In this episode of The Leader Assistant Podcast, I chat with Rachel Clissold, a coach and consultant based in Australia who helps leaders gain clarity and communicate more effectively.
Rachel shares her professional journey, starting as a team administrator managing hundreds of staff and transitioning into an executive assistant role. We explore the unique rewards of being a “sidekick” to executives, the art of making the impossible possible, and how assistants can lean into their intuition to navigate high-pressure situations. Rachel also opens up about her personal path to finding her voice and overcoming past limitations, explaining how she now uses that experience to help others master communication and live authentically.
LEADERSHIP QUOTE
When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.
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ABOUT RACHEL
Rachel Clissold helps leaders see what they’re not seeing and say what needs to be said. Known for her precision and directness, she cuts to the core of complex situations and creates immediate shifts. Her work is for those at a point where something needs to move.
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
00:22 Jeremy Burrows
Hey, friends, welcome to the Leader Assistant podcast. It’s your host, Jeremy Burrows, and it’s episode 385. You can check out the show notes for this conversation at leaderassistant.com/385.
00:36 Jeremy Burrows
Today, I am very excited to be speaking with Rachel Clissold. Rachel helps leaders see what they’re not seeing and say what needs to be said. Rachel, welcome to the show.
00:47 Rachel Clissold
Thank you. Super excited to be here all the way from down under Australia.
00:50 Jeremy Burrows
Yeah. So Australia.
00:53 Jeremy Burrows
What part? What part of Australia?
00:56 Rachel Clissold
So I’m 20 minutes south of the New South Wales Queensland border. So on the east coast in a beautiful little coastal town.
01:04 Jeremy Burrows
Nice. Are you from that area?
01:07 Rachel Clissold
No, I moved from Sydney in December last year. So this is like a whole new playing field for me. It’s wonderful living like immersed in nature. It’s just spectacular.
01:19 Jeremy Burrows
Love it. So what do you like to do when you’re not working?
01:24 Rachel Clissold
I love to get up at sunrise, go for a walk, go sit with the headland, go to my local coffee shop and like hang out with the retirees and just explore the region. It’s just magical here. Like think like Hawaii, but in Australia. Yeah.
01:44 Jeremy Burrows
Nice, nice. I’ve been to Hawaii. I have not been to Australia yet. So looking forward to it.
01:48 Rachel Clissold
Well, sounds like you need to add it to the bucket list. I can give you a few pointers.
01:52 Jeremy Burrows
Definitely. Sounds great. Well, let’s jump right in. I’m really excited to have you on the show. And, you know, you tell us a little about your career journey and your history as an assistant and all the different roles you’ve had. And yeah, just tell us your story.
02:08 Rachel Clissold
Sure. So I kind of stepped out of like casual kind of work into the corporate world.
02:17 Rachel Clissold
And I kicked off the journey being a team administrator, which…
02:24 Rachel Clissold
In my experience, it’s probably more hardcore than being an executive assistant because you’re looking after hundreds of people versus one or two or three. So you’ve got a lot more balls to juggle in the air, so to speak. But I really love that role because that really…
02:42 Rachel Clissold
skyrocketed my experience and the foundation of the integrity of my work as an administrator, like let’s just call it EA. And yeah, for me, I really thrive when I’m with people like that’s my jam.
03:01 Rachel Clissold
So yeah, I was, I think how many people was I looking after at that point? It was roughly 70 to 80 people. Yeah.
03:11 Rachel Clissold
So I’m not sure how much detail you want me to go into with that.
03:13 Jeremy Burrows
I mean, I have all kinds of questions if you’re supporting 70, 80 people.
03:19 Jeremy Burrows
Were you doing 70 calendars or is it, you know, what was the extent?
03:25 Rachel Clissold
Sure. It was more so they were sales reps. So it was onboarding them. So it was organizing their mobile phones, their warehouses, their supplies, their like username setups, training them.
03:39 Rachel Clissold
And I also organized the conferences as well around Australia. So that part as well, doing their expenses, making sure they’re like submitting their data online.
03:51 Rachel Clissold
So I kind of took it on board to make it fun. because obviously not a lot of people like data.
03:58 Rachel Clissold
So I’d make it cheeky and put in jokes and just get people inspired to do the work.
04:04 Jeremy Burrows
Nice.
