Debbie Pringle works as the Executive Assistant to the Fire Chief for the Coral Springs-Parkland Fire Department in south Florida. She has been in her current role for almost 10 years, and with the fire administration for more than 22 years.
In this episode, Debbie talks about launching an administrative professionals learning group, as well as what it’s like to work at a Fire Department.
LEADERSHIP QUOTE
If it’s not your job to do it, perhaps it’s your opportunity.
– Napoleon Hill
CONNECT WITH DEBBIE
ABOUT DEBBIE
Debbie Pringle works as the Executive Assistant to the Fire Chief for the Coral Springs-Parkland Fire Department in south Florida. She has been in her current role for almost 10 years, and with the fire administration for more than 22 years. Throughout her career with the department, she has earned the Civilian Employee of the Year commendation twice, along with other commendations for work on special community initiatives. She has also been nominated for the City of Coral Springs Employee Excellence Awards twice, and in February 2024, was selected as a winner in the Leadership category for her creation of the City Assistants Administrative Professionals Learning Group.
As Chief Officers of her department have taken on roles at the state level within the Fire Service, the scope of her work has extended to state level functions as well, assisting with events for the Florida Fire Chiefs Association, and the Division of the State Fire Marshal.
Debbie holds a bachelor’s degree in communication arts from the New York Institute of Technology, and a Certified Administrative Professional designation from the International Association of Administrative Professionals.
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
00:00:00.000 –> 00:00:06.820
DEBBIE: Hi, I’m Debbie Pringle, and today’s leadership quote is, If it’s not your job to do it, perhaps it’s your opportunity.
00:00:07.560 –> 00:00:08.460
DEBBIE: I’m Napoleon Hill.
00:00:14.472 –> 00:00:21.912
<v SPEAKER_3>The Leader Assistant Podcast exists to encourage and challenge assistants to become confident, game-changing leader assistants.
00:00:31.396 –> 00:00:41.516
JEREMY: Everyone is talking about Nova Chief of Staff, and it’s no surprise when graduates walk away with huge benefits, like greater confidence and the validation that they can do the role.
00:00:42.116 –> 00:00:50.636
JEREMY: There are over 300 students in the Nova Chief of Staff Certification course, many of which are growth-minded executive assistants like you.
00:00:51.176 –> 00:01:02.216
JEREMY: Many of the Leader Assistants taking the course aren’t necessarily looking for a promotion, they simply want to become more effective, strategic, and game-changing assistants.
00:01:02.856 –> 00:01:09.996
JEREMY: Over 18 countries around the globe are represented by students in Nova’s course, so I highly recommend you join the club.
00:01:10.416 –> 00:01:17.296
JEREMY: Visit leaderassistant.com/nova to learn more about this amazing professional development resource.
00:01:17.936 –> 00:01:20.276
JEREMY: Hey friends, welcome to The Leader Assistant Podcast.
00:01:20.296 –> 00:01:24.996
JEREMY: It’s your host, Jeremy Burrows, and welcome to episode 270.
00:01:25.556 –> 00:01:28.336
JEREMY: Today, I’m speaking with my friend Debbie Pringle.
00:01:28.416 –> 00:01:42.556
JEREMY: Debbie is Executive Assistant at Coral Springs-Parkland Fire Department, and Debbie has more than 22 years of experience as an assistant, and we’re excited to be speaking with her today.
00:01:42.576 –> 00:01:43.896
JEREMY: So, Debbie, welcome to the show.
00:01:45.916 –> 00:01:47.316
JEREMY: What part of the world are you in?
00:01:47.516 –> 00:01:49.796
JEREMY: Coral Springs, is that, where is that?
00:01:50.416 –> 00:01:52.976
DEBBIE: South Florida, Southeast Florida, specifically.
00:01:53.656 –> 00:01:54.616
JEREMY: And are you from that area?
00:01:55.636 –> 00:01:59.096
DEBBIE: Originally, I’m from New York, but I’ve been down here more than 30 years.
00:02:00.856 –> 00:02:01.896
DEBBIE: I grew up on Long Island.
00:02:01.916 –> 00:02:03.716
JEREMY: Awesome.
00:02:03.816 –> 00:02:07.716
JEREMY: And what’s maybe your favorite thing to do when you’re not working?
00:02:09.636 –> 00:02:12.096
DEBBIE: I would have to say traveling.
00:02:13.196 –> 00:02:17.896
DEBBIE: Not traveling, then reading, relaxing, cooking.
00:02:20.156 –> 00:02:23.296
JEREMY: Where do you like to travel or where have you traveled recently?
00:02:24.656 –> 00:02:26.756
DEBBIE: Recently, I just came back from Georgia.
00:02:26.776 –> 00:02:30.476
DEBBIE: I was visiting my son there and before that, Tallahassee.
00:02:31.236 –> 00:02:34.636
DEBBIE: When we travel for fun, we kind of go everywhere.
