October 16, 2025 • 38 mins
Julie's brand new Big Gorgeous Goals: Official Workbook can be ordered now! Grab your copy.
Tarra Stubbins shares insights from her journey managing rock stars to founding Take it Easy, a company providing executive assistants and chiefs of staff to entrepreneurs looking to scale their businesses.
Tarra Stubbins is the founder of Take It Easy Group, a team of elite fractional Executive Assistants and Chiefs of Staff helping high-growth founders get out of their own way and reach the next level of success. Known for turning chaos into clarity, her team supports ambitious CEOs with time optimization, strategic execution, and operational excellence—becoming the behind-the-scenes force that helps big goals become real.
Before launching Take It Easy Group, Tarra spent over two decades managing the lives of icons like Mick Jagger, Drake, Richard Branson, and Sandra Bullock—mastering the art of high-performance support at the top level.
She is also a sought-after speaker and thought leader, having delivered keynotes and workshops globally on topics like delegation, productivity, and entrepreneurial leadership. Tara brings a no-fluff, action-first approach to every stage, inspiring leaders to ditch overwhelm and scale with clarity and confidence.
You can connect with Tarra on her website, Instagram, or LinkedIn.
You can connect with Julie on LinkedIn or Instagram.
Find Julie's writing at her blog or by ordering her book Big Gorgeous Goals and the brand new official companion workbook!
What did you think of this conversation? We'd love if you'd rate or review our show!
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FIGURE 8 UPDATE
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Julie (00:04):
Welcome to Figure 8, where we feature inspiring
stories of women entrepreneurswho have grown their businesses
to seven and eight figuresrevenue.
If you're in the mix of growinga bigger business, these
stories are for you.
Join us as we explore where thetough spots are, how to
overcome them and how to prepareyourself for the next portion
(00:27):
of the climb.
I'm your host, Julie Ellis.
I'm an author, entrepreneur anda growth and leadership coach
who co-founded, grew and exitedan eight-figure business.
This led me to exploring whysome women achieve great things,
and that led to my book BigGorgeous Goals.
(00:47):
Let's explore the systems,processes and people that help
us grow our businesses to newheights.
If you're interested in growingyour business, this podcast
will help.
Now let's get going.
Hello and welcome to thisepisode of Figure 8.
(01:07):
Today I am in conversation withTarra Stubbins, and Tarra
started her career managing thelives of big rock stars and
famous people.
She has now taken that overinto her own business, where she
helps entrepreneurs with chiefof staff and executive
(01:29):
assistants, and so the Take itEasy group is there to help us
all grow bigger and betterbusinesses with the kind of
support we need, and I'm veryinterested and excited to talk
to you today.
Welcome, Tarra, to the podcast.
Tarra (01:43):
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm so excited for thisconversation.
Julie (01:46):
Yeah, me too, and I'm so interested because I mean one of
the things that I think asentrepreneurs, we are reluctant
to hand things off to peoplebecause we often feel like we
can do them better ourselves.
But it's a really key piece toscaling up your business,
scaling up yourself as a leaderand growing, and so I think it's
(02:10):
, you know, interesting howyou've got this experience with
managing very high poweredpeople who I'm sure are
demanding and busy and it'simportant that things are done
right, and how you can take thatinto the entrepreneurial world
and really help people.
Tarra (02:27):
Yeah, it's true, and it's interesting because when you
get to a certain level ofsuccess, you don't even think
about what can I delegate?
It's just automatic.
Everything's, absolutelyeverything, is delegated, and
I'm a true believer in the factthat successful people are
successful because theyunderstand what's noise in their
(02:49):
day to day life and what theyactually have to work on and
focus on, are always thinking,oh well, I'll just do it because
I can do it faster, or is thisnoise, or is this actually
something that I have toconcentrate on, so that once you
(03:13):
actually figure out what youcan delegate and what you can
actually keep for yourself tomove your goals and your dreams
forward, then that's really thekey in building big businesses
and big success.
Julie (03:27):
Yeah, I think it's a really interesting observation
that at that really high levelof performance, that you have to
basically delegate everything.
I think that's a really andI've never really thought of it
that way.
I mean, you know, and just theidea of like we all hang on to
(03:47):
things because not even do wemaybe think we're better, but we
kind of like doing them.
You know, like, I think of,like I like looking for flights,
I like the chase, I like the,you know, but that's a really
classic example of the kind ofthings that, like, you shouldn't
be doing as an entrepreneur.
You should be having somebodyelse do for you.
Tarra (04:05):
Yeah, it's true.
I actually just well, my teamjust onboarded with a very, very
busy entrepreneur and she keptsaying you know, I need a flight
to Seattle, Australia, like allthese different places.
And our executive assistant,you know, when we onboard, we
put together like informationokay, these are all the flights
(04:27):
that we would book.
This is the reason why.
And she was saying, you know,this is taking too long, I'm
just going to book it.
And I had to step in and say,hold on a second.
If you just book it, then wenever learn.
And so we can go back and forthfor one day of you know, and
it's not even that much time weput together a document.
You just have to review it andsay why you would pick what or
(04:49):
why you would agree with what wewere picking, or whatever.
Literally five minutes of yourtime, and you know, and then we
learn, and then we can do it allthe time moving forward.
But it is a good example.
You know, if you do enjoy doing, do enjoy doing it, then you
know, maybe you book yourflights for a big family
vacation and not necessarily allyour business trips, or maybe
(05:14):
you take one business trip ayear and that's the one that you
want to book.
So fine, you know you can findother things to delegate if
that's something that you reallytruly love doing.
Julie (05:24):
Yeah.
But it begs the question oflike, yes, you can love doing it
, but is it actually you knowwhere I can make the most impact
in growing my business, growingrevenue, all the different
parts of that, and really workin that like genius zone?
That's making me a successfulentrepreneur.
Tarra (05:47):
Yeah, you know, love him or hate him, Elon Musk talks
about it a lot.
Where he talks about and I kindof hinted at it at the very
beginning of you know what'snoise in your every day, and he
there's kind of a success rulethat says you should concentrate
only 20% a day on the noise and80% of the day on everything
(06:10):
else.
Elon Musk does 100% oneverything else.
He is very, very good at justlaser focusing on what needs to
be done and only what needs tobe done.
You know not the average personcan do that.
But you know, as new businessowners or even if you've been in
business for a while but yourun a small team, there are
(06:31):
always fires, there are alwaysthings that are being thrown at
you on a day to day basis.
So it's really trying to figureout, okay, what is the biggest
thing that I have to accomplishtoday, or what is the biggest
problem I have to solve today,and is this noise, or is this
actually something that I haveto put out the fire with or
(06:55):
something that's going to movethe needle on my goal?
And it's a good exercise to do.
Before you jump into anything,before you start problem solving
, before you send that email,before you start problem solving
, before you send that email,before you start writing the
proposal, just ask the questionis this the biggest fire I have
to put out today, or is thissomething that is actually going
(07:15):
to move the needle a littletiny percent it doesn't have to
be big towards what my big goalis, and if you say yes to one of
the two, then go ahead.
That should be something thatyou should concentrate on.
If it's not, then it could bedelegated, it could be put to
you know, it could wait, itcould be forgotten about
sometimes, depending on what itis.
(07:37):
So those are good questions toask.
