Zoe Hill has 16 years of experience as an executive assistant and is the founder of Premier Admin Services.
In this episode of The Leader Assistant Podcast, Zoe shares tips on managing a team of assistants, working with small businesses as a hybrid assistant, and the differences between the executive assistant and chief of staff roles.
LEADERSHIP QUOTE
Always expect the unexpected.
CONNECT WITH ZOE
ABOUT ZOE
Zoe has 16 years experience as an EA, 12 of those years at JPM. She recently worked within social media and is now embarking on her entrepreneur journey as a Virtual Assistant.
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
00:00:00.180 –> 00:00:01.780
ZOE: Hi, my name is Zoe Hill.
00:00:01.780 –> 00:00:12.640
ZOE: I’m a founder of Premier Admin Services, and I quote that I always live by, which is something that my dad has always said to me, is always expect the unexpected.
00:00:12.640 –> 00:00:16.660
ZOE: I think that’s something that we can utilize within our personal and professional lives.
00:00:22.607 –> 00:00:30.087
<v SPEAKER_3>The Leader Assistant Podcast exists to encourage and challenge assistants to become confident, game-changing leader assistants.
00:00:39.476 –> 00:00:43.536
JEREMY: Are you a strategic senior executive assistant thinking about what’s next?
00:00:43.536 –> 00:00:52.336
JEREMY: Whether you’re ready for a promotion or loving the job you’re in, NOVA Chief of Staff’s certification course may be just the resource you’re hungry for.
00:00:52.336 –> 00:01:09.436
JEREMY: With over 400 students across 20 countries and rave reviews, students graduate from NOVA’s hands-on, self-paced online course with the confidence, knowledge, and power to make the move to Chief of Staff for their executive.
00:01:09.436 –> 00:01:10.976
JEREMY: But don’t take my word for it.
00:01:10.976 –> 00:01:20.856
JEREMY: Visit leaderassistant.com/nova to find countless testimonials, the course syllabus, and lots of free resources to support you in your career journey.
00:01:20.856 –> 00:01:26.036
JEREMY: Hey friends, welcome to episode 292 of The Leader Assistant Podcast.
00:01:26.036 –> 00:01:30.616
JEREMY: Your host, Jeremy Burrows, and I’m excited to be speaking with Zoe Hill today.
00:01:30.616 –> 00:01:31.636
JEREMY: Zoe, welcome to the show.
00:01:32.936 –> 00:01:36.416
ZOE: Thank you, real pleasure to be here.
00:01:36.416 –> 00:01:39.756
JEREMY: What part of the world are you in?
00:01:39.756 –> 00:01:46.676
ZOE: I am in the UK, London, just outside in sunny Surrey.
00:01:47.116 –> 00:01:47.456
JEREMY: Awesome.
00:01:47.456 –> 00:01:49.876
JEREMY: Are you from that area?
00:01:49.876 –> 00:01:55.176
ZOE: No, I was actually born and bred in Kent, which is also just outside of London.
00:01:55.176 –> 00:02:00.456
ZOE: I actually moved here during the pandemic, packed up my bags and migrated over with the family.
00:02:00.636 –> 00:02:02.716
ZOE: So, yeah, very nice.
00:02:02.716 –> 00:02:03.656
JEREMY: Awesome.
00:02:03.656 –> 00:02:05.976
JEREMY: Well, we’re super excited to chat with you today.
00:02:05.976 –> 00:02:16.076
JEREMY: What’s maybe something personally you’d like to share, like hobby, kids, pets, favorite thing to do when you’re not working, anything like that?
00:02:16.076 –> 00:02:17.996
ZOE: So I love hiking.
00:02:17.996 –> 00:02:20.976
ZOE: If there’s anything that’s going to clear my head, it’s a hike.
00:02:20.976 –> 00:02:27.476
ZOE: I’ve got a really big hill with a bunch of stairs that I climb up most Sundays, and I absolutely love that.
00:02:29.496 –> 00:02:35.496
ZOE: I just kind of do that on a regular basis, just to refocus and recenter myself.
00:02:35.496 –> 00:02:41.336
ZOE: I’m a massive cook and baker, so my mom used to be a chef, so I learned all my tips and tricks from her.
00:02:41.336 –> 00:02:44.816
ZOE: So I tend to do a lot of hosting of dinners and gatherings.
00:02:45.836 –> 00:02:46.696
ZOE: Yeah, I have a lot of fun.
00:02:46.696 –> 00:02:51.776
ZOE: I actually did my best friend’s wedding cake for her in December.
00:02:51.776 –> 00:02:53.936
ZOE: So yeah, I have a lot of fun doing that.
00:02:53.936 –> 00:02:56.476
ZOE: I could never do it as a job because I think then it would become a chore.
00:02:57.516 –> 00:02:59.736
ZOE: But yeah, great hobby of mine.
00:02:59.736 –> 00:03:01.476
JEREMY: Oh, you’re making me hungry.
00:03:01.476 –> 00:03:02.856
JEREMY: It’s dinner time here.
