Sarah Howson is a former career assistant with over twenty years of c-suite level experience. Sarah has a passion for building relationships and connecting assistants.
Sarah and I chat about her career journey, navigating life challenges while at work, red flags in the recruitment process, networking as an assistant, tips for updating your resume, and stepping out of your comfort zone.
LEADERSHIP QUOTE
I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
– Maya Angelou
CONNECT WITH SARAH
ABOUT SARAH
Sarah Howson is a former Career Assistant with over twenty years of C Suite level experience. She began her career journey straight from university assisting the CEO of a small start-up semiconductor company, before moving to a FTSE250 international oil and gas support services company, where she supported both the CEO and the CFO.
Sarah’s passion for building relationships, connecting Assistants and bringing together a much-needed community saw the creation of a thriving professional network for Assistants in her local area (Bucks, Berks and Oxon PA Network). Being a ‘people’ person as well as her extensive EA experience is a great foundation for launching Strategic PA Recruitment, a boutique headhunting agency along with her business partner in 2020.
When Sarah’s not organizing events, mentoring, networking or actively championing the PA industry, she enjoys spending time with her two gorgeous boys (7 and 4, both IVF), socializing with friends and loves to spend her time outdoors!
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Sarah Howson 0:00
Hi, my name is Sarah Howson and today’s leadership quote comes from Maya Angelou. People will forget what you said people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
Podcast Intro 0:18
The Leader Assistant Podcast exists to encourage and challenge assistants to become confident game changing leader assistants
Jeremy Burrows 0:33
The Leader Assistant Podcast is brought to you by goody. If you’re starting to think about holiday gifts for your team, like I am, goody is a game changer. They have amazing gifts that people will really love including brands that give back to charitable causes. As a longtime executive assistant, I’ve always been nervous about holiday gifting season. But thankfully, goody’s platform lets you send one gift or hundreds at the same time without ever worrying about shipping details. Can I get an amen? With goody your gift recipients provide all their shipping info, and they can even swap out your gift for another option if they prefer. It’s free to start gifting and you can get a $20 credit when you sign up. Oh, and if you mentioned you heard about goody from The Leader Assistant Podcast goody, we’ll add an extra $10 credit to your account. Go to leaderassistant.com/goody to start gifting today. Hey friends thanks for tuning in to The Leader Assistant Podcast. It’s your host Jeremy Burrows Welcome to Episode 199 You can check out the show notes at leaderassistant.com/199. Leaderassistant.com/199. Today I am very excited to be speaking with Sarah Howson. Sarah is a former career assistant with over 20 years of C suite experience supporting executives and she began her journey straight from university assisting the CEO of a small startup semiconductor company. So Sarah, we’re gonna get into more of your career journey. But welcome to the show.
Sarah Howson 2:16
Oh, thank you very much for having me, Jeremy. Appreciate it.
Jeremy Burrows 2:19
And tell us what part of the world are you in? Ah,
Sarah Howson 2:22
so I’m in in Leafy, Buckingham share just kind of in the UK, in between London and Oxford share if that kind of London and Oxford that kind of how everyone?
Jeremy Burrows 2:35
Awesome. I have no idea where that is. But I’m sure some people listening to you
Sarah Howson 2:41
know, great location.
Jeremy Burrows 2:42
Geography was not much my strength and school. So anyway, what tell us a little bit about yourself. Do you have kids pets, hobbies?
Sarah Howson 2:53
Yeah. So I’ve got two young children. So a seven year old and a four year old whose birthday it is the weekend and is extremely excited. My husband, oh, gosh, we’ve been together over 20 years now. And he’s a golf professional. So we’re a very sporty family and children are very much into their football or soccer. And we love being outdoors. With two young boys. I’ve got two boys. Everyone who does have children will appreciate you know, being outside is definitely a positive a positive thing.
Jeremy Burrows 3:33
Yeah, I have two boys as well. And, you know, sports is a big part of being outside and being outside is a big part of sports. That’s why we’re so passionate about getting them out and involved in the the teams and everything because we can get them active and outdoors. And yeah, it’s great.
