Jess Gardiner spent 10 years working as an EA to C suite directors, acting as the right hand to some of the most senior people in their industries, before founding The Assistant Room nearly a decade ago. What started as a small idea has grown into on...

Jess Gardiner spent 10 years working as an EA to C suite directors, acting as the right hand to some of the most senior people in their industries, before founding The Assistant Room nearly a decade ago. What started as a small idea has grown into one of the most well known and highly regarded platforms in the business support industry, a network of over 75,000 PAs and EAs, trusted by major companies including Monzo, Legal & General, Knight Frank, Formula One and Barclays to support their assistant teams. Jess grew up in a family of entrepreneurs, and that drive has carried through into everything she's built since. Over the last 10 years she has spoken on stage at global conferences, featured on numerous podcasts, and hosted over 500 events. She has spoken nationally and internationally for organisations including the American Society of Administrative Professionals, the largest professional body for PAs and EAs in the US, and has appeared as a guest speaker on panels for companies such as BlackRock, Global, and TheCityUK, among others. She was recognised by Management Today as one of the most influential female business leaders. She's now channelling that same energy into Planvent (planvent.co.uk), an online platform that brings together everything needed to plan an event in one place, from logistics and communications to supplier and expense tracking and networking, built for everyone from someone organising a dinner party or a team social, right through to large scale conferences. It marks Jess's move into fully fledged tech founder, and her second act building software that makes other people's working lives easier.