For Thana Sakis, founder of Gramercy Consulting, business was booming.
Clients were happier than ever. She was doing high-impact work. And her executive assistant kept everything running smoothly.
Things were great—until her EA shared some disappointing news: she was leaving the company.
In the span of a 5-minute conversation, a key player was gone. Managing growth means lots of irons in the fire. And now, Thana had to tend every one of them. Details, tasks, and urgent emails all fell on her desk.
Great employees are always hard to lose. But a talented EA quitting can feel like losing a limb. Suddenly, absolutely everything is harder.
The question is, how can you fill the role quickly without sacrificing quality? Outside a stroke of luck, it’s rare. Unless, there’s an avenue you’ve never considered—like the one Thana found.
How To Hire Fast Without Bringing On The Wrong Person
Every senior leader has been in Thana’s shoes. And there’s no sugarcoating it: interviewing is a chore.
- It’s exhausting. You write (and rewrite) the job description, post the position, reach out to your network, and vet every response.
- It’s exasperating. Typically, it takes dozens of interviews to make a single good hire. All the while, you’re picking up the slack left by the empty seat.
- It’s expensive. On average, it costs $4,700 and 42 days to find the right person.
At a certain point, it’s tempting to settle and make an offer to someone who’s “good enough.” For Thana, she started wondering if her EA had been a unicorn or super employee after all.
Then she heard about a different way to hire a talented EA called premium subscription staffing. It was different and sounded good. But of course, anyone looking for a rockstar EA will have pretty serious questions:
- “Is it like working with a temp agency?” Nope! Because your new assistant becomes part of your team for the long term.
- “So they’re a contractor or freelancer I get connected with?” Not at all. Because your EA has an entire support system behind them. An amazing culture, benefits, PTO, continuing education, access to the latest tech, and is even a W2 employee.
- “How can I fully trust someone who’s not technically on my payroll?” Trust is always earned. But it doesn’t have to happen at a glacial pace. The premium subscription staffing model lets you interview your assistant before working with them to ensure a mutual fit.
Chemistry counts; so does experience. And that’s why trust is built more quickly here. Because premium EAs are:
- Fortune-500 trained
- College educated
- Experienced in your industry (at least 12+ years)
- The top 1% of over 30,000 applicants per year
And the best news? You can start working with a premium remote EA in days (rather than weeks or months). And that’s exactly what Thana did.
Read more: How Much Experience Should Your Executive Assistant Have?
The Secret Ingredient Of A Premium EA
She was ready to have an expert take the mountain of admin tasks, reports, calendar invites, emails, and travel arrangements off of her plate. But as with anything new, there’s always a dash of skepticism.
After all, her previous EA knew her business inside and out—and knew Thana just as well. When you lose an EA, a library of knowledge, context, and nuance leaves with them.
A competent executive assistant who provided support would be nice. But Thana needed someone a cut above. She didn’t have time to lay everything out one task at a time. She needed someone who didn’t just get stuff done, but who could anticipate her needs.
The secret ingredient of a premium is their ability to always be a step ahead. They’re so good you constantly say: “Wow, I didn’t even think of that!”
Premium EAs grasp the full business context. They can see the butterfly effect of every decision and deadline; then adapt to it. This makes them proactive rather than simply taking orders and reacting to whatever happens.
Not to mention when our personal lives get complicated.
The Premium Touch That Builds Trust
During this time, on top of running a growing company, Thana was her mother’s caregiver. Caregiving is physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausting. But Jenny, her Boldly EA, understood how interrelated her life and business are.
Since she wasn’t simply an order taker, she was able to keep everything moving while protecting Thana’s schedule, energy, and bandwidth. Then things got even more complex.
Thana’s mother needed to be moved into an assisted living facility. This is no small feat. Every facility needed to be interviewed, have forms and applications completed, and be an incredible place for her mom to live!
This is when Jenny really stepped up with the premium touch. She took the lead on finding the facilities, doing the due diligence, and then compiling a report comparing the top contenders for Thana to consider.
That’s the picture of trust.
Read more: How Trusting Your Executive Assistant Changes Everything
Thana trusted Jenny to help with the most important facets of her work and life. She knew there wouldn’t be a stone left unturned, a question left unasked, or a what-if scenario overlooked.
Ready To Find Your Unicorn?
There are EAs. And then there are ridiculously talented premium EAs.
With Boldly, Thana found the answer to her problem: Jenny. Four years later, they’re still working at the speed of trust. Best, Thana learned that there was a perfect-fit unicorn EA out there for her.
It’s probably true for you, too. If you’d like to explore working with a Boldly premium executive assistant, you can start here.