Julie (07:40):
Yeah, and I think even just, you know, popped into my
head as you were talking there,like the idea of what are all
the little things that are on myto-do list that you know I
don't actually need to do.
They need to be done, but youknow, and and and then you've
got the stuff where, like weekto week, you're just rewriting
it on a new list, right and sooh yeah, some of that is stuff
(08:03):
that someone could easily handle.
Some of of it, though, is theimportant work that you're not
quite moving your project alongbecause you're caught in all of
those little details.
Tarra (08:13):
Yeah, I always say that to-do lists beat us up as human
beings because they're justsomething that you just keep
getting longer and longer andlonger.
Or you know, you write yourlist for the day and then you go
out into the world thinking orstay at home, then do your work
and into your office and thinkI'm going to get these three
(08:35):
things done and then it neverhappens.
And then you feel horrible.
You feel like you're, you know,useless, that you're not good
enough, that like I can't builda business, I can't even do
these three things on my list.
So I love taking things out ofmy brain and putting them down
on paper or in a virtualdocument or something and kind
(08:59):
of creating a list that way.
But creating a list that runsmy day is something that I don't
recommend, because you'realways going to feel like a
failure after you're never goingto get everything on that list
done.
Julie (09:13):
Yeah, yeah, no, it's true , and I've started having like
there's a big list, but on adaily basis I'm like these are
the three most important thingsI need to get through today and
if I do more than three of them,I got a big list I can go look
at.
But I'm not like these are thethree most important things I
need to get through today and ifI can do more than three of
them, I got a big list I can golook at, but I'm not like it's
not that constant, Like bleh.
Tarra (09:32):
Yeah, I'm a big believer in putting that list on your
calendar, so instead, so thenyou know exactly when you are
going to do these three reallyimportant things and if you have
time for it.
Maybe you work a nine to fivejob and have a side hustle and
have a family, or you know, allof us are dealing with a lot of
(09:55):
things that also get put on ourcalendar.
So if our calendar is full andthen we have this sticky note of
these three things that we wantto do and then we have this
sticky note of these threethings that we want to do, it's
hard to get those three thingsinto the calendar and when we're
actually going to have time todo it.
So I love scheduling it in.
Now, a lot of times you'reeither going to book too much
(10:18):
time for the task or not enoughtime and it's going to feel a
little frustrating trying to fitit in.
Oh, I can never fit these tasksin, but that's something that's
habit that you can build overtime and practice of.
Okay, these things take me halfan hour or three days or
whatever it is.
Julie (10:38):
o the idea that maybe the task you're trying to
accomplish is actually in threeparts, and so you should break
it into the three parts andschedule the time.
Tarra (10:48):
Exactly and have any of us always like, put off I know I
do this all the time put offprojects that I don't like.
So a lot of times it's likereconciling my books or
bookkeeping, because I thinkthat it's going to take
thousands of hours to do and Iput it off, put it off, put it
off and then finally I sit downto do it and it takes 20 minutes
(11:10):
and I'm like why did I put thisoff for so long and block a
whole Saturday in my calendar todo it?
It happens to me all the time.
Julie (11:21):
I'll trick my brain with those.
Sometimes I'm like, well, I'mputting it off, I'm going to set
the timer for 30 minutes, I'mgoing to close all my apps and
put my phone back there and I'mjust going to work on it for 30
minutes and like it's amazinghow, when sometimes, when you do
that, all of a sudden it's done, it's just gone off the list
right.
Tarra (11:41):
It's the trick of if you have company coming over and you
have to clean your housesometime.
You can clean your house in 20minutes, but you normally it
takes like an entire day.
It's the same thing.
Julie (11:53):
Yeah, yeah.
So when you started out and youwere working with these really
high profile people, how didthat kind of I mean dropping
into someone's life who isalready accustomed to handing
everything off?
What was that like, and how didit open your eyes to how they
(12:15):
lived versus how, like the restof us, kind of manage our own
lives?
Tarra (12:20):
Yeah, it really opened my eyes to how I was always very
fascinated, from the moment Istarted in that career and path
in life, of you know, why thesepeople?
Why are these people the onesup on stage bringing in hundreds
of thousands of people a nightor making the really, really big
(12:41):
movies or whatever they'rebuilding these big businesses?
Why them?
Is there like this lottery oflife?
Have they just fallen into thislike really lucky time or got
this big break somehow?
And I was always curious of,like, why them and not me?
And so I was like a sponge fromday one of figuring out what
(13:02):
they were doing in their day today to be successful.
And I always thought and Ithink what a lot of people think
is it's like what is theirmorning routine?
Can I copy their morningroutine to be successful?
And then I realized, well, theyall have different morning
routines.
Some get up at 5am, some get upat 1pm.
Some, you know, run a marathonbefore they work, some smoke a
(13:25):
cigar and drink a bottle of JackDaniels, like it depends on who
you are.
So I always kind of thought,well, that's not something that
I can actually copy.
And then I started realizingthat it was three things.
It was one what we talked aboutfocus.
They had a goal and theyunderstood what their goal was
(13:50):
all the time and they alwaysknew what they were driving for.
It wasn't anything wishy washy,it was.
You know, I want to write thebest song and go to number one.
I want to sell out this arenafor the very first time.
I want to win an Oscar.
Whatever it was, they had biggoals and whatever they did in
(14:12):
their day to day, they weredriving towards that and I think
that delegation is like otherthings we were talking about, is
a habit.
So they've gotten to the pointwhere they don't even have to
think can you go do my drycleaning?
Can you do this?
They're not embarrassed by it,they're not ashamed that they're
(14:35):
asking for it.
They just something that theyhave done to build the success
and that they just keep doing it.
And people around them.
If you have good people aroundyou, they want to help.
They want to do the things thatyou are asking so you can go
and do whatever you know.
I wanted to help.
(14:56):
I wanted to do all those littlethings.
I didn't want to sing on thisstage.
I was more than happy to go getcoffee or whatever it was.
So, taking that shame away andreally understanding where, or
embarrassment, and reallyunderstanding focus.
And then the other thing Ilearned was they never multitask
(15:18):
.
They always are focused on onegoal and one goal only.
It's not okay I'll write a bookand I'll start a podcast and
I'll start then my coachingfunnel and then maybe I'll make
some candles, and then all byDecember 31st or December 1st
(15:39):
it's like no, they are.
You know, training for amarathon, or you know rehearsing
for this world tour.
It's one big goal and that isit.
And then all the other thingscan come in after once you're
successful at one.
So really understanding againthat focus in what you are
actually driving towards
Julie (16:03):
Yeah, I think that's a really great point because I
think so many of us areoperating with so many lanes
open and so many big rocks.
We're trying to push up thehill and then you know, you see
people get frustrated becausethey're not making enough
progress in any one place.
Tarra (16:20):
Yeah, it's true, and it's about efficiency too.
So some of us have probablyheard that you know to go fast.
You actually go slow, so youslow it down and kind of think
if you're running towards thingsso quickly, you're not actually
you know the tortoise and thehare story You're not actually
going to win the race.
Same with efficiency If you'retrying to do everything, you're
(16:44):
not going to be able to geteverything done.
Efficiency is actually aboutfocusing on what you can get
done and getting rid ofeverything else.
And I talk to a lot of peoplewho say you know, I'm just
starting out.
I'm a single mom.
I have no money, I'm barelymaking ends meet.
How am I supposed to delegateanything?