00:03:02.856 –> 00:03:05.156
JEREMY: I’m like, wow, man, it sounds good.
00:03:05.536 –> 00:03:08.036
JEREMY: I’ll have some wedding cake for dinner.
00:03:08.036 –> 00:03:08.356
ZOE: Do it.
00:03:08.496 –> 00:03:10.256
ZOE: I’ll just ship some over.
00:03:13.216 –> 00:03:16.976
JEREMY: Well, Zoe, tell us a little about your professional journey.
00:03:20.096 –> 00:03:22.436
JEREMY: How did you become an assistant and why did you become an assistant?
00:03:23.916 –> 00:03:31.016
ZOE: Yeah, so I actually became a clerical assistant at school for about three years when I was 18 years old.
00:03:31.016 –> 00:03:32.756
ZOE: I actually never wanted to be an assistant.
00:03:32.756 –> 00:03:37.376
ZOE: I’m just going to be very sort of like out there, I’m brutally honest, but it was a job.
00:03:37.376 –> 00:03:41.576
ZOE: It was really local to home, so I could walk there.
00:03:41.576 –> 00:03:47.116
ZOE: And I actually had a really bad experience at the school as a kid.
00:03:47.116 –> 00:03:53.876
ZOE: But I went back there to work and I actually did a secretarial diploma via the Pittman Training Group whilst I was there.
00:03:53.876 –> 00:03:56.436
ZOE: And that was really great.
00:03:56.436 –> 00:04:05.396
ZOE: But all of my friends were traveling and spending time together, so I knew that I kind of had to get away from that school life.
00:04:05.416 –> 00:04:16.256
ZOE: And I started to think about what my next steps were, so I thought I would continue down the assistant journey, just because it was something that I was kind of doing, I guess.
00:04:16.456 –> 00:04:21.656
ZOE: It was very different from your normal assistant job.
00:04:21.656 –> 00:04:29.576
ZOE: You know, counting dinner money and booking school trips isn’t exactly your everyday scheduling of calendars and travel.
00:04:29.576 –> 00:04:37.076
ZOE: But I all of a sudden found myself a job at JP Morgan, which took about 12 interviews to be able to kind of like get in.
00:04:37.076 –> 00:04:39.416
ZOE: But I got there in the end.
00:04:40.576 –> 00:04:42.916
ZOE: And, you know, I really didn’t like it.
00:04:43.016 –> 00:04:46.476
ZOE: I felt like, you know, the shoes were too big for me to be able to fill.
00:04:46.476 –> 00:04:55.256
ZOE: I didn’t feel like I was, you know, good enough to be able to be in such a huge corporation, you know, somebody with very little experience.
00:04:55.256 –> 00:04:57.876
ZOE: But a woman kind of took me underneath her belt.
00:04:57.876 –> 00:04:59.496
ZOE: I mean, she kind of taught me the ropes.
00:04:59.496 –> 00:05:00.736
ZOE: She wasn’t an assistant herself.
00:05:00.736 –> 00:05:07.396
ZOE: She was actually a managing director, you know, quite high up there in the role at JP Morgan, you know, in middle office.
00:05:07.396 –> 00:05:08.756
ZOE: And I ended up falling in love with the role.
00:05:08.756 –> 00:05:11.116
ZOE: And I actually spent about 12 years at JP Morgan.
00:05:11.536 –> 00:05:21.856
ZOE: I became a manager at the age of 25 and had a team of about four assistants, plus then kind of supporting managers as well.
00:05:22.056 –> 00:05:25.296
ZOE: And shortly after that, I moved into investment banking.
00:05:25.296 –> 00:05:37.756
ZOE: And by the end of my tenure there, I had about or nearly 40 assistants, three bankers, one in venture capital, and then one overseas that was also supporting past project management work.
00:05:37.756 –> 00:05:41.016
ZOE: So it was quite the hefty role, but I absolutely loved it.
00:05:41.016 –> 00:05:44.376
ZOE: Like everything about it was just absolutely amazing.
00:05:44.376 –> 00:05:46.696
ZOE: But then you do kind of think to yourself, okay, so what’s next?
00:05:46.696 –> 00:05:49.016
ZOE: Like, what am I actually going to be doing?
00:05:49.016 –> 00:05:52.636
ZOE: So I never actually anticipated to leave JPMorgan.
00:05:52.636 –> 00:05:57.156
ZOE: I generally thought I was going to retire there, considering I started there at the age of 21.
00:05:57.156 –> 00:06:01.456
ZOE: That was probably quite the naive thought.
00:06:01.456 –> 00:06:05.796
ZOE: But I actually then found myself in a job in social media working with Arcade Media.
00:06:05.796 –> 00:06:08.856
ZOE: So they are the talent agency for the sidemen.
00:06:08.996 –> 00:06:13.716
ZOE: So you might have seen the bottles of Prime with KSI and all of that.
00:06:13.716 –> 00:06:20.276
ZOE: So I ended up working with them on their venture capital side of the business as their Chief of Staff.
