Ep. 28 Behind the Front Desk w/ Jodie Mears

Speaker A: Foreign.

Speaker B: Welcome M to the Admin Spotlight behind the Front Desk. In each episode, we take time to chat with an administrative professional, share personal stories, professional journeys, and get thoughts from those of us who work tirelessly behind the scenes. The Admin Spotlight behind the Front Desk is sponsored by vast. VAST is today's executive assistant's choice for productivity software, giving the EA the ability to supercharge their communication and workflow, become a vastly more effective assistant today.

Speaker A: Hello, my fellow admin professionals. Thank you for tuning in to the Admin Spotlight behind the Front Desk. I am your host, Molly Denham, and I am going to jump right in today because we have the amazing Jody Spears with us and I want to use every second to pick her brain and give her as much.

Speaker C: Yeah, it's Mia's.

Speaker A: Oh, what did I say?

Speaker C: Spears.

Speaker A: Oh, no.

Speaker C: I was going to have a little Britney moment. Someone's going to say anything. I mean, I'm fine with Spears, but someone's going to say something.

Speaker A: Don't worry, I get. Then I will start over. That's an easy one to fix.

Speaker C: No worries.

Speaker A: See, I got so excited. I got ahead of myself.

Speaker C: No worries.

Speaker B: All right.

Speaker A: Hello, my fellow administrative professionals. Thank you for tuning into the Admin Spotlight behind the Front Desk. I'm your host, Molly Denham, and I'm going to jump right in because we have the amazing Jody Mears with us today and I want to use every second to pick her brain and give her as much time as possible to share her thoughts. Welcome to the Admin Spotlight, Jodi.

Speaker C: Oh, thank you. What an intro. Thanks for having me.

Speaker A: Absolutely. For those who may not already know or follow Jodi, she is a C Suite Executive assistant speaker and career Coach with over 23 years of experience supporting senior global leadership across tech, infrastructure and aviation. Currently based at Bentley Systems, she partners directly with executive leadership on governance, operations and strategic alignment. Recognized as a LinkedIn Top Voice and Digital Woman to Watch 2025, Jody helps assistants turn quiet work into visible impact through her mentoring program Aspire and Achieve, bespoke training for corporate teams, keynotes and panel discussions at events, workshops and roundtable facilitation on visibility, personal branding and leadership. For assistance, she's a Fellow of the Institute of Administrative Management, a mental health first responder and Advisory board member for the PA show uk. Her frameworks and strategies are used by assistants worldwide to transition from reactive support to recognized partnership. I'm really happy to have you today, Jodi, because I love when the US audience gets to hear from a global perspective because unfortunately, I think we often isolate ourselves a little bit on the side of the pond, and so I'm always looking for ways to open the aperture. And. And I appreciate you being with us here today.

Speaker C: Oh, well, thank you. And I really appreciate you sharing, uh, this space with me as well.

Speaker A: Absolutely. So we ran through your official bio, which is extremely impressive, but we really want to hear from you and your personal journey. How did you become an admin professional? Kind of walk us through your career and give us a snapshot of how you got to where you are today.

