I am the Senior Vice President of Business Development for Parker Staffing and Christina Holzhauser is my Executive Assistant. I have over thirteen years of experience in the staffing industry and am the top sales executive for Parker. My role is responsible for generating new business for Parker and expanding our footprint in existing clients. Since we are an administrative staffing firm, we have heavy market competition, and my job is very challenging on many levels. Despite these challenges, I have built a career I am intensely proud of and was even recognized by the Puget Sound Business Journal’s “40 under 40” list for 2020. However, there is no way I could have achieved something like “40 under 40” without the exceptional talent that is Christina Holzhauser.  

 

I sometimes think of my life BC (Before Christina) and AC (After Christina) and am amazed at the difference. Despite having a ten-year tenure in my role at Parker, I had never had an EA before—partly because I have always been very particular about how I run my business. My role is unique because I have one of the biggest client portfolios in my industry—it is practically unheard of in staffing to have one salesperson carrying $15mm in revenue and $4mm in gross margin. So, you can imagine how difficult it was for me to hand any part of the reins over to someone else. However, I had two small children and a big job, and balancing both was becoming completely unsustainable. I knew I needed help.  

 

When Christina started as my EA, she came with excellent experience, but she also had a secret weapon—she ran her own blog for administrative professionals. This proved to be a significant advantage in many ways, as the blog had helped her build her writing, design, and marketing skills, as well as her network. Little did I know at the time how much these skills would prove to be critical in supporting me. 

 

We started our partnership by offloading the typical EA tasks—my calendar and email, expense reporting, travel booking, etc. But even those came with their own nuances. I get hundreds of emails per day from clients with a wide variety of communication styles and asks. Their asks are also specific to our business and rarely yield a simple yes/no answer. Christina took it upon herself to research our industry and my top clients. She is a keen observer of people, and through meetings, calls, and emails, she quickly picked up on client behaviors and adjusted her style like a chameleon. I watched in amazement as she won over even my most difficult clients with her endless kindness and ability to be so friendly and humble and approachable.  

 

She then turned her focus to me and learned who I was and what made me successful. Over two years, she became an expert in who I am as a person. She understands my voice, how I service my clients, and how I communicate with my network. As a result, her role expanded to include marketing and account management. Once she understood my personal brand, she started growing it. She increased my following on LinkedIn from 2k to 10k followers and develops and writes all the content I post on the platform. She started a Twitter account for me (I don’t even know how to use Twitter!) and grew that following, resulting in me being asked to speak as a subject matter expert for multiple high-visibility events and podcasts. Before Christina, my brand was respected in Seattle, but within two years, she made me a national name. 

 

She also took on all my email marketing campaigns. Before Christina, our email campaigns hovered around a 4% open rate. Christina crafted an approach rooted in keeping the content relevant but personal, using graphics, photography, and more to create a personal touch. Now our campaigns typically receive a 20% open rate, which is astounding.  

 

She’s also taken her uncanny ability to learn people and extended it to our clients (and even our internal employees!) She manages our entire client gifting program, and I know how hard this is because I managed it on my own before. Christina took the program to the next level. Without being prompted, she reached out to all our top client contacts and got their birthdays so we could send them personalized gifts and recognitions. She keeps track of client feedback so we can get even more personalized as we work with clients, and the creativity she shows in making people feel truly special (especially in today’s COVID world) is unparalleled.  

 

With clients, she is always ready to respond with a welcome word, supporting me and strengthening the relationships that help me build our business. She makes sure I’m able to be in the right place at the right time to do what I do best. To have an EA be 100% client facing in such a fast-paced environment—and in a true account management capacity—is rare. She is also an excellent researcher, who is able to provide a wealth of information on potential prospects, new markets, and more.

 

In any normal staffing firm, our two roles would probably be handled by multiple salespeople and a whole marketing team. Because I can rely on her for so many things, we have become the ultimate dynamic duo. My book of business has grown $1.9mm in gross margin since she started, which translates to over 100% growth. We have grown our division by 70% and helped to position it for scale.  

 

She’s also graciously offered assistance in other areas of our business, from supporting our new President until she got her own EA, to acting as a content creator for our company website and contributing to other marketing materials.  

 

Over little more than two years, Christina has truly become an extension of me, and that is no small feat! I think it’s one thing to tailor an approach to an executive once you get to know them, but when you can BECOME their voice so seamlessly, you’re on another level entirely. And because Parker is an administrative staffing firm, we’ve worked with thousands of EA candidates in our 40-year history. I can confidently say she is one of the best administrative professionals I have ever encountered. To call her just an EA is limiting–she is my right hand, and quietly but unquestionably, she’s become one of the most strategic people in our organization. She’s motivated by knowing she’s giving her executive the highest level of support. I can balance a huge job and being a mom because of Christina. I can actually take vacations and recharge because I know she has me covered. I can be the best version of myself. 

 

For my 40th birthday, she created a journal for me to write down my goals. She custom designed it and when I opened it, I was surprised to discover it was full of words, phrases, and other tidbits that I had talked about with clients and in conversation with her. She reflected me back to myself and it came full circle for me—to see how deeply she knows me. I treasure my relationship with Christina, both personally and professionally. As I look to the future, my strategic planning is crafted around Christina and what we have the potential to accomplish together. If that isn’t the best strategic partnership you’ve ever seen, I challenge you to find one better!