00:06:21.516 –> 00:06:25.536
ZOE: Then about a year and a half later, I founded Premier Admin Services.
00:06:25.536 –> 00:06:31.596
ZOE: So I offer mentoring and coaching to the admin population, but I’m also a hybrid virtual assistant.
00:06:31.596 –> 00:06:34.356
ZOE: So what I mean by hybrid is I go and visit my clients as well.
00:06:35.136 –> 00:06:36.456
JEREMY: Oh, interesting.
00:06:36.996 –> 00:06:37.416
JEREMY: Awesome.
00:06:37.416 –> 00:06:40.116
JEREMY: So lots of questions.
00:06:40.116 –> 00:06:44.916
JEREMY: That’s a great rundown of your professional journey.
00:06:44.936 –> 00:06:52.696
JEREMY: The first question is, what is maybe your number one tip for managing multiple assistants?
00:06:52.696 –> 00:06:55.076
JEREMY: You know, managing that team.
00:06:55.076 –> 00:07:01.096
ZOE: Yeah, I think it’s never react to a situation.
00:07:01.096 –> 00:07:03.756
ZOE: You never really know what’s lying underneath the surface.
00:07:03.836 –> 00:07:10.996
ZOE: You never really know what people have going on at home as to why things are actually working out the way that they are.
00:07:10.996 –> 00:07:27.396
ZOE: So one of the top tips that I’ve always done is, you know, if I feel like I need to spend time with a particular assistant, because perhaps, you know, I feel like they’re, you know, not performing the way that they were usually performing at, I would actually not have a meeting with them in the building.
00:07:27.396 –> 00:07:29.836
ZOE: I would actually take them out for coffee.
00:07:29.836 –> 00:07:36.616
ZOE: Unless it was an actual, you know, real serious meeting that I actually had to have, I like to take them away from the building.
00:07:36.616 –> 00:07:38.856
ZOE: You know, it’s mutual territory.
00:07:38.856 –> 00:07:40.896
ZOE: You know, there’s no hierarchy involved.
00:07:40.896 –> 00:07:48.356
ZOE: You know, they feel more comfortable to be able to talk and kind of, you know, really discuss what is actually lying beneath the surface.
00:07:49.376 –> 00:07:55.616
ZOE: And I just found that that really helped with, you know, open communication, true honesty.
00:07:56.976 –> 00:07:58.956
ZOE: It made for real partnership, you know.
00:07:58.956 –> 00:08:05.996
ZOE: When I was, you know, a leader at JP Morgan, I didn’t see myself any different to any other assistant that was sat within that particular team.
00:08:05.996 –> 00:08:08.096
ZOE: And I think that’s something that’s so important.
00:08:08.096 –> 00:08:10.576
ZOE: You know, you are part of that team.
00:08:10.576 –> 00:08:13.756
ZOE: The only difference being is that I’m writing their year-end reviews.
00:08:13.756 –> 00:08:20.556
ZOE: I’m doing their mid-years, you know, I’m making sure the capacity levels are, you know, as they should be.
00:08:20.556 –> 00:08:34.096
ZOE: So it was really important that they understood that I was, you know, I wasn’t there for a hierarchy and you have to remember as well, you know, at the time when I was working in investment banking, I was, you know, 27 to, you know, the age of like 31.
00:08:34.096 –> 00:08:37.016
ZOE: So a lot of my assistants were older than me.
00:08:37.016 –> 00:08:38.696
ZOE: So it was gaining respect.
00:08:38.696 –> 00:08:45.396
ZOE: It was trying to make them understand that actually, you know, I’m part of the team as much as what they are.
00:08:45.396 –> 00:08:51.576
ZOE: So, yeah, having those, you know, meetings outside of the building really made quite the difference.
00:08:53.296 –> 00:08:53.776
JEREMY: That’s great.
00:08:53.776 –> 00:08:57.176
JEREMY: So did you, what was the most challenging part?
00:08:57.176 –> 00:09:01.676
JEREMY: You mentioned, you know, you’re the young, you’re younger than many of them.
00:09:01.676 –> 00:09:11.516
JEREMY: Was there ever, because you had been an assistant before you kind of transitioned into leading the team of assistants, correct?
00:09:11.516 –> 00:09:18.096
JEREMY: So I’m sure that helped like, oh, you know, this is just not some random manager that has never been an assistant before.
00:09:18.916 –> 00:09:24.716
JEREMY: But what was maybe the challenge or one of the bigger challenges in that time?
00:09:24.716 –> 00:09:26.036
ZOE: So, so twofold, I guess.
00:09:26.036 –> 00:09:37.776
ZOE: So when I was in middle office and I first became a manager, there were certain assistants that reported into me that had seen me go from being a real junior assistant to all of a sudden their boss.
00:09:37.776 –> 00:09:43.236
ZOE: That’s quite a hard dynamic to be able, for anyone to be able to comprehend.
00:09:44.456 –> 00:09:46.096
ZOE: So that was really tricky.
00:09:46.096 –> 00:09:54.096
ZOE: And you have to kind of navigate that in the best way that you can and just continue to be yourself.
