Wesley Tran is an executive assistant, executive coach, and a longtime subscriber of The Leader Assistant Premium Membership.
In this episode of The Leader Assistant Podcast, Wesley talks about his young career as an assistant, how coaching and community guides him in his role, being a male in a female dominated role, and more.
LEADERSHIP QUOTE
The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do.
– Kobe Bryant
CONNECT WITH WESLEY
ABOUT WESLEY
Wesley Tran is an Executive Assistant and Executive Coach. His personal mission is to empower others. In his free time, you can find him bouldering, social dancing, and serving at his church.
–––
THE LEADER ASSISTANT PODCAST IS PRESENTED BY NOVA CHIEF OF STAFF
Calling all Executive Assistants: Are you looking for a way to elevate your skills or earn that promotion you’ve been eyeing? Nova Chief of Staff’s online certification course provides you with the knowledge and confidence you need to stand out on the job. Whether you want to land your dream position or level up in your current role, Nova’s self-paced course gives you hands-on practice doing what Chiefs of Staff do every day.
Visit leaderassistant.com/nova to learn more and secure your spot!
–––
THE LEADER ASSISTANT PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP
To learn more about how you can join growth-minded Leader Assistants, check out our Leader Assistant Premium Membership for ongoing training, coaching, and community.
THE LEADER ASSISTANT BOOK
Download the first 3 chapters of The Leader Assistant: Four Pillars of Game-Changing Assistant for FREE here or buy it on Amazon and listen to the audiobook on Audible. Also, check out the companion study guide, The Leader Assistant Workbook, to dig deeper.
LEADER ASSISTANT LIVE EVENTS
Check out our constantly updated schedule of events for admins and assistants at LeaderAssistantLive.com.
JOIN THE FREE COMMUNITY
Join the Leader Assistant Global Community for bonus content, job opportunities, and to network with other assistants who are committed to becoming leaders!
SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe to The Leader Assistant Podcast so you don’t miss new episodes!
You can find the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Pandora, and Stitcher.
Join my email list here if you want to get an email when a new episode goes live.
LEAVE A REVIEW
If you’re enjoying the podcast, please take 2 minutes to rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts here. Each review helps me stay motivated to keep the show going!
–––
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
00:00:00.000 –> 00:00:04.420
WESLEY: Hey everyone, I’m Wesley Tran, and today’s leadership quote comes from Kobe Bryant.
00:00:05.100 –> 00:00:10.640
WESLEY: The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they do.
00:00:10.660 –> 00:00:10.720
<v SPEAKER_2>Thank you.
00:00:17.070 –> 00:00:24.530
<v SPEAKER_3>The Leader Assistant Podcast exists to encourage and challenge assistants to become confident, game-changing leader assistants.
00:00:32.707 –> 00:00:39.667
JEREMY: Calling all Executive Assistants, are you looking for a way to elevate your skills or earn that promotion you’ve been eyeing?
00:00:40.547 –> 00:00:48.207
JEREMY: Nova Chief of Staff’s Online Certification Course provides you with the knowledge and confidence you need to stand out on the job.
00:00:48.887 –> 00:01:02.667
JEREMY: Whether you want to land your dream position or level up in your current role, Nova’s self-paced course gives you hands-on practice doing what Chiefs of Staff do every day.
00:01:03.367 –> 00:01:09.547
JEREMY: Visit leaderassistant.com/nova to learn more and secure your spot.
00:01:10.147 –> 00:01:14.687
JEREMY: That’s leaderassistant.com/nova.
00:01:15.267 –> 00:01:17.947
JEREMY: Hey friends, welcome to The Leader Assistant Podcast.
00:01:17.967 –> 00:01:22.227
JEREMY: It’s your host Jeremy Burrows here and it’s episode 265.
00:01:22.907 –> 00:01:35.987
JEREMY: I’m really excited to have you listening right now and you can check out the show notes for this episode at leaderassistant.com/265 and today I’m speaking with my friend Wesley Tran.
00:01:36.007 –> 00:02:32.127
JEREMY: Wesley is an executive assistant, executive coach and longtime subscriber of The Leader Assistant Premium Membership and for those of you listening who don’t know what The Leader Assistant membership is, we do regular ongoing coaching session, group sessions with executive assistants from all over the world and we do different topics, cover different topics and have discussions and support each other and then we record those training sessions and put them in our members only library and then we also have a private group chat for reaching out and supporting each other and then we also provide discounts on one-on-one coaching, discounts on live events and then you get access to our online events like our Administrative Professionals Day event that we have every year and we do an AI event online.
00:02:32.487 –> 00:02:53.387
JEREMY: So lots of fun, fun benefits to the Leader Assistant membership and so you can check that out at leaderassistant.com/membership, leaderassistant.com/membership to check out the annual subscription for that if you’re curious but Wesley will tell us a little bit more about that as we get into his story.