Sarah Howson 3:50
Yeah, and their energy as well. I think it’s infectious, isn’t it? You kind of I mean, where they get their energy from sometimes I have no idea. And I often want want their energy, that’s for sure.
Jeremy Burrows 4:02
Yeah, definitely. Well, tell us about switch over to your professional career and how did you end up becoming an assistant and tell us a little bit about your journey as an assistant?
Sarah Howson 4:17
Yeah, I guess. You know, as a lot of assistants I speak to it kind of happened by accident, to be honest with you. I met I finished university came out and I did a business degree read a business degree and I went for an interview for a marketing assistant and sat down with the CEO who I got on really well with, you know, you just immediately click with somebody. And he said to me, you’re going to be 90% marketing and 10% My EA and at the time I remember thinking oh my goodness, what you know, what does the acronym even stand for? I haven’t come across the role. And per se back then. And, you know, he explained it to me and I ended up getting the position and started. And the a element I absolutely fell in love with. And I think I was there a month, and he pulled me into his office. And he said, Right, we’re changing your role. You’re no longer marketing assistant, you’re just going to be my EAA full time. So it kind of happened by accident. But I think it’s one of those positions that you’re, you’re kind of born to do it, you kind of like a natural organizer, natural project manager, and curious, you know, lots of resourceful, and being in a small startup company, which it was, I think I was like employee number 13, or 14, you just wear many hats, and you’re exposed to so many different situations, you know, from sitting in the board meetings, it was a VC backed semiconductor startup, so had exposure to that. And you, I guess, working with a CEO who kind of really entrusted me and really empowered me, the you know, it was a great ride. And I was there for a while. And, you know, I think in the first week, I joined it was like, right, you know, book book, your flights to Vegas, we’re, we’re doing a show and exhibition. And there was a great team there as well. And I think it’s important that you are learning and part of an amazing team where you can learn, I think it’s certainly in this role, you know, the team makes a big difference. So really, really loved that position and love that role.
Jeremy Burrows 6:49
So you were an assistant for a long time. And what what sparked well, before it before we move on to the next phase of your career, what was the what was your least favorite part about being an assistant?
Sarah Howson 7:08
Oh, gosh. In Oh, in that role, I think certainly the, I guess the trajectory of well, structured learning I loved, but it for me was kind of not being out. I mean, I was I was very stretched in that role, and, and ended up going through my CIPD qualification. So the HR qualification over here. And I think, for me, one of my biggest frustrations there, which the company and the CEO I work for supported me on what’s kind of not being like really technical in some of the areas, you know, you end up being a bit of jack of all trades a bit of a generalist, and we were growing, you know, there’s quite substantial growth in those early days, and it was having that HR element and not being able to kind of know what you’re talking about being an expert in a certain area. And I think that was one of the frustrations I had, you know, on loved onboarding kind of, you know, loved helping from that sense, but it was understanding the contractual elements and kind of the the nitty gritty details of, you know, the legal side, etc. And I guess, being an not an expert, per se, but you know, knowing what you’re talking about for all the right reasons at the right times, was definitely something that kind of left me frustrated and and slightly, I guess on the backfoot at times, and you I don’t know, it’s it’s that kind of wanting to be part of everything and know as much as you can about something and feel comfortable and confident. That was an element for me.
Jeremy Burrows 8:57
On the on the flip side, what was your favorite part? Throughout your, oh, gosh, here’s
Sarah Howson 9:05
my favorite is, I think like some of the stakeholder relationship building, getting to know really incredible, smart, intelligent people. And I think, you know, some of the team members and some of the team that I worked with have taught me so much and I think you get to learn every day in this role. It never gets boring. You’ve also got the variety and you just don’t know what any day is going to bring to you. And I think some people thrive on that and love, love that element of the role and you know, certainly in the capacities and times where I’m now interviewing, it’s, it’s it shows so much. You know, when you say what do you love about the role? You often can’t stop you know, great assistants, talking about What may they love? So I think it’s that exposure and, and you’re in the driving seat, you know, alongside a CEO or alongside the senior leadership team. And it’s a privileged position, you know, not many people get to kind of see what goes on and, and that’s through good days, and also through bad days as well. And I think, you know, being that someone that someone really relies on and kind of really bounces off, and you’re able to kind of really support and I guess have their back almost, you know, day in day out, is quite a unique position. And really, yeah, definitely unique in terms of roles within an organization.