00:09:54.096 –> 00:10:02.636
ZOE: And then, you know, I made a mistake when I moved into investment banking, I listened to some people as to what investment banking was like.
00:10:02.636 –> 00:10:08.996
ZOE: And I went on with this hard hat and it bit me hard.
00:10:08.996 –> 00:10:12.036
ZOE: And I made some royal mistakes.
00:10:12.036 –> 00:10:19.476
ZOE: But because of that, I learned extremely quickly that you can’t go in with this hard hat into investment banking.
00:10:19.476 –> 00:10:22.956
ZOE: You know, these assistants, you know, they are well trained.
00:10:22.956 –> 00:10:24.556
ZOE: They know exactly what they’re doing.
00:10:24.556 –> 00:10:28.216
ZOE: They don’t need to be told because they are exceptional assistants.
00:10:28.216 –> 00:10:30.696
ZOE: You know, they know how investment banking works.
00:10:30.696 –> 00:10:39.896
ZOE: So what I should have done was just go in, be myself like I had been, and just got to know everybody and observed.
00:10:39.896 –> 00:10:59.836
ZOE: I think that’s one of the key lessons that I’ve definitely learned is before making decisions, make sure that you actually observe everything that’s kind of going on before making changes, trying to get people to move in the way that you feel might actually be a better direction.
00:10:59.836 –> 00:11:02.316
ZOE: But yeah, that was definitely a challenge.
00:11:04.756 –> 00:11:06.136
JEREMY: So that’s great.
00:11:06.136 –> 00:11:18.516
JEREMY: So now my question is, you know, you moved, you left JPMorgan, and you were a Chief of Staff in the other organization Arcade Media.
00:11:18.516 –> 00:11:19.876
JEREMY: So was that intentional?
00:11:19.876 –> 00:11:23.416
JEREMY: Like, I’m going to go try to find a Chief of Staff role.
00:11:23.416 –> 00:11:27.296
JEREMY: Was it I’m going to find a Senior Executive Assistant role, but then this one came up?
00:11:27.296 –> 00:11:31.936
JEREMY: Like, how was that whole, you know, EA to Chief of Staff transition for you?
00:11:31.936 –> 00:11:33.496
ZOE: Yeah, it was really strange, actually.
00:11:33.496 –> 00:11:36.736
ZOE: I never actually thought that I would get a Chief of Staff role.
00:11:36.996 –> 00:11:45.116
ZOE: I, when I was looking at JP Morgan, I was looking at, like, business management, HR, compliance, like all of these different other options.
00:11:45.116 –> 00:11:48.656
ZOE: I mean, again, I had no intention of leaving JP Morgan.
00:11:48.656 –> 00:11:53.336
ZOE: But I kept seeing all of these ads for, like, Chief of Staff roles on LinkedIn.
00:11:53.336 –> 00:11:59.056
ZOE: And, you know, I started to deep dive into it as to what that actually meant.
00:11:59.056 –> 00:12:02.856
ZOE: But I was put off because I didn’t go to university.
00:12:02.856 –> 00:12:05.036
ZOE: I actually left school when I was 15 years old.
00:12:06.376 –> 00:12:14.576
ZOE: And, you know, all of the job roles that were out there for Chief of Staff were around, you know, you had to have this university degree.
00:12:14.576 –> 00:12:16.456
ZOE: And I just didn’t have that.
00:12:16.456 –> 00:12:23.676
ZOE: But when this one role kind of come up with Arcade Media on LinkedIn, I was like, I’m just going to go for it.
00:12:23.676 –> 00:12:27.596
ZOE: I’ve got nothing to lose if I just apply for this particular role.
00:12:27.596 –> 00:12:29.716
ZOE: It could be so different from JP Morgan.
00:12:29.716 –> 00:12:37.516
ZOE: I mean, you’re talking sort of like real corporate finance to all of a sudden working in the world of YouTube and Instagram.
00:12:39.256 –> 00:12:44.716
ZOE: And I just generally thought, I want to be able to give this a go.
00:12:44.716 –> 00:12:57.096
ZOE: And I felt like the experience that I’d got at JP Morgan from a project management standpoint and strategic thinking, that actually I could be quite qualified for the job, even though I didn’t have the university degree.
00:12:58.476 –> 00:13:02.416
ZOE: And yeah, I was successful, but huge change, huge change.
00:13:02.416 –> 00:13:03.816
JEREMY: Yeah.
00:13:03.816 –> 00:13:17.156
JEREMY: What was the biggest difference do you think, or what is the biggest difference that you’ve seen in that transition, in that experience, but then just in general, between the executive assistant title and the chief of staff title?
00:13:17.156 –> 00:13:17.556
ZOE: Yeah.
00:13:17.556 –> 00:13:24.016
ZOE: So I’ve been part of many a panel of events when we’ve kind of spoken about this, and it’s a huge difference.
00:13:24.796 –> 00:13:31.316
ZOE: You’re not doing that calendar, you’re not doing that travel, this is pure business strategic thinking.