(17:04):
And I always say there's alwaysa way you can trade services.
You can ask a neighbor if youcan maybe look after their child
for one day while they work,and then they can look after
your child.
Whatever it is, there's alwaysways to be creative.
It doesn't have to be spend $50or $10 or $1,000 to get
(17:27):
something off your plate.
Julie (17:30):
Yeah, yes, and it's so interesting because I think you
know, as somebody who has somehelp in the role I occupy right
now, every now, and then she'slike Julie, I need you to give
this to me.
Yes, oh, okay, you know, like,but then you realize like you're
the barrier actually to hergetting her job done Right, and
(17:51):
so those little nudges are great, but it is that like, um, you
need that person who has thatamount of proactivity too.
I think, as you're learningabout delegating and as you're
learning about how to justunload things, because you know
they need to be able to come inand say, you know very gently of
(18:12):
course, that you know, hey, letme do that for you,
Tarra (18:15):
yeah it's kind of a catch-22, because sometimes you
don't want to spend or you don'thave a lot of money to spend on
that proactive partner that canactually help you.
But delegation is a habit.
You don't run on a treadmilland think that after an hour
you're going to lose 20 pounds.
(18:36):
It would be nice, I would lovethat, but it doesn't happen.
Same with delegating you can'tdelegate one task and now think
that you're a master of beingable to focus on the one thing.
So if you have to hire, youknow free labor or you know
inexpensive help while you'refirst kind of learning to at.
I let go of this CRMspreadsheet project and I
(19:08):
actually got this big funnel,you know, laid out by myself,
that I've never had time for, orI had create a creative moment
all of a sudden, because Iwasn't thinking about my taxes,
because I let that go.
So then you can actually go.
Okay, well, that funnel or thatcreative moment actually made
(19:29):
me 100 extra dollars.
So now I'm going to take thatand invest it in a more
proactive partner.
That's obviously an extremeexample, but hopefully you
understand what I'm talkingabout there.
Julie (19:40):
Yeah, yeah.
And so how did you?
I mean I, I think the likequestion I mean the rock and
roll life managing these likereally high powered people is
like a life.
Lots of people are like wowabout how did you get into that
business?
What was it that led you downthe path to working for some of
these famous names that we allknow?
Tarra (20:04):
Well, I have to say it was maybe, I don't know, a
stupid decision, but maybe not.
It was definitely not a plannedout path of mine.
I actually, in high school, was, you know, hanging out with
some local, not famous at all,you know garage bands and
(20:25):
musicians, and that was kind ofmy thing.
And then all of a sudden I gotasked if I would jump on a tour
bus.
It wasn't even really a tourbus, it was like a dirty van
going across Canada and help andhelp was literally laundry,
sweeping the stage like like notvery glamorous work at all.
(20:47):
And so I did it.
I, you know, dropped out of highschool and I jumped on this van
and my mother wanted to kill meand and it was before cell
phones too.
So here I was in this randomvan going across Canada.
But again, I don't reallyencourage that for people.
(21:09):
But the one thing that I wasdoing is I was following a
passion and I was following adream that I always had, and my
dream was I wanted to be somesort of rock star, but I didn't
have any musical talent at all.
I still don't, and I love music, I appreciate music, but I
cannot make music happen the waythat I can make it happen is by
(21:32):
supporting the people who can,and so I was actually following
my dream and focusing on thatone dream, not even knowing that
that's what I was going to takeaway from the people that I was
actually working with.
Julie (21:48):
Yep, and so then you went from sweeping stages and kind
of looking around at seeingwhatever needed to be done and
doing it to, I assume, workingwith bigger and bigger names.
Tarra (22:00):
Yeah, the kind of entertainment industry like the
film industry.
It's a small industry, so youcan build a name for yourself
pretty quickly If you enjoy whatyou're doing and bring
something and bring likepositivity to the table.
There's a lot of people whowant to use it as a stepping
stone or you know and aren'tactually enjoying what they're
(22:24):
doing on a day to day basis andthat brings everyone else down.
So, because I absolutely loveddoing what I was doing, I wanted
to help people, I wanted tojust do whatever I could to make
their days happier and easier,and so that is how I could build
a name for myself and then getasked to do bigger and bigger
(22:45):
and bigger tours.
Julie (22:47):
And what made you decide to leave and start this business
.
Tarra (22:52):
So I had a big aha moment when I was actually in Shanghai
.
So I was on a world tour with amassive rock and roll band,
with a massive rock and rollband, and one of the crazy
requests that this rock staralways asked for was that he
wanted his toothbrush to besanitized every time it came out
(23:15):
of the suitcase.
So every time we stayed in anew hotel, which was almost
every night or every other nightI had to sanitize his
toothbrush in the hoteldishwasher.
So a lot of people ask me why.
I don't know, I didn't ask.
I don't ask rock stars why.
A lot of people ask me whydon't you just buy a new
(23:35):
toothbrush?
I don't know.
Again, I didn't ask and peoplealways ask me did you do it?
And you didn't just run itunder hot water?
And I would say, yeah, actuallyI did.
I don't know why I did, but Idid.
So a lot of the hotels wouldknow, because we'd stayed there
before, that you know.
Here comes this crazy lady withthe toothbrush.
But a lot of times we'd be innew hotels or new cities and we
(23:59):
haven't stayed there before.
And then this one time, inShanghai, it was a brand new
hotel, luxury hotel.
We were staying, you know, inthe presidential suite and there
I was in the back of thekitchen trying to convince these
people that I had to put thistoothbrush in their dishwasher,
and they didn't speak English Idon't speak their language and I
(24:21):
was trying to like makegestures, and again it was kind
of before cell phones.
Could you know Google voicetranslate what I was trying to,
like make gestures?
And again it was kind of beforecell phones.
Could you know Google voicetranslate what I was saying?
So I was trying to make thesegestures of you know how to put
this toothbrush in thedishwasher, and they were
looking at me like I had threeheads and I remember standing
there thinking there's got to bemore to life than this.
(24:43):
And that's when I had this bigaha moment that I love helping
people.
I want to help people, but Ijust want to help more than one
crazy rock star at a time.
So I ended the tour.
I finished the tour, came offthe road and decided I'm just
going to open up my own business, no idea what I was doing.
(25:04):
I was a dirty roadie, I no idea, I didn't even really know what
business was, I didn't evenknow what I wanted to do, but
ended up opening up a personalconcierge and lifestyle
management business which isstill running um to manage the
lives of high net worth and highprofile people, because that's
what I was used to.
And then through that, Istarted becoming friends with
(25:29):
entrepreneurs and other peoplewho were building businesses,
because I craved that connection, because I hadn't built a
business, I didn't know what Iwas doing and I wanted that
community.
And I started to realize thatthey were struggling to get over
this kind of hump of successbecause they didn't have that
strategic support behind them.
(25:50):
So I started helping them justas a friend.
And then it grew into what Takeit Easy is today, which is the
fractional executive, assistantsand chief of staff.
Julie (26:01):
Yeah, and I think it's really interesting too, because
that entrepreneurial journey ishard.
(26:23):
Like you do, you start offdoing everything and I always
you know kind that team aspectof how you can leverage yourself
so quickly by having two peoplekind of in your orbit.
Right, you have yourself, youhave your EA or your chief of
staff and it just allows you tolever up really quickly.
Tarra (26:53):
Yeah, it really does.