00:02:53.887 –> 00:02:59.707
JEREMY: But first of all, Wesley, thank you so much for joining and tell us where you are at in the world.
00:02:59.727 –> 00:03:06.827
WESLEY: Hey everyone, happy to be here on this podcast and I am talking from San Jose, California.
00:03:08.067 –> 00:03:08.827
JEREMY: Love it, love it.
00:03:09.347 –> 00:03:11.707
JEREMY: And are you from that area?
00:03:11.727 –> 00:03:13.347
JEREMY: Where are you from?
00:03:14.927 –> 00:03:20.047
WESLEY: So I was born and raised in San Jose, spent the first 18 years of my life there.
00:03:20.067 –> 00:03:33.447
WESLEY: And then I went to college called Point Loma Nazarene University down in San Diego, lived there for about five years and then moved back to the Bay Area and I’m currently based here since then.
00:03:34.427 –> 00:03:34.807
JEREMY: Sweet.
00:03:35.727 –> 00:03:42.827
JEREMY: And let’s just jump right into, well actually before we get into your professional career, what do you like to do in your free time?
00:03:44.047 –> 00:03:46.987
WESLEY: Yeah, so I like to say I pick up a lot of hobbies.
00:03:47.567 –> 00:03:56.667
WESLEY: And so something I picked up last year has been social dancing of picket learning, west coast swing, salsa, and bachata.
00:03:57.687 –> 00:03:59.067
WESLEY: But I have so many.
00:03:59.087 –> 00:04:06.707
WESLEY: I do yoga, boulder, surfing, basketball, a lot of athletic activities.
00:04:07.467 –> 00:04:10.427
WESLEY: And it’s just a way for me to socialize with people.
00:04:10.447 –> 00:04:12.567
WESLEY: I’m quite a social athlete in that way.
00:04:13.787 –> 00:04:14.507
JEREMY: Nice, nice.
00:04:15.247 –> 00:04:19.507
JEREMY: And on the dancing side, was that a social thing?
00:04:19.627 –> 00:04:22.307
JEREMY: Or do you enjoy dancing?
00:04:22.327 –> 00:04:27.007
JEREMY: Did you have to kind of push yourself outside of your comfort zone to get into the dancing part?
00:04:28.147 –> 00:04:28.607
WESLEY: Yeah.
00:04:28.627 –> 00:04:35.007
WESLEY: So I was invited by a friend initially, and I just was not confident in what I was doing.
00:04:35.787 –> 00:04:38.527
WESLEY: I was like, man, I just don’t know the steps.
00:04:39.447 –> 00:04:52.747
WESLEY: But it just wasn’t until after attending my first class, I really became comfortable of failing, of just everyone here is at the same place I am, and we’re all learning together.
00:04:52.767 –> 00:05:01.107
WESLEY: And that’s what just really made it fun for me is I can be myself and mess around and still have fun.
00:05:01.687 –> 00:05:03.267
WESLEY: But I’m learning something.
00:05:03.407 –> 00:05:09.107
WESLEY: I’m learning how to lead a follower and just be comfortable with dancing.
00:05:10.007 –> 00:05:18.647
WESLEY: And I just stuck it out and pushing myself even though I can’t identify as a dancer, just because I’m doing so many different things.
00:05:19.567 –> 00:05:22.347
WESLEY: But that’s something I’ve picked up recently.
00:05:22.367 –> 00:05:23.407
JEREMY: Nice.
00:05:24.707 –> 00:05:31.427
JEREMY: And I think that as assistants listening, we are often curious and like to learn.
00:05:31.447 –> 00:05:46.567
JEREMY: And there’s even the term generalist that can often be synonymous with assistants because we maybe aren’t specialists in many areas, but we can do a lot of things.
00:05:47.467 –> 00:05:49.887
JEREMY: And because we have to figure it out as we go.
00:05:49.927 –> 00:05:51.147
JEREMY: So that’s that’s cool.
00:05:51.187 –> 00:05:53.687
JEREMY: A little backstory there for your from your personal life.
00:05:54.007 –> 00:05:59.507
JEREMY: So then tell us, how did you end up becoming an assistant?
00:06:03.147 –> 00:06:08.367
WESLEY: So it started from my college journey of I didn’t really know what I wanted to do.
00:06:08.387 –> 00:06:13.827
WESLEY: I entered college as a managerial and organizational communication major.
00:06:14.847 –> 00:06:16.827
WESLEY: And that major just sounded super cool to me.
00:06:16.847 –> 00:06:22.787
WESLEY: I was thinking communication because it was just broad enough to go anywhere I want to go.
00:06:23.987 –> 00:06:33.807
WESLEY: And I kind of fell into that generous generalist role of I’m pretty good in a lot of areas, yet I don’t specialize in any things.
00:06:34.707 –> 00:06:45.107
WESLEY: And so even just through the classes I took, there were just so many different classes of communication, business, and the liberal arts university too.
