Testimonials

Anna is a truly visionary company director and executive team member, with a deep-rooted and genuine passion for pursuing excellence not only in company services and output, but in the absolutely business-critical areas of people and culture, diversity and belonging, sustainability, and access. She is compassionate, empathetic and authentic, without being in any way afraid to make tough decisions or take action. She is an example to us all in Getting Things Done.

Before joining the board of 59 and subsequently becoming our COO, she produced or exec-produced several projects for us, including two cornerstone projects that helped us define or redefine our creative ambitions and business model.

She confidently combines both artistic and commercial priorities, and has a foot firmly in both the commercial and subsidised creative industries.

Since training Anna in coaching skills for the Arts Council’s Cultural Leadership Programme in 2010 I have witnessed at first hand her development as a coach and facilitator. We have worked together in these areas again for the National Theatre and more recently at the Design and Production company 59 Productions. Anna has developed into a top level coach and culture- change expert. Her extensive skills are complemented by a charismatic and empathetic personal style and substantial experience in creating a coaching culture at various organisations.

I've known Anna for over 10 years and have witnessed and benefitted from her producing brilliance and organisational nous time and again over that period. Most recently I hired her as a freelancer to help make a key project with Simon Sinek and Stephen Bartlett happen. I knew I could rely on her calm and expert input, her ability to build trust incredibly fast, to bring this together at a crucial moment. As a CEO it is a joy to have someone like Anna able to operate at the highest level and with a sharp strategic mind. 

Anna was the first truly collaborative producer I worked with and she taught me the value of the role: how important having a creative, dedicated producer is to one's process. She knows intuitively how to nurture creative ideas into being and is a joy to work with. 

Anna has great collaborative skills, a sharp analytical eye and extensive contacts. She possesses a unique gift for getting to the heart of an issue quickly - no matter the complexity of the entanglement - and emerging with an actionable assessment of the situation. Owing in great part to Anna's invaluable input, we’ve been able to move our project forward more over the last seven months than we had over the previous seven years. 

In the five years that we worked together I've admired Anna’s outstanding leadership, mentorship and professionalism. She is a firm believer in championing every individual’s voice at all levels of seniority, and has been highly committed to shaping our work environment to ensure every individual feels like they belong. I consider her a role model.

More recently we’ve had the opportunity to directly work together on an exciting and unpredictable project packed with challenges. Her extensive experience, foresight, and reassurance enabled the team to proceed with confidence throughout. I would work with her again in a heartbeat!