← The Spiritual Hustler
The Spiritual Hustler
Beyond Scheduling and Coffee Runs: Why a Powerful Executive Assistant Will Multiply Your Revenue, Energy and Impact with Stephanie Hand
00:58:53
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- [00:02]
Jessica Zweig
Welcome to the Spiritual Hustler Podcast. I'm your host, Jessica Zweig, multi seven figure serial entrepreneur, best selling author and branding and business coach. And this is a show where we are redefining the word hustle. Reclaiming our true feminine nature of magnetism and putting down the self judgments and shame around loving to work and making a lot of money at it.
- [00:26]
Stephanie Hand
On this show you're going to learn.
- [00:27]
Jessica Zweig
How to stop hustling and start spiritually hustling by pressing play. You are now now part of a new movement of women who don't hustle for money. We hustle for meaning. We don't hustle from lack. We hustle for love. We don't hustle from survival. We hustle for humanity's thriving. We hustle toward healing the ancestral programming of fear and step into a new understanding of safety in the body to receive.
- [00:54]
Stephanie Hand
This shift isn't going to only heal your life. It's going to make you a whole lot richer too.
- [00:58]
Jessica Zweig
This is the Spiritual Hustler podcast. Hello my beautiful spiritual Hustlers and welcome back to the podcast. I am so freaking honored, grateful, privileged that I get to spend this time with you each and every week here on the Spiritual Hustler podcast where we talk about what it really means to be a lightworker, feminine leader of the New Earth. It is so deeply possible to build a business, make massive impact, make a ton of money and not kill yourself. And you know, I talk about this approach to building a business in a new Earth feminine vibration, in the Feminine Frequency Business school and in my Seven Sisters Mastermind and at my Claim youm Light retreats and all of the programs that I offer inside of my community, it really is the foundation to how I coach and guide my clients. Because I believe, I don't just believe. I know that in order to build a massively profitable, successful, impactful business, you as the founder, the CEO, the leader, the innovator, the visionary, have to be supported in the most powerful, structured, consistent and loving way. We cannot do it alone. And yet so many of us struggle with one feeling like we deserve to be held in that much support and structure and boundaries for someone to protect our time, to protect our energy, somebody to really hold up a mirror every single day to just how needed you are in the world and to give you the space to go do your magic. And that was a very hard lesson for me to learn. Because to be honest, you guys, I'm an enneagram7. I'm a Leo Sun, I'm a Virgo Rising I'm a emotional generator. I have a lot of fire in my chart. My point is, I've always been ambitious. I've always been driven. I've always had a ton of energy, and that has been my Achilles heel. Because, to be honest, I'm not. I'm not exaggerating here, and I say this with a lot of self awareness and humility. There was a large part of my life where I thought that I was superwoman. Like, I technically believed that. Like, I prided myself on the ability to do more in a day than most average people could do in, like, a week. That was literally a badge of honor that I walked through most of my entrepreneurial career with. And, man, was that a toxic state. And it wasn't until I had this woman that you're going to meet today come into my life three years ago that I finally actually stepped in to my queen code, where I stepped into my real power, where I stepped into my actual lane, which wasn't the hustling, grinding, producing female entrepreneur. I let that identity dissolve and aligned to how I am actually designed and how I'm actually meant to run my business. And I. I talk a lot about, you know, the divine feminine and how we can really live in this state of receptivity and surrender and trust and magnetism. And it's the basis of this podcast. And it's not a swan song, you guys. It's not just, like, cute marketing. It's not meant to be aspirational. It's meant to be an invitation of what's truly achievable. I'm living it. Do I have days where I'm tired and overwhelmed? Of course. But I would say my baseline truly is flow, is space, is peace, is play. Because I have set my life up, not just my business up, to be held by the people around me, because that's really what it takes. And you don't need a big team. You could just have one person in your life that allows you to really step into your joy. And I talk a lot about joy. Joy is the cheat code to ultimate manifestation. Because when we're in our joy, we get into alignment. And when we're in alignment, we become magnetic. And when we're magnetic, things are effortless. That is really, truly the science of what I bring my community, my clients, and hopefully all of you every day. And when we're overwhelmed and we're in the weeds and our schedules are back to back, and we don't have beautiful, spacious mornings and we can close our laptop at 3 or 4 or 5 o'clock and trust and know that it's all good and it's all going to get done and we don't have to juggle all of the plates all of all of the time. We lighten up. We allow life to reveal to us how good it can actually be because we. We've got that mental space. We've got the clarity. We've got the time in our days to actually enjoy life. And in walked this woman named Stephanie Hand in the fall of 2022, right before I left for Egypt. So if you've been following my journey, maybe you haven't. It's all good. In the year 2022, I hit rock bottom. Burnout, depression. Diagnosed with situational depression. I wanted to burn my whole business down. I would throw things at the wall in my apartment and they would smash. I would scream at my husband. I would cry every morning before I went to the office. I'd cry every day when I got home and curl into a fetal position in my bed at 5:00. My life that I had created this golden cage when from the outside in, the whole world thought that I was killing it. And I had never felt more inauthentic in my life. And it was in that stage, that exact precipice of my own timeline, that I hired Stephanie to become my executive assistant. And this woman healed me. This woman changed my life. She came into