00:02:34.696 –> 00:02:38.156
DEBBIE: We do something different every time we go on a trip.
00:02:38.776 –> 00:02:43.996
DEBBIE: I know some families like to go back to their same favorite location year after year.
00:02:44.236 –> 00:02:45.416
DEBBIE: We’ve never done that.
00:02:45.416 –> 00:02:47.276
DEBBIE: We go somewhere new all the time.
00:02:48.616 –> 00:02:49.196
DEBBIE: It’s fun.
00:02:49.216 –> 00:02:57.396
DEBBIE: My kids have been to 49 of the 50 states and we’ve had a lot of fun doing it over the years.
00:02:59.216 –> 00:03:03.216
JEREMY: Do you usually drive, fly, go on cruises?
00:03:03.236 –> 00:03:05.556
JEREMY: What’s your favorite type of travel?
00:03:06.176 –> 00:03:11.196
DEBBIE: I love cruises, but we have usually driven when we’ve done our family trips.
00:03:11.216 –> 00:03:13.816
DEBBIE: We’ve done a few cruises, but we do road trips.
00:03:14.296 –> 00:03:18.676
DEBBIE: If it’s close enough on the East Coast, we’ll drive from Florida.
00:03:19.636 –> 00:03:31.176
DEBBIE: If in earlier years when we didn’t have as much vacation time, we would fly to say Denver or Las Vegas and we’d rent a car and then do our road trip from there.
00:03:34.496 –> 00:03:37.756
JEREMY: And tell us about the Executive Assistant role.
00:03:38.896 –> 00:03:41.676
JEREMY: How did you end up becoming an assistant?
00:03:43.116 –> 00:03:47.556
DEBBIE: So I’ve had kind of a varied career doing a lot of different things when I was younger.
00:03:47.576 –> 00:03:49.596
DEBBIE: A lot of it was customer service.
00:03:49.656 –> 00:03:54.116
DEBBIE: And then I worked for a financial firm for about 17 years.
00:03:54.656 –> 00:03:58.096
DEBBIE: And I worked for them in New York, moved down to Florida with them.
00:03:59.136 –> 00:04:05.696
DEBBIE: And when my daughter was five years old and ready to start kindergarten, I wanted to be home in the afternoons when she got home.
00:04:05.716 –> 00:04:10.456
DEBBIE: I wasn’t able to be home earlier, but it was important to me.
00:04:10.476 –> 00:04:11.796
DEBBIE: We were able to do it then.
00:04:12.596 –> 00:04:17.656
DEBBIE: And I couldn’t make a part-time job work at the company I was at at the time.
00:04:18.336 –> 00:04:23.276
DEBBIE: So I left there and started looking for part-time opportunities.
00:04:23.596 –> 00:04:26.696
DEBBIE: And I actually went to a job fair at my local mall.
00:04:27.576 –> 00:04:30.556
DEBBIE: And the city of Coral Springs had a table.
00:04:30.956 –> 00:04:34.256
DEBBIE: They had all their pronounce of current openings.
00:04:34.276 –> 00:04:37.456
DEBBIE: And there was one for the fire department, for an office assistant.
00:04:37.636 –> 00:04:39.056
DEBBIE: It had the right hours.
00:04:39.076 –> 00:04:41.296
DEBBIE: It sounded like something I could do.
00:04:41.316 –> 00:04:42.736
DEBBIE: It sounded kind of interesting.
00:04:43.456 –> 00:04:46.516
DEBBIE: So I applied and I’ve been here ever since.
00:04:47.696 –> 00:04:50.216
DEBBIE: And I was part-time actually for 13 years.
00:04:50.316 –> 00:04:55.336
DEBBIE: And then when I became full-time was when I took the executive assistant position.
00:04:55.356 –> 00:04:56.736
DEBBIE: And that was 10 years ago.
00:04:59.516 –> 00:05:00.276
JEREMY: That’s amazing.
00:05:01.296 –> 00:05:04.936
JEREMY: So I have you supported.
00:05:04.956 –> 00:05:07.996
JEREMY: I mean, how many executives have you gone through?
00:05:08.016 –> 00:05:10.016
JEREMY: I guess is my question over the years.
00:05:10.696 –> 00:05:16.476
DEBBIE: Well, when I first started, it was as a part-timer to support three assistant fire chiefs.
00:05:16.496 –> 00:05:22.596
DEBBIE: And they each had different responsibilities, administrative responsibilities, in addition to running a shift.
00:05:23.596 –> 00:05:26.576
DEBBIE: And I would help them with a number of things.
00:05:27.616 –> 00:05:34.756
DEBBIE: But throughout the years, my role kind of expanded and grew, even before I became an executive assistant.
00:05:34.996 –> 00:05:39.876
DEBBIE: And I would assist any of the chiefs that needed help with whatever they needed help with.
00:05:39.896 –> 00:05:41.416
DEBBIE: So it’s changed over the years.
00:05:42.156 –> 00:05:48.256
DEBBIE: As the executive assistant to the fire chief, he is the primary person that I support.
