by Holly Vitow

Hi! I’m Holly and I have been working at SSE for just a few months now as PA to the chief exec, Alastair Wilson. Before joining SSE, I worked in the world of children’s book publishing, as PA to a leading children’s book agent (sounds glamorous, but actually I worked in a dark basement/dungeon where I froze to death and rarely saw sunlight!) The other night I met up with some of my old colleagues and was immediately struck by some of the differences between working for a charity like SSE and working in the private sector…

It’s inspiring…

I always thought that I needed to be in a creative environment to feel motivated, but after spending five years working in a creative industry, I soon learnt that you just end up doing boring admin no matter where you work! But at SSE there are always interesting people coming in and out of the office – Fellows and students, all with different and fascinating stories, doing amazing work. It’s impossible not to feel inspired!

It’s random…

Every day is different and sometimes it’s a little bit crazy. I seem to be doing everything from buying milk to taking the minutes for trustee meetings (and learning ALL about EVERYTHING that goes on in the process).

It’s not competitive…

Maybe because we are all working for the same cause, everyone feels approachable and there is a real sense of equality across the team. There is no one-upmanship and no sense that anyone is more important than anyone else.

El Nino

It’s fun…

Everyone works hard, but is still up for a drink and a laugh come 6pm on a Friday (or Thursday, Wednesday, Tuesday and occasionally even a Monday!) There’s occasionally a very very cute whippet called Nino in the office and lots of other things to laugh about. I like to think we are changing society, with a smile on our faces 🙂

This post is by Holly Vitow, PA to SSE’s Chief Executive.