my life, she saw the chaos, and she was strong enough to say, I'm not here to help you fix the chaos, Jessica. I'm. I'm here to help you recognize that none of this is working and there has to be a different way. And what she taught me was, more than anything, is that your EA isn't just your assistant. They're your partner. They're your strategic liaison to manage your life, with you and for you. And over the course of these last three years, I have shape shifted. I have died and been reborn. I sold my business, I moved cities. I launched my dreams. To be honest, I'm doing exactly what I've always wanted to be doing with the work that I get to do with so many women. And I have done my own work. I have worked with coaches and healers and therapists, and I have really stayed grounded in my commitment to my own body and my own nervous system, with a ton of personal practices. All of those things are true. But if it wasn't for Stephanie coming into my life, honestly, none of it would have really worked because she created a whole new world for me as My assistant that allowed me to feel safe and protected and cared for in a way that I had never, ever experienced in my life. And Stephanie is transitioning out of my business. She is at a point in her career where she's ready to go spread her wings in a new direction so that she can serve more women. She has just launched Stephanie hand coaching for the visionary founder, the overwhelmed CEO, the woman who is ready to level up, the leader who is craving real support because you really do. Just like I did, just like all of us do, deserve to go from overwhelmed every day to full and complete ease. That's the game. We've been so conditioned. It has to be hard. And if you are at a point in your business where you don't even know what to look for in an ea, you don't even know how to properly delegate, create that incredibly magical relationship that works so synergistically that literally changes every aspect of your business and your life. If you don't really have time to chew your food because you don't have even much time for lunch because your schedule is so fucking back to back, if you feel alone in your business and are really, truly ready to experience a level of freedom and flow, this is a conversation you have to listen to. It's a really beautiful inside look at our relationship. Her story, how we built it, what she's doing now, helping women CEOs cultivate the same strategic, powerful partnerships that she and I did. You're going to want to dial up the volume because this conversation is a real inside look on how to really do it and how it's possible. Not just the dream life that you know you deserve, but the true partner.
- [11:31]
Stephanie Hand
That is there to help you co create it.
- [11:36]
Jessica Zweig
And so if you're interested in learning more about Stephanie's work, I'm kind of jealous. You're welcome. She's golden. She's doing her thing now. And I am so excited for all the women that she gets to go support and gets a taste of her brilliance and her healing, beautiful maternal medicine. I'm honestly jealous, but I'm also extremely excited for all of you. So I'm going to leave a link to Stephanie's website in the show notes and you can learn all about how she can support you, your ea, if you've got one already, if you're on the hunt for one, if you don't even know where to start with looking for one. But I really do believe that the most important relationship a CEO has is an executive assistant. I truly, truly, truly believe that I know that it's not your cfo, it's not your chief marketing officer. It's not your social media manager.
- [12:37]
Stephanie Hand
It's.
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Jessica Zweig
It's not even your COO and your operator and your integrator. It's your assistant. And if you can get that role right, your life is going to change. And so, without further ado, here is my amazing conversation with Stephanie Hand, where we break down exactly. Exactly what that looks like.
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Stephanie Hand
And so excited.
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I'm so excited.
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I. How many. I've. I've listened to a lot of these podcasts.
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I know you haven't. Here you are on the Spiritual Hustler podcast.
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Yeah.
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Welcome. Welcome to my show. My incredible, incredible partner, friend, soul mother, healer, activator. Safest space I've ever had. Stephanie Hand, welcome to the Spiritual Hustler podcast.
- [13:28]
Thank you, Jessica.
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So I ask every guest my starting question before we dive into your story and our story. What are you currently spiritually hustling for, Steph?
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Because I knew this question was coming. I've thought a little bit about it. There's so much right now that I'm, like, trying to get right in. It's a big transition time for me, us, for my family. So I'm really just trying to stay, you know, grounded and, like, letting things happen rather than trying to manage everything, because that's so much more my nature.
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Unknown
Yeah.
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Stephanie Hand
You and so many women.
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Yeah. And, well, it's my job, too.
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Yeah.
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So. And that bleeds into my life. And one moment, I'm so excited, and one moment I'm like, what I'm doing.
- [14:28]
Well, what you're about to go do is needed in the world. And you're in a feminine vibration. You're allowing, you're trusting, you're receiving, you're not controlling. You are stepping into a whole new timeline. And before we talk about that new timeline, I want to go back and talk about your past timeline leading up to our timelines intersecting. So you have been in an executive administration for how many years now?
- [15:01]
Well over 40.
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40. And tell us about the companies you worked for before you got to me.