00:13:31.316 –> 00:13:39.536
ZOE: So you’re not just thinking about a few weeks, a couple of months, maybe three months ahead of what might happen with your exec.
00:13:39.536 –> 00:13:42.516
ZOE: You’re thinking at least minimum of like 12 months.
00:13:42.516 –> 00:13:44.516
ZOE: Okay, so we’ve got this coming up.
00:13:44.516 –> 00:13:55.036
ZOE: We need to make sure that we’re doing this from a business standpoint, with regards to the KPIs, with regards to sort of like the P&L.
00:13:55.036 –> 00:14:05.916
ZOE: It’s all of that strategic thinking where you can actually turn around and make executive decisions from a business standpoint that says actually, no, we’re not going to be able to hit that target.
00:14:05.916 –> 00:14:13.116
ZOE: Here’s why, and this is the course of action that we need to be able to take and implement to be able to get us to be able to meet those targets.
00:14:14.596 –> 00:14:17.976
ZOE: It was a real change from actually what I was doing.
00:14:18.256 –> 00:14:19.416
ZOE: I loved the Chief of Staff role.
00:14:19.416 –> 00:14:25.816
ZOE: I thought it was absolutely fabulous, but I did miss doing that EA work.
00:14:25.816 –> 00:14:35.436
ZOE: You work really closely with somebody anyway from a Chief of Staff standpoint, but it’s a very different look and feel in comparison to the EA role.
00:14:37.476 –> 00:14:37.776
JEREMY: Nice.
00:14:37.776 –> 00:14:38.216
JEREMY: That’s awesome.
00:14:38.216 –> 00:14:39.516
JEREMY: Thanks for sharing.
00:14:41.356 –> 00:14:48.156
JEREMY: I’m really interested to hear, so what made you want to jump from that Chief of Staff role?
00:14:48.156 –> 00:14:57.316
JEREMY: You said you missed some of those tasks, but to your founding your own admin services company, and give us a little bit more insight.
00:14:58.716 –> 00:15:02.336
JEREMY: Do you have virtual assistants that work for you to help clients?
00:15:02.336 –> 00:15:07.856
JEREMY: Are you a virtual assistant or a hybrid assistant, as you said, for clients?
00:15:07.856 –> 00:15:09.076
JEREMY: Is it a little bit of both?
00:15:09.076 –> 00:15:10.156
JEREMY: What’s the structure there?
00:15:11.656 –> 00:15:24.216
ZOE: Yeah, so probably about mid-last year in 2023, I actually had one of my previous assistants turn around and say to me, why haven’t you founded your own business yet?
00:15:25.416 –> 00:15:27.876
ZOE: I didn’t really take it seriously.
00:15:27.876 –> 00:15:39.256
ZOE: But then actually when I started to look at the gaps in the market as to where perhaps I could add value, I actually presented the idea to my brother in January of this year.
00:15:40.356 –> 00:15:45.896
ZOE: And within about three days, everything was kind of built.
00:15:45.896 –> 00:15:51.676
ZOE: And the foundation of Premier Admin Services is purely just to be able to help people.
00:15:51.676 –> 00:15:54.796
ZOE: And that’s exactly what we’re looking to do there.
00:15:55.296 –> 00:16:09.016
ZOE: You know, whether it’s from a mentoring and coaching standpoint to help assistants be able to grow and unlock their potential, or whether it’s to go into small businesses and already mentor and coach their established EAs that they have.
00:16:09.016 –> 00:16:14.176
ZOE: They want to invest time, but they don’t know how to because they don’t have the expertise.
00:16:14.176 –> 00:16:16.996
ZOE: Then that’s something that I offer as well.
00:16:16.996 –> 00:16:21.736
ZOE: And then, yeah, more recently, I’ve done the Hybrid Virtual Assistant.
00:16:21.736 –> 00:16:24.156
ZOE: So I do have a few clients.
00:16:25.036 –> 00:16:28.336
ZOE: I specialize in venture capital and influences.
00:16:28.336 –> 00:16:31.136
ZOE: Venture capital is something that I really do enjoy.
00:16:31.136 –> 00:16:32.256
ZOE: I understand it.
00:16:32.256 –> 00:16:35.596
ZOE: I find it to be really fulfilling.
00:16:35.596 –> 00:16:40.496
ZOE: And yeah, so we’ll have what Premier Admin Services will offer is kind of two-fold.
00:16:40.496 –> 00:16:51.056
ZOE: You’ll have two different types of assistants working on the business side, you know, also non-profit businesses, but also assistants who will help out influencers.
00:16:51.056 –> 00:16:59.836
ZOE: You know, they’re a growing business YouTubers, you know, and they need the same sort of support as one, you know, a business does like venture capital.
00:17:05.475 –> 00:17:06.395
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JEREMY: So your hybrid model, so tell us how that works.
00:17:55.735 –> 00:18:03.315
JEREMY: Is it dependent upon the needs of the client or is it like, hey, I’m going to come into your office once a week?
00:18:03.315 –> 00:18:04.975
JEREMY: How does that work?
