Christine O’Dowd

My role

As an Executive Assistant at Balance: Wealth Planning, my day revolves around supporting the Financial Planners and the rest of the team so that they can deliver a top-notch financial planning service to our clients.

I’m truly passionate about getting the fundamentals right and adding value where I can. Therefore, being able to assist with client communication and project management, feels like the perfect role to me.

Background

I am a ‘Dutch Kiwi’ and I’ve lived amongst many cultures, lifestyles and work environments in The Hague (The Netherlands), where I was born and raised and Auckland (New Zealand), where I lived for 20 odd years, and more recently here in Nottingham.

I have been super spoiled working for some great companies and even better people in a variety of office, marketing, communications and event management roles. Before taking on the Executive Assistant role, I started as an Administrator at Balance: Wealth Planning in 2017.

What’s important to me

It’s quite simple really, a little kindness goes a long way and I try to live up to Maya Angelou’s words: “People won’t remember what you said, they won’t remember what you did; but they will remember how you made them feel.”

I am the proud mother of two grown-up children who continuously amaze and inspire me. They’ve managed to find the right balance in life and follow their dreams and ambitions. It’s a privilege to see them grow into the adults they have become.

When I’m not working, I enjoy gardening and doing odd jobs around the house. I am now also an ‘Oma’ and enjoy spending precious time with our granddaughter. I try to walk and/or  ‘jog’ a few miles weekly, for mental and psychical wellbeing.

Sports, especially cricket, has been a thread throughout my life. It’s how I met my Kiwi husband in Holland over 30 years ago. Both of us enjoy watching live cricket at Trent Bridge, but it was rugby that brought us to Nottingham in 2016. It’s safe to say that we feel very much at home in our adopted country.