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I. I like to think that my real journey, helping CEOs, happened about 20, 25 years ago. I come out of working in Sam Zell organizations at Equity Group and the Zel Chilmark fund for about 17 years.
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Wow.
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And in various stages of those businesses.
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And to be clear for my audience, Sam Zell is. It's a multibillion dollar company that.
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Yeah.
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Multiple companies.
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Yeah. He.
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He ran.
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He was famous in Chicago.
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The richest man in Illinois.
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Yeah. Yeah, for a long time. Yeah, it was a very demanding organization and, you know, they, the stakes were high. They invested a lot of money, they made a lot of money and there were really high expectations on, on you. And I worked at the highest levels of that organization with his, some of his top leaders and the analysts making the investments for, you know, their private investors in a $2 billion fund. Yeah, they were going through a transition and my role was seen not so much as an executive assistant. It had morphed into more of a research support role. And for about three years I basically told them what I did for them. And then one year they decided that I was done, which opened the most beautiful thing that ever happened. Like, you know, again, scary because I had been with them for so long and I really didn't know what to do next or how to do. And you know, one Sunday morning I was reading the Chicago Tribune want ads and there was long before, you know, Indeed or LinkedIn, and there was an ad looking for an office manager research assistant for a startup hedge fund. And I put my resume out and two months later I was working with these guys. I was the fifth hire. Four guys in a West Loop loft. They thought they hired me to help with research, but they just needed everything. It really was more an office manager and becoming the administrative executive assistant to the founding partners. I was there 10 years. I think year seven is the year we hired two other women, another assistant and HR compliance person. And we also hired CFO and COO those years. I mean, I went through SEC audit.
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Unknown
Yeah.
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Stephanie Hand
Before we had those people. So I did, you know, everything for those guys and the company. It was just the greatest opportunity. You know.
- [18:34]
The company went public, didn't it?
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Well, they were bought by Morgan Stanley.
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After starting at four guys.
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Four guys. Yeah.
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Yeah, you saw it all.
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We saw it all. So we got bought by Morgan Stanley. We did a two year lockup after that purchase. And then he, he knew he didn't want to be part of a big organization. As soon as the lockup was over, we spun out. And then the financial crisis happened. We made it through that, but then just as we were just like investors coming back in, one of the portfolio managers on the platform was indicted for insider trading. And so all the money started going out. And we had a significant portion of money in a mutual fund, you know, commingled managed fund that was shared across all the platforms and that started going away and that ended. Tim Flannery, the managing partner at the time, asked me to stay on and help kind of unwind what we wound up together. And so I did that for, you know, two or three months, and then I needed to find what was next. And that was really when I. It was a huge change. Got out of Chicago. A new CEO. Fresh. First time CEO in a manufacturing company in Harvey, Illinois, which turns out to be almost Indiana, 35 miles away from me. And you can't take a train there. I met John Williamson, and there was just something about him that I could see what he was trying to do, and I knew that I could help him.
- [20:24]
You did.
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And so I asked him if he wanted to work with me, and he did. So they went public. We went public in year four.
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Unknown
Wow.
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Stephanie Hand
Yeah. And then the CEO and CFO retired.
- [20:40]
Good for them.
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Yeah. And then I was asked to stay on to help transition the new CEO, Bill Waltz, who I had known. He was in the business for like five years, but he wanted help, you know, especially with the board. And I was instrumental in bringing on eight independent board members and had really strong relationships with them. And, you know, it's just. It was an excellent place. But our relationship was so different than John's or what I had with Tim. He didn't want the same things. He didn't need it, he didn't value it. And I was very unsettled, and I knew that I wanted to do something else. And John was encouraging me to explore going out on my own. So then Covid happened, and it became kind of the perfect opportunity.
- [21:42]
Unknown
Yeah.
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Stephanie Hand
To. To try and do that. So I got organized around, you know, how do you start a company? How do you form an llc? How do you, you know, what's the tax structure? And so I learned all of that and had some advisors. And in March of 2021. So you launched on hand. On hand Executive Services and got my first client that year, a couple of co founders of a defi crypto company. They were my first clients and they were great. And from there I just started adding clients. And about, yeah. 13, 14 months into it, somebody's like, you have to meet Jessica. And I was like, okay. I think I was getting into my car and I did a quick Google search. I was like, wow. Within two minutes, I was like, I knew I wanted to meet you. And I think that was a Wednesday, and we were going to talk on Friday. I read your books.
- [23:03]
In two days.
- [23:04]
In two days. And listened to a lot of podcasts and I just tried to learn everything I could about you. And then our, what, 20 minute conversation on Friday was almost two hours, 20 minutes.
- [23:15]
Yeah. Really long conversation.
- [23:17]
And then I got off the phone and couldn't shut up to my husband. Like, I was, like, so excited to, well, have met a woman.
- [23:26]
Right.
- [23:27]
Who is in this position that you were in and so open to having the kind of relationship that I was used to having with my leaders. And I couldn't wait. I mean, I just couldn't wait.
