Natalie (or Nat!) Lee is a Senior Executive Assistant and EA Manager at Atlassian, a remote-first, global software company.
In this episode of The Leader Assistant Podcast, Natalie shares her journey from working in HR to being an executive assistant, working at a remote-first company, and nurturing psychological safety in the workplace.
LEADERSHIP QUOTE
Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.
– Babe Ruth
CONNECT WITH NATALIE
ABOUT NATALIE
Natalie (or Nat!) Lee is a Senior Executive Assistant and EA Manager at Atlassian. She spends her work days supercharging her leaders and teammates with her GSD attitude and her innate ability to bring people together for a common purpose. Although her career started off in HR, Nat has found her home in the Executive Assistant community and has a passion for sharing her story, both personally and professionally, with the intention of helping others establish two-way partnerships and friendships with imposter syndrome. Outside of work, she is an avid reader and sports fan – most often, she’s rooting for the Washington Commanders, Denver Nuggets, or Colorado Avalanche!
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THE LEADER ASSISTANT PODCAST IS PRESENTED BY EZCATER
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To explore corporate food solutions or place a catering order, visit ezcater.com.
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
00:00:00.000 –> 00:00:01.260
NATALIE: Hi, my name is Natalie Lee.
00:00:01.280 –> 00:00:02.440
NATALIE: Everybody calls me Nat.
00:00:02.760 –> 00:00:07.820
NATALIE: The leadership quote of the day is from Babe Ruth, and it has never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.
00:00:14.269 –> 00:00:21.869
<v SPEAKER_3>The Leader Assistant Podcast exists to encourage and challenge assistants to become confident, game-changing leader assistants.
00:00:21.889 –> 00:00:32.166
JEREMY: Thank you Are you tasked with ordering food for your office?
00:00:32.966 –> 00:00:34.846
JEREMY: Let me tell you about Easy Cater.
00:00:35.546 –> 00:00:48.126
JEREMY: With over 100,000 restaurants to choose from nationwide and 24-7 customer support, Easy Cater helps assistants like you and me succeed at work and makes our lives easier.
00:00:48.706 –> 00:00:54.166
JEREMY: Visit easycater.com/leaderassistant to find out more.
00:00:55.046 –> 00:01:01.346
JEREMY: Hey everyone, welcome to episode 245 of The Leader Assistant Podcast with your host, Jeremy Burrows.
00:01:01.506 –> 00:01:05.286
JEREMY: And I’m very excited to be speaking with my friend, Natalie, or Nat Lee.
00:01:05.726 –> 00:01:08.746
JEREMY: And she is in Denver, Colorado.
00:01:08.766 –> 00:01:09.466
JEREMY: Is that right, Natalie?
00:01:09.966 –> 00:01:10.806
NATALIE: It is, yes.
00:01:11.526 –> 00:01:11.926
JEREMY: Awesome.
00:01:12.406 –> 00:01:18.466
JEREMY: And we met a couple years ago, part of the Leader Assistant community.
00:01:18.726 –> 00:01:23.546
JEREMY: And we went for, I think we did a little happy hour or something.
00:01:23.566 –> 00:01:26.546
JEREMY: And then we went for like a walk around a park in Colorado.
00:01:27.766 –> 00:01:29.766
JEREMY: Just did a little meetup and that was pretty fun.
00:01:29.766 –> 00:01:32.346
JEREMY: So, but a lot’s happened since then.
00:01:32.366 –> 00:01:33.906
JEREMY: And so I just wanted to jump in.
00:01:34.046 –> 00:01:44.086
JEREMY: And before we get into your career, tell us maybe two things about yourself personally that at least you find interesting.
00:01:45.026 –> 00:01:46.326
NATALIE: Oh, gosh.
00:01:47.166 –> 00:01:52.686
NATALIE: Oh, I think I’ll switch from interesting to things people might not know about me, or people would be surprised to know.
00:01:53.006 –> 00:01:56.586
NATALIE: People would be surprised to know that I’m very shy in person.
00:01:56.606 –> 00:02:01.506
NATALIE: I get very, very nervous around crowds or people that I don’t know.
00:02:01.526 –> 00:02:05.206
NATALIE: So I’m very proud that I was able to handle the group walk.
00:02:06.486 –> 00:02:12.346
NATALIE: And then fun fact about me, I’m a student at Arizona State and I’m pursuing my bachelor’s degree in religious studies.
00:02:13.486 –> 00:02:13.966
JEREMY: Nice.
00:02:13.986 –> 00:02:14.886
JEREMY: That is a fun fact.
00:02:15.706 –> 00:02:23.826
JEREMY: My, let’s see, my degree was in, I guess technically religious education was my major and then I minored in music.
00:02:23.826 –> 00:02:25.886
JEREMY: But, oh, that’s awesome.
00:02:25.906 –> 00:02:26.306
JEREMY: Good times.
00:02:27.826 –> 00:02:30.366
JEREMY: So do you have any pets or kids?
00:02:31.426 –> 00:02:32.066
NATALIE: I do.
