MY 5 RULES for hiring an EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT in 2021
In this conversational video, the speaker—an experienced CEO who built Gym Launch—explains why and how to hire an executive assistant (EA). He recounts his own transition from handling all business functions alone to hiring his first EA, describing the dramatic time‑saving and revenue impact. He presents a simple ROI calculation showing that a CEO earning $1,390 per hour can reclaim over half of their weekly hours (≈35 hours) through an EA, translating into millions of additional dollars, making the typical EA salary ($45‑$100k) a clear investment. The speaker outlines two primary hiring considerations: (1) choose someone with more EA experience than the CEO, and (2) ensure personal chemistry, because trust and communication are essential. He then details five specific traits he looks for in an EA: (a) anticipates needs, (b) is resourceful, (c) reflects the CEO’s values in communication, (d) can take on random projects and strategic tasks, and (e) is tech‑savvy. The video moves to the interview and onboarding process, emphasizing honesty about the CEO’s own inexperience, setting clear expectations, and making the EA the first point of communication. Finally, he outlines three pillars for retaining a great EA: set clear expectations, communicate frequently and prioritize the EA in information flow, and provide regular positive and corrective feedback. Throughout, he uses personal anecdotes, concrete numbers, and a persuasive tone to convince CEOs that hiring an EA is a no‑brainer for scaling businesses.
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What is up? In this video today, what I want to talk about is how to find and hire an executive assistant and how to know if you need one. I was kind of thinking about this the other day because I've helped, I think, 4 CEOs in the last 3 months find executive assistants. And I like doing this because it's something that I feel deeply passionate about because my executive assistant is like my favorite person in the entire world. And so I just want everyone to have that.. And I'll kind of explain where I was before I found her and then after. So when we were starting Gym Launch for the first year, Alex and I were flying out to gyms, you know, to different locations, et cetera, et cetera. And then we switched our model to basically a consulting model. And then when we did that, that shifted in, I wanna say it was like March or April. And then I hired my executive assistant in, um, September, October of that year. So it was about 6 months after switching to this model that ended up taking off. And pretty much at that point, I was doing everything in the business. So I think that we had, uh, 4 other employees. Um, I think we had like tech support, customer support, billing, and another billing person. And then it was me and Alex. And so we really didn't have anybody. And at that point I was finance, HR, IT, you know, uh, customer success, customer service. Like I was doing everything. And I was like, I don't even know who to hire because I just need someone that can help me do all of this because I have just a shit ton of stuff I'm doing. And whatever this role is, it's going to change really quickly. And so after thinking about it a lot, I was like, I really think that I want to get an executive assistant. And so I started the search and, you know, I found mine, whom I still have today. And luckily she was my first executive assistant. And I hope that, you know, I stick with her for a very long time because I absolutely love working with her. And after I brought her on, my life was immensely more simple because especially if you're in the point in your business where you're still wearing multiple hats, to have someone who can help you, you know, take care of those multiple priorities, because they are all priorities, is immensely helpful. And so, um, the one thing I will say is that if you're considering getting an EA, it is a role that you should consider a little bit more than you would with any other role, which is this: when I was hiring for that role, um, I realized two things, which is one, I cannot train this person. I can give them context and I can communicate and I can work on our relationship, but I don't know what they're supposed to do. And now I can know to an extent, I can read books and etc., etc., but I've never been an executive assistant and I've also never had one. And so I should probably hire someone who has more experience than I do, right? I don't want to hire somebody who's never done it before because neither of us know what we're doing. That was the first thing I took into consideration. The second thing I took into consideration is that I wanted somebody who who I would hang out with even if they weren't my executive assistant. And the reason for that is because if you do this relationship correctly, it will be the one role that helps you accelerate past all the other bottlenecks in the business because this person's got your back. And so the only thing that can really impede upon that is poor communication. And you know when people often poorly communicate the most? It's when they don't like somebody. When you don't like someone, when you don't enjoy being around somebody, you avoid them, you don't want to talk to them, you have less proactive communication. I genuinely have to resist from communicating with my EA so much because I absolutely love talking to her. And so that is what I would say if you're looking for an executive assistant or you're wondering what that kind of relationship looks like. I would consider myself to have a very successful relationship, as well as some of the people who I've helped in the past. If you're considering if this is something that you should be doing, I want you to just think about this math-wise because it really is just a math equation, just like any other role in your