Jeremy Burrows 10:47
So, thanks for for sharing, and what let’s, let’s talk a little bit about challenges. So specifically, life challenges. While at work in you had brought up a couple of topics, and just wanted to give you a chance to chat about those. But one of them, one of them. So, you know, for those listening, I asked my guests ahead of time, Hey, what are some topics that you’d like to discuss on the show? Because I’ve interviewed over 100, and I don’t know, 70 or so people, and it’s hard for me to come up with topics sometimes. So I like to like to put the ball in my guests court. And so, anyway, you had a few really good topics that we’re gonna get into, but the first one you mentioned, was navigating IVF or infant infertility while at work. So do you want to talk about that a little bit?
Sarah Howson 11:43
Yeah, absolutely. And I think like, for me, it’s really important to kind of share, share my journey and share the story. Certainly, you know, all those years ago, it was, it was eight years ago, now, my son’s seven now that I kind of went through what was at the time really difficult, and really challenging. And I think, you know, in, in this role of an EA, you have control of so much, you know, you’re used to being used to having, you know, finger on the pulse with regards to everything. So, for me, it was kind of a bit of a shock, to be honest, to kind of not have control of this, you know, huge element of, of my life. And obviously, my husband and I had been together a while and, you know, we were lucky in the sense that we just kind of kept going on, you know, really lovely exotic holidays. And, you know, after so many, we’re kind of like, let’s, you know, look into this and I guess, navigating that whilst being in a full on, you know, a PLC, which is a public company, and it was an international business. So, you know, timezones and those that know, you know, at the C suite level of supporting the CEO, the CFO at the time, and it was a follow on position, I traveled with the execs and the leadership team, navigating, oh, gosh, all the appointments and, and all the hormone injections and kind of understanding and unraveling what I had to go through, which, you know, seemed unfair at the time, was really hard. And I chose I think everyone chooses to, to deal with it, you know, differently. And everyone has different issues, different protocols that they’re going on, and different reasons. I chose to be open with the CEO I was working with at the time and the CFO and, and, you know, I was extremely lucky, I got amazing support, and you know, was able to, to work from home those times when I was navigating all the various tests, etc. But it’s not a talked about topic, certainly all those years ago, and at the, at the time, it it’s lonely and, you know, lots of different feelings and emotions go through your mind, and having that support from where, from my perspective was really fundamental. You know, I think I’m obviously extremely lucky, I had a successful transfer of successful rounds. The first time which you know, is it’s, I’m blessed beyond belief, for it to have been such a easy journey, but you know, with all with all the injections and hormones, and you know, especially through depression and wasn’t myself for a long time, but the support and knowing that, you know, if I was having an off day, it was fine to just work from home and that was, you know, pre pre COVID and pre navigating that, you know, that was quite a big deal. Certainly, for the team then, but no forever grateful for For, you know, the two execs I worked with for that support.
Jeremy Burrows 15:05
So yeah, how was the was this like a long conversation or not long conversation? But was the timing spread out? If that makes sense? Like, or was it just kind of like, Hey, by the way?
