Administrative Professionals Week is April 24th – 30th, 2011

Come along with me for a week of

Administrative Professional Stories

Friday

Excuse me for the interruption, but life happens and some things take priority. . . so I am late on finishing this blog topic.
My last day of blogging on this topic is to say, “Thank you” to all my great bosses over the past 25+ years. I have always worked hard and have always been blessed with bosses that saw that and rewarded me well, with not only money, but their knowledge, their belief in me and their trust.

So thank you ALL!

Mrs. Davis – Sears, Memorial City, Houston, TX  (A very classy lady, who started me out on the right foot many years ago!)

Don Keding – Yellow Cab, Houston, TX  (My ex-uncle, but I think of him often)

Bob Howard – Howard Automotive Group, Edmond, Oklahoma



Bob and his ideas!  Well, I had one of my own.  Usually you get a 40th birthday "Over the Hill", but that was way to obvious!  I had an "Over the Hill" birthday party on his 39th Birthday.  There was a lady in mouning and a Preacher was reading his "obituary"!  See he wasn't the only one with ideas!  (Notice that computer, we've come a long way!)
My 30 year old daughter still talks about the Christmas he stopped by with a Teddy Bear that was as big as she was.  The Teddy Bear still has a home, in the attic at my house!

John Hawkins – Coggin Honda, Jacksonville, FL

John was the consumate professional.  He dressed to the nine's, I dressed to the nine's.  He always had the next great idea.  He was an expert at putting together teams.  Things ran so smooth, he could have played golf everyday.  Not John he wanted more, another challenge, another idea to implement.  He was very generous and introduce me and my daughter to some of the finer things in life.  His wife was a doll and we also had a special relationship.
John was taken from this earth to early at 55, but I think about him and know that he now watches over me!

Clariece Lewis – Coggin Honda, Jacksonvlle, FL (Retired and living the good life in Florida)

Charlie Barth – White Hawk Pictures, Jacksonville, FL (I count his daughter as a dear friend.)

Scott Gallagher – T2Labs, Jacksonville, FL (Scott also left us to soon. Bless him and his family.)

Dale McDonough – JCPenney, Plano, Texas (Retired)

Danay Navinsky – JCPenney, Plano, TX (I would have added Danay's picture, but she would have never forgiven me!)

Administrative Professionals Week is April 24th – 30th

Come along with me for a week of

Administrative Professional Stories

Thursday

   Back to John, my great boss in Jacksonville. He and his wife were in a pickle and they asked if I would come out and sit with the boy’s while they went out and I could bring my daughter. We loaded up and headed out to his house at the beach. We got there, no problem, got the boys bathed and settled. My daughter was performing on Sunday, so we had to roll her hair in the pink sponge roller. Yes, this was a few years ago.

   When John and Tracye got home, he took one look at Jaclyn and busted out laughing and 2 seconds later Jaclyn busted out crying! So I’ve got my boss, who had had a couple of drinks, on one side and my daughter, who thought the world had come to an end, I didn’t knew whether to laugh, cry or RUN!

    We got everything calmed down and John and his precious wife insisted that we stay and have some “horse dovers” and a few glasses of wine. Well, we stayed until I couldn’t remember exactly how many glasses of wine I had . . .time to go!

    Backing out of the drive way . . .did I mention that I drove a company car . . . I hit the mailbox! Did I stop, no not me, I just kept on going, going and going ‘til I got home.

    Panic set in the next morning. How bad was the mailbox damaged, how bad was the car, oh, my gosh, the CAR. Was I going to have to pay for fixing the car, where would I get the money, oh, my gosh . . .was I going to get FIRED?

    I got up the nerve to call John at home, apologized about the mailbox and the car. Being the great boss he was, he just laughed and said, “I stood the mailbox backup and I’ll have someone look at car on Monday, so relax and enjoy the rest of your week-end.”

How could one administrative assistant be soooo lucky!

Administrative Professionals Week is April 24th – 30th

Come along with me for a week of
Administrative Professional Stories

Tuesday
     As I am sure every admin can tell you, there are times when you look at your boss and say “You have got to be kidding!”
     Once upon a time there was another boss, Bob.  He was single and wanted to impress his current girlfriend. He came up with this great idea and just knew that I could make it happen. The day – Thursday.  The idea – Dinner for two at his home with butler service. The event – Saturday.   Great, no problem, I’ll just whip it up and make sure everything is perfect! Bob had no idea of what menu he wanted, just when and where.
    This is where the “you have got to be kidding” comes in. I was fortunate enough to call a remarkable catering company and they took on the dinner!  They did an outstanding job!

Monday morning came around and he slipped me a $100 bill for job well done!

Administrative Professionals Week is April 24th – 30th

Come along with me for a week of

Administrative Professional Stories

Monday
After spending the last ?? years (you really didn’t think I would tell you) as an Executive/Personal Assistant, I have received some great stuff for Administrative Professional Week. It used to be called Secretary’s Day; yes I have been around that long!
I have received all the usually fare, flowers, gift cards, Godiva Chocolates. In a lot of cases, I was the one that picked out the gift and made sure that all the admin’s in the office were covered. Yes, I always made sure that the gift was something that I liked . . . did you expect anything different! Please. . .

I worked as an Executive Assistant for a great guy for 8 years, who has since passed, way too young. Rest in peace, John. He NEVER got mad at me, but just once, he did and it was bad. We had special guests coming in from out of town and I was never told that they were to be in our office at 9 am; therefore, he did not know. Once they got in the office and were settled in the conference room, he closed his office door and read me the riot act. Come to find out, the visitor’s admin had not called to inform me that they would be in the morning. The last we heard was the appointment was at 2 pm, so I had planned to call her that morning to confirm the time, but didn’t get a chance.
Well, once the meeting was over and everything was sorted out, and since it was Administrative Professionals Week – I got a $500 bonus . . . I am thinking it was just a little out of guilt! We never once had a cross words again!

Would like to share your Admin Stories?  Just leave in the comments below!