04:05 Jeremy Burrows
Nice. So how long did you do that? And then kind of did you transition into a more traditional assistant role or what was the journey from there?
04:13 Rachel Clissold
Sure. I was in that role for two years.
04:18 Rachel Clissold
And then I can’t remember how far into it, but I got promoted to train people in salesforce.com.
04:26 Rachel Clissold
So I took that on board. And then…
04:32 Rachel Clissold
After that, I stepped into another team administrator role, and that was looking after up to 500 people. And then within that company, that’s when they were like, oh, you’re really good at what you do. And then I stepped into the personal assistant role.
04:49 Rachel Clissold
whilst also doing the team administration work. So I had that one person I was looking after as well as the up to 500 other people.
04:59 Jeremy Burrows
Wow. So how did that work then? Was it just a separate side gig or the personal assistant stuff?
05:08 Rachel Clissold
No, it was within the same company.
05:10 Jeremy Burrows
Okay.
05:11 Rachel Clissold
Yeah. Yeah.
05:14 Rachel Clissold
And then that’s when I stepped into the personal assistant stuff. And then it kind of evolved into the executive assistant over a couple of years.
05:22 Jeremy Burrows
Gotcha. Any, you know, interesting, funny, wild stories from your personal assistant slash executive assistant time?
05:33 Rachel Clissold
Yeah.
05:37 Rachel Clissold
I guess what’s coming up with that is some of the partners were quite inappropriate. So that was pretty awful to be experiencing, which I’m sure a lot of women out there have encountered as well.
05:53 Rachel Clissold
So that was an interesting, it happened like twice. That was in London where they were just, the director’s partners were just being inappropriate. And yeah, I’m just like, yuck.
06:10 Rachel Clissold
But funny stories.
06:12 Rachel Clissold
One of my favorite supports was a gentleman. He was Irish and just like so jovial, so fun. And he had four boys and whenever he went on holidays, I’d tell him off. And he was like the business unit leaderhead. So he had a lot of pressure, a lot of like emails and things to tend to. And I’m like, dude, if you look at your emails, you’re going to have me to deal with. The only person you are to respond to is me. And you know something’s up if I’m reaching out to you.
06:43 Jeremy Burrows
Right.
06:44 Rachel Clissold
So, like, really just, like, because they need a break too. Otherwise, what’s the point in going on holiday if you’re not switching off? So, yeah, I think the beauty of, I guess, being front of line for them is that you get to tell them off as well.
07:04
Yeah.
07:06 Jeremy Burrows
Yeah, tell them no, tell them what to do, right?
07:09 Rachel Clissold
100%, yeah.
07:10 Jeremy Burrows
So what was your favorite part about assisting and supporting executives and teams?
07:23 Rachel Clissold
I guess making the impossible possible. I remember Barry, he came to me, he’s like, hey, can you get, let’s just call it, I can’t remember, like just 10 people. Can you get a meeting with 10 other people? Yeah.
07:34 Rachel Clissold
And I’m like, dude, your diary is like back to back and they’re all busy people with back to back to back to back. Like, how are we going to make this work? One person’s really hard, let alone 10 people. And I guess, yeah, making the impossible possible. I’m like, sure, let’s do it. No worries. So I guess just being there and,
07:52 Rachel Clissold
you know, we have the privilege to look under the bonnet and be their sidekick. Right. So for me, it’s like the people, the connection, the, um, like making their life easier and better. Yeah. And being able to see issues before they present themselves as well and be like, Hey, we need to watch out for this.
08:16 Jeremy Burrows
Nice.
08:17 Jeremy Burrows
Yes, I agree. I agree. That’s one of the big things I like about the role as well is just helping my executive, just in general helping, but then specifically accomplish his goals and reach certain milestones. And it’s just fun to be a part of the journey and helping them reach their heights that they want to reach. Yeah.
08:45 Rachel Clissold
A hundred percent. And they couldn’t do it without us. We’re just as important as they are, really. Like, sure, they’re the one doing the thing, but without us there, good luck.
08:55 Jeremy Burrows
Right, right. Exactly.
08:57 Rachel Clissold
All due respect to them. That’s just the truth of the matter, right?
09:02 Jeremy Burrows
Yeah.
09:03 Jeremy Burrows
So, okay. So then what are you up to now? Tell us a little bit about, you know, are you still supporting in an assistant role or what are you up to now?