00:02:32.066 –> 00:02:32.946
NATALIE: I have both.
00:02:33.566 –> 00:02:36.146
NATALIE: So my 11 year old is my stepdaughter.
00:02:36.166 –> 00:02:37.246
NATALIE: Her name is Jaylin.
00:02:38.466 –> 00:02:42.546
NATALIE: So she’s been part of my life since she was tiny, tiny thing.
00:02:43.186 –> 00:02:44.446
NATALIE: So she’s my human baby.
00:02:44.466 –> 00:02:47.966
NATALIE: I have three fur babies, two of which are in the room with me.
00:02:47.986 –> 00:02:51.786
NATALIE: So I have three cats, Griffin, Pierre and Norman.
00:02:52.106 –> 00:02:54.286
NATALIE: They’re all named after former NFL players.
00:02:55.126 –> 00:02:55.686
JEREMY: Oh, nice.
00:02:55.746 –> 00:02:58.826
JEREMY: And speaking of NFL, who’s your favorite NFL team?
00:02:59.886 –> 00:03:00.826
NATALIE: Washington Commanders.
00:03:01.526 –> 00:03:02.566
NATALIE: Die Hard, Gutter Brad.
00:03:02.586 –> 00:03:03.506
JEREMY: Nice.
00:03:03.506 –> 00:03:04.566
JEREMY: Are you from that area?
00:03:04.586 –> 00:03:05.146
JEREMY: Is that why?
00:03:05.826 –> 00:03:06.926
NATALIE: No, I am not.
00:03:06.946 –> 00:03:08.506
NATALIE: I’m from the Denver area.
00:03:08.526 –> 00:03:16.186
NATALIE: My parents are very upset that I’m not a Denver Broncos fan, but my husband is former military, so he spent some time in Washington, DC.
00:03:16.666 –> 00:03:22.726
NATALIE: Had a really incredible experience with Robert Griffin III, who used to be their quarterback and the rest is history.
00:03:24.066 –> 00:03:24.426
JEREMY: Great.
00:03:24.446 –> 00:03:26.886
JEREMY: Well, I’m glad you’re not a Broncos fan because I’m a Chiefs fan.
00:03:26.906 –> 00:03:35.666
JEREMY: And, you know, as of recently, they just finally lost to the Broncos after like 16 times in a row.
00:03:35.686 –> 00:03:39.006
JEREMY: So I was really bummed about that, but it’ll be all right.
00:03:39.026 –> 00:03:40.286
JEREMY: I’m hoping it’ll be all right.
00:03:41.526 –> 00:03:44.346
JEREMY: Okay, so let’s dive into your career then.
00:03:45.346 –> 00:03:46.946
JEREMY: How did you end up becoming an assistant?
00:03:47.166 –> 00:03:48.826
JEREMY: Take us through your career journey.
00:03:49.386 –> 00:03:56.586
NATALIE: Yeah, I am a huge proponent of the fact that 90% of the assistants I know never thought of this career path as themselves.
00:03:57.006 –> 00:03:57.986
NATALIE: And that was my journey.
00:03:58.706 –> 00:04:02.186
NATALIE: I worked at a large financial institution, thought I wanted to be in sales.
00:04:03.026 –> 00:04:09.926
NATALIE: Very quickly learned when I was younger that sports journalism and sports broadcasting was not a heavily female dominated field.
00:04:10.406 –> 00:04:11.386
NATALIE: I decided it wasn’t for me.
00:04:12.146 –> 00:04:13.386
NATALIE: Thought I wanted to be in sales.
00:04:13.846 –> 00:04:20.246
NATALIE: Had a really bad experience at the financial institution that I worked for and decided like I was going to go change the world with HR.
00:04:20.326 –> 00:04:24.306
NATALIE: I was going to make sure that employees everywhere had the best HR experience.
00:04:25.046 –> 00:04:29.086
NATALIE: So I did some certification through Coursera and the University of Minnesota.
00:04:29.446 –> 00:04:33.846
NATALIE: Became certified in HR with my APHR and thought that that was going to be my journey.
00:04:34.186 –> 00:04:38.386
NATALIE: I did some external payrolling, external onboarding, external hiring.
00:04:39.326 –> 00:04:45.946
NATALIE: Got a role with a series C startup in Denver as their HR specialist focused specifically on onboarding.
00:04:46.866 –> 00:04:48.366
NATALIE: So that was my journey to HR.
00:04:48.386 –> 00:04:52.986
NATALIE: I really wanted to be the person that was approachable, that people felt like they could bring questions and problems to.
00:04:53.006 –> 00:04:53.746
NATALIE: I just wanted to help.
00:04:55.886 –> 00:05:02.866
NATALIE: I went on medical leave for an extended amount of time and the CEO calls me one day and he says, I don’t need an assistant, but the rest of the C-suite does.
00:05:02.886 –> 00:05:03.386
NATALIE: What do you think?
00:05:04.346 –> 00:05:06.686
NATALIE: And for me, I am proud to admit this.