- [23:45]
Well, I. And here we are three years later.
- [23:49]
Yes.
- [23:50]
I'm so glad you were able to break that timeline down because your acumen and the level of sophistication, you know, just in hearing the companies you took public and Sam Zell and all very masculine, you know, hyper corporate, hyper finance focus, but at a real high level, working as an ea, you come into my life as somebody that, yes, needed support. But my traditional EAs had been up until I met you young people right out of college that were looking at the EA role within my organization as a stepping stone. So you had never worked for a woman before. I had never had someone at your level before. And I want you to talk about and fully lay it out. Not that my audience is going to be surprised. What it looked like, yes, I was ready for you, I needed you, but I also kind of wasn't really ready for you. I think that's important to share what the business, what my calendar, what my life looked like, and how you helped me fix it.
- [25:01]
Well, I think just by meeting each other in our initial conversations, you became so aware that there was so much more available to you than what you have had experienced. And if we hadn't met, you might have hired another young aggressive looking for their next career step as this a launching pad. And if you can work with Jessica, you can work with anybody.
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I don't know about that.
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You really brought me in, told me what was going on in the business.
- [25:39]
Yeah, I was actually about to reorder my entire company, and I had to fire, like, three people, like, two weeks.
- [25:45]
Jessica Zweig
After you had started.
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Stephanie Hand
Right. Which was horrible. So that's what you. That's what I learned. Like, over lunch, I think we were having a working lunch, and the morning was talking about how you were going to revamp your product suite and pricing. And that was very exciting. And then over lunch, the reorg conversation started. And I think after listening and absorbing what you guys were all talking about, you turned to me and said, are you ready to leave? Or something like that.
- [26:19]
I was like, are you sure you.
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Jessica Zweig
Could handle this tornado?
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Stephanie Hand
And I basically, it was like, now I know why I'm here. Right. Because I've been through this. She needed help to come through this. That every real leader at some point in their business has to make tough decisions and right size and having people close to you who can support that, who you can lean into or lean on. I knew what that was going to look like for you.
- [26:53]
Unknown
Yeah.
- [26:54]
Stephanie Hand
I think wasn't it like week two or three, we were traveling.
- [26:59]
Unknown
Yeah.
- [27:00]
Stephanie Hand
And, you know, I thought I was. I thought I was still onboarding, but, you know, I threw you right in.
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It was no time to wait.
- [27:07]
It was throwing in. So, you know, really quickly getting just how vast, how diverse your involvement with everything was. You know, it was the agency. Agency and clients. It was your team. And I was, like, amazed that it's just not one on ones. This. She's in.
- [27:29]
I was in.
- [27:29]
Why are you in every meeting? But I wasn't saying that yet. That's kind of where I was going with it in my head. And I think we both, like. I got to a point, it was about six weeks in where I was really spending, like, almost all day crying because I was so worried about you and being able to support you. And I had to tell you that I couldn't do the thing that I told you I could do. Like I'm this expert. I could do this. And I just felt like I was letting you down. But what I really was trying to say, and I did say was that your schedule is not sustainable.
- [28:21]
Unknown
Yeah.
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Stephanie Hand
And getting emotional thinking about those.
- [28:25]
I know, I know. I mean, I was ugly crying in that meeting. Yeah. It was terrible.
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I was ugly crying to myself before work and after work.
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Yeah.
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All the time. Because I was so in the weeds.
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Right.
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And burnt out.
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And I could. I could see it and I could feel it. And the weight of it was just. It was a lot. And I. I really didn't want to let you down. And I saw how important this was, how many people depended on everything. So telling you this was. I thought so hard. And how you received it wasn't you. Well, you said, you aren't going to leave me, are you?
- [29:04]
Jessica Zweig
I remember that.
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Stephanie Hand
And I was like, I don't want to. I. But. But we can't do this.
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Right.
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And, you know, we basically changed. Even before you went to Egypt, we were talking about how this was going to change, but then Egypt happened.
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Unknown
Yeah.
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Stephanie Hand
And the miracle of Egypt in everything about what it did to you for your. Your spiritual beating, what it did for how you came to realize how you wanted to live and work. And I was like, we're gonna Be okay.
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Unknown
Yeah.
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Stephanie Hand
Because we also, I felt like embarked on it together. It wasn't like, I'm gonna have to fix this for you or you're gonna. Yeah, we, I just, we became a team.
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Unknown
Yeah.
- [29:58]
Stephanie Hand
So our relationship had a rocky start, admittedly. And yet here we are three years later. And I have never experienced support the way I experienced it with you. And I really am so here to say to my community the importance of a sophisticated level of executive administration in your business and to really, really value it as your biggest asset. Because once you came in, yes, I went to Egypt and came back and integrated that trip, but my whole life healed. And a lot of that was because I did my own work, but a lot of it was because I allowed you to support me versus just being the delegator and we became partners. And so if you were to really share with my audience over the last three years some of the biggest lessons that they can take into their business around how to really make a CEO to EA relationship. Hum. What would those lessons and pieces of advice be?