00:18:04.975 –> 00:18:07.575
ZOE: Yeah, so I’m quite forceful on that actually.
00:18:07.575 –> 00:18:09.575
ZOE: I love meeting people.
00:18:09.575 –> 00:18:11.715
ZOE: I’m not just a robot behind a screen.
00:18:11.715 –> 00:18:17.635
ZOE: I have a personality and I just feel like you can get so much done when you’re actually talking.
00:18:17.635 –> 00:18:27.455
ZOE: If we think about emotional intelligence, I can read somebody’s body language and really understand what their stress levels are if I’m sat physically in front of them.
00:18:27.455 –> 00:18:33.635
ZOE: Normally, I see my clients each maybe once or twice a month, and I spend the entire day with them.
00:18:33.635 –> 00:18:40.135
ZOE: I either drive to them or if they’re in London, I just catch a train and go and sit with them for the day and with the team.
00:18:40.135 –> 00:18:44.555
ZOE: What that means is that I’m able to fast-track my relationship with them.
00:18:44.555 –> 00:18:46.875
ZOE: I’m able to really get to know them.
00:18:46.875 –> 00:18:50.155
ZOE: I go to their events, I go to their conferences.
00:18:50.155 –> 00:18:58.475
ZOE: Everything that they’ve got going on, I am physically there, I am present, I am visible, so that they always know that I am around.
00:18:58.475 –> 00:19:01.815
ZOE: I’m not just this person that they’re texting.
00:19:01.815 –> 00:19:03.775
ZOE: That’s what Premier Admin Services is all about.
00:19:03.775 –> 00:19:14.375
ZOE: It’s ensuring that you get that hospitality service and that the clients that we do have, they’re able to really fill that.
00:19:14.375 –> 00:19:17.675
ZOE: I don’t want it to be just a tick box exercise.
00:19:17.675 –> 00:19:28.855
ZOE: I want them to know that if they hire their own assistant who was in the office every single day, they’re going to get the exact same thing from having a virtual assistant as well.
00:19:28.855 –> 00:19:30.055
JEREMY: Nice.
00:19:32.395 –> 00:19:33.435
JEREMY: It’s pretty interesting.
00:19:33.435 –> 00:19:46.275
JEREMY: I really like how you do that because you’re essentially spending that time building that relational rent, building that camaraderie with the team, but then you’re also working from home getting stuff done.
00:19:48.155 –> 00:19:48.995
ZOE: Yes.
00:19:48.995 –> 00:19:49.815
ZOE: Absolutely.
00:19:49.815 –> 00:19:51.435
ZOE: It’s great working from home.
00:19:51.435 –> 00:19:57.235
ZOE: I’ve got three screens set up, so I get a lot done at home.
00:19:57.235 –> 00:20:04.015
ZOE: I was never somebody who liked working from home, but I do like to mix it up and work from different locations.
00:20:04.015 –> 00:20:06.235
ZOE: It makes it more productive.
00:20:06.235 –> 00:20:07.335
JEREMY: Awesome.
00:20:07.335 –> 00:20:30.775
JEREMY: Then what’s something that, I’m looking at the website, Premier Admin Services, and I’ll put this website and your LinkedIn and everything in the show notes at leaderassistant.com/292, leaderassistant.com/292, so that you all can check out Zoe’s resources and reach out and say hi.
00:20:30.775 –> 00:20:33.075
JEREMY: But tell me about your mentoring services.
00:20:34.495 –> 00:20:37.795
JEREMY: What’s the more popular use case for mentoring?
00:20:37.795 –> 00:20:40.635
JEREMY: Who are the ideal mentees?
00:20:41.835 –> 00:20:42.395
ZOE: Yeah, of course.
00:20:42.395 –> 00:20:44.955
ZOE: So I mentor anyone.
00:20:44.955 –> 00:20:49.855
ZOE: Anyone that needs help, that wants help, that wants to unlock their potential.
00:20:49.855 –> 00:20:57.955
ZOE: And I do it not just from a career standpoint, I also mix in that personal as well, because I always feel like there is, especially with an assistant, there is that crossover.
00:20:57.955 –> 00:21:05.235
ZOE: If we talk about imposter syndrome, for example, when we talk about sort of like confidence, that is always overlapped.
00:21:05.235 –> 00:21:15.075
ZOE: And so if we’re able to conquer different scenarios in our personal lives, it makes it sometimes a little bit easier to be able to then face things from a career standpoint.
00:21:16.455 –> 00:21:18.135
ZOE: So, you know, and it’s also international.
00:21:18.135 –> 00:21:24.675
ZOE: So, you know, I’ve had clients, you know, from a mentee standpoint in like Germany, which has been super fun.
00:21:24.675 –> 00:21:26.615
ZOE: So those ones are obviously always virtual.
00:21:28.295 –> 00:21:38.135
ZOE: But what I guess that I do differently is that my prices direct to assistants are in line with assistant salaries.
00:21:38.135 –> 00:21:46.455
ZOE: And I think because if somebody wants to have help, the first thing that they’re going to think about is, can I actually invest in myself?