09:15 Rachel Clissold
uh technically yes but in a completely different way um it’s more in the personal way so like um helping leaders overcome their traumas or illnesses or like limitations from their past that are stopping them from reaching those heights you were talking about right so um
09:38 Rachel Clissold
Which spills out to all areas of their life, their relationships with their partner, with their children, with themselves, with their colleagues and the work that they’re outputting. So it’s like almost like taking the car to the mechanic that we’re doing the internal work.
09:57 Jeremy Burrows
Gotcha. Yeah.
09:59 Jeremy Burrows
Nice. So how do you, like practically, how do people work with you? Do you just, is it more like a coaching? Is it a consulting? Is it what’s kind of the how does that look?
10:14 Rachel Clissold
D all the above is like coaching and consulting. Um, so we, uh, do it over the zoom and then I’ll also bring people to the region as well. Um, and I, we do like an immersive experience where we’re in nature and, um, doing transformative work by just returning to the nature of who we are and like coming to stillness and like feeling the healing energy of the lands. So it’s, um,
10:42 Rachel Clissold
Really quite beautiful, you know, just like that stillness. Yeah.
10:47 Jeremy Burrows
That’s great. So let’s talk about maybe, you know, of course, assistants listening are having to navigate executives and teams and high pressure situations, high stakes moments, um,
11:07 Jeremy Burrows
And, you know, we as assistants have to use our intuition and we have to discern and read the room and navigate all that. So talk to us a little bit about using intuition to navigate these pressure situations and these difficult leaders. Yeah.
11:25 Rachel Clissold
Okay.
11:27 Rachel Clissold
One thing that comes to mind, it wasn’t actually in an assistant role, but I feel the intuitive piece is relevant. So I was on a job and it was just handing out flyers.
11:41 Rachel Clissold
And I have integrity in my work. I know what I’m doing and I get in and I do the thing and I could feel the manager was like death staring me from behind. And I’m just like, okay.
11:55 Rachel Clissold
And she pulled me aside and she was just like quite aggressive with her words. And I just called her out on it and I just expressed my side.
12:10 Rachel Clissold
And I guess like with the intuitive piece, it’s like you know what’s going on and it’s having the courage and the ability to stand up and speak the truth.
12:21 Rachel Clissold
And in that moment when I did that, she actually respected me more and she backed off. She shared her side and then we kind of like, and I took that on board. I was like, okay. And then she backed off and I was like, I can leave right now. But I’m going to stay because we’ve nutted that piece out, you know. So it’s just like, yeah, having the ability to execute what you’re seeing.
12:55 Rachel Clissold
And not in an emotional way, in a way that they’re going to be able to hear you. And obviously that’s an art, right? Sometimes it can be hard to stand up to bullies or people that have those strong characters. But in my experience, they respect you more for it.
13:14 SPEAKER_03
Yeah. Yeah.
13:15 Jeremy Burrows
So essentially saying things or saying the thing that no one else will say.
13:20
100%.
13:20 Rachel Clissold
Yeah, when everybody can see what’s going on and it’s like somebody’s got to have that courage to stand up and that’s like that’s what we’re there for, right, to make things better.
13:31 Jeremy Burrows
Right.
13:33 Jeremy Burrows
What do you think keeps people from being the one to speak up and say the thing that no one else will?
13:40 Rachel Clissold
That’s a whole can of worms question right there.
13:44 Rachel Clissold
The lack of confidence, the lack of self-esteem, people pleasing, childhood issues, scared to speak up.
13:53 Rachel Clissold
Yeah, there’s like a whole plethora of reasons, like PTSD from stepping up before and being told off for it. So it does take a lot of courage to stand up and speak up against things that you’re seeing.
14:12 SPEAKER_03
Yeah.
14:12 Rachel Clissold
And bringing truth. But by doing that, it changes the room, right? Yeah.
14:20 Jeremy Burrows
Well, and I think that as assistants, especially, we have such a unique perspective on what’s going on.
14:29
100%.
14:29 Rachel Clissold
Yeah. And so, you know, we see a little bit more than…
14:39 Jeremy Burrows
Or sometimes a lot more than what the other people in the room are seeing.
14:44 Jeremy Burrows
And so how do you how do you encourage leaders and assistants like to, to grow in their confidence? Or how do you help rebuild that, that courage?