Speaker C: It's been one big, happy accident. I would say. It was never in the plan, and I don't really like keeping much in the plan these days because of that. Because it's absolutely amazing what happens when you leave yourself open to opportunities, even the bad ones. Right. So how did I get here? Well, I think if I'd followed advice at school and did what I was supposed to be doing, then I would probably have been in some kind of sports program. I was on track, I would say, to be in the, um, the talent pathway to the Junior Olympics for the, the javelin event and discus and, um, shot put. I was really keen on sports at school, um, still like sports, but I don't really put much effort into it now. But I was sidetracked, majorly. Big sidetracked through friendship groups and, and everything else. So while I was supposed to be on that pathway, I decided to hang out at the fish and chip shop on a Friday. I mean, why not? You know, someone said, food, I'm there. So, yeah, that got canned. And, um, yeah, my, my, my pathway was set, and I didn't realize it was being set. And it was set by me because I chose one way and not the way that was set out for me. And I had some pretty poor careers advice. In the UK, in the school system, you get to around age 15, so 16, and they sit you down and they say, right, what do you want to do? And they expect you to have all of the answers at that age. And typically no one knows what they want to do. So when you were one of these kids that, um, didn't really have a direction, you know, you didn't want to be a lawyer, a doctor, or, you know, something very specific that you absolutely knew they'd pigeonhole you into. Well, I think you should do something with your hands, you know. And coming from a family of hairdressers, it was the obvious choice to go into hairdressing and, um, beauty therapy. And I did that for, uh, three years full time at College, which was quite intense. And I also learned a lot about the anatomy and physiology, uh, of the body, the skin, nutrition, everything. I was really pumped with information. And then again, life took its turn and um, I worked as a beauty therapist for, for some years. Um, clearly didn't go down the hairdresser route, thank goodness. Um, I didn't ruin anyone's hair by the way, but you know, it just wasn't my thing. I thought it was, I thought it might have been because it was in the family, but that's not necessarily how it goes. Um, so I worked in beauty therapy and from there I realized I had a love for serving people, making people feel good, um, giving people a rich sense of belonging in the moment, you know, in the moment they felt great. I was there to do a job. I, I gave them everything I got. And it was a real nice pleasure, um, to have that one on one with people in their moments of need and relaxation and I absolutely loved it. But then a big house move, relationship move came about and I could only get work in office administration. And that was the very simple go to jobs that were available back in those days and I could walk into an office tomorrow, um, you'd get sent on assignments and there I was. I've never been without a job in my life for more than a few days. So from the, um, from the young age of around six or seven, I went to work with my dad in his business and just love working, so being out of work was not an option. I took the, um, temporary work, temporary agency work and got right into work straight away from stuffing envelopes, organizing stationary cupboards, uh, sending out mail shots, working on reception, and then more and more as I thought, okay, well this is easy, I can do this. And it's, you know, it's abundant. The work was abundant. I remained in that area, um, of work and never went back to the hairdresser or beauty therapy. And then, yeah, from there I just ping ponged around a few organizations. But I didn't really get serious until around 2018. And that's quite late to have a bit of an epiphany moment. And I'd often ask myself, you know, you know, what are you going to do when you get bigger when you grow up? You know, when's this proper job going?

Speaker A: When does grow up happen?

Speaker C: Yeah, and I'm like, oh my gosh, uh, I'm actually, you know, well into my 30s at this point. And I thought, you know what, this big girl's job has never come in. I don't even know what that was. People would often pass me and say, you're going to be on reception for the rest of your life. You know, are you, you know what, what are you going to do after this? And I found that a lot in administrative positions that people will ask you or assume that you're not in your forever job. They will always assume it's a step in the stone and ask you, so what do you really want to do? Yeah, and it threw me off a few times. I don't know how, how it is for, for you guys in the US but it wasn't really taken that seriously as a career. And um, yeah, I thought, you know what, in 2018, I wanted to do a lot more purposeful, directed learning and development. And please, for the love of God, no more word, Excel and PowerPoint courses on repeat. I wanted something different. I thought there must be something out here that's more than those. Just those courses. So I found a course. It was led by the lovely Lindsay Taylor from your Excellency. And, um, she will, she'll be, you know, saying, oh, stop. Uh, every time I share this story, it is literally down to Lindsay Taylor that she completely opened, opened my eyes. She was like, you know, the, the big sister that I never had in admin, she said, do you know about this person? Do you know there's networks? Do you know, there's conferences? I'm like, whoa. No, you mean there's, you know, uh, expos? I can go to. There's, there's all these things. So she opened my world to all of these people, thought leaders courses. And I thought, you know what, this is my proper role. This is my big girl's job and I'm going to own it. And I actually love it. I'm really good at it and nothing else is coming for me if I don't go for it. And there I bounced around a few times and worked in bids and proposals and worked my way through various administrative departments and yeah, here I am.