I always say that delegation orassistance is not a luxury.
People always think that it'ssomething you know, something
I'll have when I'm rich orsomething I'll have when I'm
successful.
That's what you know successfulpeople have.
But it's not.
It's it's the actual thing thathelps you get to that point of
success and be able to have abigger team and outsource more
and more and more.
Julie (27:13):
Yeah, yeah, and you think about, like, as your business
grows and you get busier, youspend a lot of time in your
meetings, right, and you get alot of email and a lot of
requests for things and a lot oflike all of those pieces where
you know you've got somebodysaying there's three important
emails I really need you to lookat today, like someone who's
(27:34):
already pre-scanned that,somebody who's, you know, making
sure that you get out of thatmeeting and on to the next one,
and like all of those little youknow, someone who makes sure
that you eat lunch, like, quitehonestly, because, like there is
just that, that piece of likehow they become this really big
gatekeeper for you as well interms of protecting your time
(27:57):
and protecting, you know, the,the precious resource.
Tarra (28:02):
Yeah, and there are a lot of AI tools now that will scan
your inbox and, you know, briefyou on important tasks and
things that you're missing.
They can help you create aschedule where you do have lunch
.
They can even send out areminder on your computer or
phone that says go eat lunch now.
(28:28):
But there's something and Ilove I leverage AI tools all the
time but there is somethingabout having that extra person
that you can bounce ideas off of.
You can ask is this act?
I'm telling AI that this isimportant and has to be done,
but actually is it for ourbusiness goals?
So somebody that you can kindof question and just, yeah,
having that like human interstrategic interaction is really
(28:52):
helpful.
Especially if you're a lonebusiness person or if you're a
business person with like a lotof contractors that you're
trying to manage yourself, it'sreally helpful to have somebody
on your team who you know hasthat same vision as you and can
help you move that forward aswell
Julie (29:10):
Yeah, and when you think about, like the, the role of,
like an executive assistantversus a chief of staff, where
do you see those kind ofdifferences in what people need
and how the roles function?
Tarra (29:23):
yeah, yeah.
So executive assistants I thinkof as definitely more
administration, heavyadministration, but with a
strategic edge.
So obviously calendarmanagement, inbox management,
project management, helping pushtasks forward, you know kind of
light team alignment.
(29:45):
So you know these are theprojects of the whole
organization.
Who's kind of putting what youknow across the finish line and
how can I help with anything?
You know meeting notes or, yes,ai does that, but like
generating it and putting out tothe team and you know different
things like that.
That's what I would say a goodstrategic executive assistant
(30:08):
does.
A chief of staff in my opinionand there are so many
definitions of chief of staffand it depends on what you need
for your business is more of alight COO.
So they're ones who have a moreoperational mind, a more
project management mind, canreally align teams, can be that
(30:33):
executive presence for you.
If you can't sit in a meetingbecause you're double booked,
the chief of staff can sit inthat meeting for you and
actually know what you would sayand be able to communicate it
in a way that you would havedone if you were on the meeting.
So that very like seniorleadership.
They also in my world becauseit's very much of an assistant
(30:58):
world.
Our chief of staff also doadministrative tasks as well,
but they're definitely moresenior leaders.
Julie (31:11):
Yeah, yeah, and I think that's a really good distinction
right, where they can be thevoice of the leader, the person
they're working for, andrepresent them, as opposed to
the more you know strategicadmin side.
Tarra (31:22):
Yeah, I totally agree.
Julie (31:23):
Good distinction in the pulling apart of those two roles
.
Tarra (31:28):
I totally agree.
Julie (31:29):
When do you find people come to you?
Is there a?
Is there an?
Overwrought, overworked, likewhat's that crossroads look like
?
Tarra (31:37):
Yeah, it's usually when the founder CEO realizes that
they are the roadblock to thebusiness becoming a success, or
somebody on their team comes tous and says hey, the founder,
the CEO, is a roadblock to oursuccess and we can't get what we
need done because it's sittingin their inbox or on their to do
(32:01):
list or on their plate.
So it's really that, like,people have big goals and they
know that the business can getto the next level and they just
need that extra support to getto the next level.
Julie (32:16):
Yeah, no, I think that makes a lot of sense.
Interesting that sometimes it'steam members that come and want
to hire someone for their boss.
Tarra (32:24):
Yep, we have COOs and HR people coming to us all the time
saying, okay, enough's enough,we can't do this anymore.
Julie (32:36):
That is a really great employee, somebody who will do
that for the CEO.
Tarra (32:41):
It's true, it's a good employee and it's a good CEO
kind of boss leader relationship, allowing them to go do that
and bring understanding that.
Okay, I am the road block, I amaffecting the team.
Okay, let's go do this.
Julie (32:57):
Yep, and so what's next for you now, like you're, you're
building a team, you'resupporting many, many, many
businesses now, and I mean,what's what's on the path for
you?
Tarra (33:09):
Yeah, I'm really excited to launch a coaching, kind of
educational I don't really wantto call it coaching more
educational modules so I canreally help entrepreneurs and
founders who are really wantingto understand the power of
(33:32):
delegation and how that can helpthem get to the next level of
success.
Sometimes our prices are alittle too high for barrier of
entry and I really want to helpas many people as I possibly can
build that successful business.
I always say I'm probably notgoing to cure cancer.
Oh, I know I'm not going tocure cancer, but if I can help a
(33:55):
business or a founder that can.
I absolutely love that and Iwant to help more and more of
those founders.
Julie (34:02):
Yeah well, and I think that's really interesting
Because, yes, for the personwho's sitting here thinking, you
know that all sounds great, butI can't afford it's that.
You know how do you positionyourself in the right way by
some of the bartering or thethings we talked about earlier,
but how do you position yourselfto be ready and know that when
(34:22):
the day comes, you're going tobe in that position where you
understand how to get the mostout of that relationship?
Tarra (34:30):
It's true, and also I see a lot just because I'm in like
the fractional, service basedworld.
I talk to a lot of otherfractional and service based
leaders and coaches and I alwayshear the same thing and they do
really really well at thebeginning because it's all
referrals and word of mouth.
A lot of people leave their bigcorporate jobs with you know,
(34:52):
big networks and they have awonderful first year, but then
the clients start falling offthere and they haven't actually
started building a pipeline or amarketing strategy or really
anything, because they've justbeen busy servicing their
clients, which is absolutelynecessary.
(35:14):
And yes, referrals will happen,but using referrals as your
main lead generation source,it's going to dry up at some
point or you're not going to beable to build in scale to a
level that maybe you want to.
If you just want one or twoclients at a time, then fine,
absolutely.
So really allowing people andteaching people how to actually
(35:39):
think about all these importantaspects of the business and also
successfully service thebusiness or your clients at the
same time being a small team ofone or two people.
Julie (35:54):
Yeah, I think that's great advice for people to think
about as they navigate thebusiness development delivery.
Business development deliveryyou know roller coaster that
happens.
I think that's really great.
Tarra (36:09):
Yeah, because how many of us have been, you know, so busy
we haven't thought aboutbusiness development.
Then we lose that big client,or we lose two of them, and then
we panic and then it takes sixmonths to actually get another
client because you have to buildup the momentum again.
Julie (36:27):
And then you have the client.
You stop business developing.
Yeah, it's those, those cyclesthat that you very clearly see
people getting into.
