To Be an Executive Assistant…Are You Kidding Me?

I believe that the successes in my career have always happened because I listened to my inner spiritual voice pushing me out of my comfort zone. Scary, heck yea! Each time I faced that fear of stepping out and taking a new road, amazing things happened for me. Sometimes challenging and sometimes good however always leading me in the right direction.

When I was a young woman I did not want to be an Executive Assistant. In fact, I did not know what that was and I certainly didn’t know what having a career meant! All I wanted to do was move out of the house, have my own apartment and make a living, follow my own rules AND have some fun! Just moving away from home as a single woman was truly a scary step out my bedroom comfort zone!

I found my ‘Fun” job selling ads in a little advertising magazine called Potpourri. It was a paper that was thrown on people’s door steps and eventually filled the bottom of bird cages. I was good at selling advertising and I thought I was living the dream! Then one day, a young man walked up to my desk at our ad agency to place an ad for a sales rep to help him sell medical supplies in the Bay area. When he noted what he would offer to pay that person to do the job, that inner spiritual voice in my head said, you can barely make your rent as it is now, this is something you should take a chance on. I paid attention and took a chance and quit my job that I was already good at to go to work selling medical supplies. Scared? Absolutely!

Within the first two weeks of working for this man I realized that I had made a huge mistake! I didn’t have the right knowledge of the medical field to sell supplies and I was truly unhappy going door to doctors’ doors.

Taking this particular path that was truly a wrong one didn’t mean that my inner voice was wrong, it just meant that my spiritual self was telling me that it was obviously time for a change.

I ultimately hired on with a small company working as a customer service manager. A skill and knowledge I knew I possessed from my advertising days and for 6 years, I was again in my comfort zone and doing just fine… I thought.

One day, a friend of mine called to tell me she was now an executive assistant for a Silicon Valley startup and that they had another opening and would I be interested in applying for the job. “Are you kidding me?” What the heck does an executive assistant do anyway?” I asked her. After all, I was a Customer Service Manager with important responsibilities. She couldn’t be serious! When she told me what her salary was, that inner voice inside of me got quite loud saying Debbie, with the 2% increases you get per year here at this company, you will never meet your financial goals if you stay in this role that you are in. Darn it, I was going to yet again step out of my comfort zone.

I went to interview for that position. They made me an offer on the spot which I promptly took!

It was definitely scary to resign from a job that I had held for 6 years and where I knew I was comfortable to become an Executive Assistant for two executives where I literally had no idea as to what I was doing? What I did know was that I was getting closer to my financial aspirations and had faith in myself and told myself that I would just literally ‘figure it out’ as I went along.

Well…. that was the beginning and the turning point of my true career and calling.

What I learned:

• I believe there is a voice inside all of us that periodically calls us to move on towards our true calling. The key here is whether we pay attention to it or not.
• Sometimes, when we do listen we are not guaranteed immediate success, and in fact, we may choose the wrong path as I sure did.
• When we do listen, take a risk and even if it doesn’t pan out, we discover a bit more about who we are and what we are really searching for.

We all need to just have a little confidence in our abilities in order to take leaps of faith in order to find our true calling!

I believe that this is what my purpose is now, helping others become aware of their inner voices and then guide then out of their comfort zones, encouraging them to take new roads, find new opportunities and even their passions in this profession!

I invite you to subscribe to my blog and connect. Let’s take this career adventure together and open our minds to amazing new ways of thinking and being.

“Inspiring Administrative Professionals to Greatness!

Just reach out to me to join at debbie@debbiegross.com. I welcome your comments and suggestions and even advice! It’s completely free and you have my promise that I will keep your email and anything you share with me completely confidential.