s luggage. I had to hire assistants who were just in charge of the bags. When you get to the hotel, you have a whole army of maids to unpack and iron everything. Someone has to organise it all, and that was me.
What gave you the idea to launch an agency for celebrity assistants? When I fi nished with the Saudis in 2007 I was dealing with a lot of high-end employment agencies. The average agency is a factory – high volume and impersonal – and I thought there had to be a better way to do it. So when I started my venture, I decided to provide personal service to all candidates and clients, and to specialise in assistance. As far as I know, there has never been a go-to agent before for elite assistance.
How selective are you with clients? I tell at least 25 per cent of all employers who approach me that I am not the right agency for them. The average wage for one of my assistants is $80,000, but I have assistants who make more than $150,000. High-net-worth people have the money but they can be very thrifty. If they want an assistant worth $150,000 but only want to pay half that, then I politely turn them down. Just as I qualify candidates, I qualify employers too. A famous
doctor contacted me. I did my homework on him, and he had a lot of emotional problems – arrested several times, domestic violence, a whole list of things. It didn’t matter that he wanted to pay $120,000 a year. I just can’t expose my candidates to that.
A mansion is commonplace for Brian Daniel, who as a PA often worked in a palace.
empire with estates all over the world, you can payroll someone out of some offi ce overseas and it doesn’t matter. When you look at the number of wealthy people today, the opportunities for EAs and PAs have never been greater. The jobs are out there for the taking – you just have to be willing to make the sacrifi ces needed.
What process do you use to fi nd the very best assistants? Part of how I qualify candidates is their attention to detail. There is a protocol for applying. It is on the jobs page of my website. Don’t attach a resume – paste it. Put this in the subject line. I do this on purpose to see if they are reading the details. A person who does not follow the instructions will stumble later. If you can’t handle all of those small things on the front end, then you will fall fl at on your face at the back end where the big things really matter.
Daniel on the tarmac after returning from yet another private jet fl ight.
There are so many considerations. I am also a career coach and
I’m all about my long-term respect in the industry, so I’ve often advised candidates not to take a job. I don’t want them leaving a really great job then getting fi red from their new one.
What advice would you give to a PA in Australia who wants to work with VIPs and celebrities? I want to hear from them. There are amazing opportunities for people willing to relocate. Almost half the world’s billionaires are in the US, but they are all over the place, many in the middle of nowhere. There are only about 50 in New York and even fewer in Los Angeles. I get calls from these people and they say “there is no talent here”. Many celebrities don’t want to be in the big cities. Harrison
Ford is an example. Bruce Willis and Demi Moore got out of the city. A legend of the entertainment industry living outside of LA contacted me and was desperate for a certain candidate. “The job is hers,” he said. He fl ew her out there, wined and dined her, told her she could live in the mansion and have her own car. She turned down the off er. It can be a delicate situation for people coming from Australia
because sometimes there are issues with visas and all of that. There can be ways around it. If you are a big CEO and run a vast
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WWW.EXECUTIVEPA.COM.AU
What tips can you give to candidates who have got through to the interview? There are some tried-and-true gold nuggets I always tell people looking for celebrity assistant jobs. First and foremost, it is hard to get these jobs, but not as hard as you think because it is easy to outshine your competitors. Go the extra mile, be over-prepared for the interview, dress like a million dollars, don’t overdo it, don’t underdo it, rehearse your answers, show up to the interview early so you can get all the nerves and excitement out of your system and get focused. And make sure you have your parking spot. I have seen people miss the job because they couldn’t fi nd
parking. Walk in two minutes late and you don’t get the job. If you are on time, you are late. You have to be 10 minutes early. When you get down to those last fi ve people, they are splitting hairs, so focus on what you can control.
How important is the rapport between a VIP client and their PA? It’s everything. You’re married to them. You will spend more time with the client than they do with their boyfriend/girlfriend or spouse. They are going to be sharing their deepest, darkest secrets.
You must have seen things that would make a gossip columnist blush! Oh man! I would never put names to what I saw when I worked at the Beverly Hills hotel – the little trysts, A-listers sneaking in people. You wouldn’t believe what I witnessed, and that was only the beginning. After I got into the PA world I was exposed to so much. I was with a VIP client – and I wish I could tell you who – and we walked into his house and there was this major A-list actress there. The magazines had just done a big story complete with pictures of her and her husband and kids, and here she was cheating on her husband. This is the kind of stuff that you see all the time. E
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