“Movies will make you famous. Television will make you rich. But theatre will make you good.” – Terrance Mann
I started out in life with the intention of being a writer, actor and director. In high school I even had my own theatre company. I went to Toronto’s York University and I’m a proud graduate of their Theatre program.
So what does that have to do with being a Virtual Assistant? Well, as John Lennon wrote, “Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans.” While I was at university I took a summer job as a receptionist for a janitorial company. After I graduated, I worked as an Executive Assistant for two former Toronto fraud squad police officers who had a forensic accounting firm. Since then, over the last two decades I’ve worked in market research, health care, regulatory organizations, non-profits, an airline, and an engineering and consulting firm.
I’m often asked about the Theatre degree though, and what I tell people is that theatre taught me to think on my feet, to come up with creative solutions for tough problems, and to make magic out of little to nothing. In my mind, those are some of the most important qualities an Executive Assistant can have.
And to anyone who would argue that administrative work is “non-skilled”, I would say this: in what other type of work do you go into a job and learn an entirely new industry? You have to learn what the company does as a whole and what the various departments do, and what the individual roles entail. You learn new terminology, new acronyms, new tasks, and new software. An engineer going to another firm may have to learn how things are done at their new workplace, but they don’t have to start from scratch to learn essentially an entirely new job, usually while appearing as if they already know everything from Day 1.
I often say that my job descriptions should just read “Other duties as required” because even though some tasks carry from job to job, so many don’t. Of course I’ve spent years doing expense reports, calendar management, email management, event planning, minute taking and preparing documents and presentations, but I’ve also headed up marketing for a company. I’ve created high level regulatory documents. I’ve been a Proposal Writer. I’ve tracked departmental budgets. I’ve done Project Controls. I’ve been a Travel Coordinator for the entire Canadian workforce of a global corporation. I’ve managed renovation projects. I’ve been the Champion for a company due diligence program. I’ve been Project Manager for the redesign of a company website. I’ve done facilities management. I’ve created and implemented office policies and procedures. I once even juggled multiple flaming bowling pins while riding a unicycle and singing “Life is But a Dream”. (Note: that last one may have been a slight exaggeration…)
At nineteen, this may not have been where I pictured myself, but I love what I do, and I am very good at it. I’d love the opportunity to show you just what a Theatre grad can do for you.