00:05:48.736 –> 00:05:56.416
DEBBIE: But I do probably support three or four others with certain things when they need it.
00:05:58.476 –> 00:06:08.396
JEREMY: And what’s maybe what’s some of the interesting things working in in for a fire department?
00:06:09.776 –> 00:06:15.476
DEBBIE: I would say that the most interesting thing is that every day is something different.
00:06:15.476 –> 00:06:22.016
DEBBIE: You can plan your days, you can plan meetings and schedule things, but you never know when something’s going to happen.
00:06:22.036 –> 00:06:26.156
DEBBIE: You never know when there’s going to be an emergency that involves everybody.
00:06:26.936 –> 00:06:35.556
DEBBIE: So you always have to be ready to turn on a dime and go into something else, into a different mood and attack that.
00:06:35.616 –> 00:06:36.916
DEBBIE: But it’s fun.
00:06:36.936 –> 00:06:38.576
DEBBIE: I’ve gotten to do a lot of different things.
00:06:38.596 –> 00:06:55.656
DEBBIE: When I first started, I was helping with uniforms, ordering uniforms and getting everybody’s, what they need and the different types, from t-shirts, uniform shirts, pants, boots, bunker gear, everything.
00:06:56.156 –> 00:07:02.956
DEBBIE: Then one of our assistant chiefs was in charge of facility, so I was helping him with administrative tasks related to that.
00:07:03.316 –> 00:07:29.116
DEBBIE: Another one was in charge of EMS, so I started helping with our licensing and everything related to what we needed to run rescues and transport people, including purchasing controlled substances, and everything, not the actual purchase, but taking care of the orders and making sure everything was in order for that.
00:07:29.136 –> 00:07:30.056
DEBBIE: That’s been interesting.
00:07:30.076 –> 00:07:35.636
DEBBIE: As an executive assistant, it’s been everything.
00:07:35.656 –> 00:07:48.356
DEBBIE: I do the usual things that everyone does, schedule meetings, correspondence, but I’ve also gotten involved in the purchase of fire apparatus, fire trucks, which has been fun.
00:07:48.376 –> 00:07:49.976
JEREMY: Oh, you get to buy a fire truck?
00:07:51.036 –> 00:07:52.996
DEBBIE: Sort of.
00:07:53.016 –> 00:07:57.796
DEBBIE: It’s funny because one time the bill actually was sent to me, and I thought that was kind of nice.
00:07:57.816 –> 00:07:59.376
JEREMY: You’re like, I’m not going to pay for this.
00:08:01.236 –> 00:08:20.796
DEBBIE: But I would say that the most interesting thing is that some of the chiefs in our department are really, really brilliant and have involved themselves because they care so much about the fire service in things that go beyond our department.
00:08:20.816 –> 00:08:33.016
DEBBIE: So on a regional level, on a state level, even national, we have some folks that have won national awards for what they’ve done in the areas of safety and health for firefighters.
00:08:33.416 –> 00:08:40.236
DEBBIE: We help our state Fire Chiefs Association run a conference every year, so I’m involved in that pretty heavily.
00:08:42.316 –> 00:08:45.976
DEBBIE: Back in my own department, I’m responsible for our annual report.
00:08:46.856 –> 00:08:48.956
DEBBIE: I’ve been doing that since 2015.
00:08:49.816 –> 00:08:57.276
DEBBIE: Our award ceremony, which that’s actually the next thing that’s coming up in April, so I’m pretty heavy working on that right now.
00:08:57.796 –> 00:09:01.376
DEBBIE: And anything else that comes up, which can be anything good or bad.
00:09:05.316 –> 00:09:05.756
<v SPEAKER_3>Wow.
00:09:05.776 –> 00:09:08.876
JEREMY: So how large is the department?
00:09:08.996 –> 00:09:11.996
JEREMY: Or maybe another way to put it is how many assistants do you work with?
00:09:12.016 –> 00:09:21.156
JEREMY: Do you work with assistants in your own building, or is it more in the connecting districts or cities?
00:09:22.196 –> 00:09:26.436
DEBBIE: So primarily, it’s just within our city and within our own building.
00:09:26.456 –> 00:09:32.376
DEBBIE: We actually moved into a new building last year so that each division of the Fire Department is now under one roof.
00:09:32.796 –> 00:09:39.716
DEBBIE: We have about four or five full timers and another four or five part timers.
00:09:40.416 –> 00:09:47.916
DEBBIE: So we are all in one building on two floors right now, and each of us does different things.
00:09:47.936 –> 00:09:52.636
DEBBIE: Some of it overlaps, but a lot of it is kind of segregated.
00:09:52.656 –> 00:10:03.316
DEBBIE: We have one person that does payroll, one person that does financial, credit card purchasing, and everybody kind of has their own thing, but there is some overlap as well.
00:10:03.336 –> 00:10:05.236
JEREMY: Awesome.
