Today

Today, I live in the beautiful East Bay with my lovely family.  After committing several years of my life, night and day, to investment banking, I decided to transition to the role of executive administrator, working for CEOs. My goal was to 1) Surround myself with really smart people that I could continue to learn from; 2) Be able to use my knowledge of finance, sharpened during my investment banking days, in a practical and productive way; 3) Not continue to work 15-hour days; 4) To be able to work a full-time position that allowed me to still be present for my family.

Corel Corporation in Mountain View, CA:  At Corel, I supported the CEO, CFO, General Counsel, and Vice President of Digital Media. My experience at Corel was fantastic, and I had the opportunity to work with an amazing team. During my time there, I gained expertise in planning board meetings and creating board documentation. I also became proficient in using PowerPoint, a skill that I still utilize extensively. Working closely with the General Counsel, I deepened my understanding of corporate documentation and compliance, leveraging my background in investment banking. My time at Corel allowed me to immerse myself in the inner workings of a private company, particularly in areas such as HR issues, onboarding, terminations, restructuring, and involvement in five M&A transactions.

CM Capital in Palo Alto, CA:  At CM Capital, I worked directly for the CEO and closely with the CFO, General Counsel, and corporate finance team. My responsibilities included developing the company's online social media presence, spearheading the efforts to update the company website and logo, planning and implementing Board meetings, documenting Board meeting minutes, and assisting the finance team in preparing annual reports. These tasks were in addition to my usual day-to-day EA responsibilities.

The DeSilva Group in Dublin, CA:  At the DeSilva Group, I reported directly to the General Counsel of a leading Bay Area engineering contractor. The firm has been privately held for over 90 years. During my time there, my responsibilities included all aspects of the legal work for the firm and its subsidiaries. I also served as the onsite notary for the legal department. My duties involved drafting and executing contracts, drafting and filing lawsuits, tracking court complaints, motions, and hearings via OneLegal online, maintaining subsidiary registrations, and handling state and county corporate entity filings. One of the most interesting projects I worked on was revamping the entire legal filing system, which ultimately resulted in the cataloging of thousands of records. These files dated back decades and filled an entire room. It was a big project that I broke down into smaller parts and successfully completed.

Sophos Group PLC in Santa Clara, CA:  At Sophos, I was lucky enough to work alongside the Chief Legal Officer and the CEO, both of whom I had previously worked for at Corel. Sophos was another significant learning ground for me and provided me the opportunity to really expand on my technical software knowledge.  One of the high-priority projects assigned to me was to "fix" the implementation of the firm's SimpleLegal software.  To do this, I had to learn the software, understand what did not work, and develop a solution.  I successfully completed this project in about six months, but it was definitely a team effort between the legal team, the finance team, and the SimpleLegal team.  One does not work without the other, and it would have been impossible to complete this project successfully without mutual cooperation across the company.  

The second software project that I oversaw was the implementation of a new board portal.  When I arrived at Sophos, I quickly determined that the existing board portal was old, outdated, and not user-friendly.  When I mentioned this to the Chief Legal Officer, she was very open to my researching and finding an alternative.  After surveying an array of board portals, we settled on Diligent board management.  My task of migrating the company from the old board portal to the new one was a long and detailed process, but in the end, it was 100% worth it.  The functionality of the new board portal and ease of use was a massive improvement over the previous portal.  The board really liked it, as multiple companies that several board members were associated with already used Diligent, so they only had to login to one place to see all their board documentation. My other responsibilities included working with the CEO and CLO to set the board meeting agendas, creating content for the meetings, and finally collating all the slides for the board meetings and uploading the final product to the Diligent board portal.  In addition, I planned and oversaw the implementation of board meetings, as well as department events.  

Reputation.com in San Ramon, CA:  While at Reputation, I worked for the GC and CFO and was fully entrenched in both the legal and finance teams. With my business background, this was a natural role for me, as the two departments overlap frequently.  I really enjoyed working with both teams and learning the inner workings of an online reputation company.  In my role, I was involved in several projects which allowed my EA skills to shine, and I enjoyed using the Workday platform, which I had not been familiar with previously.  

I left my job at Reputation to homeschool my dyslexic son. It became an urgent need as private schools were not meeting his needs, leaving him dissatisfied and discouraged. While researching and developing a diverse homeschool curriculum for my teenager, I also worked part-time with my husband at his company, Next Dimension. My husband has been working in the EV space for over ten years and has been at the helm of Next Dimension for the last five.  His clients are based worldwide and are located anywhere from Europe to Asia to South Africa.