- [31:13]
Well, I think the main thing is make sure that you have someone that you want to have around you.
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Unknown
Yes.
- [31:22]
Stephanie Hand
That, that feels comfortable, that you feel trusted. Like you can trust them, like you can be real with them.
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They're going to be in your life more than anybody else.
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Jessica Zweig
They're going to know, you know, when I'm bleeding.
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Stephanie Hand
I know when I'm fighting with Brian, you know, when I'm hungry, you know where I am at all times.
- [31:40]
Right. But it's, it's also that, you know, it's. That it's safe.
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Unknown
Yeah.
- [31:45]
Stephanie Hand
And that's just not with anybody.
- [31:47]
Correct.
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And that comes from you. You may have somebody in your life already that is doing that for you, but you need them to step up. And there's a lot of ways that that can happen. But it's really key that you are working with somebody that you want to be there for you. And then I think the. That other part is that you as a CEO have stepped out of the entrepreneur place. The mindset of that. That you are ready to lead.
- [32:26]
Unknown
Yeah.
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Stephanie Hand
You are ready to be the business.
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Unknown
Yeah.
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Stephanie Hand
And I think that that was the biggest part of your transformation that I saw that next year was that you really trusted that you could step away. Step away.
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Unknown
Yeah.
- [32:48]
Stephanie Hand
And I saw you struggle with that. You know, can I not have meetings after 3:00? Do I deserve that? Can I really not schedule meetings until 10? You know?
- [33:01]
Unknown
Yeah.
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Stephanie Hand
Can I really fully remove myself from meetings completely that I actually don't need to be in anymore.
- [33:07]
Right. So. And watching that happen was really an unlock. I don't know if there's a third that, you know, I think it's really key, but I think those two things are where you have to start. You know, you really have to somebody that you have that. That trust in, and you need to be ready to let that stuff go.
- [33:30]
So when people think of assistance, they think of, oh, she handles my schedule, she gets me my coffee and make sure I'm fed, manages my travel. There are some pitfalls in thinking that. It just looks like that you've been working with a lot of executives myself as probably, you know, this activation of working with women really deeply. And you support so many of my, my, my women that I coach and are my clients. And so many of them I see really struggle accepting support. So what are some common mistakes that women especially are making when it comes to that EA relationship?
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I think they think that they have to tell you what to do. Comes down to that you believe that this person is your partner.
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Yes.
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Not. And I don't want to use the word just an assistant, but. And I'm only using it just in a very limiting of capacity, not in their abilities. Because you are the one that's limiting them.
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Correct.
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If it's the right person and they have the right skill set and they have the right mindset, you are the one that's limiting them because you're not letting them in. The biggest unlock to that is sharing your vision, helping them understand the context for why we're doing this, why this launch is important, what this is going to accomplish for us. Why am I doing this course? Why, why, how comes later. Yeah, but all of that helps the person in the role supporting you know, how to prioritize without you. And sometimes in spite of you saying how you want to prioritize your time.
- [35:34]
Speaking of that, you talk about this philosophy of being ten steps ahead of you while right behind you. So what does this actually look like in action? And why can it be such a game changer for women in business?
- [35:48]
Well, it can be the little things. Every day, you know, I go to bed the night before thinking about tomorrow and what does that look like for you? Right. So that's me planning ahead. That's like, have I looked at the weather? Are you traveling? Yeah, usually I'm with you, but you know. Yeah, if you, if I'm not with you, like, you and Brian were on vacation and. Or your family was on vacation. And there's a lot of parts that Other people were planning because it was a family thing.
- [36:22]
Unknown
Yeah.
- [36:22]
Stephanie Hand
And that was, for me, like, not great.
- [36:26]
Unknown
Yep.
- [36:26]
Stephanie Hand
Because it's hard for me to stay ahead of you. So in that case, I'm behind you because I might have to pick up something. And even though I'm expecting that you're on vacation or it was over the weekend, and I'm still expecting that you might need something. So that's a behind you kind of thing. The big things, you know, I can go back to on the book tour. Some of the things that I was anticipating for you always. Or that, like, you didn't even know. I didn't like things that needed. That I needed to make happen so that you could show up at the end of the day to do the fireside chat, to meet all these women who came to talk about your book. And there I'm with my hand on your back. Right. Because now you're here, all this stuff is ready. But what do you need? What? While you're here, you know?
- [37:26]
Yes.
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Like, is everybody where they needed to be? Did Michael Beckwith show up on time? Yes. You know, and so it's just. It's all the same thing, really.
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Yes.
- [37:37]
It doesn't have to be two different things. To me, it's the same.
- [37:41]
Can I ask you your thoughts? So what's coming up for me as you're talking? Because I'm thinking about all the ways that you support me.
