People often think being an Executive Assistant means managing calendars and booking flights. Yeah sure I do that, but I also read term sheets at midnight, gatekeep billionaires, coordinate investor dinners on two hours ntoice and quietly kill half-baked ideas before they waste a second of my CEO’s time. I’m not just managing logistics. I’m protecting time, energy, and momentum. I’m the first firewall and the last line of defence.
I never planned on getting this role; I came to the job market fresh out of college with a marketing degree and dreams filled with ambition. I stumbled upon the assistant role at a startup because I was good at organising chaos. That startup was acquired. Then, I joined Series B at the time because I liked the founder’s vision. Now, we’re valued at over $4 billion and growing. My job has growth with this and so has the intensity.
There is no typical day in my job, sometimes it starts as early as 5 am on a call and others with a coffee split on my laptop because I’m frantically rescheduling back-to-back meetings. Google Calendar crashing, a keynote speaker ghosting at a launch party, or a missing deck before the investor meeting are many of the few things I have handled. There are days when I feel that this isn’t going to work, and I cry over everything.
And my boss? Brilliant. Relentless. He remembers everything, expects immediate context, and has no patience for fluff. Working with him means thinking three steps ahead about what’s next, what could go wrong, and who needs to be looped in before he even asks. I’ve learned to anticipate his moods from his Slack punctuation.
But what many people miss out on is how much influence an EA can have. I see how the entire organisation works; I know who works where, who is angling for a promotion, and who needs to get one, and I know what is brewing around the office at all times. I know which board members are helpful and which ones just like to hear themselves talk. I’ve quietly nudged execs to clarify priorities, redirected pitches that weren’t ready, and helped shape talking points before major all-hands meetings.
It’s not as glamorous as it looks; the pressure is wild, I’m on call all of the time, and my personal life has taken a backseat, and I’ve developed a weird, codependent relationship with Google Calendar. And on bad days, it feels like the whole company is riding on whether I forwarded the right email or not. But even with all of this, I love my job. Because even when you are in a room full of people working, you get to learn a lot. I’ve seen the power of storytelling, of timing and of just saying no. As an EA, it is natural to feel hatred towards the company, but we know at the end of the day, we see the side of the CEO that nobody else does.
If you want power, become a CEO if you wish to have proximity to power and a masterclass in high-stakes decision-making, become an EA.