Her Story
About Emily
Emily Sands serves as an executive assistant at Lockton in Salt Lake City, Utah, a role she has held for two years. In this position, she manages projects and events, handles calendars, and manages internal and external communications for executives in sales. She built out the role herself as the first executive assistant for her team, creating systems and processes tailored to their needs. Emily holds a graphic design certification, which she earned following her high school graduation in 2017, and she applies related skills in marketing and design elements for sales campaigns and events. She attributes her effectiveness to her ability to individualize her support for different executives and personalities while remaining proactive rather than reactive in her work.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Emily
01What do you attribute your success to?
I really enjoy being able to understand and get to know the executives that I work for, because I work for a couple different, and I feel like I'm pretty good at individualizing them, and anticipating their work styles and learning how to work and function with different executives and different personalities.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
I think the best career advice I've received is probably to really play into your strengths and lean into what makes you you. At my job we take a personality test and my top trait is individualization, so that's something that I really lean into.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say don't be afraid to be forward and express your needs, thoughts, and opinions. Especially as women we tend to lean more into being people pleasers, so not being afraid to speak up and be yourself or express yourself in the workplace, and that your feedback is valuable and it matters.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge is being proactive instead of reactive, anticipating certain things like an event, what possible needs might come up, understanding how my executive likes his week to look and buffering time accordingly.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Being trustworthy, someone that people rely on, knowing Emily is who she says she is, she doesn't talk behind people's backs or complain, and being who you are no matter who you're with, acting like somebody's watching all the time.
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