Julia Tobias - Executive Personal Assistant to Jacqueline Gold, CEO of Ann Summers.

Julia was looking for a job that was exciting, stimulating and totally fulfilling..., In every sense, she couldn't have found a better fit than with Ann Summers!!!!

Despite having achieved good grades, it was Julia's choice not to go on to college after leaving school. Instead, she decided to further her education the hard way and get a real slice of life by going straight out to work. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do - she quite fancied the idea of joining the mounted police, but being a secretary was not on the agenda anywhere.

Either it was a lucky break or simply her girlish charm, but, at her first job, (working in the HR Dept. for Global Engineering), her boss, a kindly lady, took a shine to Julia. "Looking back I realise how useless I must have been - I could hardly type! But she took me under her wing and really taught me everything I know".

Lively, young and eager to explore, she became restless and decided to move on. In fact, over the years, she moved on several times, working for a whole host of organisations including large companies such as Touche Ross, but she never felt settled in any of them. Nevertheless, nothing beats hands-on experience and it all served as an excellent grounding in business practice and work ethics.

Passionate about fashion, Julia decided that perhaps she would find fulfillment if she pursued an occupation in a more creative field and turned her attention to the retail clothes industry. At last she felt on the right track. Amongst others, she had great fun working for Lee Jeans - it was a small young company, working alongside a team of salesmen and her post entailed a fair amount of travel, but finally redundancy and a desire to earn more money still, forced her on her way.

This time, armed with a wealth of experience, she was able to target senior roles commanding a much higher salary and eventually along came the position she holds today, working as PA to Jacqueline Gold, CEO of Ann Summers.

"I know this job would not be everyone's cup of tea but I love it. We have such a giggle at work"

Suspecting that all the knowledge in the world couldn't prepare one for the type of situations you might come up against at Ann Summers! I asked her if she could give some examples.

"Well she replied, we do get some very strange letters - some of the suggestions sent in are hilarious", and on asking how they handle customer returns, she said "usually with a pair of Jiffy gloves!!!".

But actually, Julia's role is a PA in the true sense of the word, in that 80% of her time is spent managing Jacqueline's personal affairs rather than day-to-day run of the mill. This means she could be doing anything from booking a holiday, hiring a chauffeur, project managing the team landscaping the garden. Plus, as one would expect, diary management is an extremely important and fundamental part of her daily routine.

"I can honestly say that one day is never the same as the next and this is probably the thing I love most about my job".

Jacqueline Gold, who must be the envy of every wanna-be business woman, is so incredibly successful to the point that she has made a 'tabooed male-led industry', a household name. I was curious to find out a little more about the lady herself. Having conjured up images of leather, fishnet stockings and whips! I was delighted to find that she is of course, perfectly human and normal and above all an excellent employer.

"I know Jacqueline very well and we have a great relationship. It would be impossible to work so closely with someone you didn't like and respect".

Julia joined Ann Summers as a free agent and was able to throw herself at her career 24/7 because she had no other commitments. Now, mother to an 18 month old toddler, it must have impacted on her working life and I wondered how she and Jacqueline coped with the transition?

"Jacqueline has been absolutely fabulous to me - when I first fell pregnant, I had every intention of carrying on just as I had before, but as every mother will understand, I was torn between my job and my baby and couldn't keep the promise. Jacqueline willingly set me up with a home/office and I now have the best of both worlds. I only attend the office a 3 days a week and also have 2 other secretaries in a supporting role".

Ann Summers is part of the 'Gold Group International' - a family concern. Amongst others, it includes, Gold Air - (a private air charter service, often used by celebrities) Knickerbox and A.S.L. Lingerie. Another nice perk of the job for Julia, is that travel within the UK is generally done in the luxury of a private jet and she gets a 30% discount on lingerie and products (I bet her partner can't believe his luck!).

Julia knows she is extremely lucky to have such a fantastic job - it sounds to me like she has really struck Gold!!

Bio -Claire Portman has a background in direct sales, marketing and senior account management, she is also a working Mum! She joined the DeskDemon team earlier this year as the Sales & Marketing Manager.

Day In The Life Series: We are always interested to hear from senior P.A.'s, or people that work in a particularly interesting environment or have a very special story to tell - if that is you, send a short message via email to cportman@deskdemon.com and we will be in touch!