00:05:06.706 –> 00:05:08.606
NATALIE: I had no idea what an assistant did.
00:05:08.626 –> 00:05:09.766
NATALIE: I had no idea.
00:05:10.826 –> 00:05:16.526
NATALIE: My parents are now in their 60s and so I think I had this very antiquated version of a secretary, what an assistant used to do.
00:05:16.546 –> 00:05:19.386
NATALIE: So I called my head of HR at the time.
00:05:19.406 –> 00:05:21.026
NATALIE: Again, I’m out on medical leave.
00:05:21.046 –> 00:05:23.906
NATALIE: So his first question was like, why are you calling me?
00:05:24.506 –> 00:05:27.346
NATALIE: And I just asked him, I said, hey, do you think I should do this?
00:05:27.946 –> 00:05:31.946
NATALIE: And I will never forget his response to me was, you would be dumb not to do this.
00:05:33.626 –> 00:05:39.406
NATALIE: And I tend to be somebody who is fearless for better or for worse, both personally and professionally.
00:05:39.426 –> 00:05:42.086
NATALIE: And so I decided, what the heck, like, let’s do it.
00:05:42.366 –> 00:05:55.126
NATALIE: So I came back and first day was the executive assistant to RC, chief technology officer, our chief revenue officer, our chief financial officer, our chief operating officer and our chief revenue officer.
00:05:56.726 –> 00:06:00.266
NATALIE: So we talk about, like, throwing people to wolves or drinking from the fire hose.
00:06:00.386 –> 00:06:01.166
NATALIE: That was what I did.
00:06:02.406 –> 00:06:03.986
JEREMY: So I lost count.
00:06:04.026 –> 00:06:05.906
JEREMY: Is that five or six executives?
00:06:06.386 –> 00:06:06.826
NATALIE: Five.
00:06:07.726 –> 00:06:08.826
JEREMY: Yes.
00:06:09.566 –> 00:06:09.906
NATALIE: Yes.
00:06:09.926 –> 00:06:16.066
JEREMY: Well, I just actually spoke with an assistant who supports eight executives.
00:06:16.926 –> 00:06:20.066
JEREMY: And I was like, okay, this is interesting.
00:06:20.086 –> 00:06:21.286
JEREMY: This is a lot of executives.
00:06:21.866 –> 00:06:24.566
JEREMY: And so I want to ask you what I asked her.
00:06:25.186 –> 00:06:29.526
JEREMY: What’s your top tip for supporting multiple executives?
00:06:30.186 –> 00:06:32.326
NATALIE: Yes, expectations and boundaries.
00:06:33.086 –> 00:06:34.586
NATALIE: Expectations go two ways.
00:06:34.606 –> 00:06:39.646
NATALIE: I think for the CFO at the time in particular, he was like, I actually don’t need much.
00:06:39.746 –> 00:06:40.426
NATALIE: I really don’t.
00:06:41.126 –> 00:06:43.146
NATALIE: And I think every executive leader will tell you that.
00:06:43.326 –> 00:06:48.006
NATALIE: So we actually had a deeper dive into his calendar and kind of his team and his rhythms.
00:06:48.026 –> 00:06:49.586
NATALIE: And he really didn’t need much from me.
00:06:50.986 –> 00:06:53.966
NATALIE: And I did the same with the rest of the executives as well.
00:06:53.986 –> 00:06:56.326
NATALIE: And so I really understand, again, two expectations.
00:06:56.346 –> 00:06:57.286
NATALIE: What do you need from me?
00:06:57.686 –> 00:06:59.106
NATALIE: And here’s what I can offer you.
00:06:59.966 –> 00:07:02.786
NATALIE: Fortunately, I was managing an executive team that all worked together.
00:07:02.806 –> 00:07:08.766
NATALIE: So they kind of knew the ebbs and flows of each other’s rhythms and some of their activity spikes and things like that.
00:07:09.466 –> 00:07:13.626
NATALIE: And then boundaries really setting the boundary of, hey, Jeremy, you asked me for this.
00:07:13.706 –> 00:07:18.646
NATALIE: I really need some additional time because I’ve prioritized something for John or for Joe.
00:07:21.326 –> 00:07:22.466
JEREMY: So you did that role.
00:07:22.486 –> 00:07:26.286
JEREMY: That was your jump into the EA role.
00:07:26.306 –> 00:07:26.566
JEREMY: Yes.
00:07:26.966 –> 00:07:30.226
JEREMY: What happened from there to where you’re at today at Atlassian?
00:07:30.746 –> 00:07:33.606
NATALIE: Yes, I was ready to spread my wings.
00:07:33.626 –> 00:07:36.766
NATALIE: So the CEO of this startup had a dedicated assistant.
00:07:37.666 –> 00:07:39.986
NATALIE: I actually learned how to be a remote assistant from her.
00:07:40.006 –> 00:07:42.826
NATALIE: She was supporting him in Denver from Mexico.
00:07:44.066 –> 00:07:45.486
NATALIE: So learned a lot of tips and tricks.
