In a Creative Reboot first, our guest, the very lovely Girl Friday, Emma McGregor joined Carla in her office to record this episode earlier this summer! It was one of the hottest days of the year but the tech (eventually) behaved and we had a gorgeous time chatting… listen up!

Emma shared her experiences with us of a career filled with so much diversity and not even a little bit of niching in the most articulate way. She was a joy to listen to and she shared some wonderful pieces of excellent advice in amongst stories of sock buying and apple juice making!

Meet Emma

Emma McGregor is Girl Friday, freelance personal assistant – very different from a virtual assistant – and an all round fabulous human.

She’s been doing this for 14 years, and before having children was a PA in a proper office in a big media agency. Her clients are incredibly varied, from farmers and landlords to a body piercer and a printing company, and she thrives on the variety of these challenges.

What we talk about

Redundancy after maternity leave, temping through an agency and then agreeing to do more regular work for one of the clients from there. Growing her business by word of mouth and referrals and trust.

The problems that can spring from being bad at saying no – making apple juice, making gin, and other stories!

Christmas shopping with your boss and afternoon tea at Fortnum & Mason’s, and building a rapport and a relationship with your clients so you can bounce off each other, agree, disagree and agree to disagree without falling out.

Trust and physical presence, and becoming part of the family when you work in a family office. Differences between VAs (magical and scheduled) and PAs (often firefighting) – and the inescapable fact that you can’t make apple juice virtually.

Paper filing – she’s a weirdo and loves it! Girl Friday will fix your shit… there’s a business card tagline for you.

Ziggy the little red car and how Emma juggles her clients when she’s there in person with most of them, which fascinated us because juggling them from one desk can be hard enough!

Sustainable pricing, retainers and fees – you know how much we love talking about pricing, and of course if your service involves you actually travelling to someone, a ten minute job isn’t realistic or sustainable.

Getting into trouble – another one of our favourite subjects – by not being able to say no. Hand washing apples in mid November in cold water is maybe not exactly what you’d expect a PA to be doing, right?

Knowing your skills and what you do for your clients, but getting them to let go and trust you to problem solve for them – it’s a challenge but a good one.

What it feels like when you say yes to something (bookkeeping arrghhhhh) and then realise you really, really shouldn’t have – and how to tackle this (find your client a pro and don’t take no for an answer!). (we love this example because Emma is still epically problem solving for her client – she’s a magician!)

Multigenerational homes and meal planning and a supermarket dash – turns out none of us like meal planning much!

Networking and asking “who do you know?” rather than “do you know anyone?” which makes people think differently. Asking your existing clients who they know who needs you can be a brilliant way to increase your client base.

The impossibility of writing a CV or a job description for what Emma does – but everyone really does need an Emma!

Creativity, creating order from chaos and crazy, creative problem solving. Confidence vs arrogance and appreciating our own abilities.

Being an empath and being a PA, and how hard it can be to disassociate when you’re so involved with your clients and their businesses, and supporting them. Feeling torn when you can see both sides of a dispute and unsure which hat to wear.

Finding balance between having empathy and sympathy, and also keeping the business requirements going.

Being an essential cog in the wheel or the machine, advising what you’d do in the situation and going with it.

Picking up on the emotions and moods of your clients when you’re in the same room with them, and the pitfalls and joys of being an emotional sponge!

Apple juice and gin are involved in Emma’s most glorious moment – making them rather than drinking them. Not what you expect a PA to be doing, but creating something that ended up being the breakfast juice at a London hotel is very cool!

Get more Emma in your life

Find Emma at girlfridayadminsupport.biz