Influential Woman · Virtual Assistant

Lacey Gilbert

Notary

Fractional Executive Assistant & Virtual Assistant, Pink Collar Strategies

Philadelphia , PA

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree LaSalle University Degree Communication (Public Relations and Journalism) Cert Notary Member National Urban League Member Philadelphia Chapter Member Notary Society of Pennsylvania

Her Story

About Lacey

I went to school for communication, specifically for public relations and journalism. When I was in school, I was just so interested in everything, so I would just network all the time and meet different people. I got to be an executive assistant because one day I was in the field, in the community volunteering, and I met an executive from a Fortune 500 company, and she asked me to come shadow her for the day. I had no idea about all the different jobs in corporate America, but I just said yes because I was curious. I networked, and then from there, I interned, and then this is the job that I landed as executive assistant. I just saw that being an executive assistant, you get to sit next to senior leaders right after college. Normally, in your career, you have to work up to supporting the C-suite, but when you're an executive assistant out of college, you're reporting to top people of the company. After 13 years as an executive assistant and administrative assistant, I decided within the last 6 months to formalize that and go into business for myself as a virtual assistant and fractional executive assistant. Now I support multiple smaller businesses while giving them the support that bigger companies have had access to.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Lacey

01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?

My best advice is, if you particularly want to be a virtual assistant or fractional executive assistant, and it's because you are working in the field of being executive assistant, I would say to stay in that position, especially if you're a young woman and maybe you're in your 20s. I would say to stay in that role and learn as much as you can on a current employer's dime, because they're gonna have a budget every year for you to go to webinars, go to conferences, learn skills. That's the best time to do it, so that when you're in your business, you have this great foundation of skills and know-how, see how these bigger businesses operate, and then take it and then go off on your own. And just for fun, while you're young, you get benefits and vacation time. When you're young, you and your friends are going to do a lot of things, and even though being a business owner is great, it's other challenges, just to be honest. So take time to have that stability, have that paid vacation time, because when you work for yourself, sometimes you're always on the clock.

02What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?

Some of the biggest challenges that I'm facing is that with everything going automated with AI, I'm always trying to stay on top of the latest so I can do my work more efficiently. I can also introduce clients to new technology, so that way their company is running more efficiently. So I'm always executing the work, but always reading the latest blogs and videos just to stay on top of things and automate things. It's just like a whole new world, and it's always so much things to learn, so I just feel like I am always in the seat of a student and a lifelong learner.

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