Sarah Howson 15:21
Okay, I know, it was definitely spread out. And I, I’m lucky, you know, I had a really good relationship with both of them, you know, we, we, you know, what it’s like when, when something clicks with your exec and that connections there. And, you know, I felt really comfortable to be able to do that. And I appreciate not everyone has that relationship with, you know, their work colleagues or you know, the, the exact say, support, so I was really lucky. And for me, it was almost a case of, you know, I need to navigate the next three months, and then we’ll be going for treatment. And then, you know, we’ll have to see what happens. And I think what a lot of people don’t understand is that it’s such a step by step process. And it’s such a unique kind of, you know, each stage, you can’t progress the next stage, unless each stage kind of goes successfully. And I hadn’t appreciated that at the time. You know, science is amazing, and I am forever grateful. But my, my goodness, it’s not straightforward. It’s not just having some injections, and you know, it all happens, it’s, it’s definitely stage by stage, and you’re down and you’re up, you’re around, you’re kind of everywhere, emotion wise, and you are not yourself, you know, you’re not used to that, if I certainly wasn’t I struggle, you know, I struggled quite a bit with it. And some people breeze through it. And honestly, it’s, you kind of wish everyone could just breeze through it. But for me, it was it was it was really hard. And especially when you’re used to bringing your A game to work every day, and you’re used to being you know, the the one who’s kind of really positive and the one who, you know, will will often, you know, be the one that that kind of creates the culture in a sense and kind of carries through, you know, the vision of that culture from the CEO and the leadership team. So to do that is sometimes it was a challenge, you know, they’re a dangerous challenge, but I think it’s, it’s okay. It’s okay to sometimes just show up and be vulnerable. And, you know, some days, I never cried at work, but, you know, I had my odd days where it just got me down, and you kind of do that, and then you’re waiting for the results. And then, you know, like, it’s very, it’s very black and white as you go along the processes. And, you know, you’re either it’s either going to be positive or negative on a certain day. And, you know, they were kind of with me along that journey, as well and asking how it was going. And, you know, literally, every, every step of the way, it was, you know, being having to communicate what was going on, and I was watching it Jeremy, like, it went positively. So I couldn’t have asked for anything better. But the team around me, I had a strong number two at the time, who was phenomenal. And she stepped in if I you know, if I was having one of those days, she would step up and step in. So I think it’s, you know, I shared for all the right reasons, and thankfully had, you know, amazing support.
Jeremy Burrows 18:33
So, okay, so we’re gonna talk about your new career path in recruiting. But kind of as a as a segue to that. How, you know, you had, you’ve mentioned it several times, you had a great experience with your executives and your team and supportive, supportive culture. What’s What’s one way for assistants who are interviewing for new jobs and new opportunities? How do they how do they find a supportive environment like that, like, what’s a tip for throughout the interview process to, you know, find something like that? Because a lot of people listening are probably like, Oh, that’s nice, but I’ve never had a supportive environment like that.
Sarah Howson 19:21
Ya know, and it’s, I definitely think, you know, it’s, it’s unique and, but equally is, it’s possible and I think being yourself in an interview, I think, is really important. Showing up as is kind of, you know, it’s hard work to kind of be someone you’re not. So being your, I guess, authentic self in an interview is really important. And certainly, if you’re, you know, what, I genuinely believe not every role is right for everybody, and really asking a lot of questions. Just to kind of like what the environments like, what it’s finding those, I guess those red flags almost, isn’t it that that set alarm bells off the, you know, there’s certain individuals, what kind of environment do you like working in? asking, you know, whether it’s the HR team or hiring manager, you know, Will I have access to the execs inbox? You know, are they up for sharing and kind of really allowing an assistant to kind of perform and be part of their, their world? Because, you know, we we we ask execs or leadership team members, you know, are you sharing your inbox? Are you giving full access to your calendar? And, you know, there’s, there’s ones that straight away like, yeah, no, absolutely, you know, it has to work like that. And then there’s some that say, Oh, I, you know, I wouldn’t share my inbox, I wouldn’t share my calendar. And then it’s, it’s for me, you know, I really dig into that. And, you know, sometimes I don’t think sometimes, you know, we’ve we’ve turned down roles where you just know that an assistant is not going to thrive in that environment, you no matter who it is, some people are just not receptive or acceptable of the support, if that makes sense to you. I don’t know, like we were, you know, I wouldn’t put myself in that situation, you know, as much as I, you know, when we get a brief from a client, I get excited. And, you know, today even I was like, we’re talking about calendar management. And I was like, Oh, I’d love to come into your inbox and saw your calendar and just like, jump out and help you. So it’s, it’s finding someone, I guess, to answer your question, and really doing your research with the person you’re going to support about what it looks like, you know, what, what does amazing look like to them? What does great support look like to them? And finding out the detail of what you’re going to be doing?