00:07:45.506 –> 00:07:49.126
NATALIE: I actually learned how to become an assistant on Trello, which is an Atlassian product.
00:07:49.146 –> 00:07:54.186
NATALIE: I decided I want to spread my wings and support, you know, bigger fish or bigger company.
00:07:54.466 –> 00:07:56.066
NATALIE: I ended up at Ball Corporation.
00:07:57.046 –> 00:08:01.746
NATALIE: So for yourself or for listeners, if you’re familiar with the Ball mason jars, that’s where I was at.
00:08:02.706 –> 00:08:05.426
NATALIE: But fun trivia fact for everybody to keep in their back pocket.
00:08:05.426 –> 00:08:08.266
NATALIE: Ball has not made those mason jars since the early 1990s.
00:08:09.246 –> 00:08:12.246
NATALIE: They still get paid for them, but they don’t do those anymore.
00:08:12.246 –> 00:08:15.406
NATALIE: So their primary products are aluminum.
00:08:15.426 –> 00:08:18.666
NATALIE: So aluminum cans, aluminum aerosol cans, things like that.
00:08:19.306 –> 00:08:25.266
NATALIE: So I was there supporting their Senior Vice President of Global Operations and Engineering and then two engineering executives that worked for him.
00:08:27.366 –> 00:08:30.046
JEREMY: And then how did you end up at Atlassian?
00:08:30.726 –> 00:08:34.206
NATALIE: Yeah, I owe my referral at Atlassian to the Leader Assistant community.
00:08:35.106 –> 00:08:45.546
NATALIE: I met my referral from Joy Caves, who’s no longer at Atlassian, but her and I were in the Saturday Coaching Series with Jeremy, and there were three or four other people in our group.
00:08:46.426 –> 00:08:49.746
NATALIE: This was right around May of 2020.
00:08:50.466 –> 00:08:54.486
NATALIE: I discovered the Leader Assistant community in April of 2020 after the world shut down.
00:08:54.506 –> 00:09:03.206
NATALIE: I reached out to Joy, I saw her posting at Atlassian, said, Hey, is this remote thing going to stick or am I going to have to go in the office?
00:09:03.506 –> 00:09:07.506
NATALIE: I have no desire to live in Austin, Texas, nor San Francisco, California.
00:09:08.386 –> 00:09:09.626
NATALIE: Would they consider a kid from Denver?
00:09:10.546 –> 00:09:15.646
NATALIE: So she referred me and I ended up here at Atlassian supporting the Vice President of Human Resources.
00:09:15.666 –> 00:09:23.166
NATALIE: And then about six-ish months later transitioned to supporting my current leader, Erica Fisher, who’s our Chief Administrative Officer.
00:09:24.466 –> 00:09:24.846
JEREMY: Awesome.
00:09:24.926 –> 00:09:25.546
JEREMY: That’s great.
00:09:25.566 –> 00:09:36.366
JEREMY: So I want to talk about a couple of the things that have happened at your time at Atlassian, but specifically, let’s start with the remote work side.
00:09:37.366 –> 00:09:42.906
JEREMY: So my understanding is that you can work from anywhere, but you have to work in the Pacific time zone.
00:09:42.926 –> 00:09:43.386
JEREMY: Is that right?
00:09:44.266 –> 00:09:45.126
NATALIE: Not necessarily.
00:09:45.146 –> 00:09:47.666
NATALIE: So we have certain time zone halos for different roles.
00:09:48.466 –> 00:09:51.066
NATALIE: So my executive leader works in Pacific time.
00:09:51.086 –> 00:09:52.566
NATALIE: She lives in the San Francisco area.
00:09:53.406 –> 00:09:56.166
NATALIE: So I have an overlap with her, pretty significant overlap with her.
00:09:56.526 –> 00:09:57.166
NATALIE: So it works.
00:09:57.846 –> 00:10:04.686
NATALIE: Where it doesn’t work is if there’s an executive leader in New York and we hire an assistant in, say, Sydney.
00:10:04.706 –> 00:10:06.606
NATALIE: That overlap is very, very minimal.
00:10:07.566 –> 00:10:12.186
NATALIE: So we are a remote first company with certain requirements for time zone overlap.
00:10:13.506 –> 00:10:19.266
JEREMY: So what’s your, you know, you mentioned you had learned about remote work from that prior organization.
00:10:19.726 –> 00:10:20.326
NATALIE: Yes.
00:10:20.346 –> 00:10:28.026
JEREMY: What’s your top two tips that keep you focused and productive as you work from home?
00:10:28.286 –> 00:10:30.166
NATALIE: I am the most distracted person ever.
00:10:30.666 –> 00:10:31.666
NATALIE: So this is a great question.
00:10:31.686 –> 00:10:32.706
NATALIE: It’s something that I’ve had to learn.
00:10:33.626 –> 00:10:40.186
NATALIE: I remember in April of 2020, we’re all working from home and I’m sitting on the couch next to my then-fiance current husband.
00:10:40.486 –> 00:10:45.766
NATALIE: Long term, that would have never worked because it was too distracting to look over him and talk to him or hang out with him.