Speaker A: Yeah, it's, it's a common thread among a lot of. Because this is, this is a question that I ask, uh, everybody that comes on the podcast and it's a common thread that they fall in to the admin field. It's not, you know, it's not selected per se, it's just fallen into. And then they make it, make it work into a career. Mhm.

Speaker C: You have to, I think you just need to grab it, grab the elements of what you truly love doing and just run with it, because why not you know, just because it's not traditionally. Why not? Why can't you be a career ea? And I'm really proud to say that I'm a career EA now through and through.

Speaker A: That's wonderful. And speaking of. Love it, you have your hands in a lot of different admin pots. You're a podcaster, a public speaker, a writer, a mentor, even an educator. And all of it being admin focused, um, you are a fierce public advocate and public, uh, vocal supporter for the need of the field. What is it about this field that not just has drawn you to make it your career and get a paycheck and have a job, but you go now beyond that and in a large and public way, what is it that you love about this field so much that pushes you to do that?

Speaker C: Oh, it's a strange one, isn't it? But I love an underdog. And if someone says we're not good at anything, or there's only so far you can go, or this isn't a proper job, or this is just something you do and you need a little, you know, something to keep you active. I'm all about proving those people wrong and showing them, and not talking about it so much in that sense, but showing them exactly what we can do, how we do it and how valuable we are. So I think it comes from a place of, okay, you're gonna put me in this box and not just meet all of us, because once I'm in it, we're all in it. So I'm not just advocating for myself, you know, I'm advocating for all of us because I know what it feels like to be overlooked and undervalued and brushed aside because we're doing something we love. And that keeps me going to prove those people wrong in a way. Look how much breadth you can add to this role if you just imagine and if you just step into the possibilities and the opportunities. So I think it comes from a place of. Okay, you think it's that. Watch me.

Speaker A: So you built a, ah, program, um, called Aspire and Achieve. It's a, uh, mentoring and coaching program for administrative professionals focusing on, um, what I would call the development of the strategic ally. So you take, you know, it's more than just the tactical operations, but looking at the strategic strategically. Right. Can you tell us a little bit about the program and the vision that you have for Aspire and Achieve?

Speaker C: Yeah, I think the vision was born from a place of, um, what I had had myself in terms of learning and development in the past. What I Was, um, exposed to what I took up and mix that with a lot of requests from admins to ask me, you know, can I just have five minutes of your time? Can you help me with this? You know, I'd really appreciate if we can build a little mentorship. And I thought, you know what? I love doing this, but it needs structure. I want to, I don't want to give you a quick five minutes of my time because I know I can give you so much more, but it needs to be in a structured, balanced way. So that was one half of it. The, the other half of it, as I said, came from a place of spending so much time and, um, money, my own money and company money on coaching programs, conferences, webinars, books, all kinds of things. And a lot of them left me feeling amazing in the moment. You know, you think, you feel really pumped in the moment. You think, yeah, that was great. And then you get back to your desk, you think, oh, now what? What do I do? Yeah, like, it's so much a, uh, now note, don't even know what to do, or it wasn't quite relevant to being back at the desk. Yeah, it was great in the moment, but it didn't translate to actually being in the role. And I wanted to bridge that gap. So it was taken from all of those things. And I thought, well, everything that I didn't like about X, Y and Z that I've experienced in the past, I'm going to make it the opposite. I'm going to make it fully bespoke, um, and meet you where, uh, you are currently on your journey, personally and professionally. I'm going to make it clear, actionable, and accountable. I'm going to be your accountability partner. And, um, we're not going to make it too long. We're not going to make it six months or 12 months, because I know how much commitment that takes. So how can I make this all of the things that I wish it was for me? 30 minutes, six sessions, really actionable, fast pace, all aligned with your goals and what you want to achieve. And I thought it comes from a place of having no aspirations at one point and having no pathway or guidance to achieve those aspirations, even if they did exist. So I'm really mentoring and coaching assistants towards their personal goals, not just goals that are set by their executives or organizations. And we, we get really deep with certain, um, topics and whatever it is that they want to work on, provide frameworks and strategies and worksheets. And by the end of it, I hope that they leave with Something that they can truly implement the next day. Some do it as they go along, others just get to the end and then they start running. So yeah, that, that's how, how it's kind of been established. My vision for it is at the moment just keep going and doing what I'm doing and um, doing all I can while I can is the new motto. Um, so yeah, yeah. Just more of the same for now.

