Her Story
About Sarah
I started my career out of college with an art degree, initially leasing apartments in downtown Baltimore and renting commercial spaces while doing property management. One of the developers I knew needed an assistant and asked me to join him, which launched my career as an Executive Assistant. I've been in this field for 10 years now, hopping around to different industries. Throughout my career, I've managed calendars, flights, and itineraries, as well as managing properties for executives - collecting rent, scheduling maintenance, and handling the various administrative tasks and different hats we all wear as EAs. For the past year, I've been with Sinclair Broadcasting, where my main area of expertise is calendar management. My day aligns with my executives, and I focus on being preemptive about calendar conflicts and planning so that their day runs smoothly. I'm also an AI champion for the company, working with ChatGPT and Anthropic, and I've received training in Microsoft Access database. I'm very much a hands-on learner.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Sarah
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say don't take no for an answer, and if you don't ask, the answer is always no. Always ask. Ask as many questions as possible. I think it's important to be persistent and curious, because that's how you learn and grow in this field.
02What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I don't know if it has anything to do with this industry in particular, I think it's being an EA in general, but the main challenge is that there's no fallback. We take full responsibility for absolutely everything. There's no fallback net, there's no blame game. I think it's, in one hand, empowered me to never make mistakes and to own up to them, and to never sweep anything under the rug. But I can't help but feel a little bit just a tad tinge of jealousy for those people that can always just blame the other department for dropping the ball. That's difficult.
Keep Exploring
More Influential Women · Maryland
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.