business. Okay, say you take home $4 million per year and you're working 60 hours per week. That's like $1,390 per hour that you're making. Okay, so you're making $1,390 per hour. Okay, if you can get an EA, most EAs on average, I think the stats were, um, the average EA can get about, uh, a little over half your hours back for you for each week. So say that person gets you 35 hours back, right? So making $4 million per year, you usually work 60 hours a week, they get you back 35 of those hours. So that means, right, 35 times $1,390 is you're gonna make $2.3 million more dollars, or half back the time from that $2.3 million to make more opportunity to make more money if you hire an executive assistant. Okay, so if utilized properly, they can take back over half of your working hours during the week. Leaving you way more time to drive revenue and make more money. So to me, when I see someone that says they don't think that it makes sense to have an executive assistant, I'm like, no, you just can't afford not to because you have no idea how much time you're wasting, right? If your time's that valuable and you're making significant money, right, which could even just be a couple hundred thousand dollars per year, the salary of an EA is still absolutely justified. An average EA is going to range anywhere from like, if they're on the beginner side, they're probably going to be around $45,000 to $55,000 per year. On the advanced side, they're going to be, you know, around anywhere from $80,000 to $100,000 per year. And if you think about that compared to the extra $2 million you can make if you have that time back, it's really a no-brainer. And so I think that the reality is that we make a lot of excuses for why we don't want to hire for this role. The reality is it's a hard role to freaking hire for. And so we're like, oh, I don't know, but it's like you're vulnerable because this person's all up in your fucking personal space. They know everything about you. They're going to— there's nothing you cannot hide from this person. Right. And so I think actually a lot of people are really resistant to that. It's not that they don't understand the math side of it. It's that they're scared to reveal themselves to someone in that manner and to trust somebody to give them their bank account, their Social Security, like their passports. Like they have access to everything. Right. Which is why points 1 and 2 are really important. Right. Finding someone experienced if you're not, and then making sure you really like the person. Now I can, I made the list of what I look for in an executive assistant because I think that me being really clear made the interviewing process perfect. Because after I got off the phone with mine, who is still now my executive assistant, I literally was like, I don't even want to interview anyone else. Like she's it. I know it. I'm 1000% positive. And it's so funny because she only continued to impress me from there. And so here's what I looked for in an executive assistant. And if you have one and you're not sure if they're right for you, then listen up too because this applies to that, okay? One is that you want someone who anticipates your needs, okay? So my executive assistant, for example, if I tell her that I'm like, man, next week is looking kind of rough, or if I look at my schedule, and sometimes I'll look at my schedule 3 weeks out and I'll be like, oh my gosh, this looks terrible. I don't know how I'm gonna be able to make this work. I look 2 days later and she's already changed it for me, okay? So she looks at my schedule knowing how I work and how I like to plan my days. She can already go and move things because she knows when she looks at it, and she's looking months ahead for me, she's like, mm, that wouldn't work for Layla. The second piece to that might look like you're planning an event and she knows that, say my assistant knows that we're gonna have clients in town. She's gonna make sure there's food ordered, there's water, the house is stocked with stuff, there's a place for them to park. She's gonna make sure that they know directions from the airport. I'm not gonna have to tell her to do any of that. She's just going to anticipate the need. So that is what you want, number one, in an executive assistant. You do not want someone who can only function when you tell them what to do. Because again, like I said, especially if you've never had one before, you don't even know what to tell them to do, right? You're just reacting and kind of throwing what you think could go to them. And so you want someone who can step in and be proactive and anticipate needs and isn't afraid to do things, right? The second to that is that you need someone who's resourceful. Because if someone wants to anticipate needs and wants to take care of things ahead of time, right, before the problem is there, make sure that they prevent something from happening, Then you want someone who's resourceful. And what that means is you want someone who can interact with your team, interact with vendors, use Google, use Yahoo, whatever they have to use. I don't even know if anyone uses Yahoo. But they have to be resourceful. They have to be able to go get resources on their own, and you are the last resort. So they should not come to you first, they should come to you last because they've exhausted all their other resources. And that's why you want someone who's super resourceful, because then most of the time they don't need to come to you. Okay, so that's the second one is you want someone who's resourceful. The third one is you want an executive assistant to reflect your values in their communication. Okay, so I'll give you the example with my EA, which is if I get an email and I cannot respond to that email immediately, but I want them to know I received it because I think it's rude to just leave an email unanswered for more than, you know, 12 to 24 hours, then I will say, hey, I