The Dream PA

This section should really be called 'About me'.  I am Nadine Hill and I started The Dream PA three years ago after leaving corporate life to set up on my own.  The past few years have been a rollercoaster - lots of thrills, dips and learning curves that have seen the business take a journey from 'unknown start up' to 'motoring ahead' with me firmly in the driving seat! 

After a year of trading I relocated the growing business from a bedroom at home to a lovely rustic barn / office conversion and soon after appointed the first member of staff.  It was a sad event when she decided to leave but I am pleased to have had the experience of employing someone - it brings me closer to the reality my clients face whilst growing their own businesses and I can truly say now that I know what it is like for them.  I have taken on inspirational work and jobs just to pay the bills but all have helped me to focus on the kind of work I want to attract and what direction I want the business to take as it moves into its fourth year.

My passion is working with small business owners.  I love to hear them talk about their business - more often than not, their eyes light up.  I feel 'at home' when surrounded by positive, motivated people and I love to see them enjoy the rewards of their hard work as their business grows.  It is a pleasure when my clients tell me about the latest member of their team, or that they have moved to bigger premises, and I allow myself a little smile because I helped, in some small way, to get them there.

As 'The Dream PA' I have a small, private, admin client base.  Having 'been there and done that' with accepting any and every piece of work that was offered in the past, I have now narrowed my focus on a handful of special clients whom I have a long standing relationship with, and whom I enjoy working for.  As well as my admin clients, I am proud to assist more than 70 UK businesses with their telephone answering through my Virtual Receptionist service.  This side of the business has proved so popular and successful that I am actively growing my client portfolio for telephone answering, and would like to support a client in every major UK city by the end of the year.

To help me achieve this aim, the Virtual Receptionist offer is undergoing constant improvement and development.  Throughout 2007 the clients BackOffice (client account) system was re-designed to make it more user friendly and the billing platform was improved to promote clearer communication for clients.  New services have been introduced in 2008 with fax to email numbers, a prestigious London mailing address service and out of hours voice-message being offered to all customers.  In March 2008 the much anticipated 24/7 telephone answering package was rolled out.  This is to cater for small to medium sized companies and businesses who are 'on call' during the night.  Having this package to offer means that The Dream PA business now supports clients round the clock - 168 hours per week, but fortunately a clever use of resources means that I don't personally have to be 'on duty' all this time!

The Environment

Another passion of mine is environmental sustainability, and being someone who practices what she preaches I have a firm environmental policy.  All paper that comes into the office is re-used where possible and then re-cycled with confidential or identity based information being shredded.  All new reams of paper purchased are made from re-cycled stock, faxes come through digitally and anything that can be re-cycled has it's own collection tub within the office to ensure that good intentions turn into action!

Before The Dream PA ...
Prior to the start of 2005, my career was in PR and Marketing - initially for the fashion industry.  After graduating from The London College of Fashion (now the University of the Arts, London) I went to leading headwear brand Kangol at a time when the hip-hop and rap scene was exploding across the world and many of the artists had adopted the Kangol brand as their 'badge'.  I was fortunate enough to meet many big names, but my personal favourite and a major Kangol fan was American actor Samuel L Jackson.  I spent a few years at Kangol, earning my stripes and after this I moved to a Central London fashion PR agency whose clients included La Senza, Etam and Freemans.  After a year I was offered a more senior role with the In-house Press Office team at Freemans catalogue where I stayed until I re-located to Yorkshire several years later.

In Yorkshire I worked as a temp, taking on PA assignments for an advertising agency and several blue chip companies before landing a job in PR for the motor industry.

I've had more than a decade's experience in PR, making my contacts book more valuable than my jewellery box!  My personal network increases by the month and through my growing client base I am able to call upon an expert in most fields of business operation, so if you are stuck and need a recommendation, give me a try!

The Logo

The 'About Us' page wouldn't be complete without talking about 'the girl'.  The red skirted briefcase wielding girl logo feels like my colleague (although I don't talk to her - that would be a bit crazy!)  She appears on mugs, shirts, exhibition graphics and pens in my office and was developed for her '1950's feel to convey the efficiency and attention to detail that people expect from a PA, but she still had to appear warm and approachable.  She's quite fashionable isn't she?! 

The Dream PA 'girl' logo and the business name are Registered Trade Marks.  I'm very protective of the girl and her name, so the Trade Marks are owned by the business and protected by UK law.