00:10:05.236 –> 00:10:09.516
JEREMY: And then you started a learning group.
00:10:11.016 –> 00:10:12.816
JEREMY: Was this specifically for…
00:10:13.036 –> 00:10:13.916
JEREMY: Tell us a little bit about this.
00:10:14.536 –> 00:10:23.956
JEREMY: You started an administrative professionals learning group within your organization so that you could do training and resource sharing and just have that camaraderie with everyone.
00:10:25.036 –> 00:10:26.276
JEREMY: How did that come to be?
00:10:26.976 –> 00:10:29.396
JEREMY: And, you know, why did you start it?
00:10:29.416 –> 00:10:30.396
JEREMY: What’s it all about?
00:10:30.656 –> 00:10:31.636
JEREMY: How does it work?
00:10:31.696 –> 00:10:33.276
JEREMY: And yeah, tell us a little bit about that.
00:10:33.796 –> 00:10:34.496
DEBBIE: Yeah, sure.
00:10:34.496 –> 00:10:52.136
DEBBIE: So a little over a year ago, I had started thinking that there are times when I know I have learned something, a new procedure within the city, not just within the department, but within the whole city and their assistance in every department.
00:10:52.156 –> 00:10:54.256
DEBBIE: And typically we don’t cross paths.
00:10:54.376 –> 00:10:59.356
DEBBIE: I might never have anything to do with Parks and Rec or the building department.
00:10:59.996 –> 00:11:04.176
DEBBIE: But there are things that we all have to do that may be the same.
00:11:05.256 –> 00:11:13.476
DEBBIE: And there are times when I would find that I found out something and I would share it with someone else and I’d find out, oh yeah, I heard that a week ago.
00:11:13.496 –> 00:11:16.076
DEBBIE: And I thought, there’s got to be a better way.
00:11:16.096 –> 00:11:25.176
DEBBIE: We need to have some sort of unity that when one finds out something, we all find out and we all share it and we all help each other.
00:11:25.196 –> 00:11:30.156
DEBBIE: And it got me to thinking that it could be so much more than that.
00:11:30.936 –> 00:11:38.296
DEBBIE: So I put together a presentation, kind of put all my thoughts down on paper and created a presentation.
00:11:38.476 –> 00:11:43.376
DEBBIE: And I went first to my chief with it, told him about it.
00:11:43.396 –> 00:11:44.476
DEBBIE: He was very supportive.
00:11:44.496 –> 00:11:50.536
DEBBIE: He thought it was a great idea and suggested that I take it to the next level, which would be to mention it to HR.
00:11:51.136 –> 00:11:56.336
DEBBIE: They handle employee engagement and groups such as this.
00:11:56.716 –> 00:12:01.796
DEBBIE: We have a leadership development group within the city, and they’re in charge of that.
00:12:01.816 –> 00:12:04.136
DEBBIE: So they would be the ones to speak to next.
00:12:05.696 –> 00:12:07.256
DEBBIE: So I presented it to them.
00:12:07.436 –> 00:12:08.956
DEBBIE: They also liked the idea.
00:12:09.576 –> 00:12:26.756
DEBBIE: They gave me someone to work with on the HR side, and we kind of put together a little steering committee, a little group of our more seasoned assistants, folks that have been here a really long time, and created like a little board of directors, so to speak.
00:12:27.496 –> 00:12:34.936
DEBBIE: And we talked about what my ideas were and what else we could add to it if we wanted to and how we thought it would go.
00:12:34.956 –> 00:12:42.916
DEBBIE: The next step after that was to present it to our city manager who actually used to be the fire chief.
00:12:42.936 –> 00:12:47.416
DEBBIE: He’s one of the assistant chiefs that I first started working for 22 years ago.
00:12:47.436 –> 00:12:50.216
DEBBIE: So I have worked for him this entire time.
00:12:50.876 –> 00:12:56.136
DEBBIE: But yeah, he was fire chief for seven years, and he got promoted to city manager.
00:12:57.356 –> 00:12:59.516
DEBBIE: So I presented it to him.
00:13:00.376 –> 00:13:04.196
DEBBIE: He also agreed and liked the idea, wanted me to present it to senior staff.
00:13:04.396 –> 00:13:06.596
DEBBIE: So all of this took place over several months.
00:13:07.516 –> 00:13:24.116
DEBBIE: And what I did each time was kind of tweak the presentation so that I would be giving the information about the group to each person or group that I was presenting it to and focus on what was going to be most important for them.
00:13:24.136 –> 00:13:25.516
DEBBIE: What are they going to get out of it?
00:13:26.656 –> 00:13:31.596
DEBBIE: So after that, the senior staff loved the idea.
00:13:32.316 –> 00:13:33.816
DEBBIE: They encouraged me to go ahead with it.
00:13:34.116 –> 00:13:39.496
DEBBIE: They promised to be supportive of their assistance, being able to attend a monthly group like this.
00:13:40.296 –> 00:13:44.376
DEBBIE: And the next step was to present it to all the assistants within the city.
