Our hand picked team of consultants at Castalia have coached and trained some of the most senior level corporate PAs from the UK, Holland, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Spain, Russia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia. We run our programmes globally in order to take our experience to PAs all over the world. We actively support and build strong links with other organisations who are dedicated to the professional development of Executive Assistants and PAs including, IQPS, The Times Crème, and deskdemon.com, amongst many others.
We are a team deeply committed to ensuring the complex development needs of senior level assistants are met and bring together all of our PAs under the umbrella of The 100 Network; a truly global social network of senior level PAs to continue to exchange ideas and share best practice.
Susie Barron-Stubley, Managing Director
Susie is a highly respected and sought after coach and trainer and has worked with some of the highest level and influential Executive PAs and Assistants in the corporate world. She is a regular speaker at international PA conferences and regularly writes articles for national publications on the professional development of Executive PAs, as well as being the author of The Times Crème Exhibition PA Problem Page and International Correspondent for Deskdemon.com. Susie herself spent 10 years as a PA and Executive Assistant before re-training as an Executive Coach in order to use her extensive experience to support others to reach their highest potential in this difficult and complex role. She has supported high profile public figures and corporate leaders and has liaised with institutions from British Royal Households to global business executives.
She now travels the world taking her expertise to PAs across time zones and cultures. Her unique insight into the world of the Executive PA brings a distinct quality and depth to her specialist development programmes. Susie's true area of specialism lies in supporting Executive PAs to lead, influence and develop the business partnership between Executive and Assistant and expand the boundaries of their own particular role.
Lindsay Thompson, Associate Director of Coaching
Lindsay has a corporate background with 11 years’ experience supporting at Board-level within global organisations including ConocoPhillips and Deutsche Bank. Fluent in German and now rusty in French, her background in languages has always provided an added perspective to Lindsay’s work, particularly with regard to communication and understanding – not only between foreign cultures but also between management levels and groups within the workplace. Lindsay believes that coaching as a management style is crucial for the future of business as it encourages input, creativity and growth, fostering understanding and allowing us to learn from each other. Ultimately, great coaching has much wider implications as the ‘ripple effect’ carries our learning and respect for others outward, beyond the people immediately surrounding us.
Carolyn Gilligan, Senior Training Consultant
Carolyn joined Castalia in 2006 as our senior Executive PA Training Consultant. Her area of specialism is supporting senior level Corporate PAs to develop their social and business skills and leads our exclusive one-day public training programme on Business Etiquette and Protocol for Corporate and Private House PAs. Carolyn brings a wealth of experiences to our clients; including her experience of supporting many high profile individuals in private and public organisations herself. She is a respected speaker at many major PA Conferences and Seminars and is the author of 'The Role of the Executive Secretary', and is currently writing a series of handbooks covering a wide range of topics addressing the development needs of Executive PAs. Lucy Blenkinsopp
Having enjoyed a successful career in the fashion industry and as a model, Lucy is using her considerable talents to the benefit of Senior PAs and now works as a qualified Image Consultant. Lucy specialises in supporting senior PAs and EAs to present themselves appropriately to operate with impact and flair at Executive level. Lucy's ethos is based on the proposition ‘Be the Best you Can’ and understands that it is, at times, a challenge for senior PAs to demonstrate the authority and responsibility they hold within the organisation. Presenting yourself in the appropriate style and business dress to fit your own personality and organisation will take you a long way in achieving that goal.