00:06:45.127 –> 00:06:47.347
WESLEY: So so many different courses on top of that.
00:06:48.787 –> 00:06:54.087
WESLEY: And I was just bombarded with decision fatigue of not knowing what I wanted to do.
00:06:54.927 –> 00:07:00.667
WESLEY: And so by the time I graduated, I was just trying to get a job to stay in San Diego.
00:07:01.247 –> 00:07:24.427
WESLEY: So I bounced around a lot of different jobs of entering a roofing company to during a summer in San Diego, going on top of roofs and fixing them of working sales for this one small business owner, worked at a nonprofit in San Diego called the San Diego Rescue Mission, where I helped people experiencing homelessness get back on their feet again.
00:07:25.387 –> 00:07:27.287
WESLEY: But then the pandemic hit.
00:07:28.127 –> 00:07:30.527
WESLEY: And I wanted to be closer with my family.
00:07:31.487 –> 00:07:36.847
WESLEY: And I moved from San Diego to San Jose to just simply be with my family.
00:07:37.667 –> 00:07:42.007
WESLEY: My parents were hitting the age of retirement, and I’m the oldest of four children.
00:07:42.747 –> 00:07:57.727
WESLEY: So I wanted to be there for my younger siblings when they became adults, especially because I had such life experience in me now to be able to guide them and teach them all the mistakes and what I’ve done well.
00:07:59.227 –> 00:08:03.787
WESLEY: So I quit my job and sent San Diego Rescue Mission, moved back to the Bay Area.
00:08:04.107 –> 00:08:05.107
WESLEY: I had to look for a job.
00:08:06.647 –> 00:08:09.907
WESLEY: And for the first few months, I was struggling.
00:08:10.067 –> 00:08:10.707
WESLEY: It was hard.
00:08:10.887 –> 00:08:21.967
WESLEY: I didn’t know what to do because I’ve worked so many different jobs in the past that I hired a resume writer to really compile everything I had together.
00:08:23.527 –> 00:08:27.307
WESLEY: So I picked an administrative assistant position.
00:08:28.167 –> 00:08:31.247
WESLEY: I chose it because it seemed broad and general enough for me.
00:08:31.907 –> 00:08:37.887
WESLEY: And I felt like if I can get my foot in the door of a company, I can work my way up and succeed from there.
00:08:38.767 –> 00:08:46.927
WESLEY: And so this resume writer tailored my resume just the best way to describe myself towards an administrative assistant position.
00:08:48.287 –> 00:08:55.967
WESLEY: And I applied through LinkedIn and got a role at my current workplace, which is Nova Measuring Instruments.
00:08:56.867 –> 00:09:05.447
WESLEY: And so Nova Measuring Instruments is a leading provider for advanced process control for semiconductor companies.
00:09:06.527 –> 00:09:07.627
WESLEY: So that’s a lot.
00:09:07.967 –> 00:09:10.167
WESLEY: We supply wafer fab equipment.
00:09:10.527 –> 00:09:16.487
WESLEY: So that’s how I got my position as an administrative assistant at Nova.
00:09:17.187 –> 00:09:23.107
WESLEY: So when I was first hired, I was thinking to myself, man, what is an assistant?
00:09:23.127 –> 00:09:23.727
WESLEY: What do I do?
00:09:23.747 –> 00:09:28.827
WESLEY: Like it was a receptionist position, but I wanted to be more than that.
00:09:29.547 –> 00:09:32.327
WESLEY: So I went to Amazon to look for assistant books.
00:09:33.067 –> 00:09:36.227
WESLEY: And one of the top search results was the Leader Assistant.
00:09:37.087 –> 00:09:37.947
WESLEY: So I purchased it.
00:09:39.727 –> 00:09:53.027
WESLEY: And the Leader Assistant book for me was such a great guide as someone stepping into that world for the first time of here is a framework of how to really be a proactive assistant.
00:09:53.947 –> 00:10:04.887
WESLEY: And within that book to Jeremy laid out really great examples of what a not leader assistant looked like compared to what a leader assistant can be like.
00:10:05.807 –> 00:10:16.427
WESLEY: And so that was really empowering to see that I can be proactive, I can solve problems before they arise, and just really be a leader.
00:10:16.947 –> 00:10:20.627
WESLEY: Because sometimes the word assistant means you’re under someone.
00:10:21.467 –> 00:10:25.947
WESLEY: But I really think that’s kind of where my purpose comes in.
00:10:26.267 –> 00:10:31.367
WESLEY: And it took me a while to figure out, but I’m really here placed on this earth to empower people.
00:10:32.047 –> 00:10:34.907
WESLEY: And that’s where I felt like this role thrived.
00:10:35.927 –> 00:10:51.767
WESLEY: So that was a long explanation of how I finally reached, put my foot through that door, started way back in college, of just not knowing what I wanted to do, and coming into an administrative assistant role.
