Star turns PA PROFILE If you’re at the top of your game, Brian Daniel can find you a job
with the rich and famous – but soaring salaries and private jets come at a price, David Naylor discovers.
Agency boss Brian Daniel is advertising on his website for an executive/personal assistant to work with a celebrity CEO – and he would prefer someone with “prior jet management” experience. “This dream job,” says the ad, “will bring the candidate
around the world because the position requires about 60 per cent or more travel.” As glamorous as may seem, the job is
fairly standard for Daniel’s exclusive agency, The Celebrity Personal Assistant Network (
www.findcelebrityjobs.com), which specialises in placing EAs and PAs in full-time positions with movie stars, business moguls, royals and assorted billionaires. Based in San Francisco, Daniel promotes himself as
“Headhunter to the Stars” and has a message for Australian PAs: “I want to hear from you”. He opened the agency in 2007, fresh from working in
what could be the ultimate PA job – chief of staff to the Saudi royal family, based in Saudi Arabia. Today he has offices in Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami and New York, but he places his “candidates” with VIP clients
all over the world. He warns that the hours can be tough, but the rewards
are fabulous: salaries can soar beyond $150,0000 a year (plus year-end bonuses), luxury cars, first-class international travel, five-star hotels and restaurants, and close contact with the rich and famous. “These people like to poach,” says Daniel. “Billionaires
steal each other’s assistants, because when you reach that level you must have more than just the skills. You must have the time and flexibility, the emotional commitment, a thick skin. When someone has those qualities, there are bidding wars: ‘I’ll give you a bigger house ... bigger Mercedes ... bigger year-end bonus’. Once you reach that level, you are the best of the best.” Enthusiastic and animated with a hint of humour, Daniel
spends nearly two hours on his Skype interview with Executive PA Magazine. But no amount of questioning can persuade the 41-year-old to disclose the names of his celebrity clients. There is a good chance you see them all the time, starring in movies, walking the red carpet, accepting an Oscar or running a corporation. But the only
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