REACH - A Podcast for Executive Assistants

Debunking Stereotypes: How & Why Creative Minds Actually Thrive in the Executive Assistant Role

In this episode of REACH, our friend Campbell Ruggles, Executive Assistant to the CEO of Universe, joins us from Brooklyn, New York. Campbell is one of those people who gets up to speed quickly, makes an immediate impact, and does so in non-traditional ways which we'll unpack in this episode. A creative herself who used Universe’s platform to create a website to sell her own art, Campbell is someone who sort of stumbled into the Executive Assistant profession and has been incredibly successful.  

Our goal with this episode is to debunk the stereotype most people have about the kind of person who is successful as an EA. You know the type – they are hyper-organized, type A, love list making and planned their wedding at 10 years old! Campbell wouldn’t put herself into that category and mentioned she’s never fit the classic EA archetype, and yet she loves this profession and has been really successful at it. Campbell’s affinity for this role also demonstrates an important lesson, which is that there are multiple ways to be successful and, often times, being able to approach challenges and solutions from a different angle can be incredibly beneficial. So, if you’re someone who also feels like you also don’t fit the typical EA mold, or you’d like to learn how you can approach your own EA role from a more unique or innovative viewpoint, this episode is for you!   

How to Telescope Your Value and Build Good PR Across the Organization as an Executive Assistant

If you’re a regular REACH listener, you know we’ve spent a lot of time discussing how to gain buy-in from your executive, but what about everyone else you need information from and work with day-in and day-out? People like your executive’s direct reports, or Finance, or other C-Suite members. Kristine Valenzuela, Executive Assistant to the Head of Engineering at Atlassian, has graciously offered to tackle this topic and share her tips for how to telescope your value beyond just your executive and essentially that boils down to creating good PR for yourself. So, if you need advice on how to position yourself or tweak your leadership brand to be perceived differently (and respected!) in your organization in order to get the information you need to do your job effectively, this episode is for you. 

How to Elevate Your Role as an Executive Assistant Within Venture Capital

We invited Rachel Coffman, Operations Manager within Susa Ventures, to the program to be the spokesperson of Venture Capital. If you’re a loyal listener of REACH (and we hope you are!) you know we’ve featured several Executive Assistants who support the movers and shakers of the tech world, so we wanted to give the Venture Capital industry some love. In this episode, we address questions like 1.) How can you take ownership of your role and drive your destiny as an Executive Assistant in Venture Capital? 2.) What hidden opportunities are there specifically within VC for Executive Assistants to bring more leverage and value to the executive(s) they support? This is an incredibly informative episode for Executive Assistants and administrative professionals considering a career in Venture Capital. 

Tips and Tricks for Executive Assistants Planning Travel in a ”Post-COVID” Environment

In this episode, we talk about all things travel coordination in a "post-pandemic" world. Courtney Puckett, Senior Executive Assistant to the CEO of Crunchbase, does quite a bit of traveling in her role and of course she’s the brains behind booking any trip, conference, or event for her CEO, and in cases like planning an SKO, she’s the one executing travel arrangements for all attendees. 

Clearly travel as we know it has changed now that we have COVID to contend with.  There are weighty feelings around this subject and an ever-evolving list of rules and regulations to adhere to, which adds yet another layer to planning. 

But travel is Courtney's bread and better, in fact, it’s one of her favorite aspects of the Executive Assistant role so we’re talking to a bonified expert here. In view of this, today’s episode will be focused on giving our Executive Assistant listeners helpful tips and tricks for planning travel in a post-pandemic environment. 

This episode is sponsored by Office Otter.

The Dynamic Duo Behind Sara Blakely, Founder of Spanx: How an Executive Assistant and Personal Assistant Partner Together

We had the honor of speaking with the women behind the woman, referring to Executive Assistant, Kenya Graham & Personal Assistant Lisa Magazine, who together supported the one and only, iconic Sara Blakely, who is of course the legendary entrepreneur and founder of Spanx. In this episode, we hear how Kenya & Lisa worked together to provide holistic, continuous 360-degree support to Sara so she could ultimately show up as the effective leader and change-maker she is. It's hard for us to imagine a better duo and you'll understand why after hearing how to these two cultivated a partnership and friendship to last a lifetime. Their secret? Humility, clear boundaries and one common goal. What speaks to their incredible tenure and legacy at Spanx? Each other. If you've an Executive Assistant who's ever wondered why it's important to partner with your executive's Personal Assistant or how to do that most effectively, we're excited to give you access to the wisdom and knowledge of the best of the best!