14:57 Rachel Clissold
Sure. I guess, ooh, just getting goosebumps.
15:02 Rachel Clissold
Being in the right environment definitely helps.
15:05 Rachel Clissold
If you’re in an environment where people will listen and take it on board and pivot with your expression, like that makes things so much easier versus an environment where you’re shut down, dismissed, denied. So I guess, first of all, putting yourself in the right environment is,
15:26 Rachel Clissold
And equally, it takes practice. You know, it’s like when you if you feel the shrink away, that’s when you lean in. So it could be simple as like maybe taking a step back, having a breather and then stepping into it or writing it down or breathing. yeah there’s so many different ways that you can practice the art of communication like even saying it to a friend like hey can i practice with you um or you know you could pre-frame it i feel a little bit uncomfortable expressing this right now do you have capacity to hear what i need to say and like i find pre-framing it in ways like that creates a safety kind of boundary for you to lean into that
16:17 Rachel Clissold
I feel like I could keep talking about that part. I think it’s simply just the art of leaning in and speaking.
16:32 Rachel Clissold
That, that, that’s it. Just open your mouth and let the, even if you’re like shaking, I remember when I first started and my whole, I’d like my whole body would shake and I would cry and like, and now I can lean into those difficult conversations, even when it’s uncomfortable, you know?
16:49 Rachel Clissold
And that’s, that’s just practice. Yeah.
16:51 Jeremy Burrows
Yeah, I was going to say, I like what you said about practicing with a friend or someone that’s safe. And, you know, I’ve talked to my son about, he plays baseball, he plays violin. You know, my other son plays soccer. And it’s like, I’m not very good at this. And I’m like, well, have you practiced that? You know, have you tried that out at home? Like, you know, well, I can’t really shoot very well with my left foot. I’m like, well, have you practiced shooting into the goal with your left foot at home? No, not really. Well, there you go. So it’s like, Hey, I’m not very good at speaking in public. Well, have you tried to speak in your car? That’s the start, right? You can at least do it in a safer environment and then branch out.
17:38 Rachel Clissold
A hundred percent.
17:40 Jeremy Burrows
Yes.
17:42 Jeremy Burrows
Awesome. Well, what would you like to offer to assistants listening? Is there a way that they can connect and reach out or something that you’d love to help them with? But, you know, just tell us a little bit more about, you know, if an assistant’s listening and what you’re saying is resonating and they want to reach out, how would you like them to do that?
18:05 Rachel Clissold
Oh, they can find me on LinkedIn. So I’m guessing you’ll have my name on the show notes.
18:11 SPEAKER_03
Yep.
18:11 Rachel Clissold
The show notes, yeah. So you can just find me on LinkedIn and just pop me a message and we can have a chat.
18:20 Rachel Clissold
I guess what’s coming through with that is mastering the art of communication and the confidence to use your voice. Like I guess to give you a direct example, I used to barely say hello. Like I used to drink to find my confidence.
18:39 Rachel Clissold
And now four years sober and I’m able to walk up to powerful people and open up conversations. So I have walked the walk and now I talk the talk.
18:50 Rachel Clissold
So I help people find their voice and their confidence and yeah, just living their truth and aligning with truth and,
19:01 Rachel Clissold
And it’s wonderful to watch what opens up when you just allow yourself to speak and speak your truth. And it’s like the people that don’t resonate will drop away. So you might even like decide I’m not aligned with this job anymore. My boss is really not very nice to me. I deserve better than this for what I bring to the table. Or it could even just simply be getting a promotion because you’re amazing and you love where you are.
19:30 Rachel Clissold
So I guess everybody’s different and every situation is going to need different attention. So, yeah, help people really find their edge and their art to express themselves.
19:41 Jeremy Burrows
Love it. Love it. Well, thanks again, Rachel. If anyone wants to reach out, you can find Rachel’s LinkedIn and I’ll put your Instagram on there as well. And that’s at leaderassistant.com/385 to connect and reach out to Rachel and
20:04 Jeremy Burrows
And yeah, appreciate your time and sharing a little bit of your story. And yeah, we’ll hopefully connect again in the future and definitely have Australia on my bucket list as far as travel is concerned.
20:17 Rachel Clissold
Oh, yeah. Thanks, Jeremy.
