Clifford Chance

After supporting two consecutive Clifford Chance Global Managing Partners, Lyndsey set up a successful virtual assistant business.

Lyndsey joined the firm’s London offices in 2002 as a legal support secretary in the Intellectual Property department. She went on to become personal assistant (PA) to Michael Smyth, the then Global Head of Public Policy, which culminated into working for two Clifford Chance Global Managing Partners. Then, after a moment of inspiration on a Bali beach, she set up her own virtual assistant (VA) business in 2020, which has now expanded to support over 35 clients from start-ups to charities. 

Remembering her early days at Clifford Chance’s London offices, Lyndsey says:

She quickly found her feet and was soon organising events, including public policy seminars, which meant liaising with everyone from MPs to journalists. It proved the perfect grounding for a new role as PA to Global Managing Partner David Childs in 2010, which required “an extremely high level of professionalism, discretion, accuracy and responsibility”. When Matthew Layton succeeded David as Global Managing Partner in 2014, Lyndsey was asked to carry on in the role.

Having got to know and share experiences with many of the secretarial and support staff across the firm, Lyndsey came up with the idea of formalising these connections in a new network. Her suggestion was quickly approved, giving her and two colleagues the task of setting up what became the Clifford Chance London Secretaries’ Network. With over 120 members at the time, it acted as a platform for sharing knowledge and best practice, as well as promoting career progression across the firm. She also saw the network as an opportunity to raise awareness of her and her colleagues’ role, which can sometimes be underestimated.

Fast forward to 2019 and Lyndsey, having achieved everything she wanted at Clifford Chance, decided to move on. While taking a break in Bali she had another inspired idea, namely, to create a business that would provide the same high-quality PA services to anyone who needed them but delivered almost exclusively online and on a pay-as-you-go basis. Despite the dreamy location in which her virtual assistant concept was born, Lyndsey’s idea was strongly grounded. She had noticed how everyone from lawyers with side projects to one-person start-ups and alumni juggling portfolio careers all struggled to keep on top of crucial administrative tasks.

Her hunch proved to be correct. Starting with one client, her portfolio quickly soared as word spread about the quality of the service and the fact that it didn’t require a retainer or fixed contract. Teaming up with co-founder, Tracy Roden, Lyndsey set up Rodelle VA Services in 2021 to meet growing demand.

Now, from organising travel arrangements and events to managing diaries and databases, the Rodelle VA team of 16 is delivering first-class executive support, office management and personal services to a wide range of clients. As Lyndsey explains, many clients had been part of a big organisation but, after setting out on a new path, “missed having that suite of services at their fingertips, which we can provide at a fraction of the cost of hiring a PA yet with the same high standards”.

Lyndsey not only keeps in touch with Clifford Chance alumni, she continues to work with them at Rodelle VA as both clients and colleagues. Indeed, former Global Managing Partner Matthew Layton, who now holds several senior roles in business and the arts, is working with Lyndsey again and is happy to offer his endorsement. Lyndsey adds:

Her advice to someone starting their career at the firm is to “embrace it all, get involved with everything” and, even more crucially, “don’t be afraid to tell people your ideas”. Lyndsey recalls how she was “nervous to put forward the secretaries’ network proposal because it had never been done before. Yet it was quickly welcomed and successful”. Now, Lyndsey’s latest idea is also a success story that’s clearly being welcomed by Clifford Chance alumni and beyond.