00:10:52.627 –> 00:10:53.007
JEREMY: Nice.
00:10:53.527 –> 00:10:53.967
JEREMY: Awesome.
00:10:54.547 –> 00:10:59.347
JEREMY: So we, yeah, so you found my book, we connected.
00:10:59.367 –> 00:11:26.187
JEREMY: Trying to remember, you know, I know you went to one or two of my events in the area in San Jose, San Francisco area, became a premium subscriber, you know, a few years ago, and we started doing some one-on-one coaching, you know, honestly, I can’t remember when we started.
00:11:28.427 –> 00:11:43.687
JEREMY: But, you know, you reached out wanting, I guess one of the things I want to say is, Wesley, like to everyone listening, there’s a certain skill set that isn’t very common these days, it seems.
00:11:44.407 –> 00:11:52.507
JEREMY: But it’s this idea that there’s always something that I can learn.
00:11:53.447 –> 00:12:12.147
JEREMY: You know, there’s always, there’s always something that I can take away from a situation or from an experience or from another person that can help me be a better a better assistant, be a better person, be a better employee, be a better friend, etc.
00:12:12.607 –> 00:12:17.667
JEREMY: And so you’ve always kind of had that, that learning mindset.
00:12:17.747 –> 00:12:31.747
JEREMY: And so that’s one of the things that I’ve enjoyed in coaching you is that you’re like, I want to learn, I want to do, I want to, I want to do this, I want to learn this, what else should I learn, you know, and just kind of a sponge.
00:12:32.427 –> 00:12:45.567
JEREMY: And so tell us a little bit about, you know, what prompted you to jump into, okay, I’m going to join our Leader Assistant Premium Membership community.
00:12:45.587 –> 00:12:47.207
JEREMY: I’m going to go to these events.
00:12:48.707 –> 00:13:11.147
JEREMY: You know, you obviously you mentioned reading the book and finding the book and, you know, I want to I want to get involved in some coaching, one-on-one coaching, like what has been your mindset, you know, from the beginning and then also as you’ve gotten into more and more experience, you have more coaching experience now.
00:13:12.227 –> 00:13:16.187
JEREMY: What is your continued mindset, if that makes sense as well?
00:13:16.267 –> 00:13:24.067
JEREMY: So kind of what started you, what kickstarted the whole thing and then what keeps you curious and keeps you hungry for more?
00:13:26.267 –> 00:13:31.707
WESLEY: And so I think that all traces back to just my student mentality.
00:13:31.727 –> 00:13:40.507
WESLEY: And I still think it’s just coming off of college, of the world is my oyster and I have so much to learn.
00:13:41.667 –> 00:13:50.967
WESLEY: And if you’ve ever taken the Strengths Finders test, one of my top strengths is input, which really is just data collection.
00:13:50.987 –> 00:13:52.367
WESLEY: I love learning.
00:13:53.367 –> 00:14:00.307
WESLEY: And I’ve learned how I learned to, which helps me become a great generalist of picking up new things.
00:14:01.887 –> 00:14:07.507
WESLEY: And that student mentality has really just kept my hunger alive.
00:14:08.007 –> 00:14:17.107
WESLEY: That hunger to learn and know has always been there, which comes from a combination of just one, I hate making mistakes.
00:14:18.127 –> 00:14:22.267
WESLEY: And two, I really love the feeling of doing a good job.
00:14:23.487 –> 00:14:31.727
WESLEY: And so when I first entered my role as an administrative assistant, I wasn’t really too sure if this role was right for me.
00:14:31.747 –> 00:14:36.847
WESLEY: Or, well, it was just stepping into a brand new role for the first time.
00:14:37.807 –> 00:14:45.707
WESLEY: And so just being a student of wanting to absorb everything came from the fact that I was already there in the door.
00:14:46.267 –> 00:14:48.687
WESLEY: So I had to do my absolute best job.
00:14:49.387 –> 00:14:50.767
WESLEY: So that was my mentality.
00:14:50.787 –> 00:15:00.907
WESLEY: I wanted to take in everything I could, which is why I picked up a book, why I attended live training sessions, and why I attended one-on-one coaching.
00:15:01.807 –> 00:15:15.987
WESLEY: And so I briefly mentioned about the book on how it just was a visual framework for me to be able to make sure that I was avoiding doing the bad things and doing the good things that a good leader assistant can do.
00:15:17.007 –> 00:15:22.667
WESLEY: The live trainings were very specialized, too, of one, just meeting other assistants.
00:15:22.987 –> 00:15:34.387
WESLEY: And I think that was very important for me, too, just as someone still brand new, just only knowing other students at the time, or young adults that worked in different industries.
00:15:35.087 –> 00:15:44.287
WESLEY: But actually, meeting someone in your profession was quite different of seeing their struggles, of seeing their successes and really learning off of them.
