28th July, 2026

Celebrating 13 years with you

THIS ARTICLE celebrates 13 years today since I launched Exceptional EA from our dining room table. As part of this anniversary celebration, you may want to check out my upcoming webinars. You’ll see that, with some of these courses, you can include two friends or colleagues for the price of a single course registration as part of this celebration.

Today marks 13 years since I launched Exceptional EA from our dining room table. Have a slice of virtual birthday cake with me! Better yet, check out my upcoming webinar courses. You’ll see that, with some of my them, you can include two friends or colleagues for the price of a single course registration as part of this celebration.

Thank you to all my readers, to each person I’ve interviewed, and to each and every client who’s entrusted me with speaking and delivering training. Special thanks go to Lucy Brazier, who enabled me to achieve my goals of travelling to – and enjoying time with the people of – countries such as Australia and South Africa.

How did this come about? I wanted to provide opportunities for people to learn, connect and thrive in this career.

Knowing I ultimately wanted to bring my expertise and deep understanding of the role to others, I’d already qualified for and invested time and energy in higher education designed for college and university instructors/lecturers. Focusing on how to design and deliver quality education for adult learners, that education strongly influenced the way I design and customise each and every presentation.

I also wanted to provide opportunities for people to learn, connect and thrive in this career.

Have a look at some of what these first 13 years have brought, and continue to bring.

Real Careers interviews and insights from your peers in 22 countries: Before podcasts were a thing, I began giving voice to assistants in 22 countries through my Real Careers interviews. This helped introduce many of you to your peers, domestically and internationally, and that led to meaningful connections across borders.

International panels: I assembled international panels of your peers focusing on AI and what we used to refer to as digital disruption, as well as other topics related to career currency. The results are all available on this website.

Navigating the pandemic together: During the pandemic, Individual readers and professional association leaders from a number of countries responded to my invitations to share strategies and even tech tips for navigating that challenging point in time.

GenAI: Within less than a month after ChatGPT’s emergence on the public domain, I was writing about GenAI and encouraging readers to learn through both play and caution. I’ve continued to publish a number of AI-related articles, and you can have a look at just how much our world has changed by clicking here for some of those articles.

Career currency, and resources to help you thrive: I’ve maintained my practice of providing professional development here without membership fees or charges. Under the “Additional Resources” drop-down tab, you’ll find articles designed to help you build skills and confidence in recording meetings, as well as preparing for job interviews. Articles cover topics such as adaptability, change, communications, cyber awareness, emotional intelligence, governance, influence, leadership, perfectionism, performance reviews, public speaking, resilience, self-awareness and more.

Weekend polls are now surveys I continue to conduct here and on LinkedIn: I continue to conduct what I originally termed “Weekend Polls” on matters that are relevant to this continually evolving career. You can count on me to track emerging practices, which also helps you compare what’s going on in your career with your counterparts’ experiences. If you head to my LinkedIn profile and follow me there, you’ll see I’ve begun my latest survey through a series of questions about AI usage.

Follow me on LinkedIn to take part in my latest series of surveys

Meal ideas and recipes for busy people: In the early years of Exceptional EA, I published recipes and lunch ideas for busy working people; you can still access them by typing “recipe” in the search field on this website’s home page. As 2020 drew to a close, a number of you responded to my invitation to contribute your own recipes for a digital cookie exchange. Enter the term “cookie” in the search field, and you’ll find holiday recipes from a number of countries.

Speaking of podcasts, I recorded some of my own: You can click here to find my podcasts on topics including AI (in which I spoke about Anthropic in 2018), career satisfaction, professional development, job searches and interviews, meetings and minutes, networking, organisational skills, tech-related legislation, conference travel and cultural awareness.

Learn from me in person. Invite your decision makers and conference organisers to have a look at what I offer, and what clients have to say.