00:13:44.796 –> 00:13:55.996
DEBBIE: So we have over 100, and I would say about 60 of them were able to come to the meeting, the launch, which was last August, and we’ve met every month since then.
00:13:57.016 –> 00:13:58.416
DEBBIE: So it’s worked out really well.
00:13:58.436 –> 00:14:01.696
DEBBIE: We’ve done some cool things that I’m really happy about.
00:14:05.636 –> 00:14:15.816
JEREMY: So it’s basically open to the assistants in the city of Coral Springs or particularly government assistants?
00:14:16.356 –> 00:14:19.236
DEBBIE: It’s strictly city employees.
00:14:19.256 –> 00:14:21.236
DEBBIE: So it’s our organization.
00:14:22.296 –> 00:14:41.136
DEBBIE: And what we’ve done, one of the first things that I did when I got interest from the assistants and other folks in support roles was to send out a little questionnaire to find out what do they think a group like this would be good for?
00:14:41.156 –> 00:14:45.716
DEBBIE: What would they see as a benefit so that I can make sure I was going in the right direction?
00:14:46.056 –> 00:14:49.496
DEBBIE: And some of the questions that I asked were what are things that you’re good at?
00:14:49.516 –> 00:14:52.136
DEBBIE: Are you somebody that’s good at Word?
00:14:52.136 –> 00:14:53.376
DEBBIE: Are you better with PowerPoint?
00:14:53.756 –> 00:14:55.576
DEBBIE: Are you an Excel expert?
00:14:56.356 –> 00:15:13.016
DEBBIE: And I put together a list of who was better at some things and who could use help with other things so that we could lean on each other when we needed to and say, hey, you know, I’m trying to do a pivot table on Excel and I don’t know how to do it, who can I call?
00:15:14.116 –> 00:15:28.736
DEBBIE: So I created a resource guide and based on the answers to all these questions, it has everybody that’s in the group We have a list of people who are good at all these things, and their phone number.
00:15:28.976 –> 00:15:33.056
DEBBIE: So you can go down the list and say, okay, she’s really good with word.
00:15:33.076 –> 00:15:36.816
DEBBIE: I’m going to call her because I have a question about mail merge, whatever.
00:15:37.936 –> 00:16:01.016
DEBBIE: And then we just added to it, we included some things that are used across the board in the city, such as your standard voicemail greeting, how to use different cities’ security rules and processes, how to answer public records requests, things that anybody in any department might come across.
00:16:02.016 –> 00:16:16.956
DEBBIE: But it also has things like how to set up the voicemail on your phone, how to actually, you know, what buttons to push on the phone to get there, who in the city is a notary if someone comes in and needs that, who can you call for this, who can you call for that?
00:16:16.976 –> 00:16:23.856
DEBBIE: So it’s a resource list within the city, but it also has all the most common things that we all come across.
00:16:24.416 –> 00:16:29.256
DEBBIE: So some of it, if you’re a city employee for many years, you might already know.
00:16:29.336 –> 00:16:31.316
DEBBIE: If you’re new, you might not.
00:16:32.236 –> 00:16:36.436
DEBBIE: If you forget, if you don’t come across this very often, you might not.
00:16:36.456 –> 00:16:40.076
DEBBIE: So it’s a resource guide that would contain all of that as well.
00:16:40.536 –> 00:16:49.516
DEBBIE: It’s got an org chart for every department in the city, which had never been shared before with everybody, along with contact phone numbers.
00:16:49.736 –> 00:16:55.136
DEBBIE: So anybody that needs to reach anyone in any other department can now do so.
00:16:56.476 –> 00:17:04.896
DEBBIE: It has links to all the different city services that we have, both for the public and for city employees.
00:17:05.416 –> 00:17:10.696
DEBBIE: It’s got information about even things like restaurants around town.
00:17:10.916 –> 00:17:17.216
DEBBIE: If you’re setting up a meeting, if you’ve got people coming in from somewhere else, and you need to coordinate a lunch, where can you go?
00:17:17.236 –> 00:17:20.536
DEBBIE: If you live in the city, you may know a lot of them.
00:17:21.716 –> 00:17:24.216
DEBBIE: If not, this would be helpful as well.
00:17:25.956 –> 00:17:40.136
DEBBIE: It includes tips, different shortcuts for different software programs, Word, Outlook, how to book a meeting room, how to use some of our internal services.
00:17:40.156 –> 00:17:41.736
DEBBIE: We don’t use Dropbox.
00:17:41.756 –> 00:17:48.076
DEBBIE: We actually have our IT department created an internal Dropbox for sharing large files.
00:17:48.736 –> 00:17:49.676
DEBBIE: How to use that?
00:17:52.216 –> 00:17:52.996
DEBBIE: Let’s see.
00:17:53.636 –> 00:17:57.156
DEBBIE: Common misdirected inquiries and who to call instead.
