SINCE leaving art college at 18-years-old, Siobhan Lancaster has worked as a Personal Assistant. Initially working for her brother, who is a highly successful art dealer, Siobhan learned her trade and never looked back.
In 1992 Siobhan swapped her life in the city for a rural haven in the Marshwood Vale where she continues to work as a freelance PA with, alongside her brother, clients in West Dorset and East Devon.
Two of Siobhan’s main clients are Charmouth writer and life coach Wendy Knee and Martin Young, owner of Sitting Spiritually in Uplyme.
When not working Siobhan spends her free time at home with her husband Neil and their array of animals.
Many of Siobhan’s clients are creatively minded and it’s a passion that she shares as an avid gardener and a fan of art and literature.
WHAT is the role of a PA?
What I can do for clients is take away all the stuff that is time consuming and stressful for them which they really don’t need to do. I free up their time for them to do what they do best so they can just forget about the day to day paperwork and organisation and I take care of all that. My aim as a PA is to take care of all the organisational side of people’s businesses.
WHAT is the best part of your job?
The variety. I work a lot from home and because I live very rurally and have a lot of animals that’s very important to me. Although I also work from the clients premises as well if they want me to, so I can offer a lot of flexibility to them. I enjoy working for people like Martin and Wendy who are very candid and honest. They say what they want and I find that really refreshing. I had nine years working in the public sector where you had to be so careful what you said at all times and I got out of that at the right time, for me to launch myself as a freelance PA.
WHO can you help best as a PA?
A local businessman or woman. Someone who is a one man band but has a successful business. I wouldn’t want to work for a huge company. What I really like is working for individuals who really appreciate my help and value me. I won’t work for anyone who doesn’t value what I do. I did work for someone like that and I left them. I’m quite firm about that now.
HOW did you get into the career?
I’ve been a PA all my life basically. My first job when I left college was for my brother who is an antique dealer and was an interior designer at the time. I was only 18 at the time and I have been working for him for a long time. I just like the freedom of what I’m doing now and being self-employed. It was a big gamble but it paid off.
WHAT would be your dream job?
Probably working with animals in some way but I would probably find it too distressing because I’m a real animal lover. If not then something to do with gardening probably. I really do enjoy what I do though and I wouldn’t want to change it.
WHAT book are you currently reading?
At the moment I am reading two books actually. One is a really interesting book called “Dogs that know when their owners are coming home.” One of my beloved dogs died late last year and there were a lot of things that went on around the time he was dying and I came to realise that animals are on a different plain to us completely, both spiritually and emotionally. I do think dogs know when their owners are coming home and a lot more besides. The other book I am reading is called “Desperate Romantics” which is about the Pre-Raphaelites and was made into quite a weird programme last year on BBC2. It was a bit trashy but it was also quite amusing. I have been a big Pre-Raphaelite fan since art college.
WHO are your favourite artists?
My favourite artists are Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Burne-Jones. I think their work is so stunning. I can’t even begin to tell you why but for so many years I have loved them. From the modern world I am a big fan of Lucian Freud, again I can’t tell you why but I love his stuff.
WHAT tips would you give to gardeners in the cold weather?
Stay inside, I’ve been itching to get back outside but I think just stay inside and leave well alone basically. Plan as well, that’s what I’m doing at the moment. Planning what I’m going to do in the summer, it’s a good time to do that.
WHAT do you enjoy about gardening?
I love the hard work and the end result. I’ve got a nearly two-acre garden and a lot of it is wild so I love the contrast between the more formal bits and the more wild bits. I just find it really satisfying, I could be out there all day.
WHO would be your three dream guests at a dinner party?
Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Lucien Freud and Nigel Kennedy. They are three really bad boys, three rogues who I think would make for a really good evening.
WHICH three items would you put into Room 101?
I would but political correctness in there, the health and safety brigade and my third one would be cruelty to animals.
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