Speaker A: Yeah. No, I love it because that what you mentioned was lack of guidance. And you know, it's not that most administrative professionals, it's not that they don't want to do more or they don't want to go further. It's really difficult to figure out how to do that in the administrative position because I often feel like a round peg in a square hole and I'm like, I'm there, I'm um, in. I'm in there, but I really don't fit. Right.

Speaker C: Yeah, it's having that understanding and being able to level with my clients as well. To say, I know what you're feeling, I understand how it is. And this period of being and feeling stuck is awful. And I know you're smart, I know you know what you're doing. No one's undermining how you're doing stuff. But some people just need that little thread to pull on and they are off. And that's the key part that I hope that comes across with my mentoring and coaching. I'm not always, you know, reinventing some, some will or doing something totally different. I'm just reminding you what you already have access to. Build on your confidence, work on your communication, don't assume anything and get structured, put things in place so there's no way they can unravel easily. So working on, on those core things, the structure, the confidence, the communication, I think just gives that thread as I say, just, just give me something to get going and then, then I'm off. Because assistance, we're literally one of a kind. Yeah.

Speaker A: M. Yeah.

Speaker C: It's such. Yeah. We're such business chameleons. We can really flex and adapt to pretty much anything and everything. Which is good and bad. No. You know, so yeah, I absolutely love the process. I love seeing how people can transform as well.

Speaker A: Mhm.

Speaker C: Just by giving that little bit of information and letting them be on their way. It's really inspiring for me.

Speaker A: That's awesome. And I think it's a lovely program. I read up on it and looked into it and it's just a lovely program. And so I um, encourage those out there that are looking for something to check it out. Um, but Jodi, we're going to pause here very quickly so that I can thank our sponsor. But we're going to come right back because when we do, we are going to talk about the career field and its future and you don't want to miss that. So stick with us as we thank Vast for all they do to be a great partner with the admin community. And we will come back with Jodi

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Speaker A: Foreign. Welcome back to the Admin Spotlight behind the Front Desk. I am your host Molly Denham and I'm m here with Jodi Mears in the booth today and I want to get back to our discussion and ah and pick up on some some things that she said a little earlier when we were talking about her program and that's um, you mentioned in the first we mentioned that you're extremely vocal for the admin profession. And I know you have to have a backlog of areas that you see needs, um, to be shored up or improved or maybe even created from scratch sometimes in the admin field. But with everything that you've seen thus far, what would you say is the biggest challenge facing the admin field currently as we go forward? Um, and do you have any thoughts on how we might be able to um, tackle that challenge?

Speaker C: There's so many different layers, isn't there? And so many different contextual nuances to these theories of what is missing in business sector, geographically affected as well. Um, but one of the recurring themes that I often come across is bridging this gap between what's happened now with you know, AI and automation, uh, automations and what's happening, going to happen thereafter. You know that we're in this period of what are you gonna, what are you gonna do next? How can you show the businesses that you are more than just what can be automated? Because this is the time to show and show up fully to say I know what's coming. I, I'm even part, I'm a part of what's coming. You know, I'm, I mean on implementation and uh, steering groups. But it's a really exciting time more than anything to show how you can bridge this gap between the future of our role and it's not going to take long. I mean look what's happened in a year, right? Things. There's new things coming out every five minutes it seems. So I don't even think it's wise to have a five year plan at the moment. I think, you know, a year is long enough and even shorter than that, having quarterly goals of how you're going to bridge this gap of what's available to businesses and when it's time to fully step up and remain employed, what are you going to do? So yeah, I think it's,

Speaker B: I don't

Speaker C: know if that's a bit too wishy washy, but it's such a funny time. It's an exciting time, but it's one that we've really got to grab by both hands and say, right, what's going to change? What could change? Rather than just sitting in the moment thinking, well I'm fine for now, I'll just see what happens. It's an exciting time to embrace changes and lead certain things as well. Mhm.