00:15:44.907 –> 00:15:46.247
WESLEY: So that was a game changer for me.
00:15:47.207 –> 00:15:52.007
WESLEY: And the specialized classes, too, or the trainings in of itself were awesome.
00:15:52.667 –> 00:16:05.787
WESLEY: I remember I went to one in Denver, Colorado with Monique Hellstrom, was talking about how to give feedback and receive feedback, which I think just as human beings, that’s very hard to do.
00:16:06.607 –> 00:16:21.147
WESLEY: And so for topics like that, it was amazing for me to absorb because it was all brand new information that I’ve never thought about that I get to use not only my professional life, but also my personal life.
00:16:22.547 –> 00:16:32.907
WESLEY: And then the one on one coaching was a huge game changer for me, too, of just really having a tailor made experience for whatever I was struggling with.
00:16:33.687 –> 00:16:43.487
WESLEY: Whenever I had a disagreement with my manager at that time, I can have a tailor fit answer for my specific situation for that.
00:16:44.067 –> 00:16:54.447
WESLEY: Or if there were projects that I were working on that Jeremy with his 15, 20 plus years of experience has knowledge to give me tips about.
00:16:55.287 –> 00:17:08.727
WESLEY: And so all of that just really helped me with my career and helped me propel from not just an administrative assistant, but to now where I am as an executive assistant within Nova.
00:17:09.227 –> 00:17:28.407
JEREMY: So I think one of the reasons that I wanted to have you on the show was, you know, there are a lot of assistants that are new in their career like you, you know, you’re so how many years now officially have you been in three years since I’ve been an assistant total two years as an administrative assistant and coming up on my three years in March.
00:17:29.087 –> 00:17:44.387
JEREMY: Yeah, I think I just think there are a lot of assistants listening who are new to the space and you know, in the same boat, you know, like, do I really want to do this for a career?
00:17:45.367 –> 00:17:47.347
JEREMY: If not, what do I want to do?
00:17:47.607 –> 00:17:50.487
JEREMY: And I think that it’s okay to not know.
00:17:50.507 –> 00:17:51.127
JEREMY: It’s okay.
00:17:51.147 –> 00:17:58.167
JEREMY: A lot of times people, you know, talk about, oh, you know, you get it’s a great career and you should be proud of it.
00:17:58.167 –> 00:18:04.487
JEREMY: And it’s this is a trajectory for assistance and all that.
00:18:04.967 –> 00:18:05.927
JEREMY: And that’s great, too.
00:18:05.927 –> 00:18:14.727
JEREMY: But not everyone is going to really want to be that for a career, essentially.
00:18:15.287 –> 00:18:31.067
JEREMY: And so I guess my point in all this long winded statement is if you’re listening and you’re new to the assistant role, or even if you’ve been an assistant for a while, but you’re still not sure if this is your path, that’s okay.
00:18:32.067 –> 00:18:47.827
JEREMY: Stay curious, keep trying out different things, learn more about different departments and divisions in your organization and your company, and really just test out the waters and do good work.
00:18:48.547 –> 00:19:00.187
JEREMY: Like Wesley, one thing I appreciate is you are, even if you’re not 100% sure that you’re like, hey, I want to be an assistant for a long, long time, you’re not skimping out.
00:19:00.207 –> 00:19:08.607
JEREMY: You’re working really hard and you’re doing excellent work and you’re learning and you’re growing and you’re just crushing it in your role.
00:19:09.387 –> 00:19:18.047
JEREMY: And so anyway, it’s okay to wonder, it’s okay to wrestle with, is this for me?
00:19:18.047 –> 00:19:18.907
JEREMY: Is this not for me?
00:19:20.487 –> 00:19:31.547
JEREMY: And, you know, maybe in a few years, Wesley, we’re hopping on the podcast again and you’re talking about how now you’re leading a team of assistants and you actually want to do this forever.
00:19:33.007 –> 00:19:42.087
JEREMY: You know, maybe you’re an executive coach and you’re not even an assistant anymore, you know, it’s okay to be in the process and trying to figure it out.
00:19:42.107 –> 00:19:51.987
JEREMY: And I like what you said earlier about how, you know, you’re coming out of college, you’re in this like learning mindset and always always be learning, you know.
00:19:53.727 –> 00:19:55.007
WESLEY: Yeah, thank you, Jeremy.
00:19:55.407 –> 00:20:08.967
WESLEY: And I think if I had to give advice to new assistants as well is still just having that student mentality of taking everything in all that you can, because you’re in a great spot.
00:20:09.807 –> 00:20:18.487
WESLEY: Even as an administrative assistant for me, I was learning from so many different departments, like the software team really wanted to bring me along and just learn from them.
00:20:18.887 –> 00:20:25.827
WESLEY: They reached out to me first, and I reached out to the project management team to learn more about project management.
