Karen J.

1. Summary of your Executive Assistant experience

I have over 10 years of experience supporting executives, business owners, and real estate professionals in remote environments. My background includes executive assistance, CRM management, project coordination, calendar and inbox management, SOP creation, process improvement, and operational support. I enjoy bringing structure to busy workflows, anticipating needs before they become problems, and helping leaders stay focused on high-value work. My goal has always been to become someone an executive can rely on without needing constant direction.

2. CEO Scenario

Your CEO has back-to-back meetings all day. Three different managers message you saying they're blocked and need his decision NOW. He's unreachable for 6 hours. What do you do?

My first step would be to understand the urgency and impact of each request rather than treating everything as equally urgent. I'd gather the necessary context from each manager, review any existing documentation, previous decisions, or SOPs, and determine whether any of the issues can be resolved without interrupting the CEO.

If a decision truly requires the CEO, I'd organize the requests by priority, summarize each situation clearly with possible options and recommendations, and prepare everything so the CEO can make quick decisions as soon as they're available.

At the same time, I'd communicate proactively with the managers so they know their requests are being handled rather than simply waiting for a response. My goal is to remove as many roadblocks as possible while protecting the CEO's time and ensuring the business continues moving forward.

3. Tell us one process you improved.

In one of my previous roles, I noticed that meeting confirmations and scheduling updates were being handled manually, which often led to unnecessary back-and-forth communication and increased the risk of missed confirmations.

To improve the process, I documented the workflow, created a standardized procedure, and developed email templates for meeting confirmations and follow-ups. This made the process more consistent, reduced repetitive tasks, and gave the executive better visibility into upcoming meetings and outstanding confirmations.

I enjoy identifying opportunities like this because even small improvements to a process can save time, reduce errors, and help the team work more efficiently over the long term.