Yeah, absolutely Well, I'm veryglad that businesses like yours
exist and I think you can makea real difference for
entrepreneurs, and I hope thatthis was helpful for the
listeners to think about how toget better at delegating.
Tarra (36:52):
Yes, I hope so too, and thank you again for having me.
Yeah.
Julie (36:56):
Thanks so much.
Take care.
I hope you too, and thank youagain for having me.
Yeah, thanks so much.
Take care.
I hope you enjoyed today's 8episode.
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(37:18):
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(37:42):
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See you again soon for anotherepisode of Figure 8.
Welcome to Figure 8, where we feature inspiring
stories of women entrepreneurswho have grown their businesses
to seven and eight figuresrevenue.
If you're in the mix of growinga bigger business, these
stories are for you.
Join us as we explore where thetough spots are, how to
overcome them and how to prepareyourself for the next portion
(00:27):
of the climb.
I'm your host, Julie Ellis.
I'm an author, entrepreneur anda growth and leadership coach
who co-founded, grew and exitedan eight-figure business.
This led me to exploring whysome women achieve great things,
and that led to my book BigGorgeous Goals.
(00:47):
Let's explore the systems,processes and people that help
us grow our businesses to newheights.
If you're interested in growingyour business, this podcast
will help.
Now let's get going.
Hello and welcome to thisepisode of Figure 8.
(01:07):
Today I am in conversation withTarra Stubbins, and Tarra
started her career managing thelives of big rock stars and
famous people.
She has now taken that overinto her own business, where she
helps entrepreneurs with chiefof staff and executive
(01:29):
assistants, and so the Take itEasy group is there to help us
all grow bigger and betterbusinesses with the kind of
support we need, and I'm veryinterested and excited to talk
to you today.
Welcome, Tarra, to the podcast.
Tarra (01:43):
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm so excited for thisconversation.
Julie (01:46):
Yeah, me too, and I'm so interested because I mean one of
the things that I think asentrepreneurs, we are reluctant
to hand things off to peoplebecause we often feel like we
can do them better ourselves.
But it's a really key piece toscaling up your business,
scaling up yourself as a leaderand growing, and so I think it's
(02:10):
, you know, interesting howyou've got this experience with
managing very high poweredpeople who I'm sure are
demanding and busy and it'simportant that things are done
right, and how you can take thatinto the entrepreneurial world
and really help people.
Tarra (02:27):
Yeah, it's true, and it's interesting because when you
get to a certain level ofsuccess, you don't even think
about what can I delegate?
It's just automatic.
Everything's, absolutelyeverything, is delegated, and
I'm a true believer in the factthat successful people are
successful because theyunderstand what's noise in their
(02:49):
day to day life and what theyactually have to work on and
focus on, are always thinking,oh well, I'll just do it because
I can do it faster, or is thisnoise, or is this actually
something that I have toconcentrate on, so that once you
(03:13):
actually figure out what youcan delegate and what you can
actually keep for yourself tomove your goals and your dreams
forward, then that's really thekey in building big businesses
and big success.
Julie (03:27):
Yeah, I think it's a really interesting observation
that at that really high levelof performance, that you have to
basically delegate everything.
I think that's a really andI've never really thought of it
that way.
I mean, you know, and just theidea of like we all hang on to
(03:47):
things because not even do wemaybe think we're better, but we
kind of like doing them.
You know, like, I think of,like I like looking for flights,
I like the chase, I like the,you know, but that's a really
classic example of the kind ofthings that, like, you shouldn't
be doing as an entrepreneur.
You should be having somebodyelse do for you.
Tarra (04:05):
Yeah, it's true.
I actually just well, my teamjust onboarded with a very, very
busy entrepreneur and she keptsaying you know, I need a flight
to Seattle, Australia, like allthese different places.
And our executive assistant,you know, when we onboard, we
put together like informationokay, these are all the flights
(04:27):
that we would book.
This is the reason why.
And she was saying, you know,this is taking too long, I'm
just going to book it.
And I had to step in and say,hold on a second.
If you just book it, then wenever learn.
And so we can go back and forthfor one day of you know, and
it's not even that much time weput together a document.
You just have to review it andsay why you would pick what or
(04:49):
why you would agree with what wewere picking, or whatever.
Literally five minutes of yourtime, and you know, and then we
learn, and then we can do it allthe time moving forward.
But it is a good example.
You know, if you do enjoy doing, do enjoy doing it, then you
know, maybe you book yourflights for a big family
vacation and not necessarily allyour business trips, or maybe
(05:14):
you take one business trip ayear and that's the one that you
want to book.
So fine, you know you can findother things to delegate if
that's something that you reallytruly love doing.
Julie (05:24):
Yeah.
But it begs the question oflike, yes, you can love doing it
, but is it actually you knowwhere I can make the most impact
in growing my business, growingrevenue, all the different
parts of that, and really workin that like genius zone?
That's making me a successfulentrepreneur.
Tarra (05:47):
Yeah, you know, love him or hate him, Elon Musk talks
about it a lot.
Where he talks about and I kindof hinted at it at the very
beginning of you know what'snoise in your every day, and he
there's kind of a success rulethat says you should concentrate
only 20% a day on the noise and80% of the day on everything
(06:10):
else.
Elon Musk does 100% oneverything else.
He is very, very good at justlaser focusing on what needs to
be done and only what needs tobe done.
You know not the average personcan do that.
But you know, as new businessowners or even if you've been in
business for a while but yourun a small team, there are
(06:31):
always fires, there are alwaysthings that are being thrown at
you on a day to day basis.
So it's really trying to figureout, okay, what is the biggest
thing that I have to accomplishtoday, or what is the biggest
problem I have to solve today,and is this noise, or is this
actually something that I haveto put out the fire with or
(06:55):
something that's going to movethe needle on my goal?
And it's a good exercise to do.
Before you jump into anything,before you start problem solving
, before you send that email,before you start problem solving
, before you send that email,before you start writing the
proposal, just ask the questionis this the biggest fire I have
to put out today, or is thissomething that is actually going
(07:15):
to move the needle a littletiny percent it doesn't have to
be big towards what my big goalis, and if you say yes to one of
the two, then go ahead.
That should be something thatyou should concentrate on.
If it's not, then it could bedelegated, it could be put to
you know, it could wait, itcould be forgotten about
sometimes, depending on what itis.
(07:37):
So those are good questions toask.
Julie (07:40):
Yeah, and I think even just, you know, popped into my
head as you were talking there,like the idea of what are all
the little things that are on myto-do list that you know I
don't actually need to do.
They need to be done, but youknow, and and and then you've
got the stuff where, like weekto week, you're just rewriting
it on a new list, right and sooh yeah, some of that is stuff
(08:03):
that someone could easily handle.
Some of of it, though, is theimportant work that you're not
quite moving your project alongbecause you're caught in all of
those little details.
Tarra (08:13):
Yeah, I always say that to-do lists beat us up as human
beings because they're justsomething that you just keep
getting longer and longer andlonger.
Or you know, you write yourlist for the day and then you go
out into the world thinking orstay at home, then do your work
and into your office and thinkI'm going to get these three
(08:35):
things done and then it neverhappens.
And then you feel horrible.
You feel like you're, you know,useless, that you're not good
enough, that like I can't builda business, I can't even do
these three things on my list.
