Testimonials

• Aug 2016

  From Jan Stanovnik, Managing DirectorSunrider Europe Inc, London, UK

  "It was a pleasure to work with Donna on an assignment, which required fast and reliable work, to prepare a highly professional presentation for a major audience in the USA. She received my text and then she prepared an excellent PowerPoint presentation which shows lots of professionalism and skills that can be gathered only over many years in the network marketing industry. I recommend Donna to anyone who wants to have a professional presentation for any type of auidience."

• Jun 2016

  From Clare McCann, Int'l MarComms ManagerIt Works! Marketing International, Dublin, Ireland

  "Donna was my Manager at It Works! Marketing International and I thoroughly enjoyed working together with her! Her ability to get to the route of a task, and build it up from scratch was really something to see! Together with remote teams - suppliers, marketing team, US counterparts - Donna was quickly able to identify what was needed to establish the department and deliver the marketing materials and systems for the launch of It Works! into 15 International countries and the introduction of a new product in parallel with this.

  Her vast knowledge of the latest systems and tools were fundamental to the start up, and provided great support to the MarComs, Social Media and translation team, some of which worked remotely. Donna excels with website knowledge, and has hands-on experience of setting up websites and closed portals - she understands functionality, programming and the look and feel of the overall website.

  She is meticulous, reliable, hard-working and on top of this, she is amazing fun to work with - it was a real pleasure to work in her team!"

• Jun 2016

  From Nadia Wood, OwnerWeddings by Nadia, Rutland, UK (previously Events Supervisor at Nikken)

  "Having worked with Donna for over four years, I can honestly say I have never learnt more from a Manager. She is encouraging, supportive & extremely knowledgeable in her field. Donna challenged me daily and gave me opportunities to learn and improve my skills regularly. With the responsibilities given to me I developed my event management skills considerably & this has been invaluable to my career. It was a pleasure working for Donna and I hope to do so for many years to come."

• Jul 2015

  From Zsofia Ruszkai, Translation Co-ordinatorIt Works! Marketing International, Dublin, Ireland

  "It was a pleasure to work with Donna Russell in her role as Head of International Marketing and Events. She is a very detail-oriented and organised person, confident in giving advice and support - essential to building trust in a team. She is able to tackle great workloads while always keeping her coolness and professionalism. I eagerly recommend Donna Russell’s events co-ordinating and managerial skills without qualification and with the highest praise."

• Jul 2015

  From Claudia Sobik, Marketing & Events Co-ordinatorIt Works! Marketing International, Dublin, Ireland

  "It was a great experience working with Donna Russell. Being my former Head of International Marketing and Events I had the pleasure of learning a lot. Donna is one of the most experienced Event Managers in international events I have ever met. Her knowledge about all different European cultures regarding events is incredible and even though I only worked for a couple of months with her, she shared a lot of that valuable knowledge with me. Donna is very organised, structured, professional and detail oriented, but never forgets about fun and laughter at work. She always came up with great solutions and answers and has the ability to be very calm in stressful moments. It was a pleasure working with her."

• Mar 2014

  From Victoria Peckett, Digital Media ManagerCanal & River Trust, Milton Keynes, UK

  "Donna worked with the Canal & River Trust in a temporary capacity as our social media executive from Jan-March 2014. We were absolutely delighted with the work she did for us over this time. We hired Donna for this role as we knew her organisational capabilities coupled with her knowledge of digital would not let us down – and we were right! Donna quickly got to grips with our social media channels and the tone of voice we use in dialogue with our customers and supporters, and we were confident in letting her get on with things without the need for micro management. Donna played a key role in shoring up our social media capabilities during a period of transformation, and made valuable recommendations to improve our processes for planning and reporting on social content which we have carried forward. I would not hesitate to recommend Donna for any social media or digital marketing roles. "

• Feb 2014

  From Marinda Chaplin, Vice President EuropeVideoPlus Europe, Poland

  "I’ve had the pleasure of knowing and working with Donna for several years now in the industry. She is an organisational expert! Donna’s ability to organise and multi-task are needed in so many areas of business, and are easily transferred to many different roles. She is hard-working, very dedicated, and has experience in so many areas of business. This makes her an asset for any organisation. I am happy to recommend Donna’s services. She really is fab – enough said!"

• Nov 2013

  From Anthony Chaplin, Vice President EuropeScentsy Fragrance, USA

  "Donna has managed events for me for over 7 years. I knew when I arrived at the venue everything would be organised and near to perfect. Any issues were dealt with in a professional and quick manner. Communication before, during and after the events was exemplary - I knew exactly what was happening. Whether a 5,000+ event or a meeting for 50 people or less everything was handled with supreme competence. This requires energy, a positive attitude and commitment to delivering the objectives of the event. I cannot recommend highly enough Donna's skills in this area."

• Oct 2013

  From Janne Heimonen, CEOKallisti International OÜ, Helsingborg, Sweden

  "I am a client of Donna Russell's virtual PA services. Finally! Some years ago I had the privilege of having Donna as my actual PA. But she was so good she had to be promoted. As Events Manager and later a Digital Marketing Manager her skills and experience grew beyond that of a world-class PA. Then I left the company and have been looking forward to the day that I'd be able to work with her again. Donna has all the qualities, skills and professional experience that you would want combined with a productivity level that is near impossible to match. She is simply the best."