got this email, I got to think about it, or I'm really busy, or I'm out of town, I'm going to get back to you by this date. She does the same thing. I also consider myself to be a fast communicator, meaning I don't make people wait long for me to get back to them on Slack, Asana, email, etc. I just think that that's not— I think the job of the CEO is to be fast and to set the tone. And so, you know what she does? She's fast, if not faster than me, to all of those responses. And so when I delegate things to her, I have confidence that she's reflecting my values when she is talking to people.. So I don't have to worry, hey, like, what's she gonna— is she gonna make a good impression on me, a bad impression on me? Like, you should never have to worry about that with an executive assistant. They should reflect your values. Now, you have to know your values in order for them to reflect your values. So that's one thing I will say is that if you don't know your values, you cannot express those to your executive assistant, then it's going to be harder for them to reflect yours. They're going to have to take more time to catch up onto how you actually act. The fourth thing is that they can take on random projects and tasks. And what I mean by this is anything that you would take on as a random product or task because somebody else on one of your teams cannot do it, they must be able to take that on. And so I'll give you the best example, which was when we launched our software company and we were short-staffed on the weekend for a support function. And my EA jumped in and said, listen, I'll work the weekend. I want to learn it. It's better for me and I'll learn more about the company. And so she got in there and she learned it in like a few hours and worked the whole weekend just to fill the stop. And you know what would have happened if she wasn't able to do it because we were just starting this team up is I would have had to do it all weekend. And so she knew that and instead she said, I'll go do this. Right? Another example would be client events. When we were first starting the business, I didn't have an event coordinator. I didn't have a customer success manager. So instead I had me and my executive assistant. So she learned to coordinate events for 300, 500, and 700 people. Right? Which she could have said, that's outside of my realm or my scope or whatever. But instead she was like, no, I love this. I want to learn more. I want to get more under my belt. I want to be more valuable to you. And so she took that on. And so someone who's willing to take on more than just the, the typical administrative functions. An executive assistant is not an administrative assistant. Administrative assistant is more of a button pusher. An executive assistant is someone who can help you so you can truly do what you are best at, and they take responsibilities below that, which often can mean big things, big projects, big things that affect the company. And so you have to keep that in mind, is you don't want someone who you can just pay as low as possible to just push buttons and check emails. You want someone who can also be strategic, they understand people, they can manage people, they can hold people accountable, they can manage projects. Otherwise, they're not really going to be an executive assistant. And then last is you want someone who's tech savvy. Most people who watch this channel are virtual and online businesses. So what I have noticed is that there's been a few people I know who have hired executive assistants who were fantastic executive assistants 20 years ago, but they were not accustomed to doing things online. They didn't mesh well with the workplace. And so I know particularly a friend of mine who hired an executive assistant, that person had been working in person for about 40 years, and then when it came time to make the adjustment, they were very against using the technology, right? They didn't want to take notes in Asana, they didn't want to use Slack, they didn't want to do any of that. They just wanted to do their notebook, and they didn't even want to get on the video calls with the camera. And so you want to make sure, I know it sounds simple, but there are a lot of people who come from a culture where they're not as tech savvy, and if you want someone to be able to relieve you, you often want someone who can figure out technology and who knows how to use the technology that you have to the nth degree so they can also reflect your values when communicating. So those are the 5 things I look for, right? Someone who can anticipate, someone who can be resourceful, someone who can reflect my values, someone who can take on random projects and tasks, and somebody who is tech savvy. Okay, now once you've found that person, right? You go through the interview process, you think you found the person. How do you actually keep that person? Because here's the thing, a good executive assistant is going to have a billion other people that want to work with them. And so you have to ask yourself, how can I foster this relationship and set us up for success with each other? Because I think that there's this common, you know, the thing is about executive assistants is they're all going to say, they're like, listen, I work for you, I accommodate you, I do everything for you, you shouldn't have to do anything. Here's the fucking reality is that if you actually want to make this work, you have to put in effort. You cannot just let them figure it all out. You have to learn how to communicate like a fucking human. I see it all the time where people don't. They don't help them prioritize. They don't help them decide what's a small task, a big task, which one they should do first. They don't give them their preferences. They just let them figure it out. And so there's so much more rocky water before you get to this like smooth sailing. When in reality, if you just set expectations, right? You