00:10:46.866 –> 00:10:48.186
NATALIE: So first set boundaries.
00:10:48.246 –> 00:10:52.446
NATALIE: Be very, very clear with not only yourself, but your stakeholders or your team, what you’re doing.
00:10:53.666 –> 00:10:58.486
NATALIE: Biggest, I think, tactical tip there is keeping your calendar blocks public where possible.
00:10:58.886 –> 00:11:02.946
NATALIE: There are certain times where I’ll need to go pick up my daughter from school or I have a doctor’s appointment.
00:11:03.626 –> 00:11:12.506
NATALIE: Most of my calendar is private, but certain things that are out of office or really family time that I’m proud of, that I’m happy to share, those are public so that the team knows what I’m doing.
00:11:14.066 –> 00:11:16.606
NATALIE: And the second one is just keeping track of all the things.
00:11:16.626 –> 00:11:17.966
NATALIE: Finding a system that works for you.
00:11:17.986 –> 00:11:19.906
NATALIE: I will always bias towards Trello.
00:11:19.926 –> 00:11:21.846
NATALIE: Again, I learned how to be an assistant on Trello.
00:11:21.866 –> 00:11:22.846
NATALIE: It’s an Atlassian product.
00:11:23.806 –> 00:11:32.546
NATALIE: But finding a task management system that works for you so that you’re not distracted by the team’s messages or the Slack messages or all of the emails that are coming through.
00:11:32.566 –> 00:11:34.526
NATALIE: Find something that works for you and stick to it.
00:11:34.866 –> 00:11:40.586
NATALIE: That way, you know kind of what the expectations are for not only yourself or your stakeholders, but for your time throughout the day as well.
00:11:42.626 –> 00:11:43.406
JEREMY: Yeah, that’s great.
00:11:43.446 –> 00:11:48.946
JEREMY: What about like, do you have like an interesting or a funny or an embarrassing work from home story?
00:11:51.366 –> 00:11:57.486
NATALIE: Oh, gosh, people are always surprised how tall I am.
00:11:57.486 –> 00:11:59.506
NATALIE: And by tall, I mean, not at all.
00:12:00.446 –> 00:12:05.206
NATALIE: Jeremy, even with me in person, you know, I am five foot tall on a really, really, really good day.
00:12:06.386 –> 00:12:10.106
NATALIE: And so that’s always kind of the interesting thing in meeting people in person.
00:12:10.126 –> 00:12:12.306
NATALIE: The executive partner that I have, she’s 5’10.
00:12:13.186 –> 00:12:14.766
NATALIE: So we are not anywhere close in height.
00:12:14.786 –> 00:12:16.846
NATALIE: People always love to like see us in person together.
00:12:17.826 –> 00:12:24.186
NATALIE: I didn’t meet any of my coworkers in person until over a year after I started with Atlassian, about a year and a half.
00:12:25.106 –> 00:12:29.706
NATALIE: And so that was kind of the most shocking thing for people is like, oh my gosh, Nat, you have such a big personality.
00:12:30.426 –> 00:12:32.866
NATALIE: They find out that I’m not a big human.
00:12:32.866 –> 00:12:34.826
NATALIE: I am five foot tall again on a very good day.
00:12:34.826 –> 00:12:36.246
NATALIE: And I’m also very, very shy.
00:12:37.526 –> 00:12:39.326
JEREMY: That’s awesome.
00:12:39.466 –> 00:12:48.706
JEREMY: Well, I think I think it was you that I saw glimpses of on LinkedIn about the Atlassian onboarding process.
00:12:48.906 –> 00:12:51.286
JEREMY: And it’s obviously remote first.
00:12:51.306 –> 00:12:54.826
JEREMY: So there’s challenges to onboarding somebody remotely.
00:12:55.946 –> 00:13:02.266
JEREMY: What’s one thing that they’ve done really well in onboarding remote team members?
00:13:02.846 –> 00:13:03.246
NATALIE: Yeah.
00:13:03.566 –> 00:13:05.186
NATALIE: So I’ve been with Atlassian for over three years.
00:13:05.206 –> 00:13:10.026
NATALIE: And this statement remains true is that Atlassian really lives and dies by our values.
00:13:10.046 –> 00:13:10.866
NATALIE: We have five values.
00:13:10.886 –> 00:13:12.086
NATALIE: They’re very, very public.
00:13:13.346 –> 00:13:17.106
NATALIE: And they are not five values that kind of exist on a poster board somewhere in a corner.
00:13:17.406 –> 00:13:19.106
NATALIE: They are often referenced.
00:13:19.126 –> 00:13:19.886
NATALIE: You can feel them.
00:13:19.906 –> 00:13:21.266
NATALIE: We have Slack emojis for them.
00:13:22.086 –> 00:13:23.706
NATALIE: They’re part of performance processes.
00:13:24.286 –> 00:13:27.946
NATALIE: We really continually go back to the kind of this cornerstone of who we are.
00:13:28.906 –> 00:13:30.606
NATALIE: It’s very apparent throughout onboarding.
