entrepreneur, Danny McCubbin has dedicated his career to promoting food-focussed social enterprises and helping diverse businesses create social value, with the belief that food has the power to transform lives. While Danny played a crucial role in Jamie Oliver’s School Dinners programme and the Jamie Oliver Fifteen apprenticeship scheme that helped disadvantaged young people find a career in food, he is also the founder of the UK San Patrignano Association and serves as its UK ambassador. The social enterprise in Italy is one of the world’s most progressive, successful drug rehab communities, helping its young residents overcome addiction through skills including winemaking, food growing and restaurant placements.

Through his work, Danny has created a worldwide network of both small and large social enterprises, sharing ideas and information and consulting on various food-focused projects, as well as fundraising, hosting supper clubs and aiding collaboration between diverse community organisations. Most recently, Danny has been a judge on the Giving Back panel at the well respected Young British Foodies Awards, been nominated for the Foodism 100 Positive Change Hero, and collaborated on the hugely successful Cook for Syria campaign.

In 2019 Danny was the Culture Manager at Jamie Oliver headquarters in London and he was responsible for growing a corporate culture that brings Jamie’s food ethos to life across the business. Danny has also run events and workshops to encourage young people to enter the hospitality industry, as well as continuing his work as a mentor and facilitator for UK residents to enter San Patrignano in Italy. Through his various roles, Danny has built an engaged social media following and runs social media workshops and consultations for charities, NGOs and community-based projects to help and encourage them to spread their message. Danny is regularly invited to speak at international conferences on how food can be used as a force for positive change.

Tricia Madden

Tricia is the Head of the Business Support group with KPMG’s UK firm and is accountable for the delivery of all secretarial and administration services. The Business Support Group was established 8 years ago with Tricia at the helm and currently provides services to over 4000 customers across all capability and coverage groups within the UK firm, delivered through an experienced workforce of circa 700+ employees and has a cost base of £26m.

Commercially astute, Tricia manages the P&L and associated budgets for the group, continuously developing strategies to ensure the role and services stay current with service demands and market. Successfully reducing the cost of delivery whilst the customer base has grown year on year since inception.

An ambassador of change and personal development, she nurtures a high performing and rewarding culture within her group. Embracing diversity and social mobility is always at the forefront of her mind and actions – being the first function within KPMG to implement an apprenticeship programme – The Business Support Academy, to provide job opportunities to individuals from both diverse and disadvantaged communities.

Tricia has a wealth of experience and an established network within her area of expertise and has built her reputation on fairness and honest communication.

Samantha Cox

British-born Samantha Cox has lived and travelled all over the world and boasts an impressive background with over 16 years experience in executive assistant roles for high profile clients. Samantha’s clientele includes Jackie O, an Australian commercial radio host, actress and TV presenter and Sir Richard Branson, Founder and Chairman of the Virgin Group and the Chief Commerical Officer of Virgin Australia.

While working for Virgin Australia, she received the prestigious offer to be an exclusive executive assistant for Sir Richard at his home on the ultra-private Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands.

During her four-year tenure with Sir Richard, Samantha had the opportunity to travel the world. Additionally, she became involved with Sir Richard’s philanthropic endeavour Virgin Unite as well as The Elders organization, an independent group of global leaders who work together for peace and human rights, founded by the late Nelson Mandela. Her work with The Elders organization included spending time with Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu and President Jimmy Carter.

Lucy Brazier

Lucy Brazier is one of the world’s leading authorities on the administrative profession.

As CEO of Marcham Publishing, specialist publishers of Executive Secretary Magazine – a global training magazine dedicated to the professional development needs of senior and aspiring administrative professionals – Lucy works with the best trainers of Executive Assistants from around the world to deliver the most up-to-date and current training in the market.

Her passion is for the Assistant role to be truly recognised as a career and not just a job. Her formidable training expertise and speaking style have given her opportunities to train, present and emcee events in over 50 countries at over 450 events.

With access to the most forward-thinking, passionate and knowledgeable trainers and administrative business leaders in the world, as well as personally meeting and speaking to literally thousands of Assistants over the last nine years, Lucy’s knowledge of the market and what Assistants all over the world are facing on a day-to-day basis are second to none.

In 2018, Lucy was awarded an Honorary Fellowship to the Institute of Administrative Management. She was awarded the ‘PA Contributor of the Year Award’ by Office* Show in 2015 and the YPA Special Award ‘International Ambassador for the PA Profession’ in 2016.