00:17:57.676 –> 00:18:06.696
DEBBIE: That was a fun one to do because there are always people that said, everybody calls me about this and it’s never us, it’s always somebody else.
00:18:06.716 –> 00:18:08.936
DEBBIE: We have that in the book.
00:18:09.516 –> 00:18:16.216
DEBBIE: Tips for taking minutes, customer service tips, how to talk to people on the phone.
00:18:16.236 –> 00:18:23.316
DEBBIE: We have assistance and support staff of all ages, all levels, entry level, people who’ve been here for years.
00:18:23.876 –> 00:18:28.596
DEBBIE: You might look at the book and say, I don’t need this, but wow, that’s really useful.
00:18:28.616 –> 00:18:41.296
DEBBIE: There’s something for everybody and one of the most important things is we keep it updated regularly, so it remains accurate, relevant, and useful to everybody.
00:18:41.316 –> 00:18:48.096
JEREMY: So how long has this been going on?
00:18:48.116 –> 00:18:50.616
JEREMY: When did you create this resource?
00:18:50.636 –> 00:18:55.496
DEBBIE: We launched it August 29th and our first meeting was in September.
00:18:56.556 –> 00:19:11.796
DEBBIE: The first meeting was an intro, everybody just going around talking, I’m so-and-so, I support this person, I work in this department, and I’ve been trying to get everybody to be more vocal and to get to know each other.
00:19:13.376 –> 00:19:18.656
DEBBIE: Sometimes that’s worked, sometimes folks are shy or they don’t want to talk a lot.
00:19:18.676 –> 00:19:22.816
DEBBIE: So sometimes we’ve just gone right into a training for the day.
00:19:23.296 –> 00:19:30.956
DEBBIE: We’ve had folks that work within the city that are really good at something to present.
00:19:30.976 –> 00:19:41.716
DEBBIE: Sometimes when we haven’t had that, we’ve gone online, we’ve done YouTube videos together, we’ve had teams meetings where we would share some of the free resources that are out there.
00:19:42.256 –> 00:19:51.916
DEBBIE: One of the things that I included when I presented it to senior staff, because by then it was almost summertime and our fiscal year starts October 1st.
00:19:51.936 –> 00:19:55.256
DEBBIE: So, the budget for that year, the coming year was done.
00:19:56.136 –> 00:20:04.336
DEBBIE: So, I told them that for the first year anyway, I could do this for relatively no money at all, no cost.
00:20:05.896 –> 00:20:08.096
DEBBIE: And I’ve been sticking to that.
00:20:08.116 –> 00:20:12.036
DEBBIE: The only thing I asked for was in December to have a little holiday luncheon.
00:20:12.776 –> 00:20:14.916
DEBBIE: But now we’re coming up on budget time.
00:20:14.936 –> 00:20:23.236
DEBBIE: So, one of the things I’m hoping for next year is to actually get funds allocated to the group so that we could expand our training opportunities.
00:20:23.716 –> 00:20:47.816
DEBBIE: We can offer certifications, you know, have people if they want to get certified, either with IWAP or PACE or one of the other certifications out there, Microsoft, that they’ll be able to perhaps attend a conference so that the folks that really do want to learn more and invest in themselves will be able to and have it be covered.
00:20:53.436 –> 00:20:55.770
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00:20:56.690 –> 00:21:04.390
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00:21:05.010 –> 00:21:16.510
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00:21:17.190 –> 00:21:19.450
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00:21:20.170 –> 00:21:25.230
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00:21:29.710 –> 00:21:30.590
JEREMY: Okay, nice.
00:21:31.990 –> 00:21:32.530
JEREMY: That’s great.
00:21:32.550 –> 00:21:33.430
JEREMY: That’s super exciting.
00:21:33.450 –> 00:21:37.170
JEREMY: So tell us a little bit about, I’m going to ask you to brag on yourself a little bit.
00:21:37.550 –> 00:21:48.270
JEREMY: Tell us a little bit about the award that you were, let’s see, you’re nominated for a couple of awards, but then you won an award.
00:21:48.290 –> 00:21:49.250
JEREMY: Tell us a little bit about that.
00:21:49.830 –> 00:22:12.050
DEBBIE: Okay, so we have throughout the city every year a chili cook-off day, and they announce at that event the City’s Employee Excellence Awards, and they give out awards in categories that match some of the core values of the city.
00:22:12.630 –> 00:22:23.610
DEBBIE: So it will be teamwork, accountability, and the one that I got was for leadership, and it was specifically for creating this group.
00:22:24.290 –> 00:22:33.790
DEBBIE: And one of the things that really made a difference that I was really, really happy about was a few people came up to me and told me that they nominated me.
00:22:34.210 –> 00:22:36.350
DEBBIE: So my own chief nominated me.
00:22:37.450 –> 00:22:40.790
DEBBIE: One of the other people and senior staff nominated me.
00:22:40.810 –> 00:22:44.550
DEBBIE: Some of the people within the group sent in a nomination.