00:13:30.626 –> 00:13:37.046
NATALIE: You kind of learn what the values are and how they might show up for you or how we expect our leaders to act from these values.
00:13:37.986 –> 00:13:48.186
NATALIE: And again, even three years later, going through all the changes, the Atlassian values continue to kind of be the who we are and how we do things, not only internally but externally as well.
00:13:49.406 –> 00:13:55.066
JEREMY: So what’s like a practical thing if somebody’s listening and they’re saying, hey, we’re hiring a remote team member.
00:13:55.486 –> 00:14:00.406
JEREMY: What’s something tangible and practical that we can do during that process?
00:14:00.926 –> 00:14:04.426
NATALIE: Yes, have an introduction meeting for the sake of meeting.
00:14:04.586 –> 00:14:08.946
NATALIE: And I know that will make assistants everywhere cringe because we hate meetings for the sake of having meetings.
00:14:09.846 –> 00:14:17.766
NATALIE: But one thing that I learned very quickly is that you have to be really, really patient with your relationship building and kind of your networking building when you’re starting a remote role.
00:14:18.426 –> 00:14:20.446
NATALIE: I am not naturally a very patient person.
00:14:20.466 –> 00:14:22.426
NATALIE: It’s something that anybody will tell you.
00:14:22.446 –> 00:14:23.886
NATALIE: My mom especially will tell you this.
00:14:24.206 –> 00:14:26.606
NATALIE: Patience is a virtue that Natalie has almost none of.
00:14:27.106 –> 00:14:33.146
NATALIE: And so it was a conscious decision for me to sit through introductory meetings and say, this is who I am.
00:14:33.166 –> 00:14:34.026
NATALIE: This is where I’m from.
00:14:34.046 –> 00:14:35.046
NATALIE: This is what’s important to me.
00:14:35.666 –> 00:14:38.466
NATALIE: It kind of starts to create that, again, that psychological safety.
00:14:38.486 –> 00:14:46.166
NATALIE: It talks about building those relationships and it gives people the opportunity to get to know you as a human being before we dive right into the heavy stuff or the big stuff.
00:14:46.586 –> 00:14:51.886
NATALIE: So tactical advice, take the time, make a formal agenda to not have a formal agenda.
00:14:53.026 –> 00:14:54.726
NATALIE: Get to know your people, get to know your network.
00:14:55.346 –> 00:15:07.486
NATALIE: And it creates a lot of empathy in the workplace, again, especially in a remote environment where we don’t have the opportunity to run into each other, the water cooler or read each other’s body language in a hallway to say, Natalie might be having a bad day, maybe she needs some support.
00:15:09.166 –> 00:15:19.646
JEREMY: What’s a good like icebreaker question or I know you said no agenda, but for those meetings, what’s your go to icebreaker?
00:15:20.226 –> 00:15:23.506
NATALIE: Yes, my favorite photo of life is my favorite icebreaker.
00:15:24.306 –> 00:15:30.266
NATALIE: I throw this out in leadership team meetings and we call it photo panic where you see everybody kind of grab their phone and they’re like, Oh gosh, what’s my favorite photo of life?
00:15:30.666 –> 00:15:32.486
NATALIE: So it can be something recent, it can be something old.
00:15:33.346 –> 00:15:37.106
NATALIE: My phone wallpaper is another one where I’ll ask Jeremy, what’s your phone wallpaper?
00:15:37.246 –> 00:15:38.346
NATALIE: What’s your computer wallpaper?
00:15:38.806 –> 00:15:43.246
NATALIE: I think those ones, especially you find out very quickly what is most important to people.
00:15:44.066 –> 00:15:47.226
NATALIE: For me, my phone wallpaper is a picture of my grandparents from 1950.
00:15:48.266 –> 00:15:51.606
NATALIE: And so people know very quickly that those are important people to me.
00:15:51.946 –> 00:15:52.446
JEREMY: Nice.
00:15:53.486 –> 00:15:53.886
JEREMY: Love it.
00:15:53.906 –> 00:16:04.526
JEREMY: Well, my phone wallpaper right now is a picture of my wife with a, I’m going to show you, even though the listeners can’t see it, my wife with a goat on her back.
00:16:05.126 –> 00:16:05.466
NATALIE: See?
00:16:08.246 –> 00:16:08.966
NATALIE: And she’s cool.
00:16:08.986 –> 00:16:09.886
NATALIE: She’s got a goat on her back.
00:16:10.106 –> 00:16:10.466
JEREMY: Right.
00:16:10.486 –> 00:16:11.446
JEREMY: Right.
00:16:11.466 –> 00:16:13.846
JEREMY: So either her or the goat is important to me, right?
00:16:13.866 –> 00:16:14.766
JEREMY: It’s like, which one?
00:16:14.786 –> 00:16:14.986
JEREMY: No.
00:16:15.546 –> 00:16:17.526
NATALIE: And it means Jeremy’s mysterious, right?
00:16:17.546 –> 00:16:17.866
JEREMY: Right.