- [37:48]
Yeah.
- [37:49]
Like, when we would go on those across the country for my book tour, and I would do these events, and I would stay back at the hotel, get my makeup done, get my outfit on while you were, like, setting up the space, getting the flowers, making sure the cater was on time, unlocking the door, and during the music was right. Like, so I could just show up. Right. A year ago, almost exactly, you helped me move. We went from Chicago to Nashville. We. You helped pack up my house, unpack my house, organize my drawers. You help me with all the little micro things on my schedule. Like in my calendar, there are links to the zooms to the documents well in advance. So by the time I show up on the meeting, I have everything I need. I'm just listing out all of these things. Because there was a period of my life, stuff, where I felt that if I were to step into that, I would be a diva. That they're like. I had fear around accepting that level of support and thinking that I deserved it, that I deserve to be that deeply supported. And I think that's a block for so many of us. I'VE obviously alchemized it. To be honest, sometimes I have to surprise myself, like, oh, my God, Really?
- [38:59]
Jessica Zweig
You'll do that for me?
- [39:00]
Stephanie Hand
And you're like, yes, I'll do that for you.
- [39:02]
That was kind of the move.
- [39:03]
Yes, it was the move. Because I was blown away that you would help me do that. You helped me pack when I'm traveling, you help me unpack when I get there. These are these little things that I just. I still.
- [39:14]
Jessica Zweig
I dre.
- [39:14]
Stephanie Hand
I treasure them.
- [39:15]
Right.
- [39:15]
I don't take them for granted. I value everything. What advice do you have to the women that are listening, who are, like, listening to this and being like, I could never afford that. I don't deserve that. I don't think I could ever ask someone to do those things for me. Can you speak to her? Because I. I know that they're listening, and some of my listeners might be like, wow, that's so aspirational, but not attainable, and I don't deserve it. What do you have to say to her?
- [39:43]
Stop it. Stop that right now. First of all, if you expected it and you didn't appreciate it and you weren't grateful. Yeah. You'd be a diva. Right? Of course you'd be. You know, I wouldn't want to do that for you. Of course. It's. It's part of.
- [40:01]
Jessica Zweig
It's a relationship.
- [40:02]
Stephanie Hand
It's a part of the relationship. I'm seeing that. If you don't have to do that, that frees you to do the things that make the business possible or help the clients possible. When I would counsel a woman, any other female executive, you don't have to be a CEO. You just have to believe that what you are doing is important and worthy enough that. That you can be supported however you need to be supported. And I would remind you that for the 25 years that I worked with men, they don't think twice about that. They don't think twice.
- [40:50]
They sure don't.
- [40:50]
About how that gets done.
- [40:53]
Unknown
Right.
- [40:54]
Stephanie Hand
It just needs to get done.
- [40:56]
Or do I deserve somebody to. No, they don't think about travel and pack for me. They don't think that way.
- [41:01]
They don't think that way. Right. I mean, I never packed for John, but I traveled with them.
- [41:07]
But it's around Worth.
- [41:08]
Right?
- [41:09]
It's exactly what I. I wholeheartedly believe. It's the core of all women stepping into their true power, whether it's through an assistant, whether it's through revenue, whether it's just stepping into a book launch or a podcast tour. Or being seen on social media. Same thing goes with an assistant fully supporting you. It really comes down to your belief in yourself, in your vision, in your work, in your magic, in your codes that you are here for a deep, deep mission.
- [41:39]
Jessica Zweig
We all are.
- [41:40]
Stephanie Hand
And you need. You can't do that alone. You need to be in your highest vibration to be protected. And the right EA sees and knows that. What are some of the biggest warning signs you would say to a woman that's currently running her business, that she is desperately in need of an ea.
- [42:01]
She finds herself in every single meeting. She's stuck in her inbox, her calendar is back to back, and maybe she doesn't even know why meetings are on her calendar. I've run into this because they get scheduled rather than requested. Requested or planned. You know, I could go off on that, but it's. Those are. Those are warning signs.
- [42:34]
Unknown
Yeah.
- [42:34]
Stephanie Hand
Those are.
- [42:35]
As a result of that, she's probably really freaking tired.
- [42:38]
She's probably really tired. And, you know, if. If her business is one part of her life and her. Maybe she's got a family. Oh, my God. You know, right. Then all of a sudden, you know, I feel for her that. That. That stuff breaks my heart because it's. It's. So. We can fix that.
- [43:02]
Really.
- [43:04]
We can fix that. And that'll help you so much. And it doesn't take a lot.
- [43:12]
It doesn't take a lot. It takes tweaking, boundaries, protection, optimization. Yes. But I think it really takes. I'm speaking to her right now. It takes a level of surrender for you to say, this is something I can't do by myself anymore, and I need somebody to take care of this with me. And that is a bit of a. Not an ego bruise, but there's something about the. The power we hold to hold it together as successful women that we get really caught up in and stuck on because we don't want to ever let anyone else down. But in trying to do that, we're letting ourselves down.
