The EA Campus Podcast

What does it take to move from being a transactional Executive Assistant to becoming a true strategic business partner? In this episode of The EA Campus Podcast, I sit down with Gillian Gelston, Executive Assistant at Salesforce, to discuss her career journey from the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service to supporting senior leaders in one of the world's leading technology companies. Gill...

In Ep98 of The EA Campus Podcast, we discuss the question of whether to trust or rely upon. Why the difference matters for EAs. As Executive Assistants, many of us become the person everybody depends on. We manage the details, keep things moving, solve problems quickly, and often hold together far more than people realise. But there’s an important difference between being relied upon and being tru...

In this episode of The EA Campus Podcast, Nicky Christmas sits down with Molly Looney, Executive Assistant to the CEO of San Carlo Restaurants and winner of National PA of the Year. From supporting international restaurant expansion projects to managing charity partnerships, travel, operations, and high-level stakeholder relationships, Molly shares what life really looks like behind the scenes of...

As Executive Assistants, we are used to working in environments where priorities shift quickly, plans change, and no two days look the same. One minute everything is mapped out, the next you are reworking the schedule, solving problems, and keeping everything moving behind the scenes. So how do you build a way of working that actually supports that? In this episode of The EA Campus Podcast, we exp...

In Ep95 of The EA Campus Podcast , Nicky Christmas sits down with experienced Executive Assistant Ronie Williams to talk about what it really looks like to build a long-term career in the EA role. Ronie has worked as an Executive Assistant for nearly three decades across finance, startups, and global tech companies. In this conversation, she shares how she started her career at 17, the lessons she...

Some Executives think very quickly. Ideas arrive mid-conversation, instructions come in half-sentences, and priorities can shift between one meeting and the next. As Executive Assistants, we often receive the headline version of the thought. The context, the reasoning, and the next steps may still be sitting in our Executive’s head. In Ep94 of The EA Campus Podcast, Nicky explores what it is like...

In Ep93 of The EA Campus Podcast, we look at what it really takes to build a long and successful career as an Executive Assistant. In Ep93 of The EA Campus Podcast, Nicky Christmas is joined by Scot Wizniewski, Executive Assistant at Spotify and a respected voice in the global EA community. Scot has spent more than 25 years working as a career Executive Assistant, supporting senior leaders across...

In Episode 92 of The EA Campus Podcast, we explore how AI is changing inbox management for Executive Assistants in a practical, day-to-day way. If you support one Executive or several, you already know how quickly inboxes can take over the rhythm of your day. Constant checking, forwarding, reacting, and chasing can easily become the default way of working. In this episode, we walk through what a t...

There are conversations that would make your role as an Executive Assistant significantly easier. You probably already know which ones they are. The clarification you’ve been meaning to ask for.  The boundary that needs resetting.  The expectation that was never fully defined.  The salary discussion you keep postponing. In this episode, Nicky talks through six specific conversations that directly...

In The EA Campus Podcast Ep 90, we sit down with Alicia and Yvette, the creators of the EA Salary Survey, to explore how the report came to life and why having a large, representative dataset really matters. We talk about the difference between small, skewed reports and meaningful data, and why transparency around respondent numbers is essential when you’re making career decisions. We unpack the k...

In this episode of The EA Campus Podcast, we’re talking about how to decide which AI tools are actually worth your time as an Executive Assistant, and which ones you can safely ignore. If you’ve felt pressure to keep up with every new AI release, or you’ve tested tools that looked promising but never quite fit your day-to-day work, this episode is for you. I’m sharing how I make decisions about AI...

Inside episode 88 of the EA Campus podcast, you'll hear a conversation many Executive Assistants will recognise, even if we’ve never quite named it before. In this episode, we’re talking about perfectionism in the EA role. Where it comes from, how it quietly shows up in day-to-day work, and why it can start holding us back rather than helping us do better work. As EAs, we care deeply about st...

In The EA Campus Ep87, we’re talking about something that sits at the heart of the EA–Executive relationship. Decision-making , and knowing when to act without constantly checking in. As Executive Assistants, we’re expected to move work forward, protect priorities, and reduce pressure on our executive. In The EA Campus Ep87, Nicky Christmas explores how judgement, problem-solving, and clear proces...