00:20:26.527 –> 00:20:33.887
WESLEY: And so even if you’re confused, you’re in such a great place to be that sponge to learn from so many different departments.
00:20:35.007 –> 00:20:39.327
WESLEY: And now as an executive assistant, I really get that seat on the table.
00:20:40.087 –> 00:20:45.707
WESLEY: I get to learn from so many different departments and see the high level overview of everything that’s going on.
00:20:46.687 –> 00:20:53.927
WESLEY: And even though I’m not satisfied with where I want to go, I’m still content with where I am.
00:20:54.527 –> 00:20:55.327
WESLEY: I love what I do.
00:20:55.867 –> 00:20:59.907
WESLEY: I love the fact that I get to empower everyone in my organization.
00:21:00.967 –> 00:21:09.447
WESLEY: And I humbly say that when people come up to me, they always ask me a question, and I can give them a really great answer right off the bat.
00:21:10.827 –> 00:21:13.327
WESLEY: And so I love where I am.
00:21:13.987 –> 00:21:17.027
WESLEY: For a new assistant, you’re in such a great spot to learn.
00:21:17.927 –> 00:21:20.667
WESLEY: Doesn’t even have to be the administrative route.
00:21:21.427 –> 00:21:22.827
WESLEY: You can learn from anywhere.
00:21:22.927 –> 00:21:27.087
WESLEY: But if you want to stick with the administrative route, that’s also such a great option too.
00:21:27.107 –> 00:21:27.167
<v SPEAKER_2>Thank you.
00:21:32.320 –> 00:21:34.900
<v SPEAKER_2>Are you ready to elevate your career in 2024?
00:21:35.820 –> 00:21:43.500
<v SPEAKER_2>I’m Maggie Olson, founder of Nova Chief of Staff Certification, the first of its kind online course for aspiring and existing Chiefs of Staff.
00:21:44.140 –> 00:21:55.640
<v SPEAKER_2>With curriculum taken directly from on-the-job responsibilities, Nova’s self-paced learning modules provides you with hands-on experience so you can feel competent and confident moving into a Chief of Staff style role.
00:21:56.320 –> 00:21:58.600
<v SPEAKER_2>It’s the perfect next step for executive assistants.
00:21:59.300 –> 00:22:04.320
<v SPEAKER_2>Head to leaderassistant.com/nova to learn more, grab the syllabus and enroll today.
00:22:04.340 –> 00:22:09.320
JEREMY: Yeah, well said.
00:22:09.800 –> 00:22:21.080
JEREMY: What’s maybe one thing that you wish you would have done differently when you jumped into the assistant role?
00:22:21.140 –> 00:22:31.920
JEREMY: I know you’re a few years in, but what’s something that, you know what, if I could go back three years and start over, I would have done this differently?
00:22:32.540 –> 00:22:33.140
WESLEY: Humbly.
00:22:33.160 –> 00:22:36.800
WESLEY: I say I did a lot of things correctly.
00:22:36.820 –> 00:22:59.160
WESLEY: I was just so empowered by all the resources that I had of an actual book of how to do a good job, of a community of people like sharing their mistakes and their successes, and just one-on-one coaching, that I’m just reflecting back on my three years of being an assistant.
00:23:00.400 –> 00:23:01.440
WESLEY: I just killed it.
00:23:01.920 –> 00:23:07.540
WESLEY: And I say this with such confidence that I can’t think of any regret that I have.
00:23:08.360 –> 00:23:11.980
WESLEY: I know I’ve made some mistakes, but I don’t regret those mistakes.
00:23:12.300 –> 00:23:13.180
WESLEY: I’ve learned from them.
00:23:14.820 –> 00:23:22.260
WESLEY: And I just say this humbly that I felt so empowered and that I have no regrets.
00:23:22.660 –> 00:23:23.040
JEREMY: Yeah.
00:23:23.920 –> 00:23:39.440
JEREMY: Well, I think that, you know, that’s a good point in the sense of you weren’t going in blind because you were soaking up all these resources and you had a community to, you know, hold your hand, if you will, to guide you through it.
00:23:39.480 –> 00:23:40.340
JEREMY: And you had a coach.
00:23:40.440 –> 00:23:45.880
JEREMY: And, you know, it’s been a it’s been an honor being your coach for the last couple years.
00:23:46.500 –> 00:23:52.680
JEREMY: And it’s fun to see you grow and try things and explore what.
00:23:53.360 –> 00:24:02.040
JEREMY: OK, so I will have to I do have to ask this question because you’re a male assistant and I’m a male assistant.
00:24:02.400 –> 00:24:09.640
JEREMY: And most assistants in the world, I think 94 to 96 percent of assistants in the world are not male.
00:24:11.620 –> 00:24:15.080
JEREMY: There are women are primarily in this role.
00:24:15.440 –> 00:24:19.220
JEREMY: And so has there been any interesting interactions?