Jeremy Burrows 22:06
Yeah, that’s great. Great tips. Any other red flags for recruitment process?
Sarah Howson 22:15
Yeah, I guess you kind of, for me, it’s, it’s making sure as well, that they want someone to grow in a role. And, you know, I often ask, you know, what’s the learning and development opportunities? You know, will they be shadowing you in board meetings? Will they be sitting in leadership team meetings, you know, will they be part of your leadership team? Because I think that’s really important, that expectation is set. At the beginning, certainly at the beginning of our process, you know, these are career assistants, they are high performers, curious, they want they want and thrive on and need that kind of exposure and, and pressure almost, I think, you know, enrolls like this. EAS thrive on the pressure and the opportunities that get presented there, wait for them to kind of really showcase what they can do you know, that they’re intelligent and smart. Individuals who, who love what they do, and I think being passionate and showing that passion, from you know, from from interview side as well is really important. And I love nothing more than than asking any a you know, like, Why do you love this role? What, what kind of, you know, what elements are your favorite? And like I said, you know, often you have to say, Okay, that’s enough, I get it. But showing, you know, showing that passion and showing how hungry you are for something is, is really important. And kind of the energy that someone’s got for a role really shines through. Certainly when we’re interviewing, and I love looking through a CV like That’s my secret hobby. And I love I love interviewing, because it’s just, it’s getting the best out of somebody and understanding what their strengths are and matching that with someone who needs those strengths. Certainly, so yeah, so hope that helps.
Jeremy Burrows 24:20
Yeah, so what’s maybe speaking of CV or resume is also called What’s one of your best CV resume tips when assistants are looking to craft and, you know, update their resume?
Sarah Howson 24:39
I think it’s like that first top half page of page one is really important. You know, sometimes some CVS with several pages has, you know, some amazing experience in page two or maybe page three, you know, Name Check those on in your summary, you know, add them to I like to see He on page one, like career achievements or key career achievements. And, you know, one of one of the things I draw out of assistants is some of the amazing things they’ve done. And, and to them, it’s just a, you know, a day in the office, but to hiring managers who don’t really understand the role, and I think, you know, have that kind of, you know, mindset on not everyone understands the assistant role, you know, whether it’s HR or hiring manager, or, or even an exec or CEO, you know, I think a lot of the time I spend educating as well as to the possibilities of this position. Just bear that in mind, when you’re, when you’re crafting your CV is not everyone understands the position. So adding key career achievements, where you can pick out kind of four or five really hard hitting, you know, I guess, you know, what’s your legacy? And some of the organizations you’ve worked? In? What processes have you implemented? What have you streamline? What have you, you know, some days you save the day? Yeah, no one really knows how, or why or what kind of went behind that. And I think sharing those, those gems and those nuggets is really important. And, you know, someone will just casually drop in, you know, something epic. And I’m like, this needs to be on your CV right at the top. Because that’s, you know, really phenomenal. And they’re like, Yeah, I suppose you know, you know, certainly, I never, you know, in the UK, there’s a tendency to be humble for all the right reasons and kind of, you know, I appreciate that as a as a tray. But equally, you know, it’s a competitive market. And, you know, making and showcasing your, your strengths and weaving them in at the top, you know, make it impactful is really key and really important.
Jeremy Burrows 26:58
Great, great tips. Thank you so much for sharing. So let’s go back a little bit then. So how did you make the transition from being an executive assistant? Administrative Professional to, you know, recruiter?