So I love taking things out ofmy brain and putting them down
on paper or in a virtualdocument or something and kind
(08:59):
of creating a list that way.
But creating a list that runsmy day is something that I don't
recommend, because you'realways going to feel like a
failure after you're never goingto get everything on that list
done.
Julie (09:13):
Yeah, yeah, no, it's true , and I've started having like
there's a big list, but on adaily basis I'm like these are
the three most important thingsI need to get through today and
if I do more than three of them,I got a big list I can go look
at.
But I'm not like these are thethree most important things I
need to get through today and ifI can do more than three of
them, I got a big list I can golook at, but I'm not like it's
not that constant, Like bleh.
Tarra (09:32):
Yeah, I'm a big believer in putting that list on your
calendar, so instead, so thenyou know exactly when you are
going to do these three reallyimportant things and if you have
time for it.
Maybe you work a nine to fivejob and have a side hustle and
have a family, or you know, allof us are dealing with a lot of
(09:55):
things that also get put on ourcalendar.
So if our calendar is full andthen we have this sticky note of
these three things that we wantto do and then we have this
sticky note of these threethings that we want to do, it's
hard to get those three thingsinto the calendar and when we're
actually going to have time todo it.
So I love scheduling it in.
Now, a lot of times you'reeither going to book too much
(10:18):
time for the task or not enoughtime and it's going to feel a
little frustrating trying to fitit in.
Oh, I can never fit these tasksin, but that's something that's
habit that you can build overtime and practice of.
Okay, these things take me halfan hour or three days or
whatever it is.
Julie (10:38):
o the idea that maybe the task you're trying to
accomplish is actually in threeparts, and so you should break
it into the three parts andschedule the time.
Tarra (10:48):
Exactly and have any of us always like, put off I know I
do this all the time put offprojects that I don't like.
So a lot of times it's likereconciling my books or
bookkeeping, because I thinkthat it's going to take
thousands of hours to do and Iput it off, put it off, put it
off and then finally I sit downto do it and it takes 20 minutes
(11:10):
and I'm like why did I put thisoff for so long and block a
whole Saturday in my calendar todo it?
It happens to me all the time.
Julie (11:21):
I'll trick my brain with those.
Sometimes I'm like, well, I'mputting it off, I'm going to set
the timer for 30 minutes, I'mgoing to close all my apps and
put my phone back there and I'mjust going to work on it for 30
minutes and like it's amazinghow, when sometimes, when you do
that, all of a sudden it's done, it's just gone off the list
right.
Tarra (11:41):
It's the trick of if you have company coming over and you
have to clean your housesometime.
You can clean your house in 20minutes, but you normally it
takes like an entire day.
It's the same thing.
Julie (11:53):
Yeah, yeah.
So when you started out and youwere working with these really
high profile people, how didthat kind of I mean dropping
into someone's life who isalready accustomed to handing
everything off?
What was that like, and how didit open your eyes to how they
(12:15):
lived versus how, like the restof us, kind of manage our own
lives?
Tarra (12:20):
Yeah, it really opened my eyes to how I was always very
fascinated, from the moment Istarted in that career and path
in life, of you know, why thesepeople?
Why are these people the onesup on stage bringing in hundreds
of thousands of people a nightor making the really, really big
(12:41):
movies or whatever they'rebuilding these big businesses?
Why them?
Is there like this lottery oflife?
Have they just fallen into thislike really lucky time or got
this big break somehow?
And I was always curious of,like, why them and not me?
And so I was like a sponge fromday one of figuring out what
(13:02):
they were doing in their day today to be successful.
And I always thought and Ithink what a lot of people think
is it's like what is theirmorning routine?
Can I copy their morningroutine to be successful?
And then I realized, well, theyall have different morning
routines.
Some get up at 5am, some get upat 1pm.
Some, you know, run a marathonbefore they work, some smoke a
(13:25):
cigar and drink a bottle of JackDaniels, like it depends on who
you are.
So I always kind of thought,well, that's not something that
I can actually copy.
And then I started realizingthat it was three things.
It was one what we talked aboutfocus.
They had a goal and theyunderstood what their goal was
(13:50):
all the time and they alwaysknew what they were driving for.
It wasn't anything wishy washy,it was.
You know, I want to write thebest song and go to number one.
I want to sell out this arenafor the very first time.
I want to win an Oscar.
Whatever it was, they had biggoals and whatever they did in
(14:12):
their day to day, they weredriving towards that and I think
that delegation is like otherthings we were talking about, is
a habit.
So they've gotten to the pointwhere they don't even have to
think can you go do my drycleaning?
Can you do this?
They're not embarrassed by it,they're not ashamed that they're
(14:35):
asking for it.
They just something that theyhave done to build the success
and that they just keep doing it.
And people around them.
If you have good people aroundyou, they want to help.
They want to do the things thatyou are asking so you can go
and do whatever you know.
I wanted to help.
(14:56):
I wanted to do all those littlethings.
I didn't want to sing on thisstage.
I was more than happy to go getcoffee or whatever it was.
So, taking that shame away andreally understanding where, or
embarrassment, and reallyunderstanding focus.
And then the other thing Ilearned was they never multitask
(15:18):
.
They always are focused on onegoal and one goal only.
It's not okay I'll write a bookand I'll start a podcast and
I'll start then my coachingfunnel and then maybe I'll make
some candles, and then all byDecember 31st or December 1st
(15:39):
it's like no, they are.
You know, training for amarathon, or you know rehearsing
for this world tour.
It's one big goal and that isit.
And then all the other thingscan come in after once you're
successful at one.
So really understanding againthat focus in what you are
actually driving towards
Julie (16:03):
Yeah, I think that's a really great point because I
think so many of us areoperating with so many lanes
open and so many big rocks.
We're trying to push up thehill and then you know, you see
people get frustrated becausethey're not making enough
progress in any one place.
Tarra (16:20):
Yeah, it's true, and it's about efficiency too.
So some of us have probablyheard that you know to go fast.
You actually go slow, so youslow it down and kind of think
if you're running towards thingsso quickly, you're not actually
you know the tortoise and thehare story You're not actually
going to win the race.
Same with efficiency If you'retrying to do everything, you're
(16:44):
not going to be able to geteverything done.
Efficiency is actually aboutfocusing on what you can get
done and getting rid ofeverything else.
And I talk to a lot of peoplewho say you know, I'm just
starting out.
I'm a single mom.
I have no money, I'm barelymaking ends meet.
How am I supposed to delegateanything?
(17:04):
And I always say there's alwaysa way you can trade services.
You can ask a neighbor if youcan maybe look after their child
for one day while they work,and then they can look after
your child.
Whatever it is, there's alwaysways to be creative.
It doesn't have to be spend $50or $10 or $1,000 to get
(17:27):
something off your plate.
Julie (17:30):
Yeah, yes, and it's so interesting because I think you
know, as somebody who has somehelp in the role I occupy right
now, every now, and then she'slike Julie, I need you to give
this to me.
Yes, oh, okay, you know, like,but then you realize like you're
the barrier actually to hergetting her job done Right, and
(17:51):
so those little nudges are great, but it is that like, um, you
need that person who has thatamount of proactivity too.
I think, as you're learningabout delegating and as you're
learning about how to justunload things, because you know
they need to be able to come inand say, you know very gently of
(18:12):
course, that you know, hey, letme do that for you,
Tarra (18:15):
yeah it's kind of a catch-22, because sometimes you
don't want to spend or you don'thave a lot of money to spend on
that proactive partner that canactually help you.