• Oct 2013

  From Sven Cirnski, Project ManagerMalmö Stad/ESF, Sweden

  "If you are looking for the perfect events organiser, coordinator or personal assistant look no further than Donna Russell. There can be few people to match her when it comes to planning and organising all kinds of things related around big events as well as other things. Having worked with her for three years in Nikken in the role of sales country manager for Scandinavia as well as UK, Ireland and The Netherlands, it was as close to perfection as anyone could ever hope for. Her attention to detail is nothing short of staggering. This in combination with her enormous energy and positive attitude made those three years a dream situation to work in for anyone involved in those big meetings that we had all over Europe for our salesforce. Donna has an ability to keep a lot of different things going on at the same time, coordinating very complex situations as well as upcoming emergencies with a seemingly easiness that for me was nothing short of astounding at times. More than once did I think "thank god we have Donna in charge of this". I used to tell her that she could easily jump into the role of PA to the US president anytime and I mean it. It is therefore with the utmost pleasure for me to write these words as a recommendation for Donna as I am so convinced that anyone working with her will immediately understand what I say."

• Sep 2013

  From Lynn Williams, HR ManagerNikken UK Ltd, Milton Keynes, UK

  "I am delighted to be able to endorse this reference for Donna. She has been a cornerstone of Nikken UK Ltd since joining back in November 1999. Initally working as secretary to the MD and European Sales Manager. As the company grew and due to her dilligence, efficient and effective working practices she was promoted firstly to PA to the Sales Manager, supporting a team of 6 Regional Sales Managers, then to Events Manager and more latterly to Events & Digital Marketing Manager. Donna is an extremely hard working individual with excellent organisational skills; she is dedicated, reliable, passionate and positive about any role, job or task she undertakes. She has worked at many different levels within the organisation, has good commercial understanding and established good working relationships with work colleagues, her peer group, customers, constultants and suppliers alike. Her IT skills are second to none and she picks new things up quickly and has the ability to get to the nub of the matter fast. She does not shy away from grasping the nettle, or making tough decisions and her sound judgement and decision making skills are second to none."

• Nov 1999

  From Chris Webster, Chief ExecutiveWoburn Safari Park, Bedfordshire, UK

  "Donna, from January 1998 to November 1999, has been employed as secretary to myself, as Chief Executive, and also to the Animal Collection Manager, Dr Robert Atkinson. Both of us have a large output of work, much of it of a complex nature representing many contacts and disciplines. Also, significantly, Donna's desk is a front of house position and great demands have been placed upon her in a customer services role, whether dealing with business or day visitors to the office or handling frequent and reptitive telephone enquiries during the season. In short, her job has been far more complex and demanding than the size of the business would suggest. Donna has taken all of the pressures and juggling of priorities in her stride. Technically extremely competent, she has an indepth IT knowledge which has been a considerable help to the company. Perhaps her biggest strengths of all are her organisational skills and worth ethic. No clock watcher, Donna methodically gets through large amounts of work which is always well presented. Her ability to plan and organise detailed international travel and accommodation arrangements have always been 100%. Donna is at her best when she is busy, she thrives on pressure and enjoys getting on with the task. Donna has matured during the period she has been with us and has a very sensible head on comparatively young shoulders. We are sorry to see her leave us but from a career perspective quite understand Donna's reasons for a move. We wish her well."

• Oct 1999

  From Dr Robert Atkinson, Animal Collection ManagerWoburn Safari Park, Bedfordshire, UK

  "Donna has been my secretary since January 1998. Although she entered a difficult and complex workplace, in terms of duties and personalities, Donna immediately established herself as indispensable to my work and the work of the Safari Park. Donna is extremely well-organised and efficient. She is able to prioritise work, but somehow still manages to create time to deal with the little jobs as well. Even when she is over-burdened she is resillient and the jobs still, somehow, get done. She appreciates a well-organised work area and effective systems, and will advise on this when asked, but she still functions admirably in chaos. Donna demonstrates a high level of expertise across a wide range of skills, including typing, phone use, computer, IT, spreadsheet use, organising duty rotas, shorthand, taking minutes of meetings. Her current job does not demand financial or budgeting skills, but I feel she could cope with this given training. Donna's interpersonal skills are excellent. She is fair and loyal, with a good sense of humour, and she's fun to be with. She is tolerant of mistakes, but knows exactly how bosses should treat their staff. She in turn is quite capable of managing juniors, and has done this successfully in previous jobs. She is calm and happy, except on very rare occasions, and in these circumstances the cause can always be traced back to unfair treatment. Donna is very quick to pick up new ideas and to develop new skills. Given the right direction from a boss I am sure Donna would develop the skill of taking initiative and proactively tackling bigger problems. With this under her belt, Donna is easily capable of functioning as a formidable PA or office manager, and has indeed functioned in this role in the past. That said, Donna is not over-ambitious, and favours a well-organised and happy workplace to power. In short, Donna will be an asset to whichever company employs her. Were I not leaving Woburn myself, I would be devastated to lose her. I recommend her to you without hesitation and would be delighted to supply a verbal reference if required."