Sarah Howson 27:12
Oh, yeah, no. So, gosh, it kind of happened naturally. And through the network that I run. So when I went on maternity leave the first time. I mean, Jeremy, I went from, you know, 24/7, full on international role traveling constant on switch. And from there, I had, my first son was, I guess, what some people laugh and joke he was, he was very large. He was an 11 pound, baby. So he was enormous when he was
Jeremy Burrows 27:53
a big man was like nine pounds, four ounces, or three ounces or something. But that was big,
Sarah Howson 27:58
though. We’re both we’re both extremely tall. And my husband and I and, and he just slept. I mean, I was, I was so lucky, I cannot even describe to you. He was a hungry baby. And he slept. And I think I went you know, I struggled when I first had him, because I went from being full on having a million things to do to almost, you know, having a newborn baby. And, I mean, I drove my husband crazy, because I was like, what projects can I take on? What can I do? And you know, you’re kind of like, I can help you. He’s a golf professional. So I was like, I can do social media, what can I do? And he was like, Oh, my goodness. But I set up a network. So I ventured onto onto Twitter of all places, and found out that a lot of the networking events over here were in London at the time, and it wasn’t really a thing, you know, eight, nine years ago. But we set out I set up a network out in in Buckingham share and we had a first event and I cannot even tell you how nervous I was. But we had 66 Zero assistants turned up at Stoke Park and my my CEOs, my my former CEOs wife, who’s a business psychologist, she came along and did a kind of keynote speech. And I just could not believe the number of people that turned up and I also just saw in the room, everyone connect and everyone kind of it’s a it’s a lonely role, sometimes a society you know, often a siloed position in a company. So just seeing that come together. And I think over the years, I was kind of putting someone in touch with someone or someone knew someone who needed a position and throughout my career I was always involved in in recruitment, part of the process and loved it. I’m definitely a people person and I love Um, I love that element of my role, you know, throughout my career, also saw how executive level recruitment was, was done. And it was kind of the other side of the table for a lot of my career, and really liked that style, and process and the thoroughness and the, you know, really understanding the role really understanding the person, the coach. So I think whether whether role of an assistant, you can’t just send CVS, you’ve got to really understand what motivates someone, what they’re looking for, in terms of, I guess, career progression, and where they are in their career as well to kind of understand what they’re looking for. But, yes, so long story short, I was kind of doing it in the background anyway. And I had my second son, which was IVF, again, and thankfully that was successful, and just reevaluated, I was hitting 40, as well, kind of was coming to that stage of my life where I really wanted to do something that I loved, and I kind of lifted me up and at the time, you know, with two with two children, you know, the second one was a bit of a game changer for me, which I, I always say to my friends and like, thanks. Thanks, everyone, like you could have told me because I didn’t quite realize the impact of having a secretary. Now I’m like, Oh, my goodness. And so you know, to navigate that as well, you know, I wanted something that I could I could set up on my, on my own, but my business partner, Marianne, who I who I know really well, and I kind of, you know, shared with her the idea and what I wanted to do, and you I think, you know, you can’t do things like this on your own, and we, we make a good partnership, we really complement each other with different skills. And I think we launched just before COVID, which was obviously the best time
Jeremy Burrows 32:08
today.
Sarah Howson 32:10
I think literally the month before, but, you know, it stood us in good stead, and hey, if we can, if we can survive that I think we can literally survive anything. But it’s, it’s just building up, you know, building up a reputation, and we we just want to work with people we love and people who value this position. That’s like our number one, you know, criteria for when we speak with clients, you, you know, instantly, when there’s respect for this role and the understanding of the value that it can bring to an organization and that they’re the people that we work with. And we love work with. We’ve got some amazing clients.
Jeremy Burrows 32:49
Awesome. Well, let’s, let’s let’s hit quickly, let’s hit a couple of those last topics that you suggested. And maybe they’re kind of related. They can’t be related for sure. But one of them is networking. So maybe quick tip for assistants listening who really, you know, maybe could improve their networking, opportunities and skills. And then lastly, the stepping out of your comfort zone. And again, these can be related. Maybe some people don’t network well, because they’re introverted, like me, and they prefer to stay home instead of going to a networking event. Stepping out of their comfort zone. Speaking of but yeah, what what’s, what’s your kind of top tip when it comes to networking as an assistant, and then stepping out of your comfort zone?