Everything Executive Assistants Need to Know About Equity in an Offer

In this episode, Kevin Baker, VP of Team and Customer Success at Maven Recruiting Group, addresses all of your equity and stock options questions. If you’ve ever received an offer letter from a pre-IPO company and found yourself positively stumped trying to wrap your head around what exactly was being offered, you wouldn’t be the first or the last! The purpose of this episode is to help you navigate through the quagmire of legal-ese and esoteric terminology to help you feel better prepared to properly understand and evaluate your offer letter and what questions you should be asking at that stage in an interview process. If you’d like to dive deeper into this topic, be sure to check out Kevin’s article on this topic, Executive Assistants Can Earn Equity Too on our website. 

How Your Executive May Be Affected by The Great Resignation

Former Executive Assistant-turned-Chief of Staff and current Executive Coach, Julia Quijano, tackles the popular topic and trending hashtag, The Great Resignation and in particular, how she’s seen this movement affect executives and leaders of companies. We often forget that our leaders are also part of the equation! In sharing this perspective, we hope you will be better equipped to relate to your executives and adjust your support, as they are also navigating similar questions during these times. 

This episode is sponsored by Cabinet, the all-in-one software application for Executive Assistants. Cabinet was created for high-performing Executive Assistants who are streamlining processes, creating culture, and preventing burnout - all before lunch. 

Discover why EAs at Fortune 500 companies are turning to Cabinet to help them handle complex calendars and manage their never-ending to-do lists. Go to joincabinet.com and sign up for your free account. 

Getting What You Deserve: How to Negotiate like a Boss

We get it, any conversation around money likely makes you want to crawl under the table and avoid it all together. We've asked Cynthia Gildea, an Executive and Personal Assistant who has supported a wide-range of executives and ultra-high-net-worth individuals, to teach you everything you need to know about salary negotiation, especially as a female Executive Assistant. 

REACH Roundtable: The Great Resignation

If you weren't able join us for our third REACH Roundtable Livestream, we missed you, but we captured the audio for you to listen to here. For those who aren't familiar, REACH Roundtable is an extension of our podcast where we invite former guests back to discuss all things hot topics in the Executive Assistant world. In this episode, you’ll hear from the guests you know and love, Lauren Pelusi, Rowe Hoffer, LJ Cohen, and Kristin Beatham as they discuss The Great Resignation, a trend perhaps more popular than the celery juice cleanse! Specifically, they dig into the cause of this movement, which industries in particular have been most affected, as well as the ways its impacted the Executive Assistant career.

This episode is sponsored by Cabinet, the all-in-one software application for Executive Assistants streamlining processes, creating culture, and preventing burnout all before lunch!

Discover why EAs at Fortune 500 companies are turning to Cabinet to help them handle complex calendars and manage their never-ending to-do lists. Go to joincabinet.com and use start your free account. 

Tackling the Title Debate: Is Job Title a Deal Breaker for Your Career and Identity as a Support Professional?

In this episode, we are joined by Carrie Zimney, former Executive Assistant to the COO, Private Office of Bill Gates Ventures! Carrie brings up the oh so debated title discussion, a sensitive and weighty topic for many support professionals. There's no denying the ways in which the executive support role has evolved over the years since its original "Secretary" days. Today we continue to witness various companies adopt titles such as Executive Business Partner, Chief of Staff, Senior Executive Assistant and everything in between for their administrative employees. Having held many titles and esteemed positions herself, Carrie is just the person to host this discussion. So, if you're someone who has mixed feelings around your title or your identity as a support professional, this episode is for you. Join us as we learn what job title means for your current role, resume, career and identity.