00:24:19.240 –> 00:24:22.260
JEREMY: There have been any odd dynamics?
00:24:22.300 –> 00:24:29.640
JEREMY: Is there been any like, you know, email exchanges, awkward email exchanges, anything like that that’s happened?
00:24:29.660 –> 00:24:46.960
JEREMY: What’s it been like even when you go, even when you were going to these trainings, like you’re going to these live events that we had hosted and the only guy there was me, you know, like what’s what’s been your experience being a male assistant in a female dominated role?
00:24:48.640 –> 00:24:49.080
WESLEY: Yeah.
00:24:49.320 –> 00:24:54.180
WESLEY: So most of the reactions that I’ve received was, oh, you’re a guy assistant.
00:24:54.540 –> 00:24:55.800
WESLEY: I’m like, yeah.
00:24:56.600 –> 00:24:58.320
WESLEY: And then that’s just kind of that.
00:24:58.340 –> 00:25:00.540
WESLEY: No one really lingers on that fact.
00:25:01.280 –> 00:25:07.220
WESLEY: And we just kind of forget about it because we have so much in common of just being that assistant.
00:25:08.320 –> 00:25:12.200
WESLEY: And it’s kind of interesting, too, because I am in the tech industry.
00:25:13.320 –> 00:25:20.280
WESLEY: Most of my peers are male because engineers are typically male as well.
00:25:21.520 –> 00:25:32.140
WESLEY: So I felt pretty fine, at least in my company, but also just even when attending these leader assistant lives where you and I are the only guys, I still felt at peace.
00:25:32.960 –> 00:25:38.940
WESLEY: It’s just, at least for me, I really focus on our commonalities of what we have in common.
00:25:40.060 –> 00:25:59.820
WESLEY: And I know you and during one of your trainings, you mentioned the difference between kind of how guy executive assistants act and girl executive assistants act, which I believe was just kind of the female executive assistants tend to kind of backstab each other at times.
00:26:01.240 –> 00:26:03.500
WESLEY: Or I don’t remember the specific words you used.
00:26:04.260 –> 00:26:06.300
JEREMY: Yeah, we’ve talked about it a few times.
00:26:06.340 –> 00:26:11.620
JEREMY: I know Al Hussein, Matt Haney has talked about that topic probably more than I have.
00:26:12.940 –> 00:26:20.360
JEREMY: But yeah, there’s this general like, you know, when you I think one one example, I think I know what you’re talking about.
00:26:20.420 –> 00:26:56.520
JEREMY: One example he would share is if your HR person, if you’re if you’re a woman assistant and your HR person is a woman, it can sometimes be harder to negotiate and navigate your compensation package and increase and increase in salary and all that because of that dynamic, versus if you’re, you know, a male assistant and HR is a woman or the HR director is a man, and you’re a female assistant.
00:26:56.920 –> 00:27:02.680
JEREMY: So there’s just those dynamics that are unfortunate that they’re there, but, you know, we can’t just say they’re not there.
00:27:02.700 –> 00:27:05.180
JEREMY: We can’t just ignore them and be like, oh, yeah, that’s not a thing.
00:27:05.660 –> 00:27:06.640
JEREMY: Unfortunately, they are.
00:27:06.840 –> 00:27:09.060
JEREMY: There are those dynamics that we have to navigate.
00:27:10.760 –> 00:27:39.680
JEREMY: And so one of those things that is unfortunate, it’s like there’s this dynamic, can be this dynamic of, you know, be feeling threatened, you know, you know, an HR director, maybe a female HR director might be threatened by a female assistant who’s trying to get promoted and have a salary and having success in their career or whatever.
00:27:40.320 –> 00:27:43.160
JEREMY: And so I think that might be probably one of the examples.
00:27:43.180 –> 00:27:47.780
JEREMY: Yeah, that same story that you were trying to think of.
00:27:49.900 –> 00:27:50.220
WESLEY: Yeah.
00:27:50.240 –> 00:28:01.200
WESLEY: And now that you bring that up too, there is with just being a male assistant comes with just a lot of privilege, being a male in the corporate fold in general.
00:28:01.880 –> 00:28:07.140
WESLEY: And I believe I may have benefited from that a lot, like with just negotiation.
00:28:08.700 –> 00:28:14.360
WESLEY: Well, especially with working with you in particular, just practice negotiating and asking for things.
00:28:15.300 –> 00:28:17.840
WESLEY: I felt extremely confident and comfortable.
00:28:18.520 –> 00:28:22.660
WESLEY: Even if I were to be rejected, I felt super comfortable just making the ask.
00:28:23.260 –> 00:28:28.400
WESLEY: And I think that is a privilege I have that I’m not conscious at times.
00:28:30.160 –> 00:28:30.960
JEREMY: Yeah, definitely.
00:28:31.520 –> 00:28:31.800
JEREMY: Yeah.
