In this episode, we have the privilege of interviewing one of our very own from Maven Recruiting Group, Shirin Esmaili, Account Director & Team Lead of our Temporary Division. Shirin works with our clients to fill critical gaps such as those created by parental leave, disability, vacations or just a need for additional bandwidth or capacity to get through a crunch period. Over her Maven tenure, Shirin has navigated nearly every request or situation imaginable and counseled countless clients and temp workers on how to set themselves up for success, so she’s the perfect person to cover today’s topic which is how to evaluate the need for temp coverage, plus how to hire, train & set up a contract worker for success.

We’re delighted to welcome Lorynn Boland to our program! She is an EA who has navigated both sides of the aisle, so to speak, having spent five years at Kleiner Perkins, the legendary venture capital firm, and now the last six months supporting the CEO of PlanetScale, a database platform for developers with infinite scalability. Today we’ll be learning about Lorynn’s experiences of supporting in these environments which, while different, are also inextricably linked and symbiotic.

We feel this is an important conversation to have, as there is definitely a compatibility and common language between these respective industries, as well as some noteworthy differences. For anyone curious to understand these difference or for someone who is perhaps preparing for a job interview or transition from one side to the other, today’s conversation will be particularly valuable.

In this episode, we welcome back Executive Coach and Co-Creator of Maven’s e-learning course and coaching program, Julia Quijano. Julia and Jessica recently finished the recording and roll-out of our latest e-course, “Becoming a Strategic Partner.” In furtherance to that conversation, here is a follow-up on an emerging area that is presenting itself as another strategic opportunity for executive assistants to 10x their work: the rapidly evolving area of AI.

As a quick refresher, Julia is a former Executive Assistant turned Chief of Staff and currently runs her own Executive Development Firm where she works with startup leaders across various industries. She is the co-creator and host of our (now) 2 e-courses and also facilitates our group and individual coaching programs. This is her 4th time as REACH guest and her other episodes include What it Means to be a Chief of Staff, How Executives Have Also Been Affected by The Great Resignation, and How to set SMART Goals - if you haven’t already, be sure to check those out!

In the continuously evolving AI landscape, we’ve only scratched the surface on the potential of AI as well as the latent security and legal issues that are co-emerging with the advent of AI technology, especially as that relates to the Executive Assistant role. As we further our exploration of AI in the workplace, we’ve invited subject matter expert Abraham Kang, Managing Consultant at Include Security LLC, to our program. 

Abe is both an information security leader and subject matter expert who has worked for such notable companies as Venmo and Samsung and spoken internationally on security matters, as well as a Juris Doctorate licensed to practice in the State of California who lends his time as an amicus curiae specifically for the emerging intersection of AI and the law.  

Whether it's earning a JD in his spare time, teaching himself quantitative mathematics or learning to dance bachata, Abe has an insatiable appetite for learning and expansion, making him the ideal guest to tackle the vastness of this topic! 

The space of AI is moving so fast and evolving so quickly! AI is in the headlines nearly daily as people debate its merits, its utility in supporting efficiency and productivity, as well as the ethical and somewhat dystopian implications of its use as we incorporate it more and more into our daily lives and work. We've invited Nikki Dickman to our program to discuss her experience with AI and how she sees it supporting today's executive assistants.

Nikki is particularly qualified to speak on this subject. Not only is she an accomplished executive assistant with a background in psychology who started a tech company to help therapists connect more effectively with their autistic adolescent patients, but she is also currently the Chief of Staff at Rewind, an AI company founded and led by Dan Siroker, who previously built Optimizely and garnered wide acclaim there. Rewind AI has the provocative thesis, "What if you had perfect memory? What if you could ask any question about anything you've seen, said, or heard?" Join us as we ask this question and so many more.

Taylor DeLorenzo is the definition of an A-list Executive Assistant and high achiever. As an Ivy League graduate from Cornell, her first Executive Assistant role was supporting a Founder, and in her next role she served as the right-hand to the CEO of publicly traded Shake Shack. She then leaped over to Twitter where she ended her tenure there supporting the CEO and saw them through their much publicized takeover by Elon Musk.

In this episode, Taylor shares her story and her thoughts on how to shore up confidence in your abilities in order to accelerate your own Executive Assistant career.

If you’re a regular listener of REACH, you know that we like to unpack the nuances associated within EA roles across industries and across stages of organizational maturity. We’ve talked previously about what’s involved in taking a company public from the EA perspective, and in this episode with Katherine Estep, who currently supports the CFO at Udemy with executive operations, we discuss the specific responsibilities of an EA working in a publicly traded company. Katherine joined Udemy the month they announced their IPO and has been supporting their CFO ever since the company became publicly traded on NASDAQ. We're excited to share what she has to say about the EA role after a company has gone public!

You may be familiar with the term “war room” or “situation room” as it relates to the Presidential Cabinet where the President and his advisors retreat to strategize on highly sensitive or critical matters. Today Rachel Tan joins us to discuss the role an Executive Assistant plays in a war room in the context of a business. While Rachel currently supports the CEO & President of Benchling with strategic programs, she also has experience supporting Chief Marketing Officers and working closely with Communications and PR, meaning she’s no stranger to being involved in addressing newsworthy and current events, and even crises. Our goal in this episode is to help EAs navigate any type of "war room" situation with sensitivity, grace and professionalism. 

We know you're excited for Part Two of our conversation with Chynna Clayton, former Executive Assistant to Michelle Obama and current Founder of Matriarch Made Development - and we're happy to deliver!

Join us as we delve into Chynna’s formative years that helped shape her into the person she is today, learn all that went into supporting a celebrity and someone as high profile and adored as former First Lady Michelle Obama, as well as Chynna’s three life takeaways and lessons from her time with Mrs. Obama. (I’m not giving anything away by letting you know one of them is knitting!)

You can learn more about Chynna’s consultancy, Matriarch Made Development, where she focuses on developing the talent and potential of administrative professionals in corporate and non-profit organizations by visiting https://www.chynnaclayton.com 

We are thrilled to release part one of our conversation with none other than Chynna Clayton who spent over a decade as the Executive Assistant to the legendary Michelle Obama, first in her capacity as FLOTUS, then for another 6 years after Mrs. Obama departed the White House. 

Chynna's story has been featured in Vogue and Oprah Daily, so we are especially grateful that she agreed to share her wisdom & experiences with the REACH community. Don't miss this opportunity to learn from an individual who has literally worked at the highest echelon of demand, expectation, intensity, and discretion and where the stakes couldn’t have been higher. Plus, this is just part one, so be sure to join us in two weeks for the rest of our conversation!