Her Story
About Sandra
I've been in the administrative field for 8 to 9 years, always in the admin world. I've worked with major companies like Pearson, who are the creators and producers of textbooks throughout the nation, and before that I worked for Disney for several years, which was a really fun time. I'm currently an executive assistant, a role I've been in for about 3 years now. My main focus is assisting my clients with their day-to-day needs, so checking emails, booking their travel, and making sure that any events I plan for them are well executed. Day-to-day, I start my morning by checking my email to make sure I haven't missed anything that may have come overnight, then I have an early morning huddle with my team and morning meetings with two of my clients to make sure we're all on the same page. During the day, I do a lot of event management and planning, reaching out to caterers, getting attendance, sending out forms, and handling all the details like flyers, flowers, and who we want presenting. It's so fast-paced and everything is always changing, so you can walk in one day thinking you're going to be doing this, and then you're doing something else completely different. When I worked for Disney, my most notable achievement was really getting to connect with families and making their dreams come true. Just hearing them on the phone and meeting them in person and seeing the biggest smiles on their faces was always such an honor to me. There's nothing I can take away from that, it was just the best time.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Sandra
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would say just my love of learning and not letting any fears or any roadblocks stop me. I think that has propelled me to keep going. Especially trying to build yourself up in the corporate world, you're going to hit so many roadblocks as a woman. And it's like, okay, this happened today. That doesn't mean that's going to be the path for the rest of my life. I can always change it, just keep going. Closed mouths don't get fed. Just keep pushing through, and yeah, eventually you'll make it to the top with that mindset.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've received is that it will be okay. I know, especially working corporate, where you've got so many deadlines, and it's 4:30pm on a Friday, and you feel like you're still not gonna catch up to everything. Put it to rest, go ahead and clock out at the time you need to clock out, and it will still be there the next day. Like, everything will be fine, the building is not burning, you will be okay, those emails will be gotten to. Take a breath, all of the things are gonna be there, take a moment for yourself.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say, definitely let your voice be heard. I know that it's a bit repetitive to say that, but sometimes, as women, we get shut down so much that you start to lose sight of it. And me personally, especially as a Black woman, just please let your voice be heard. There will be changes that can be made, but they can't be made if you're not voicing your opinions and your concerns. And it will be scary at first, absolutely, but there will be about one person who listens. And the company may incite a policy change, or you may find something that better aligns with your professional goals. But we can't stay silent for things that matter to us, and we will get there eventually one day. We just have to voice those concerns.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenges I've faced are definitely not being heard and not being taken seriously. Those are two of the main ones. Especially starting out, where it's like, oh, she's a newbie, she's entry level, we're not gonna take her seriously. And then just working my way up through that. And now, more so, I think it's being able to present in meetings and having the focus of the room versus having a man who has a longer tenure there that is just automatically respected. As for opportunities, I would say the executive assistant role in general is always full of opportunities. Because a lot of these clients, they will always need an admin level or an admin type of person on their docket. They will always need help with the backstage stuff, emails, booking travel, calendar, and things like that. And it's such an important role, too. I feel like it's diminished sometimes to, oh, you're just an admin. But we are kind of the backbone of all the behind-the-scenes stuff. These events would not get run without the executive assistant reaching out to the vendors and all the clients weeks and weeks ahead of time. And when you reach that level with the client where you built that relationship, it's like, okay, now I can take on more roles, and I can go up to a higher title, and sometimes they'll promote you from within.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I am someone who takes accountability first and foremost. I think that is a great, great value to have, professionally and personally, just owning up to your mistakes when you do have them. And then, just being open to other ideas and being there for other people, so I guess dependability. I feel like sometimes people will forget that, hey, you can reach out to this person or this person. It doesn't have to be such an individualistic kind of thing that you have to do. You can always reach out to your teammates. So I try to be dependable for others to feel that they can approach me with anything. So those are two of my highest values, I would say.
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