But delegation is a habit.
You don't run on a treadmilland think that after an hour
you're going to lose 20 pounds.
(18:36):
It would be nice, I would lovethat, but it doesn't happen.
Same with delegating you can'tdelegate one task and now think
that you're a master of beingable to focus on the one thing.
So if you have to hire, youknow free labor or you know
inexpensive help while you'refirst kind of learning to at.
I let go of this CRMspreadsheet project and I
(19:08):
actually got this big funnel,you know, laid out by myself,
that I've never had time for, orI had create a creative moment
all of a sudden, because Iwasn't thinking about my taxes,
because I let that go.
So then you can actually go.
Okay, well, that funnel or thatcreative moment actually made
(19:29):
me 100 extra dollars.
So now I'm going to take thatand invest it in a more
proactive partner.
That's obviously an extremeexample, but hopefully you
understand what I'm talkingabout there.
Julie (19:40):
Yeah, yeah.
And so how did you?
I mean I, I think the likequestion I mean the rock and
roll life managing these likereally high powered people is
like a life.
Lots of people are like wowabout how did you get into that
business?
What was it that led you downthe path to working for some of
these famous names that we allknow?
Tarra (20:04):
Well, I have to say it was maybe, I don't know, a
stupid decision, but maybe not.
It was definitely not a plannedout path of mine.
I actually, in high school, was, you know, hanging out with
some local, not famous at all,you know garage bands and
(20:25):
musicians, and that was kind ofmy thing.
And then all of a sudden I gotasked if I would jump on a tour
bus.
It wasn't even really a tourbus, it was like a dirty van
going across Canada and help andhelp was literally laundry,
sweeping the stage like like notvery glamorous work at all.
(20:47):
And so I did it.
I, you know, dropped out of highschool and I jumped on this van
and my mother wanted to kill meand and it was before cell
phones too.
So here I was in this randomvan going across Canada.
But again, I don't reallyencourage that for people.
(21:09):
But the one thing that I wasdoing is I was following a
passion and I was following adream that I always had, and my
dream was I wanted to be somesort of rock star, but I didn't
have any musical talent at all.
I still don't, and I love music, I appreciate music, but I
cannot make music happen the waythat I can make it happen is by
(21:32):
supporting the people who can,and so I was actually following
my dream and focusing on thatone dream, not even knowing that
that's what I was going to takeaway from the people that I was
actually working with.
Julie (21:48):
Yep, and so then you went from sweeping stages and kind
of looking around at seeingwhatever needed to be done and
doing it to, I assume, workingwith bigger and bigger names.
Tarra (22:00):
Yeah, the kind of entertainment industry like the
film industry.
It's a small industry, so youcan build a name for yourself
pretty quickly If you enjoy whatyou're doing and bring
something and bring likepositivity to the table.
There's a lot of people whowant to use it as a stepping
stone or you know and aren'tactually enjoying what they're
(22:24):
doing on a day to day basis andthat brings everyone else down.
So, because I absolutely loveddoing what I was doing, I wanted
to help people, I wanted tojust do whatever I could to make
their days happier and easier,and so that is how I could build
a name for myself and then getasked to do bigger and bigger
(22:45):
and bigger tours.
Julie (22:47):
And what made you decide to leave and start this business
.
Tarra (22:52):
So I had a big aha moment when I was actually in Shanghai
.
So I was on a world tour with amassive rock and roll band,
with a massive rock and rollband, and one of the crazy
requests that this rock staralways asked for was that he
wanted his toothbrush to besanitized every time it came out
(23:15):
of the suitcase.
So every time we stayed in anew hotel, which was almost
every night or every other nightI had to sanitize his
toothbrush in the hoteldishwasher.
So a lot of people ask me why.
I don't know, I didn't ask.
I don't ask rock stars why.
A lot of people ask me whydon't you just buy a new
(23:35):
toothbrush?
I don't know.
Again, I didn't ask and peoplealways ask me did you do it?
And you didn't just run itunder hot water?
And I would say, yeah, actuallyI did.
I don't know why I did, but Idid.
So a lot of the hotels wouldknow, because we'd stayed there
before, that you know.
Here comes this crazy lady withthe toothbrush.
But a lot of times we'd be innew hotels or new cities and we
(23:59):
haven't stayed there before.
And then this one time, inShanghai, it was a brand new
hotel, luxury hotel.
We were staying, you know, inthe presidential suite and there
I was in the back of thekitchen trying to convince these
people that I had to put thistoothbrush in their dishwasher,
and they didn't speak English Idon't speak their language and I
(24:21):
was trying to like makegestures, and again it was kind
of before cell phones.
Could you know Google voicetranslate what I was trying to,
like make gestures?
And again it was kind of beforecell phones.
Could you know Google voicetranslate what I was saying?
So I was trying to make thesegestures of you know how to put
this toothbrush in thedishwasher, and they were
looking at me like I had threeheads and I remember standing
there thinking there's got to bemore to life than this.
(24:43):
And that's when I had this bigaha moment that I love helping
people.
I want to help people, but Ijust want to help more than one
crazy rock star at a time.
So I ended the tour.
I finished the tour, came offthe road and decided I'm just
going to open up my own business, no idea what I was doing.
(25:04):
I was a dirty roadie, I no idea, I didn't even really know what
business was, I didn't evenknow what I wanted to do, but
ended up opening up a personalconcierge and lifestyle
management business which isstill running um to manage the
lives of high net worth and highprofile people, because that's
what I was used to.
And then through that, Istarted becoming friends with
(25:29):
entrepreneurs and other peoplewho were building businesses,
because I craved that connection, because I hadn't built a
business, I didn't know what Iwas doing and I wanted that
community.
And I started to realize thatthey were struggling to get over
this kind of hump of successbecause they didn't have that
strategic support behind them.
(25:50):
So I started helping them justas a friend.
And then it grew into what Takeit Easy is today, which is the
fractional executive, assistantsand chief of staff.
Julie (26:01):
Yeah, and I think it's really interesting too, because
that entrepreneurial journey ishard.
(26:23):
Like you do, you start offdoing everything and I always
you know kind that team aspectof how you can leverage yourself
so quickly by having two peoplekind of in your orbit.
Right, you have yourself, youhave your EA or your chief of
staff and it just allows you tolever up really quickly.
Tarra (26:53):
Yeah, it really does.
I always say that delegation orassistance is not a luxury.
People always think that it'ssomething you know, something
I'll have when I'm rich orsomething I'll have when I'm
successful.
That's what you know successfulpeople have.
But it's not.
It's it's the actual thing thathelps you get to that point of
success and be able to have abigger team and outsource more
and more and more.
Julie (27:13):
Yeah, yeah, and you think about, like, as your business
grows and you get busier, youspend a lot of time in your
meetings, right, and you get alot of email and a lot of
requests for things and a lot oflike all of those pieces where
you know you've got somebodysaying there's three important
emails I really need you to lookat today, like someone who's
(27:34):
already pre-scanned that,somebody who's, you know, making
sure that you get out of thatmeeting and on to the next one,
and like all of those little youknow, someone who makes sure
that you eat lunch, like, quitehonestly, because, like there is
just that, that piece of likehow they become this really big
gatekeeper for you as well interms of protecting your time
(27:57):
and protecting, you know, the,the precious resource.