- [43:55]
Or your business or your clients or your team.
- [43:59]
Correct.
- [44:00]
Extend it on to your family. Yeah.
- [44:04]
You are so clearly passionate about helping visionary women thrive.
- [44:12]
Unknown
Yeah.
- [44:14]
Stephanie Hand
And this has inspired. I mean, I'll share this in the intro because they're gonna know this, but you're. You're leaving me. You're not leaving.
- [44:22]
I'm not leaving. You're.
- [44:24]
Well, you're spreading your wing works.
- [44:25]
The. The work is changing.
- [44:27]
Correct. We're going through an evolution. You are moving. I. You know, the business over on this part has evolved, and it's time and never before in my entire career. I just want to say this with full pride. I've had a lot of people come through my business. I probably have had between the employees I once had and all the attrition and the businesses I've built, 60 people I've hired over the course of my career. And I've gotten really beautiful, I think at being that kind of leader that lets people go when they need to go with a lot of love and support and grace. And at times it hasn't been so pretty. There's never been in my career transition like ours where we're really holding the highest vision for each other's next timeline and remaining partners in that way.
- [45:24]
Yeah.
- [45:25]
And your transition is not you going to be an EA for someone else. Why don't you share with us what you're about to launch or what you're currently launching.
- [45:36]
Yeah.
- [45:36]
Jessica Zweig
Look at how you just lit up.
- [45:38]
Stephanie Hand
I know I am. I'm very excited about it. So my next iteration of on hand is going to be coaching and consulting women CEOs or high level leaders who and their assistants to build the relationship that I've loved.
- [46:04]
Unknown
Yeah.
- [46:06]
Jessica Zweig
And there's a gap in the market.
- [46:09]
Stephanie Hand
Because nobody, nobody's doing, no one's doing this Leaders, when they hire the ea, it's so much more than hiring the right ea. And when the EA gets the dream job for the CEO, it's so much more than just the role they think they've signed up to do. And so can you talk to us about how you support that dynamic?
- [46:34]
Yeah, I guess. Well, that's kind of evolving yet too in, in the, in the concrete way. But you know, I really see it as, you know, it could be from, you know, helping you design the role to create what you need so that when you do, you know, the job description, which I think is more a little bit of a story about who and why you are looking for this person and helping them see that they get your vision and get who you are and see themselves working for you and therefore want to reach out to be with you, not so much I'm looking for an ea. If you know anybody, it's not really that. So trying to help people design and think about who that person is, who do you want to be with you to be your partner. And if you already have that person, beautiful you already, you're there, you're comfortable. Trust is the biggest foundation and that you care to work with each other is I think the other key. And then I would just love to have the opportunity to help you become that CEO and help your assistant integrate into your business, into your life, into your really it's into your life.
- [48:19]
Yes.
- [48:21]
To be that partner strategically on just not on the tactics, not on the day to day, you can hire that person that's, that's pretty easy to do. But the person that's going to be that partner to you, that really takes you to the next level, that's, I'm designing that, I'm talking to people about that. It's really exciting. And you know, we already collaborated and told our story a little bit on LinkedIn and you know, people, people reached out to that post like we'll link.
- [49:01]
It in the show notes.
- [49:02]
Yeah, people should read that, you know, and it's like I, I want that relationship. Talk to me about that relationship.
- [49:09]
Yes.
- [49:10]
And so it's really beautiful. And, and I just, you know, so many people know me for the doing of the EA work and I, I think that this iteration of the work that I could do could help even more than what I've done so far. And I think I've done some pretty amazing things.
- [49:35]
Yeah, you have done some amazing things. You launched a best selling book, you took a company public, you helped me sell my business. You've been in so many different spectrums of industry. Masculine, corporate feminine, startup, thought leader, authors, social media, community building. And really have seen, especially in my business, the exquisite nature of what it feels like to be your business. And I agree wholeheartedly that there is, it's so much more than the tactics. It's really understanding the power of the strategic relationship. And one thing that you have done so beautifully, which has been a learning lesson for me, is showing me that it's, you know, supporting an executive is supporting a human. So there is no distinction between a personal assistant and an executive assistant, if you get it right. And that that person is there to help manage your tasks and ensure that you've got your daily briefs and are checking the boxes of your quarterly goals and taking notes and all of that. But to really stand beside you as your protector of your energy and to care so much about you as a human being, because I think that those, those things are to some degree teachable of how to show up more optimized on both sides of that role to create a true unified synergy that is pretty, once you get it right, it makes both of you unstoppable. I mean, I, I don't think I would be where I am. I don't think I know had you not come into my life when I needed you the most. And you healed me. You. You helped to heal me, which healed my business. And I want to thank you publicly, in front of my whole community for doing that. There you go.
- [51:40]
Jessica Zweig
Steph, do you, you know, have anything.