January often starts with good intentions. New plans, new priorities, and a quiet expectation that you’ll somehow be more organised, more productive, and more on top of everything than ever before. In this episode, Nicky Christmas kicks off the 2026 season of The EA Campus Podcast by tackling something foundational for Executive Assistants. Clarity around responsibility. This episode is about the...

In this episode of The EA Campus Podcast, Nicky Christmas is joined by long-time friend, global thought leader, and former Executive Assistant Diana Brandl . Diana shares her journey from supporting CEOs in global organisations like Sony and Babbel to building her own business, hosting a successful podcast, writing multiple books, and training assistants around the world. Together, Nicky and Diana...

In this episode of The EA Campus Podcast, Nicky sits down with Kimberly Spencer, founder of Crown Yourself and CEO of Communication Queens, for an honest conversation about what founders really need from their Executive Assistants. Kimberly shares her journey from Pilates instructor to screenwriter to entrepreneur, and how hiring her first EA completely changed the way she built and led her busine...

What do entrepreneurs actually want from their Executive Assistants? In this episode, Nicky speaks with Andrew Chesnutt, CEO of The Authority Forge and a serial entrepreneur who’s built multiple seven-figure businesses, about what separates a good EA from a great one. Andrew shares a candid look at the realities of working with founders—many of whom are fast-moving, neurodivergent, and juggling mu...

In The EA Campus EP82, Nicky Christmas dives into one of the most talked-about phrases in the Assistant world - Strategic Business Partner. Is it a genuine evolution of the role, or just a buzzword that’s been stretched too far? In The EA Campus EP82, Nicky unpacks what it really means to be “strategic” as an Executive Assistant, why it’s a mindset rather than a job title, and how to turn that min...

In Ep81 of The EA Campus Podcast, host Nicky Christmas explores how Executive Assistants can take control of their personal brand and rebrand themselves for the next stage of their career. If you’ve ever felt overlooked, underestimated, or ready for more responsibility but unsure how to communicate that growth, this episode is for you. Nicky breaks down a practical process to diagnose your current...

In this inspiring episode of The EA Campus Podcast , Nicky Christmas sits down with the brilliant Julia Schmidt , Executive Assistant, author, speaker, and Executive Vice Chair of IMA (International Management Assistants). Julia shares her remarkable 20-year journey from Brazil to Norway, highlighting the three key decisions that shaped her career: joining a professional community, pursuing a busi...

In today’s episode, I’m joined by William Thomson—our go-to events guru at The EA Campus and a renowned events management expert with 20+ years’ experience. William has delivered multiple masterclasses for our community, and he’s partnering with me to bring The EA Campus Conference to London next April. We get practical about office socials and team-building: how to turn a vague brief into a clear...

As Assistants, we’re often told to be the “magic behind the scenes”, quietly making everything happen while others take the credit. However, the truth is that building autonomy around your work and confidently sharing your achievements is essential if you want to grow in your role and be recognized for the value you bring. In this episode of The EA Campus Podcast , we’ll explore how to: Create mor...

When your Executive is out of the office, your role doesn’t slow down — it shifts gears. In this episode of The EA Campus Podcast , Nicky Christmas shares practical strategies for managing both sides of the job: supporting your Executive on the road and keeping the office moving in their absence. From setting clear communication rhythms and decision boundaries to running a triage inbox and plannin...

In this Q&A, Courtney Salas joins me to unpack what it really takes to succeed as an Executive Assistant in a fast-paced tech startup. From organising constant change to stepping confidently into a strategic partnership, Courtney shares honest stories from life inside a 40-something-person scale-up—where there are no playbooks, just problems to solve and opportunities to grab. You’ll hear how...

In this episode, I’m joined by Microsoft Office maestro Shelley Fishel, founder of Tomorrow’s VA. Shelley has spent decades training assistants to get brilliant results with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and now, of course, Microsoft Copilot. We dig into what’s genuinely useful right now, what’s coming next, and how EAs can lead the conversation on AI without losing sight of the fundamentals. S...