00:16:20.146 –> 00:16:20.546
JEREMY: Awesome.
00:16:20.566 –> 00:16:35.286
JEREMY: Well, let’s talk a little bit about your last three years at Atlassian because I’m assuming you did not start off with the Senior Executive Assistant and EA Manager titles.
00:16:35.666 –> 00:16:36.126
NATALIE: Yes.
00:16:36.426 –> 00:16:38.426
JEREMY: So how did that progress?
00:16:39.046 –> 00:16:39.446
JEREMY: Yeah.
00:16:39.466 –> 00:16:46.006
NATALIE: So when I started Atlassian, I was supporting our former Vice President of HR, who actually reported to my executive leader now.
00:16:47.126 –> 00:16:53.866
NATALIE: My current leader’s former assistant was going out on leave and she said, hey, I think you’d be really good at this.
00:16:54.286 –> 00:16:58.586
NATALIE: So let’s do kind of an interim support role with yourself and Erica, who’s my current leader.
00:16:58.606 –> 00:17:00.326
NATALIE: So supporting Erica for a month.
00:17:01.566 –> 00:17:03.346
NATALIE: I like to tell people it was love at first sight.
00:17:03.366 –> 00:17:04.686
NATALIE: That’s definitely a one-sided story.
00:17:04.706 –> 00:17:06.626
NATALIE: You can ask Erica a different time how she felt about it.
00:17:07.366 –> 00:17:12.406
NATALIE: But for me, it was really an opportunity to kind of find the person that believed in me, that cared about me.
00:17:13.066 –> 00:17:17.326
NATALIE: One of our very early conversations was about my growth and my career goals, how she could support me in those.
00:17:18.066 –> 00:17:20.246
NATALIE: So for me, again, it was like love at first sight.
00:17:21.406 –> 00:17:24.466
NATALIE: My team member came back from leave and decided she didn’t want to do the role anymore.
00:17:24.986 –> 00:17:28.146
NATALIE: So we interviewed and by interviewed, I had to interview with Erica.
00:17:28.786 –> 00:17:30.306
NATALIE: She interviewed a couple of other people as well.
00:17:30.326 –> 00:17:31.986
NATALIE: So I was promoted to the role.
00:17:32.966 –> 00:17:35.986
NATALIE: We, at the time, were not a centralized function at Atlassian.
00:17:36.726 –> 00:17:44.806
NATALIE: So it was, I reported directly to Erica, all the assistants reported to either a single leader or to their principal leader, if they were in kind of a one to two or one to three ratio.
00:17:46.326 –> 00:18:01.046
NATALIE: Back in, gosh, October of 2021, so a little bit over a year now, the leadership operations team, so all of our executive assistants and our administrative assistants centralized into one function.
00:18:01.586 –> 00:18:02.606
NATALIE: So we are one team.
00:18:02.626 –> 00:18:04.966
NATALIE: We roll up through program management and our CTO org.
00:18:04.986 –> 00:18:06.206
NATALIE: We report to a single person.
00:18:06.226 –> 00:18:11.226
NATALIE: So that’s where the manager role came into play, where I now manage other craft focus assistants.
00:18:11.806 –> 00:18:12.926
NATALIE: I have a team of 10.
00:18:14.386 –> 00:18:15.106
NATALIE: They’re incredible.
00:18:15.126 –> 00:18:23.206
NATALIE: We do a lines of business structure where like I work with all of our GNA teams, so people, legal, finance, real estate team anywhere.
00:18:23.866 –> 00:18:27.006
NATALIE: It makes the most sense because that is Erika’s org itself.
00:18:27.806 –> 00:18:29.526
NATALIE: So we have like our go to market org.
00:18:29.546 –> 00:18:30.746
NATALIE: We have our engineering org.
00:18:30.766 –> 00:18:32.906
NATALIE: We have our markets, our markets org.
00:18:33.406 –> 00:18:35.146
NATALIE: And that’s how our reporting lines are structured.
00:18:35.166 –> 00:18:37.566
NATALIE: So it was not something I walked right into.
00:18:37.586 –> 00:18:40.026
NATALIE: It was not something I ever actually thought of myself doing.
00:18:40.786 –> 00:18:44.786
NATALIE: I would have told you even today, I’ll tell you like I’m a terrible manager.
00:18:44.806 –> 00:18:46.886
NATALIE: Hopefully my team is different.
00:18:47.226 –> 00:18:51.186
NATALIE: But it was not something that I kind of had on my on my career checklist, if you will.
00:18:53.386 –> 00:19:07.726
JEREMY: What’s the biggest shift or mindset shift even for wearing the manager hat versus before when you didn’t necessarily wear the manager hat?
00:19:08.486 –> 00:19:13.306
NATALIE: Yeah, I think the mindset shift wasn’t so big for me.
00:19:13.326 –> 00:19:19.586
NATALIE: I’ve always been a huge advocate of like mentoring, coaching, growth opportunities, especially for craft focus assistance.
00:19:20.946 –> 00:19:23.326
NATALIE: That’s kind of always been my schtick, if you will.
