How Investing In An Executive Assistant Can Pay Off Big Time!

[00:00:00] Sarah Olivieri: I'm so excited to be here with Martha elder, who's the executive director of second chance foods. Welcome Martha.

[00:00:09] Martha Elder: Thank you, Sarah.

[00:00:11] Sarah Olivieri: So today Martha has had the experience of hiring her first executive assistant, working with 'em and doing things to grow.

[00:00:22] So, but before we get into asking you about that just quickly tell us like very briefly, what is second chance foods really special? What makes second chance foods really special? Oh, okay. So, well, second chance foods is a nonprofit food rescue organization. But we have a much more comprehensive model than any other food rescue that I know of.

[00:00:42] You know, it goes from, we are actually in the farmer's fields, harvesting excess crops. We bring those excess crops into our commercial kitchen where we're cooking them into healthy and delicious meals, and then donating those meals to hunger relief organiz. Our work is really all about elevating the quality of food that's available to food and secure people.

[00:01:03] We always strive to create food that we'd be proud to serve a guest in our own home, very different than often what you see in hunger relief.

[00:01:10] Yeah. So, you know, since probably a lot of people watching our nonprofit leaders like you and from that description, it kind of sounds like you must have a massive team working with you, but we know that's not the case.

[00:01:22] So how, how big is it behind the scenes?

[00:01:26] Martha Elder: So at this point I have three part-time people. One of 'em has only been with me for about two months now. And that's a part-time director of develop. I have a part-time operations assistant. That's like my kind of hands on person. And then I have my remote assistant which I think we're here to talk about today.

[00:01:46] Sarah Olivieri: Yeah, absolutely. So let's go back to, when you decided to hire an assistant, why did you decide to hire them? What was that moment? What were your fears and concerns and what were you trying to do in that moment? . Yeah. So I think I have to go back to like spring of 2020, which is when I hired you Sarah to learn about your impact method and to have you coach me through implementing that.

[00:02:12] And also back in 2020 of course that was when COVID hit new New York state was in lockdown all over the news was food insecurity and food waste. So suddenly second chance foods was getting a lot more attention than we'd ever gotten before. You know, people donating money, so much food to recover, so many hungry people to feed.

[00:02:34] It was pretty overwhelming. And, it's a very labor intensive organization. Lots and lots of hands on work, but also, you know, you need all of that behind the scenes, making sure your donors are thanked and communicated with, and none of that was happening. And it would actually keep me up at night.

[00:02:55] And so I realized I really, really needed to hire some. You know, at that point there was no operations assistant. There was no directory of development. It was me with a lot of volunteers. And so I knew I needed an assistant to really help me just keep track of her donors, even make sure they were being banked.

[00:03:15] And of course, you know, it's become way bigger than that.

[00:03:19] So, what has the difference been in for you in your job and for the organization as a whole? And you said it's become way bigger than that. So like how big did it become what

[00:03:30] Martha Elder: happened? Yeah. So I think it's been totally transformative actually. So I mean, our budget's more than doubled in the two years that Steph is my assistant's name.

[00:03:41] That Steph has worked with us. She's my absolute dream assistant. I have to say. She, you know, had nonprofit experience. She had a minor in art she's does design work. I mean, at this point, I think it's really unfair actually to call her my assistant. I think she's my marketing and communications person.

[00:04:01] Because you know, she. We did our whole website. She does our weekly newsletters. She, you know, keeps track of our donors, making sure we're thanking people, creates, you know, all kinds of marketing materials for us. You know, all these, you know, behind the scenes, things that really need to happen. So people like they know what second chance foods is up to what we're doing.

[00:04:25] And so that they wanna support us and they continue wanna support us because they really feel appreciated.

[00:04:31] Sarah Olivieri: Yeah. Yeah. and it sounds like it's made like a more than double difference in what you can do in, in a day, in a week, in a month. Do you wanna talk a little, you know, you've kind of talked about what kind of difference that's made in your overall ability to, to make a difference.

[00:04:49] Sounds a lot of it had to do with fundraising. Once you had an assistant, were you able to shift where you were spending your.

[00:04:57] Martha Elder: Yeah. I mean, she s taken over so much of the communication on marketing. You know, I feel like where my time is most valuable is just in being that, that visionary person about where this organization should go.

[00:05:13] And also, I feel really deeply about creating the proper culture for the organization and, you know, focusing on that, that, you know, our volunteers like absolutely love. being with us our donors love to donate to us. And just that there's a lot of support in the community for what we're doing because we've created the right culture.

[00:05:37] Sarah Olivieri: Yeah. So as you went on this journey of hiring an assistant, not something you had done before, what kind of surprised you along the way? Were there things that they were able to do that you were surprised at? Are there, and were there also kind of hiccups along the way, things that you thought were gonna get done that, that didn't work out the way you planned plan?