00:22:44.570 –> 00:22:53.050
DEBBIE: So I felt really good about that because it wasn’t just, you know, my boss said it’s really nice, but it’s nice to know that people within the group were getting benefit out of it, too.
00:22:54.070 –> 00:23:01.810
DEBBIE: And so I had been nominated once before, and this was the first year that I won it, though, and it was specifically for this.
00:23:03.210 –> 00:23:04.310
JEREMY: Well, congratulations.
00:23:04.910 –> 00:23:16.110
JEREMY: Sounds like you put a lot of a lot of work into this and a lot of energy and time and then a lot of really advocating for assistance in your community.
00:23:16.150 –> 00:23:18.710
JEREMY: And so much, much deserved.
00:23:18.730 –> 00:23:19.450
JEREMY: And congrats.
00:23:19.890 –> 00:23:20.610
DEBBIE: Thank you.
00:23:21.850 –> 00:23:22.250
JEREMY: Awesome.
00:23:22.270 –> 00:23:27.290
JEREMY: Well, this is all super awesome how you’ve put this together.
00:23:27.570 –> 00:23:36.290
JEREMY: And, you know, very interesting, you know, talking with someone at a fire department, definitely similar.
00:23:37.310 –> 00:23:42.710
JEREMY: One thing I like about being an EA is you can transfer to any industry, any organization, any building.
00:23:43.950 –> 00:23:49.190
JEREMY: And it’s in your skills are transferable and it’s it’s similar type of work.
00:23:50.350 –> 00:24:13.110
JEREMY: But at the same time, I can talk to someone at a global tech company, like I talked to someone earlier at a large 6000 person tech company in California, and then talk to someone at a small family office in Iowa, and then talk to someone at a fire department in Florida.
00:24:13.290 –> 00:24:28.870
JEREMY: And, you know, we all have that same speaking of camaraderie, we have that we know what it’s like to be on our toes all the time, adapting all the time and being flexible and trying to make it make it happen no matter what.
00:24:31.050 –> 00:24:37.270
JEREMY: And but it is unique to hear all the different worlds, if you will, that that assistants live in.
00:24:37.290 –> 00:24:44.350
JEREMY: And so you have a you’re in a totally different world than my software company in the Midwest.
00:24:44.650 –> 00:24:47.770
JEREMY: And it’s it’s fun to it’s been fun to talk to you.
00:24:47.790 –> 00:25:06.750
JEREMY: So if you know, you’ve done all this work, you’ve won this award or in the leadership category, what would you if you could if you could spend, you know, five million dollars on a Super Bowl ad or a billboard on the highway?
00:25:06.770 –> 00:25:11.750
JEREMY: And it was specifically the ad or the billboard was specifically for executive assistants.
00:25:11.770 –> 00:25:17.850
JEREMY: What would you want to say on the billboard or what would you want the ad to communicate to assistants of the world?
00:25:19.850 –> 00:25:21.250
DEBBIE: Oh, wow.
00:25:21.570 –> 00:25:24.510
DEBBIE: I would say probably two things.
00:25:26.110 –> 00:25:36.230
DEBBIE: Never doubt that you can do something if it means enough to you and you really want to and you think it’s going to benefit people, then you can.
00:25:36.250 –> 00:25:37.290
DEBBIE: You can find a way.
00:25:38.210 –> 00:25:44.710
DEBBIE: And I think we come across a lot of people that think they’re, you know, quote, just an assistant.
00:25:45.490 –> 00:25:49.830
DEBBIE: And I think that’s changing, but there’s still a long way to go.
00:25:50.090 –> 00:26:09.730
DEBBIE: And when you work for an organization that is supportive of their assistance, and I’m fortunate enough that I do work for that kind of an organization, you realize that you do have a lot more of a voice and a lot more.
00:26:09.750 –> 00:26:14.470
DEBBIE: I don’t want to use the word power, but you’ve got you can do things.
00:26:14.490 –> 00:26:15.810
DEBBIE: You can make things happen.
00:26:15.810 –> 00:26:26.450
DEBBIE: You can, if you do it the right way and understand who to talk to and what to say and how to present it, you can get your ideas across to anybody.
00:26:26.730 –> 00:26:33.870
DEBBIE: And if you have good ideas that are going to help the organization or help others, there’s nothing you can’t do.
00:26:36.910 –> 00:26:37.430
JEREMY: Love it.
00:26:37.490 –> 00:26:40.410
JEREMY: That is a great billboard slash Super Bowl ad.
00:26:40.750 –> 00:26:41.290
JEREMY: Thank you.
00:26:41.370 –> 00:26:45.770
JEREMY: Thank you, Debbie.
00:26:45.770 –> 00:26:50.950
JEREMY: So what’s the best place if people want to reach out and say hi, they want to connect?
00:26:51.950 –> 00:26:55.550
DEBBIE: So I would say if they want to connect with me on LinkedIn, that would be great.
00:26:56.310 –> 00:26:57.450
DEBBIE: I check it daily.