00:21:46.455 –> 00:21:50.335
ZOE: Do I have the financials to be able to invest in myself?
00:21:50.335 –> 00:22:13.595
ZOE: That’s why I tailored those particular prices to match the assistant population so that they can actually unlock their potential just by having another voice who they don’t actually really know that well and can deliver a message in a, I’m going to tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear type approach.
00:22:13.595 –> 00:22:27.915
ZOE: And then from a business standpoint, those very dependent on what sort of business that it is, what it is that they’re actually looking to do, whether they’re looking to implement a new career roadmap for assistance, for example.
00:22:27.915 –> 00:22:43.115
ZOE: So that’s something that I look into as well and help with businesses to be able to make sure that they’ve actually got a projectory for assistance and actually a promotion platform for assistance to be able to work up because we all want to achieve something.
00:22:43.115 –> 00:22:46.315
ZOE: We all want to kind of aspire to something.
00:22:46.315 –> 00:22:47.335
ZOE: What are the next steps?
00:22:47.335 –> 00:22:48.115
ZOE: What are the goals?
00:22:48.115 –> 00:22:55.135
ZOE: If the business is unable to align to that, that means the assistant themselves has to kind of write down their own job descriptions.
00:22:55.135 –> 00:22:57.815
ZOE: They have to write down their own career roadmap.
00:22:57.815 –> 00:23:04.215
ZOE: But by hiring somebody like myself to be able to come in and actually deliver those services anyway, that’s then done.
00:23:04.215 –> 00:23:07.455
ZOE: And it’s something that the assistant doesn’t really have to worry about too much.
00:23:07.455 –> 00:23:17.475
ZOE: All they have to do is making sure that, you know, they aspire to the goals of the business that has been been written out in a very clear and defined assistant career roadmap.
00:23:19.235 –> 00:23:19.695
JEREMY: Love it.
00:23:19.695 –> 00:23:20.075
JEREMY: Love it.
00:23:20.075 –> 00:23:27.395
JEREMY: I love what you mentioned about how, you know, assistants, we have to sometimes and oftentimes write our own job description.
00:23:28.755 –> 00:23:31.535
JEREMY: We’re self-managed in a lot of us.
00:23:31.535 –> 00:23:40.895
JEREMY: So you have to own your career and you have to really, you know, literally write your own job description, write your promotion.
00:23:40.895 –> 00:23:54.075
JEREMY: Like I’ve told, I coach, I coach assistants and there’s a couple I was talking to over the last couple of weeks and, you know, I’m like, you know what, this is the perfect transition, the business is growing, things are going well.
00:23:55.375 –> 00:24:03.715
JEREMY: Don’t go to your HR department or go to your executive and say, hey, I’m ready for a new job description and a new title change and a compensation increase.
00:24:03.715 –> 00:24:13.935
JEREMY: No, instead, actually write the new job description, write the new title, you know, do some research on the compensation, then go to them and say, hey, I already did all the work for you.
00:24:13.935 –> 00:24:14.855
JEREMY: All you have to do is sign off.
00:24:15.835 –> 00:24:17.475
ZOE: Exactly that, exactly that.
00:24:17.475 –> 00:24:23.255
ZOE: Then let’s not forget about actually the job description as assistants, that isn’t actually written down.
00:24:23.255 –> 00:24:25.975
ZOE: All of those in-between things that we actually do.
00:24:25.975 –> 00:24:31.135
ZOE: It might be something stupid like, do you know what I’ve seen you’ve been in meetings all day long, here’s a cup of coffee.
00:24:31.135 –> 00:24:38.635
ZOE: Do you know it’s those tender loving care things that assistants do, which is what I absolutely love about the role.
00:24:38.635 –> 00:24:45.435
ZOE: It’s that unwritten job description that all assistants know about, but businesses don’t actually know anything about at all.
00:24:45.435 –> 00:24:46.575
JEREMY: Yeah.
00:24:46.575 –> 00:24:48.095
<v SPEAKER_3>Well said.
00:24:48.095 –> 00:24:53.735
JEREMY: Well, Zoe, this has been super fun and sounds like you’re doing some good things.
00:24:53.735 –> 00:25:04.115
JEREMY: What was maybe the push that, I know there are assistants listening and they reach out to me all the time.
00:25:04.115 –> 00:25:26.395
JEREMY: I’m in this full-time assistant grind and I want to be my own boss, and I want to take the leap from having health insurance and all the safe things, and I want to take a risk and I want to run my own business and I want to run my own virtual assistant firm and I want to get clients on my own and I want to have my own schedule.
00:25:27.095 –> 00:25:33.195
JEREMY: What was that push that got you to do that and what do you recommend to those people considering that leap?
00:25:33.195 –> 00:25:33.755
ZOE: Yeah.
00:25:33.755 –> 00:25:37.515
ZOE: I think my push really was my brother.
00:25:38.095 –> 00:25:46.075
ZOE: I think if it wasn’t for my brother kind of being like here like you need to do this, like this is an amazing opportunity and you have all of the skill set.