[00:05:58] Martha Elder: So, so I hired Stephanie through grade assistant and. They did all the groundwork for me and identifying candidates and, and in, in identifying candidates who were very fo detail focused you know, were really coming just with the right set of assets and skills. And so I feel like Stephanie hit the ground running.

[00:06:26] I think one of the things she offers me and it's not necessarily what other people need is she's very technologically savvy. So, you know, she's the one who is, you know, using our Zen kit to make sure we're keeping track of everything that we're working on. And you know, we jump onto zoom twice a week just to make sure we're staying on track with all the different things that we're working on and, you know, are there any issues coming up that we need to discuss?

[00:06:54] And at this point, the director of development joins those calls as well. And yeah, so I'm just trying to remember where I was going with all of that.

[00:07:05] Sarah Olivieri: Surprises that things that she was able to do that you didn't think an assistant could do.

[00:07:11] Martha Elder: I, you know, like the way that she just totally redesigned our website, www.secondchancefoods.org. If you wanna go see it.

[00:07:21] So much more money for a web designer to be doing that, or just all the branding work that she has done for us, you know, identifying colors that we should be using fonts we should be using, you know, creating design spaces. Yeah, I mean, like, just again, she's not an assistant she's gone just way above and beyond.

[00:07:42] What she actually provides to the organization.

[00:07:45] Yeah, you know, we're next week we're gonna be talking with Timothy Francis, who is the founder of great assistant. I got that. I met him. I hired him to find me an assistant and I've used him multiple times and I have a lot of clients who's used him and he's gonna be doing a training next week, which he often, you know, you said he, they go through the work of finding the right assistant and being good at hiring.

[00:08:11] An assistant is like an expertise on its own. But on top of that, I remember in my experience, working with him, there's a lot of training that he gives you and also gives the assistance as they come in. So I was wondering for those people, you know, he's gonna give some of this training away in our webinar next week.

[00:08:31] So what were the kinds of things that you learned in that process of onboarding an assistant that were helpful?

[00:08:38] You know, it's so funny, Sarah. I was thinking about this process and it's been just about two years now and I think it's just become like so naturally ingrained. I don't even remember, like what exactly it is.

[00:08:51] I think we just do it so naturally now that I couldn't even tell you exactly what the process is. Do it, and it works.

[00:09:02] Sarah Olivieri: Well I just wanna, you know, that is the hallmark of a good process. So many times I've gone to organizations and be like, you need some processes and people are like, eh, we hate processes.

[00:09:10] I'm like, if it's a good process, you should love it. It should feel easy. And then you should be like, this makes my life so much easier. It sounds like. You learned a great process for working with your, with an assistant who became more of an assistant. And that's been my experience that is, to me, the difference between hiring like a really high quality us based assistant and using like an overseas virtual assistant service is your, you know, the kind of assistance I get through.

[00:09:39] Great assistant are. Really much more than an assistant. They are like a team member, a communications lead, a thought partner, like much, much more, even though that's not the purpose. And I'm sure Tim will be like, that's not what we're trying to. That is what can happen if you grow a great team member. So I wanna ask you as we kind of.

[00:10:03] Think about wrapping up here a bit. What tips would you give to leaders out there in the nonprofit space who are either thinking about working with an assistant or getting one or who maybe have had an assistant, but it hasn't worked out very well. I mean, Tim says in his bio, he spent six years of failing with an assistant before he figured it out.

[00:10:25] So what, what kind of knowledge can you give everybody.

[00:10:32] Martha Elder: Let's see. So, you know, I think the process that great assistant uses makes a lot of sense and, and it's not something I necessarily would have thought about. Just in terms of, again, the sort of core skills or just ways of being that you want an assistant to bring with them.

[00:10:56] Ask me the question again, Sarah, because. I lost my track.

[00:11:00] Sarah Olivieri: What, what tips would you have for people who are either thinking about wanting an assistant or have one, but haven't been able to make it work.

[00:11:11] Martha Elder: So, yeah. Yeah. This is what I wanted to say. That you may think you can't afford it. I'm gonna say you can't afford not to.

[00:11:19] Yeah, totally. So it was, it was scary at first to take on this person you know, to, you know, pay a finder's fee and then to be paying them by the hour. It was a little scary.

[00:11:33] Sarah Olivieri: And it's not like you didn't have like a year of salary in reserves, right? For them? You took a, a risk.

[00:11:40] Martha Elder: Yeah. Oh, yep. Taking a risk. Hoping for a payoff, knowing that they were gonna be helping us with, you know, marketing communications, donor relationships. And absolutely. I mean, I already said, our budget is, you know, more than doubled in the two years since she's been with us.