Speaker A: Because the environment, like you said, is changing so much so fast, it's hard to keep up with it. But I think it's a really Great time for the admin profession anyways to imagine how they want to be more strategic and less tactical because automation really can take care of some of those more mundane tasks, some of the, you know, um, the tasks that are just kind of repetitive. Which then leaves us open to say, okay, with this extra time. And that's all relative, right? Extra time's all relative. But with this extra time that, that I could save, what else could I be doing? I mean it's, it's the, the possibilities are out there and we just have to, you know, say what is it that I would like to do? And then work towards that and, and make it happen.

Speaker C: Absolutely.

Speaker A: Mhm.

Speaker C: Yeah. I found leaning into the scary parts easier than running away from them. M m. You know, push yourself forward now because we're at that separation point as well. The ones who will push themselves forward and the ones that are just going to hang back a little bit longer just to see how it all pans out with their fingers crossed. I mean there's a place and there's a business and there's a sector and there's a, you know, a country that's always going to want the tactical stuff. I don't think it will be annihilated, you know, totally. There's always going to be an element of hands on work required, which is good. And after all, you know, the end user of AI and automations are humans. Yes. So you're dealing with humans. So leaning into that personable, um, your EQ as well, your communication skills and just reminding businesses and the leaders you're working with why it's important to have those, those humans involved in certain aspects of the, the process. But do they need as many humans? No, they won't. M so be the human. Don't be an option. Be the one, not an option of many. That would be my advice as well, is to start peeling away from what everyone else is doing. Um, in terms of, are they just waiting, sitting on the, the outskirts of the whole change thing. Learn all you can while you can now because what you learned last year is almost irrelevant and, and been super superseded this year.

Speaker A: Mhm.

Speaker C: So.

Speaker A: And yeah, and over learn. So I, you know, I'm gonna date myself a little bit. I've done it many times with this podcast. But when I first started in the admin field, I've been doing this for over 30 years. I started with a typewriter. Right. And um, and we had a computer in a computer room and I mean so you know, and it was, you know, computers are going to get rid of admin and then email came along and email was going to get rid of the admin and then the Internet came along and that was going to get rid of admin, um, and then social media. I mean so I have been through a lot of these evolutions and what I tell people is at each point now I, you know, I was blessed at those points to be in the military. And so the military didn't really know what to do with us. So they threw so much education at us. I mean I, I've learned, you know, when computers first came out they were like, you know what? You need to know everything about this computer. I can take a computer completely apart, I can put it back together again. They threw me through all of, like you said, all of that. Microsoft, I went through all of the levels of everything. You know, I can build a database, I can, you know, do things with spreadsheets that, you know, people now are like, oh, I didn't even know it could do that. Um, uh, they over taught us. And so now I think is a really good time to over learn what AI can do so that you can figure out what the possibilities are. And then like you said, peel it back to what you want to do.

Speaker C: Absolutely. And there's a difference between over learning and learning and not implementing. Because there's always going to be aspects of what you learn that you can implement immediately to show the ROI of you learning that, spending time on that and spending money on that, but leaning into the beast if you like, rather than running away from it is where you over learn in terms of not overdoing it, not overexposing, you know, too much time and energy, but being aware, being on the cusp of everything. You know, sign up for newsletters, um, listen to webinars and conferences wherever you can just to see what's coming next. Because the rate in which it's being rolled out is ridiculous. It's coming out all the time. So positioning in yourself to be not the person or not the best but the best known within the business I think really helps you. Yeah. Get thought of first. So when, when those projects come in, of um, opportunities come in, of maybe being on a steering, um, committee, perhaps a test group for Microsoft copilot like I was, instead of saying, well I'm not sure I'd actually use it, so I don't think we're allowed to use it, uh, you know, I'll just wait until I get permission. Put your hand up. Yes, I'll go. Volunteering yourself for Things that you wouldn't necessarily think is any of your business is the way to go. For example, there was a Microsoft course, um, for executives only, Microsoft Copilot for executives. And I showed my executive and I said, what do you think? He said, well, why is it for executives only? What could it be?