00:28:31.820 –> 00:28:40.000
JEREMY: And I like to say, you know, when people ask me that question, what’s it like being a male assistant in a female, typically female dominated role?
00:28:40.860 –> 00:28:48.440
JEREMY: I basically just my simple answer is I don’t really think about it too much.
00:28:48.600 –> 00:28:53.720
JEREMY: And I get I do get those emails where it’s like, oh, you know, copying my assistant.
00:28:53.720 –> 00:28:58.040
JEREMY: And then the person replies and says, OK, I’ll be sure to connect with her.
00:28:58.460 –> 00:29:00.440
JEREMY: You know, like it’s like that assumption.
00:29:01.380 –> 00:29:17.380
JEREMY: But I don’t really care about it because I, you know, my thing is, you know, for me, I’m a I’m a white male in America that is basically not the minority in any other, you know, and I’ve got that privilege.
00:29:17.400 –> 00:29:23.000
JEREMY: I’m not the minority in any any area of my life except for the assistant world.
00:29:23.000 –> 00:29:28.180
JEREMY: And so I’m not going to I’m not I’m not too worried about it because I have like you said, I have a lot of privilege.
00:29:30.240 –> 00:29:40.040
JEREMY: And so anyway, yeah, it’s a it’s kind of an interesting conversation, but it’s also for me, I’m just like, I it just doesn’t bother me.
00:29:40.040 –> 00:29:57.520
JEREMY: What the big thing that has bothered me is that the assistant role in general does not get and has not gotten communicated to the world, if you will, as a career.
00:29:58.580 –> 00:30:10.460
JEREMY: And I think that that’s part of why so many men didn’t even think about the career as of an assistant, because they didn’t see it as a career.
00:30:11.040 –> 00:30:13.480
JEREMY: And so I think that’s slowly changing.
00:30:14.220 –> 00:30:20.200
JEREMY: And I’m trying to help change that, too, and just encourage people like, listen, this is a very respectable career.
00:30:22.460 –> 00:30:28.600
WESLEY: And so, yeah, I think you’ve done a great job of advertising that, of showing just other assistants.
00:30:28.620 –> 00:30:32.380
WESLEY: It’s possible to be an executive assistant and make six plus figures.
00:30:33.080 –> 00:30:40.880
WESLEY: It’s possible to be an executive assistant and become a chief of staff, chief diversity officer, and so forth, too.
00:30:41.960 –> 00:30:46.740
WESLEY: And so I think you’ve done a great job of just showing that this is a valid career path.
00:30:47.180 –> 00:30:53.220
WESLEY: And there are so many doors that can be open or just even simply being an executive assistant.
00:30:53.920 –> 00:30:54.280
JEREMY: Mm hmm.
00:30:54.640 –> 00:30:54.940
WESLEY: Yeah.
00:30:56.320 –> 00:30:57.020
JEREMY: Cool, Wesley.
00:30:57.040 –> 00:31:01.200
JEREMY: Well, I will really appreciate you again being on the show.
00:31:01.220 –> 00:31:06.460
JEREMY: I’ll put a link to your LinkedIn in the show notes so people can reach out and say hi.
00:31:06.480 –> 00:31:17.260
JEREMY: I know you like connecting with other assistants of the world, leaderassistant.com/265, leaderassistant.com/265.
00:31:17.260 –> 00:31:19.180
JEREMY: So thank you so much for being on the show.
00:31:19.200 –> 00:31:30.640
JEREMY: What’s maybe the phrase or short billboard that you would put on the highway if every assistant was going to drive by that billboard on their way to work every day?
00:31:30.760 –> 00:31:32.020
JEREMY: What’s something you’d put on a billboard?
00:31:33.760 –> 00:31:34.820
WESLEY: Trust the process.
00:31:35.480 –> 00:31:39.380
WESLEY: Even when things don’t look clear now, trust the process.
00:31:40.780 –> 00:31:41.160
JEREMY: Nice.
00:31:41.680 –> 00:31:42.060
JEREMY: Love it.
00:31:42.080 –> 00:31:43.300
JEREMY: Well, thank you so much, Wesley.
00:31:43.320 –> 00:31:49.820
JEREMY: It’s been great having you as part of our community, Leader Assistant Premium Membership and a coaching client.
00:31:49.860 –> 00:31:51.800
JEREMY: I appreciate you jumping on the show.
00:31:52.840 –> 00:31:53.960
WESLEY: Thank you so much, Jeremy.
00:31:53.980 –> 00:31:56.580
WESLEY: I’m happy to be one of your clients and part of the community.
00:31:57.260 –> 00:31:57.900
WESLEY: Thank you again.
00:32:08.316 –> 00:32:10.816
<v SPEAKER_3>Please review on Apple Podcasts.
00:32:17.432 –> 00:32:19.192
<v SPEAKER_3>goburrows.com.
