Beyond the Red Carpet

The Need for Personal Assistance

The more high-profile a person is whether he is a celebrity, professional athlete, minister, politician, attorney or entertainment executive, the more necessary it is for him to be able to concentrate on performing the most important tasks included in his career.  The proper management of his lifestyle can favorably or adversely affect his success and prosperity of his career. 

Clearly, the more efficiently and effectively the celebrity performs the important tasks involved in his work, the greater the benefit to his career endeavors and any business enterprises he might own.  He should be able to concentrate on those important tasks if he is relieved of some other duties involved in his job which, whilst still needing to be performed  can in reality be done by somebody else on his behalf or under his supervision.  In other words, the celebrity needs assistance, and that will be provided by at least one assistant.

In this book, we will refer to the personal assistant, lifestyle manager and household administrator by the affectionate title PA.    This position requires a one-on-one relationship with the employer.  Your role as a PA is that of business manager, confidant, administrative assistant and more.  A successful assistant must handle wide-ranging responsibilities and talents.  You must have boundless energy and think quickly.  In addition to anticipating your employer’s whims, it is imperative that you have strong business acumen; diplomacy and political skills; know how to do last-minute decorating construction and labor relations; make travel arrangements; provide public relations expertise; do styling; and let’s not forget the occasional hand-holding. It is the total, professional delivery of these varied elements to your employer that will help you land and most importantly keep your job as a personal assistant. 

What Is Your Role?

Some think the role of an assistant is to walk toe to toe with his employer down the red carpet; to participate in interviews on Access Hollywood or Entertainment Tonight and to become his employer’s best friend and enjoy the perks that are stereotypically associated with being a celebrity.  Others feel it is a position for sycophants and errand runners who go and get newspapers and scoop the dog poop from the front lawn.  Both the former and latter are at face value wrong. 

The PA’s role is about leadership.  The PA takes responsibility for much of the organization and coordination of his employer’s lifestyle and business needs.  It is a task that calls for tact, diplomacy and effective communication and organizational skills. A good PA makes an enormous contribution to his employer’s effectiveness and requires numerous professional skills to be successful in this role.  Today’s PA must be “the barber, the baker and the candlestick maker.”  Most often there is nothing new an experienced corporate professional must learn to get the job done.  For example, things learned in any corporate