00:19:24.106 –> 00:19:29.326
NATALIE: But I think the biggest mindset shift for me was becoming a people leader.
00:19:29.406 –> 00:19:31.906
NATALIE: Again, it was not something that I really saw myself doing.
00:19:32.346 –> 00:19:35.126
NATALIE: There’s a whole bunch of other formal things that come into play.
00:19:35.326 –> 00:19:38.886
NATALIE: So it’s not necessarily only mentoring, but it’s actually performance coaching.
00:19:39.306 –> 00:19:42.826
NATALIE: It’s not only partnership building and relationship building with leaders.
00:19:43.186 –> 00:19:45.506
NATALIE: Now it’s resource allocation and partnership management.
00:19:46.566 –> 00:20:04.686
NATALIE: So all of the things that I really enjoyed doing, mentorship again, getting to know leaders, kind of sharing best practices with teams, now becomes like actually part of my job where I am expected to set goals with my team members or do coaching with my team members or do performance management or do escalations.
00:20:04.706 –> 00:20:09.526
NATALIE: All of those things are not only kind of an optional thing, but they are a requirement of my role.
00:20:12.926 –> 00:20:38.626
JEREMY: Well, I think it’s awesome just to hear all about what’s happened since that walk we had in Denver with those small group of assistants and just super excited for you and happy for the journey that you’ve gone through and where you’re at now and just crushing it at Atlassian, as I say that fast 10 times.
00:20:40.466 –> 00:20:59.226
JEREMY: What’s maybe one thing you would want to say to the assistants of the world just in general to maybe like your football fan, your Super Bowl ad, what’s your Super Bowl ad saying if you’re trying to buy a Super Bowl ad for 15-20 seconds to the assistants of the world?
00:20:59.806 –> 00:21:03.426
NATALIE: Yes, if you’re going to ask for a seat at the table, show up for dinner and bring a side.
00:21:04.266 –> 00:21:11.606
NATALIE: What I mean by that is if you’re going to ask your leader or your leadership team for a seat at the table or an opportunity, take it and bring your best.
00:21:12.206 –> 00:21:15.346
NATALIE: You wouldn’t show up to dinner either no call, no show or without a side.
00:21:15.826 –> 00:21:23.066
NATALIE: I’d encourage all leader assistants everywhere that if you’re given a seat at the table, show up for dinner and bring your best.
00:21:23.086 –> 00:21:24.106
NATALIE: We know you have value.
00:21:24.126 –> 00:21:25.386
NATALIE: We know that you have worth.
00:21:25.406 –> 00:21:26.506
NATALIE: It’s not even about proving it.
00:21:26.506 –> 00:21:27.266
NATALIE: It’s about showing it.
00:21:27.346 –> 00:21:28.886
NATALIE: Show up and bring a side.
00:21:30.486 –> 00:21:31.126
JEREMY: Love it.
00:21:31.146 –> 00:21:34.366
JEREMY: What’s the side that you would bring if you’re going to a literal dinner?
00:21:34.386 –> 00:21:36.226
NATALIE: This is such a good question.
00:21:36.246 –> 00:21:37.246
NATALIE: I’m a horrific cook.
00:21:37.286 –> 00:21:38.846
NATALIE: I’m not a good cook.
00:21:39.046 –> 00:21:40.066
NATALIE: It’s something easy.
00:21:40.086 –> 00:21:47.366
NATALIE: I think just the season, November, Thanksgiving here in the US, I love green bean casserole so much.
00:21:48.166 –> 00:21:49.286
NATALIE: That’s my go-to.
00:21:49.686 –> 00:21:50.046
JEREMY: Nice.
00:21:51.006 –> 00:21:51.426
JEREMY: Love it.
00:21:51.446 –> 00:21:55.866
JEREMY: Well, thank you so much, Nat, for taking time to share your story.
00:21:55.926 –> 00:21:58.086
JEREMY: Is there a good place that people can reach out and say hi?
00:21:58.746 –> 00:22:00.266
NATALIE: Yes, please reach out to me on LinkedIn.
00:22:00.286 –> 00:22:05.446
NATALIE: You can find me at Natalie Lee and Jeremy will have my LinkedIn link in the show notes as well.
00:22:06.426 –> 00:22:06.766
JEREMY: Awesome.
00:22:06.786 –> 00:22:07.506
JEREMY: Yes, I will.
00:22:07.626 –> 00:22:14.626
JEREMY: And leaderassistant.com/245 to check out that link and reach out and say hi to Natalie.
00:22:14.646 –> 00:22:16.446
JEREMY: So thanks again for being on the show.
00:22:16.466 –> 00:22:17.166
JEREMY: Best of luck to you.
00:22:17.186 –> 00:22:20.826
JEREMY: And hopefully we get to hang out in the Colorado area again soon.
00:22:21.486 –> 00:22:21.866
NATALIE: Awesome.
00:22:21.886 –> 00:22:22.346
NATALIE: Thanks, Jeremy.
00:22:33.317 –> 00:22:35.817
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