- [51:43]
Stephanie Hand
To potentially say before I get into my final quick fire questions? To the women who are listening to the show, who have a passion to be the support versus the CEO, the operational side of a business. Not everyone who listens is aiming to be the face, but people who really thrive in support roles because you're going to be coaching those women as well. So what do you have to say to her? Because she's you 20 years ago.
- [52:17]
Unknown
Yeah.
- [52:19]
Stephanie Hand
Well, I believe. I mean, I think the EA community is very strong, and we share kind of passions for the work that we do, and we sort of get each other. I mean, I think that assistants have it in their DNA somehow that this work is really. It's in our DNA. We love this work. We love being that person. And to my community of other executive assistants, I just really want to encourage you to always believe that you are worthy of working with someone who values you, who values your contribution. And it's. I know there's a lot of situations, and people get stuck in places where they're not valued or respected, and I just want you to know that it's possible to. To really find those relationships. But you. It's kind of on you to not accept things that don't fill you up, that don't reward you, that don't make it worth all that you're giving to somebody else, and really just own that for yourselves, too, and believe that if you put it out there that this is what you want, this is who you want to work for, the type of businesses and the people and. And to stand in it.
- [54:07]
The EA is the secret weapon of the business.
- [54:11]
They are. It is.
- [54:12]
And to really hold that and value that. I love that stuff. Okay. Can I ask you my fire. Quick fire questions? Let's see what you got to say. You know what I'm. You know what I'm gonna ask you.
- [54:23]
I know.
- [54:24]
Do you have a favorite spiritual book?
- [54:27]
Yes. It's called the Light Work by. By Jessica Swag.
- [54:32]
Kind of knew you were going to say that.
- [54:34]
Jessica Zweig
It's.
- [54:35]
Stephanie Hand
It's pretty good.
- [54:36]
It's pretty good.
- [54:37]
I'm reading lots of them, though. I know you are the. I think you have mine right now. The women Run with the wolves.
- [54:45]
Jessica Zweig
Yeah.
- [54:45]
Stephanie Hand
So good and cosmic. Mother. And mother. Yeah. I mean, I learned a lot from you too. And the community of women that were working with. I'm loving this expansion into things that, you know, have been quiet in the back of my mind or my soul. And, you know, I can't think of how many times in my life I've gone, did that happen? Did I feel that? Did I know that?
- [55:21]
I often say working with me is like, welcome to the light side.
- [55:24]
I know.
- [55:25]
Like, not welcome to the dark side. Welcome to the light side. It opens up.
- [55:28]
It opens up. So, yeah. And I mean, almost anytime you speak to somebody or they mention their book or something, I'm like, I got that. I'm getting that, you know, because I just continue to want to learn. But your book, I'm so proud of you and that book. I just love it.
- [55:48]
Do you have a certain angel or goddess or deity or ancestor that you connect with the most?
- [55:58]
Ancestors? My grandmas. My grandma. Both of my grandmas were really strong supportive of me. Worked. I saw that a woman could work and be respected in her work. So they're very present always.
- [56:29]
Do you believe in extraterrestrials? Yes or no?
- [56:35]
Jessica Zweig
I don't think I've ever asked you this.
- [56:37]
Stephanie Hand
You've never asked me this. I've. So I have more of a Neil Degrasse Tyson, you know, I love him. Look at like the cosmos and that. How vast and incredibly, you know, just incredibly vast. It is. It's difficult to really, truly believe that we're alone.
- [57:06]
Unknown
Yeah.
- [57:06]
Stephanie Hand
And I love the sky. I love looking at the stars and understanding the constellations. I have an app on my phone, you know, so I'm just like, I, you know, I'm open to it.
- [57:28]
That's all.
- [57:29]
Jessica Zweig
That's all I need.
- [57:30]
Stephanie Hand
Yeah.
- [57:31]
I mean, I know where you stand, but everybody does. And that's okay. And that's okay.
- [57:37]
It's all. It's.
- [57:38]
I know.
- [57:38]
Whether you believe it or I'm just. It's just a curious one. My. In my quick fire.
- [57:42]
Jessica Zweig
Just curious.
- [57:42]
Stephanie Hand
Yeah.
- [57:43]
Because I think everybody is somewhat curious. Final question. What does it mean to you, Stephanie, to be a co. Creator of the new Earth?
- [57:59]
My truth.
- [58:03]
Yeah. I love you so much. I'm so grateful that you came into my life. Not even, you know, words don't even.
- [58:16]
Jessica Zweig
Cut it, let alone coming on my.
- [58:18]
Stephanie Hand
Podcast so that I can amplify our work as hopefully a deep permission sleep for women to step into their worthiness and to watch you go fly and support so many other female entrepreneurs that need you and this work and this partnership desperately. And I, as I often say, the sky is the beginning. And this is the beginning for both of us.
- [58:41]
Jessica Zweig
A new beginning.
- [58:44]
Stephanie Hand
I love you. Thank you for being here.