00:25:46.075 –> 00:25:53.275
ZOE: So if you like it was an outside voice that kind of put me in my place as to come on Zoe, you can do this.
00:25:53.275 –> 00:25:57.715
ZOE: Like you stop being what are you so afraid of if it fails, you’ll get another job.
00:25:57.715 –> 00:26:01.775
ZOE: You have 16 plus years experience being an assistant.
00:26:01.775 –> 00:26:06.335
ZOE: So you could just get another job doing an assistant role.
00:26:06.455 –> 00:26:10.415
ZOE: But if you don’t try this now, you’re going to regret it for the rest of your life.
00:26:10.415 –> 00:26:14.255
ZOE: And it’s always going to be that what-if moment.
00:26:14.255 –> 00:26:25.595
ZOE: But I think from building Premier Admin Services, something that I have definitely learned is make sure that you do as much due diligence and research as you possibly can.
00:26:25.595 –> 00:26:26.175
ZOE: Network.
00:26:26.175 –> 00:26:27.615
ZOE: Networking is absolutely key.
00:26:27.615 –> 00:26:36.455
ZOE: So speak to other VAs who have agencies, speak to other VAs who are part of agencies, speak to clients as well.
00:26:36.455 –> 00:26:37.635
ZOE: This is something that I did.
00:26:37.635 –> 00:26:49.635
ZOE: So that’s why I decided I wanted to be a hybrid virtual assistant because they turn around and say, actually, it would be really nice to be able to see the assistant every once in a while, have them integrated as part of the team.
00:26:49.635 –> 00:26:55.575
ZOE: So speak to those people, really understand what it is that you could then deliver.
00:26:55.575 –> 00:26:59.535
ZOE: Speak to accountants as well, understand how all of the finances work.
00:26:59.535 –> 00:27:02.035
ZOE: We all know an accountant that we can speak to.
00:27:03.995 –> 00:27:08.955
ZOE: Yeah, and just kind of make sure that you do your research and get yourself a business coach as well.
00:27:09.295 –> 00:27:13.815
ZOE: I did, I actually have a couple and they are phenomenal.
00:27:13.815 –> 00:27:16.175
ZOE: You know, there is nothing wrong with asking for help.
00:27:16.175 –> 00:27:21.075
ZOE: And I think that as assistants, we tend not to do that because we are the problem solvers.
00:27:21.075 –> 00:27:24.335
ZOE: But when you own your own business, you need to ask for help.
00:27:24.335 –> 00:27:25.675
ZOE: You need that.
00:27:27.235 –> 00:27:30.855
JEREMY: Yeah, and that’s very, very important.
00:27:31.635 –> 00:27:48.575
JEREMY: I did a lot of asking for help, especially early on, and I did a lot of research and I was just basically figuring things out and trying to find people that had done what I was trying to do and learn from them and get them to at least point me in the right direction.
00:27:48.575 –> 00:27:51.355
JEREMY: So that’s a huge, huge part of it for sure.
00:27:52.775 –> 00:27:54.715
JEREMY: Well, Zoe, thanks again for being on the show.
00:27:54.715 –> 00:27:56.815
JEREMY: It’s been a great conversation.
00:27:56.815 –> 00:28:08.555
JEREMY: For those listening, you can reach out to Zoe at premieradminservices.com and I’ll put her LinkedIn URL as well as her website URL at leaderassistant.com/292.
00:28:11.035 –> 00:28:15.835
JEREMY: Please do reach out to Zoe and she’s got lots of great resources on her website.
00:28:16.615 –> 00:28:18.975
JEREMY: Yeah, it’d be great for you all to connect with her.
00:28:18.975 –> 00:28:20.415
JEREMY: So Zoe, thanks again.
00:28:20.415 –> 00:28:26.195
JEREMY: Is there anything, any famous last words you’d like to share with the assistants of the world?
00:28:27.615 –> 00:28:29.855
ZOE: There are no mistakes in life, just lessons.
00:28:29.855 –> 00:28:33.595
ZOE: So as long as you’re learning, nothing’s a mistake.
00:28:33.595 –> 00:28:34.335
JEREMY: Love it.
00:28:34.335 –> 00:28:37.115
JEREMY: It’s almost like you were ready for me to put you on the spot.
00:28:37.115 –> 00:28:37.835
JEREMY: I love it.
00:28:37.835 –> 00:28:40.195
ZOE: There you go.
00:28:40.195 –> 00:28:45.355
JEREMY: Well, best of luck to you and thanks again for taking time out of your evening.
00:28:47.175 –> 00:28:49.735
JEREMY: We’ll look forward to staying in touch.
00:28:49.735 –> 00:28:50.175
ZOE: Pleasure.
00:28:50.175 –> 00:28:51.155
ZOE: Thank you so much for having me.
00:29:02.193 –> 00:29:04.853
<v SPEAKER_3>Please review on Apple Podcasts.
00:29:11.288 –> 00:29:12.968
<v SPEAKER_4>goburrows.com.
