Building an External Assistant Network in Your City with Guests: Ike Saunders & Julie Kavanaugh | Ep 19: (Part 1 of 2)

 

An Executive Assistant or Personal Assistant is only as good as their resources and their network. Any assistant who is serious about their profession needs to be involved in at least one networking group, especially one that is local. If one does not already exist in your city, you can create one yourself. But how do you do that?  In a two-part conversation, Bonnie and Vickie interview two experts on this subject. Ike Saunders, EA to Christopher Kennedy and Founder of REACH in Chicago and his colleague Julie Kavanaugh, EA to Craig Bouchard and member of the REACH leadership team will spill the beans and share the secrets of their amazing success building one of the most successful external assistant networks in America. REACH stands for the Regional Executive Assistant Cocktail Hour.

In Part One, find out what inspired Ike and Julie and a core group of committed colleagues to grow the network from fewer than ten people over drinks to over 200 in less than three years. They reveal the many benefits of joining and participating in a network like REACH which include not only having access to talented colleagues and high quality resources, but great service and lower prices on top of all that. Executives and leaders will quickly see why it makes so much sense to support assistants to get involved in an external network.

Ike’s and Julie’s philosophy: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with others.” African proverb

About the Guests

Ike Saunders

Ike Saunders has led the networking group REACH – Regional Executive Assistants’ Cocktail Hour in Chicago since 2013. What began with fewer than ten people meeting over drinks has now grown to a mailing list of over 200. Ike is the Executive and Personal Assistant to Chris Kennedy who is the son of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy. Ike and Chris have worked together for seven years.

Julie Kavanaugh

Julie Kavanaugh is on the REACH Leadership Team and brings 28 years of experience supporting executives in Chicago.  Julie walks the talk about the importance of external networks not only with REACH but also as a member of New York Celebrity Assistants (NYCA) which Bonnie co-founded and the Association of Celebrity Personal Assistants-Los Angeles (ACPA-LA).   Julie is currently the Sr. Executive Administrator/Managing Assistant to Craig Bouchard, an International Entrepreneur, CEO and NY Times Best Selling Author.  Julie spent two years at Hillshire Brands as the EA to the President/CEO. Julie helped create an internal EA Network. Prior to this, Julie served as Sr. EA to the VP/GM of the Chicago Blackhawks Hockey Team but Bonnie and Vickie met Julie at their first Chicago BTUA workshop in 2012.

Related Links:

Ike Saunders ike@nbandw.com
Julie Kavanaugh jkavanaugh@realindustryinc.com

Related References:
Ep 2: Global Trends for Assistants with Guest Lucy Brazier (Part 1 of 2)

Ep 17: Building an Internal Assistant Network with Guest Victoria Darragh

REACH 2016 Salary Survey – Chicago

 

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