00:26:57.470 –> 00:27:13.750
DEBBIE: So I’m not always active in terms of posting things, but I do check it daily and if they want to reach out, I’m more than happy to share the presentation if anyone is interested in starting such a group within their own organization.
00:27:13.770 –> 00:27:21.170
DEBBIE: I’d be more than happy to share the presentations that I’ve created and more than happy to talk to anyone about it as well.
00:27:21.190 –> 00:27:22.930
JEREMY: That’d be great.
00:27:22.990 –> 00:27:31.890
JEREMY: I will put your LinkedIn URL in the show notes at leaderassistant.com/270.
00:27:32.450 –> 00:27:36.830
JEREMY: Again, that’s leaderassistant.com/270.
00:27:37.570 –> 00:27:43.270
JEREMY: I’ll put your bio in there and your LinkedIn links so that people can reach out and say hi.
00:27:43.290 –> 00:27:57.110
JEREMY: I’m sure there will be plenty of assistants out there interested in hearing more about this learning group that you put together and the presentations and all that fun stuff.
00:27:57.950 –> 00:27:58.990
JEREMY: Thank you so much again.
00:27:59.110 –> 00:28:05.970
JEREMY: Actually, I’m trying to remember, Debbie, was it LinkedIn that you reached out and you saw something and you said, hey, I want to be on the show?
00:28:06.590 –> 00:28:08.670
JEREMY: How did we end up here today?
00:28:08.690 –> 00:28:11.230
DEBBIE: Yeah, so I saw something.
00:28:11.250 –> 00:28:17.810
DEBBIE: I don’t think someone shared your post about being on the show.
00:28:17.990 –> 00:28:22.510
DEBBIE: And I thought, well, I was kind of really going strong with this group.
00:28:22.530 –> 00:28:30.210
DEBBIE: And I thought I would love to be able to share that because if it got started in other organizations, I think it would be really helpful for everyone.
00:28:30.250 –> 00:28:35.050
DEBBIE: So I reached out and just asked if that’s something you’d be interested in hearing about.
00:28:36.150 –> 00:28:36.610
DEBBIE: Perfect.
00:28:37.230 –> 00:28:37.570
JEREMY: Awesome.
00:28:37.590 –> 00:28:44.470
JEREMY: Well, that’s one of the things I love about the podcast is it just brings all these people together, all these assistants.
00:28:44.510 –> 00:28:52.990
JEREMY: And I’ve met so many assistants like yourself that I never would have met if it wasn’t for the podcast and the good old Internet.
00:28:53.010 –> 00:28:54.470
JEREMY: So great to meet you.
00:28:54.490 –> 00:28:55.350
JEREMY: Great to chat with you.
00:28:55.370 –> 00:29:01.670
JEREMY: Hopefully I can bring my boys for a firetruck ride someday in Florida.
00:29:02.610 –> 00:29:03.350
DEBBIE: Absolutely.
00:29:03.410 –> 00:29:05.310
DEBBIE: That is one thing I can promise you.
00:29:05.330 –> 00:29:08.210
DEBBIE: You come to South Florida, I can get you on a firetruck.
00:29:08.230 –> 00:29:12.290
DEBBIE: Or at least to sit on one.
00:29:12.310 –> 00:29:17.350
JEREMY: Yeah, we live next to a firefighter at one of our homes.
00:29:17.370 –> 00:29:18.910
JEREMY: And back when we lived in St.
00:29:18.930 –> 00:29:21.430
JEREMY: Louis, my kids were younger then.
00:29:21.450 –> 00:29:27.390
JEREMY: And there were several times where the firetruck would stop by and he’d come by for lunch or whatever.
00:29:27.430 –> 00:29:29.670
JEREMY: And the boys would be like, firetruck, firetruck.
00:29:30.050 –> 00:29:32.170
JEREMY: So that was really exciting living next to a fireman.
00:29:32.850 –> 00:29:33.690
DEBBIE: It is.
00:29:34.230 –> 00:29:38.890
DEBBIE: It’s always fun when kids come into the stations and they love it.
00:29:39.470 –> 00:29:39.870
JEREMY: Awesome.
00:29:40.230 –> 00:29:41.090
DEBBIE: And we do too.
00:29:42.010 –> 00:29:42.530
JEREMY: Of course.
00:29:42.550 –> 00:29:42.850
JEREMY: Yeah.
00:29:43.270 –> 00:29:43.810
JEREMY: Great, Debbie.
00:29:43.830 –> 00:29:45.190
JEREMY: Well, thanks again for being on the show.
00:29:45.210 –> 00:29:48.570
JEREMY: Best of luck to you in your career and we’ll talk soon.
00:29:49.150 –> 00:29:50.090
DEBBIE: Thank you very much.
00:29:50.110 –> 00:29:50.810
DEBBIE: Appreciate it.
00:30:01.210 –> 00:30:03.710
DEBBIE: Please review on Apple Podcasts.