Speaker A: Right?

Speaker C: I said, you haven't got time to go. I'm going to go. And I wrote to Microsoft and I said, just out of interest, why would you not think that this could be targeted to executive assistance? Because we're the ones who are operating these things on behalf of the executives or we're sitting exactly next to them when they're doing them. Anyway, you know, I'm going to attend. And when I attended, I thought, oh, is that all it is? You know, is that it? You know, really it really. So don't be afraid to push yourself into spaces that don't necessarily have your name on it or your title on it, because that is where you're going to pick up some great nuggets of information. You're going to stand out. You're going to be positioned incredibly well to free up executives time next level. So instead of, you know, where it would be calendaring and making sure they're free and all tidy and prepared, now it's going to be identifying what they can and should spend their time on versus what you could do instead and brief them afterwards. So it's kind of blending in, managing up as well.

Speaker A: Yeah. And I would add to that, don't be afraid that you don't know the terminology or you don't understand, because I will admit I don't completely understand A.I. i use it. But don't be afraid, like you said, read those newsletters, follow the different agencies on LinkedIn and stuff, and continue to read because as you read then it becomes, you know, familiar. You start to learn some of the terminology. But sometimes, like for me anyways, it takes me sometimes three or four times reading it to realize, oh, that's what it means. If you just stop when you, when you don't understand and you just stop there, you, you lose out on so much potential.

Speaker C: Yeah, you don't need to be the expert. You just need to have expertise in absorbing information. And they're great conversation starters as well within senior leadership to say, I, oh, I heard about that the other day, or I've read an article on that and it just opens up dialogue with people you wouldn't necessarily talk, uh, to or network with. So you don't need to know the finer ins and Outs you won't. You, you're, you're not, you're not cut out for that. I'm telling you now, if we wouldn't be talking and you wouldn't be listening to this podcast, if you think you need to know the ins and outs of all of the latest technology, you'd be sitting in Silicon Valley with a very great job right now. Right. You don't need to be the expert. You just need to have areas of expertise. Mhm. And the open mind and the aptitude to be able to communicate and hold a conversation about current affairs within, you know, technology.

Speaker A: That's such great advice. And I. We're going to close it out because we're. My system is blinking at me that we're already coming up on our 30 minutes. But, but, uh, one thing that I want to get to is as I was reading some of the stuff for your, um, Aspire and Achieve, you know, some of the universal messaging that I saw on there that I really loved and picked up on was your message to be who you are and be authentically you in all you do and um, and make that kind of your, your personal brand. And I love that. And I try to follow that mantra in, in my personal life and you know, I will lay it out there. I will let everybody, you know, peek behind the curtain if they want to. But before we close out, do you have any final thoughts or pearls of wisdom that you want to leave with our.

Speaker C: Absolutely. Just remember, you don't need to be the best at anything, but to progress, you need to be the best known. So push yourself forward, step up into those spaces, be nosy, be helpful, but lean into, lean into who you are and be okay with that.

Speaker A: Mhm. Jody, I, I probably could talk to you for probably another hour with a

Speaker C: whole bunch of other questions.

Speaker A: It's such a great discussion. I have loved having you on our show today. Thank you so much.

Speaker C: Thank you for having me.

Speaker A: For my fellow admin professionals, if you do not have Jodi in your admin ecosystem, I encourage you to follow or connect with her, uh, today. Connect with her today on, um, LinkedIn because she is a font of information and has such passion for this field that I guarantee that she will add value to your inner admin community. And Jodi, uh, just again, I really do appreciate you taking the time out to do this.

Speaker C: Thank you, Molly.

Speaker A: Yes. And thank you, my fellow admin professionals, for tuning into the admin spotlight behind the front desk. Please join us next time when we shine the spotlight on another fellow professional and take a walk through their admin journey. We'll see you then, Sa.