[00:11:56] And of course it's not only because of her, but it it's, you know, she's did, she's definitely a team member and took part in allowing us to increase like that.

[00:12:08] Sarah Olivieri: Yeah. That, you know, I think that that is why I so often. Recommend to clients that they hire an assistant, because while it feels like a risk, I think you really nailed it on the head. Like you can't afford not to. It is riskier. Not to, and that's a message that I just, I can't seem to repeat enough in the nonprofit space is that you think by doing nothing and going slowly, that you are taking less risk and that you're playing it safe.

[00:12:36] And it is the farthest thing from the truth. And you know, one of my great pleasures in working with you especially has been, you took, you did the steps, even though they felt scary. And there are a lot of people who won't do it, they'll just freeze or they're and not do it. And, you took those risks and, and, but they're not really risks.

[00:12:59] You took the scary steps. And I think there is a difference between doing something that's scary and doing something that is truly risky. And unfortunately, I think we get a lot of mixed signals in the nonprofit space and we're, and we're told that things are risky, that are in fact not risky. Because really you were at risk beforehand of going under.

[00:13:23] And are you at risk? You know, are you in that, that level of risk anymore?

[00:13:26] Martha Elder: No. No. yeah. Yeah. You know, I used to, I think I used to feel like I need to put as much money as we can towards our programs that if I'm not putting all the money towards programs that I'm distracting from the programs, and this has been a great lesson in that you support your programs by spending in other ways.

[00:13:45] Sarah Olivieri: Oh my God. But can you just say that again?

[00:13:50] Martha Elder: You don't need to put all your money towards your programs, spending money in other ways, supports your programs.

[00:13:57] Sarah Olivieri: Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, you said you've, you have doubled, you know, your organization. So that's not just, you know, paying off the cost of having an assistant that's, you know, you've doubled, right?

[00:14:08] The, the impact you were able to make. Correct. In fact, did you double every year?

[00:14:14] Martha Elder: We doubled every year from 2017 to 2019, the amount of groceries and meals that we donated to hunger relief. And you know, so last year we donated 47,000 meals were already at 43,000 meals this year. . And that's not possible without fundraising.

[00:14:32] And yeah. We're support our programs by hiring an assistant for sure.

[00:14:38] Sarah Olivieri: That's right. That's right. And what I love about it too, is it's a win-win. I mean, did your workload get worse or did your life get better in, in all this doubling and working?

[00:14:49] Martha Elder: Oh yeah. I mean, just like the stress relief alone, it's totally worth it.

[00:14:55] Just to know somebody was taking care of all of these tasks and that I didn't need to focus on them is huge. Yeah, of course you find other ways to fill your time, but knowing that other people are doing things.

[00:15:12] Sarah Olivieri: Let's go there for a moment, cuz we have just a couple more minutes because you know, you said you were able to spend more time being the visionary or maybe you said like being the visionary leader for your organization is the most important thing you can do.

[00:15:25] So, and it sounds like that's what you started to do. So what other things did you fill your time with as a result of having an assistant come in and what kinda impact did that make for you?

[00:15:37] Martha Elder: I mean, some of it's just more time to. Right. To, to really, you know, my goal has always been, how do we reach more people who need fresh, healthy food?

[00:15:48] And so it's given me a lot more time to think about how do we make that happen? You know, we're situated in a fairly small county and, you know, I definitely have a goal of zero hunger in our county and it feels attainable.

[00:16:03] Sarah Olivieri: Yeah. You know, having, we talk about this in the thrive coaching program all the time, like oftentimes we feel as, you know, leaders as helpers that if we're sitting and thinking or walking and thinking that we're kind of doing nothing, but that's actually one of the most important things that a CEO or executive director can be doing.

[00:16:23] So what would you say to people who are like, oh, you know, sitting, it doesn't feel fair that I'm Thinking just thinking and everybody else is like working. What would you, what do you think about that now that you're on the new side of it?

[00:16:37] Martha Elder: That that's the role, right? That's the job of the leader of any organization is to really be that visionary thinker and yeah, to just, you know, come up with the ideas and the solutions that are necessary.

[00:16:54] Sarah Olivieri: Wonderful. Well, we're gonna wrap up here. Thank you so much, Martha. I really appreciate it. And thank you everybody. Who's watching and watching the replay. Reach out to Martha. Join Tim. Next Thursday. It's gonna be a great time. Give Martha's organization second chance foods, a little love on Facebook. Send in a little donation. She wants to see you around too and follow her experience. You know, big hack is donate to other organizations who are doing it well and see what happens. And I encourage you all to make a small donation and see what happens. All right, bye.