Tarra (28:02):
Yeah, and there are a lot of AI tools now that will scan
your inbox and, you know, briefyou on important tasks and
things that you're missing.
They can help you create aschedule where you do have lunch
.
They can even send out areminder on your computer or
phone that says go eat lunch now.
(28:28):
But there's something and Ilove I leverage AI tools all the
time but there is somethingabout having that extra person
that you can bounce ideas off of.
You can ask is this act?
I'm telling AI that this isimportant and has to be done,
but actually is it for ourbusiness goals?
So somebody that you can kindof question and just, yeah,
having that like human interstrategic interaction is really
(28:52):
helpful.
Especially if you're a lonebusiness person or if you're a
business person with like a lotof contractors that you're
trying to manage yourself, it'sreally helpful to have somebody
on your team who you know hasthat same vision as you and can
help you move that forward aswell
Julie (29:10):
Yeah, and when you think about, like the, the role of,
like an executive assistantversus a chief of staff, where
do you see those kind ofdifferences in what people need
and how the roles function?
Tarra (29:23):
yeah, yeah.
So executive assistants I thinkof as definitely more
administration, heavyadministration, but with a
strategic edge.
So obviously calendarmanagement, inbox management,
project management, helping pushtasks forward, you know kind of
light team alignment.
(29:45):
So you know these are theprojects of the whole
organization.
Who's kind of putting what youknow across the finish line and
how can I help with anything?
You know meeting notes or, yes,ai does that, but like
generating it and putting out tothe team and you know different
things like that.
That's what I would say a goodstrategic executive assistant
(30:08):
does.
A chief of staff in my opinionand there are so many
definitions of chief of staffand it depends on what you need
for your business is more of alight COO.
So they're ones who have a moreoperational mind, a more
project management mind, canreally align teams, can be that
(30:33):
executive presence for you.
If you can't sit in a meetingbecause you're double booked,
the chief of staff can sit inthat meeting for you and
actually know what you would sayand be able to communicate it
in a way that you would havedone if you were on the meeting.
So that very like seniorleadership.
They also in my world becauseit's very much of an assistant
(30:58):
world.
Our chief of staff also doadministrative tasks as well,
but they're definitely moresenior leaders.
Julie (31:11):
Yeah, yeah, and I think that's a really good distinction
right, where they can be thevoice of the leader, the person
they're working for, andrepresent them, as opposed to
the more you know strategicadmin side.
Tarra (31:22):
Yeah, I totally agree.
Julie (31:23):
Good distinction in the pulling apart of those two roles
.
Tarra (31:28):
I totally agree.
Julie (31:29):
When do you find people come to you?
Is there a?
Is there an?
Overwrought, overworked, likewhat's that crossroads look like
?
Tarra (31:37):
Yeah, it's usually when the founder CEO realizes that
they are the roadblock to thebusiness becoming a success, or
somebody on their team comes tous and says hey, the founder,
the CEO, is a roadblock to oursuccess and we can't get what we
need done because it's sittingin their inbox or on their to do
(32:01):
list or on their plate.
So it's really that, like,people have big goals and they
know that the business can getto the next level and they just
need that extra support to getto the next level.
Julie (32:16):
Yeah, no, I think that makes a lot of sense.
Interesting that sometimes it'steam members that come and want
to hire someone for their boss.
Tarra (32:24):
Yep, we have COOs and HR people coming to us all the time
saying, okay, enough's enough,we can't do this anymore.
Julie (32:36):
That is a really great employee, somebody who will do
that for the CEO.
Tarra (32:41):
It's true, it's a good employee and it's a good CEO
kind of boss leader relationship, allowing them to go do that
and bring understanding that.
Okay, I am the road block, I amaffecting the team.
Okay, let's go do this.
Julie (32:57):
Yep, and so what's next for you now, like you're, you're
building a team, you'resupporting many, many, many
businesses now, and I mean,what's what's on the path for
you?
Tarra (33:09):
Yeah, I'm really excited to launch a coaching, kind of
educational I don't really wantto call it coaching more
educational modules so I canreally help entrepreneurs and
founders who are really wantingto understand the power of
(33:32):
delegation and how that can helpthem get to the next level of
success.
Sometimes our prices are alittle too high for barrier of
entry and I really want to helpas many people as I possibly can
build that successful business.
I always say I'm probably notgoing to cure cancer.
Oh, I know I'm not going tocure cancer, but if I can help a
(33:55):
business or a founder that can.
I absolutely love that and Iwant to help more and more of
those founders.
Julie (34:02):
Yeah well, and I think that's really interesting
Because, yes, for the personwho's sitting here thinking, you
know that all sounds great, butI can't afford it's that.
You know how do you positionyourself in the right way by
some of the bartering or thethings we talked about earlier,
but how do you position yourselfto be ready and know that when
(34:22):
the day comes, you're going tobe in that position where you
understand how to get the mostout of that relationship?
Tarra (34:30):
It's true, and also I see a lot just because I'm in like
the fractional, service basedworld.
I talk to a lot of otherfractional and service based
leaders and coaches and I alwayshear the same thing and they do
really really well at thebeginning because it's all
referrals and word of mouth.
A lot of people leave their bigcorporate jobs with you know,
(34:52):
big networks and they have awonderful first year, but then
the clients start falling offthere and they haven't actually
started building a pipeline or amarketing strategy or really
anything, because they've justbeen busy servicing their
clients, which is absolutelynecessary.
(35:14):
And yes, referrals will happen,but using referrals as your
main lead generation source,it's going to dry up at some
point or you're not going to beable to build in scale to a
level that maybe you want to.
If you just want one or twoclients at a time, then fine,
absolutely.
So really allowing people andteaching people how to actually
(35:39):
think about all these importantaspects of the business and also
successfully service thebusiness or your clients at the
same time being a small team ofone or two people.
Julie (35:54):
Yeah, I think that's great advice for people to think
about as they navigate thebusiness development delivery.
Business development deliveryyou know roller coaster that
happens.
I think that's really great.
Tarra (36:09):
Yeah, because how many of us have been, you know, so busy
we haven't thought aboutbusiness development.
Then we lose that big client,or we lose two of them, and then
we panic and then it takes sixmonths to actually get another
client because you have to buildup the momentum again.
Julie (36:27):
And then you have the client.
You stop business developing.
Yeah, it's those, those cyclesthat that you very clearly see
people getting into.
Yeah, absolutely Well, I'm veryglad that businesses like yours
exist and I think you can makea real difference for
entrepreneurs, and I hope thatthis was helpful for the
listeners to think about how toget better at delegating.
Tarra (36:52):
Yes, I hope so too, and thank you again for having me.
Yeah.
Julie (36:56):
Thanks so much.
Take care.
I hope you too, and thank youagain for having me.
Yeah, thanks so much.
Take care.
I hope you enjoyed today's 8episode.
Please remember to hitsubscribe on your favorite
podcast platform so you won'tmiss any episodes.
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It's a way of seeing the big,gorgeous Gorgeous women
entrepreneurs coming to life.
If you're interested inlearning more, you can find my
(37:18):
book Big, www.
julieellis.
ca Goals on Amazon, anywhere youmight live.
For more about my growth andleadership training programs,
visit wwwjulieellisca to see howwe might work together.
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