set expectations in the beginning. You communicate frequently and effectively, meaning you talk to your EA. You don't ignore them, let them sit in the corner. You talk to your EA all the time, and then you give them feedback regularly. Then it's rock solid. Like, I don't know anyone who wouldn't be able to succeed with an EA if they don't do those 3 things. And so what that looks like is setting clear expectations. What are the working hours? What do you expect from them? What's the company like? What's the role going to look like? It's such a different role based on every CEO. And so I'll tell you that when I interviewed my EA, I first said to her when we were on the phone, I said, listen, I'm like a golden retriever. I have no fucking clue what I'm doing. I barely know how to be a CEO. I certainly don't know what an executive assistant is supposed to do. I made the job description. I hope this is it. I just need help. I have all this shit I'm doing. I just hope you can help me. And she said, Layla, I got this. I know what an executive assistant is supposed to do. You don't need to worry about that. I'm going to onboard myself and I just need you to communicate with me what you want. And I was like, got it, I can do that. And so I set the expectation. I was like, I have no experience. I don't know what I'm doing, right? It was vulnerable and it was weird. But at the same time, if I had just lied and she'd come in, she would have figured it out anyways. So I was being honest. The second thing is communicating frequently and effectively is a lot of people, what I see them do is they don't talk to their executive assistant regularly. They don't talk to them on Slack. They don't talk to them on Zoom calls. Instead, they actually prioritize everybody else. And then their executive assistant is last. The reality is, what I have done and what I teach people to do and what I suggest that you do is that they are first. You communicate with them first and then they communicate with everybody else. That is how you make them an incredibly valuable member of the team. In fact, your most valuable employee. If you want them to be, then you communicate with them before everybody else, you keep them in the loop, and then you make sure that they don't, they're not last to be communicated with, they're always first. I've made this mistake from time to time where, you know, Alex and I have decided on new initiatives and every once in a while I kind of just like forget to tell her and then she kind of say, then my executive assistant will start asking and then I'm like, oh shit, I didn't tell you, right? And I should have looped you in sooner. And sometimes it's harder because, you know, it's the same house together and she's not physically there, but I try my best to loop her in and just let her know like where my head's at, what I'm thinking, how I'm feeling, if there's any preferences that have changed, right? And so that's how I like to communicate. And so I do. I talk to her more than anybody else on the team. I talk to her every day and I talk to her multiple times throughout the day. And I think that that's why we work so well together because I know that for her to succeed and to take on all the shit I give her, I have to do that. She's not going to just mind read. Nobody can mind read. And so I think that we have to remember that. Like any executive assistant you bring in, they're not magic. They cannot produce things without knowing what you want. And so I think that that's one of the most important things. And then the last piece of that is feedback. So I think that, um, if you want to go above and beyond and create a rock-solid, long-lasting relationship with an executive assistant, give them good feedback and give them critical feedback. And so I always want to point out when my executive assistant is doing things I like, when she's done something above and beyond that I'm like, I love that you did that, I'm so excited, that was creative, it was innovative, I love it. And I also want to be like, hey, You did this this time, next time I'd prefer you did this instead. And with this role, it's really important because there's preferences that you're not going to have with other roles. Like, when I'm staying in a hotel and I want to make sure I have a mini fridge and a good gym, and maybe there's not a mini fridge or a good gym, or maybe there's no coffee maker, I sound like, in my head, this is ridiculous, but I would like her to know the next time, I just would like, prefer if it actually had a coffee maker and a fridge in the room. Like, it sounds simple, but you have to be able to communicate those things and not feel silly or stupid or like you're asking for too much because they want to do a good job for you, right? And if you would do it for yourself, then you should ask them to do it for you. And so setting clear expectations, communicating effectively and frequently, and giving feedback. Those are the 3 things that you can do to keep an executive assistant. Like I said in the beginning of this, I think a lot of us in the beginning, the idea of having an executive assistant, we don't understand where they fit in. We don't understand what they do. We don't understand they can help us. But the reality is, is that If we are effective communicators and we know how to effectively utilize an executive assistant and find the one that we need and find the right kind of person like I described in this video, there is no way that they are not going to be effective on your team, especially if you're a small team, especially if you have a ton to do, especially if you're growing quickly. And so I hope this video was useful. I hope that you have a little more clarity around how to find an executive assistant and how to communicate effectively with them so that you can keep that executive assistant. And so hopefully you enjoyed this. I will see you in the next video. Have a great day.
