PAs in the news

We all know how multi-talented PAs are, doing everything from booking that last-minute business trip, to organising the annual charity fundraiser and putting together a killer PowerPoint presentation, but now it seems they are also being called upon to be style gurus.

No less a person than Kate Middleton, AKA the Duchess of Cambridge, has apparently taken to asking her PA, Natasha Archer, for fashion advice. Sources report that Natasha has been kept busy picking outfits for Kate’s many public appearances, helps her order clothes online and keeps a watchful eye out for any bargains from Kate’s favourite high street retailers such as Top Shop and LK Bennett.

Another, unnamed assistant has been hitting the headlines in the US with her dramatic revelations about her time as the PA to a Hollywood A-lister. The anonymous correspondent told fashion, beauty and celebrity website The Cut (nymag.com/thecut/) that part of her duties included buying drugs and then smuggling them through airport security, as well as breaking up with the diva’s boyfriend on her behalf.

Meanwhile, a budding entrepreneur in Washington DC has set up a boutique concierge service providing assistance to the city’s cash-rich but time-poor middle classes. The Washington Post reports that at just 25 years of age, Jessica Adnani is expecting her company, Personalized Solutions, to bring in a six-figure income this year.

As well as taking on the classic admin duties of filtering phone calls, reviewing emails and scheduling meetings, Jessica makes travel arrangements for her clients, such as a family holiday in Italy, and has planned events including a Saint Patrick’s Day party.

Staying in the US, an employee at start-up outsourcing venture Prialto has admitted that being a PA is much harder than he originally envisaged. Sales executive Kyle Dougherty says that after doing a two-week stint providing admin support to the company’s COO, he has a new-found appreciation for how challenging the role is.

He goes on to say that this appreciation was “born out of my being a complete train-wreck of an assistant… if he [the executive] were to rate my tenure as his PA, he would describe it as somewhere between a complete failure and a minor catastrophe. There were double bookings, unconfirmed meetings, gaps in Salesforce contact records and a mistake in the location of his lunches”. Read Kyle’s story at blog.prialto.com/failed-personal-assistant/.