Sarah Howson 33:37
Yeah, I think with networking, gosh, if someone had told me and the enjoyment and the friendships that I’ve made through networking, I would have done it 20 years ago, and that, you know, when I when I meet younger assistants, or we’ve, we’ve spoken at a couple of schools, that’s one of the, the pieces of advice I always share is start networking as early as you can, because it will really enrich. And really, I think, just open opportunities and open doors that perhaps you know, you never you never might have even known they were there. And I think someone said to us in an interview a few weeks back, you just don’t know who’s watching. You don’t know who you’re meeting and you don’t know who you’re connecting with. And it really kind of opened my eyes when I first started and I’ve met Jeremy some amazing friends and I think it is scary. And I always remember the CEO I worked for sent me off on a networking event on his behalf. It was at Wentworth golf club. It was a Department of Trade and Industry event. And now I look back I’m like I can’t believe you sent me to that. It was so scary and We went around the room, it was very formal. And you know, you need to stand up and talk about a business, talk about why you’re there and what your purpose is. And I did it. And obviously, you know, when you talk about stepping out of your comfort zone, that was one of those moments that I remember from, I think I must have been, like, 23 years old. And it frightens the life out of me, but I did it and it was fine. But it’s, it’s one of those things that I think, you know, it’s, it’s, it’s feeling comfortable getting uncomfortable, and I, I’m the worst person, sometimes I get so nervous, you know, when I’m doing a speaking event, and you know, I have grown to enjoy it more and more over the years and kind of, you know, can channel that energy, that nervous energy, but I think trying to put that to the side and walk in and I think, you know, just meet one person, but get in touch with the organizer and say that you’re nervous, you know, be open, be vulnerable, and say, Is there anyone you could introduce me to beforehand? Just so you know, I mean, our events, we’ve got a no one stands on their own policy, we’ve got an amazing committee who are looking out for those who are a bit nervous or who haven’t been to an event before or haven’t, you can, you can just check it out from body language. And we skip those, those those those attendees up with open arms, because it’s so important to kind of help others and I think any, you know, any events that you go to, I’d love to think there’s someone always kind of looking out for for those first time attendees, or those who are a bit more, a bit more nervous to do it. But it’s rewarding. And I’ve got some phenomenal friendships now from from the network. And what gives me the best pleasure as you know, someone who was really nervous, and we’ve had a couple and they now what’s what’s in the room and own the room? And how are you and their confidence has grown so much, you know, over the number of events that they have come to.
Jeremy Burrows 37:08
Yeah, that’s awesome. Well, that’s definitely great. Great tips. great wisdom. Sara, thank you so much for sharing. How can those listening reach out to you or connect with you if they’d like to say hi.
Sarah Howson 37:23
Oh, gosh, LinkedIn, I love LinkedIn best kind of social platform that I’m a part of, and important for networking as well. Absolutely. Our recruitment website is WWW.strategicparecruitment.com. And the network, we’re just rebranding, and so it’s moving from BPO pa network to strategic pa network in line with the recruitment company, but I’m always up for conversation. Like I said earlier, I secretly love reviewing a CV and I’m often leaving voice notes for people with just my thoughts. And I think, you know, just to kind of finish on that note, you’ve you’ve got to really own and love and feel comfortable with your with your CV, and it’s your document. And I always say like, look at it as your own board document. You know, you’ve got to feel really proud of it and really kind of own it from the beginning.
Jeremy Burrows 38:22
Awesome, Sarah. Well, I’ll share all those links in the show notes at leaderassistant.com/199 So people can reach out leaderassistant.com/199 Sarah, thank you so much again for being on the show. Thanks for the work that you do to help assistants find great, great jobs and yeah, we appreciate it and hope to meet you in person someday.
Speaker 1 38:45
Thank you very much. It’s been absolute pleasure. And yeah, really appreciate it. Thank you.
Jeremy Burrows 39:00
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