An inspiring dedication to the progression and development of EAs
In 2019 we had the pleasure of speaking with Alison Allende , winner of the Outstanding Contribution award at the 2018 Executive PA awards . Alison is a remarkable EA in New York City who has not only extensive experience and success in the traditional EA role , but also an inspiring dedication to the progression and development of EAs in the United States . Alison is passionate about women ’ s development in the workplace and her efforts to support her fellow EAs has built a legacy for her within the EA profession
Alison studied communications and art at college in New York City and always expected to forge a career in one of those areas . But when she graduated it was during the recession in the United States and job opportunities were slim . Alison decided to move back to Pennsylvania where her parents lived and find a local job . This led Alison to her first role at a small insurance office as an executive assistant and office manager .
“ I came into this a bit randomly but it was meant to be because I really just ended up liking it and I found out that a lot of things you need to be a great executive assistant I feel like it came naturally to me and it was stuff I really enjoyed doing . I just ended up sticking with it ever since .”
After living in Pennsylvania for a year and a half , Alison decided to move back to New York City . The move led her to her next role as an executive assistant at Audax Group for five and half years .
“ Working in finance is very fast-paced and you have to be on top of every little detail . And really it pushed me to be my best every day and to make the role even bigger than what it was . And after doing that for five and half years I still loved it , I thought I really want to take the next big step and take on a new challenge within this kind of role .”
This go-getter attitude then brought Alison to Eze Software , where she was hired to be the executive assistant to the CEO for about three years . Alison now works as the EA to Chief Revenue Officer at Datadog .
Alison wasn ’ t the type to sit back and let the EA role define her . She was hungry to make it her own and prove to management that she could offer extreme value to the company . She wanted to see where she could grow and help the company , which led her to taking on some responsibilities of a department manager as well as executive assistant .
“ I started working on our presentations more , and that led to being our presentation manager . I just constantly tried to see everything that was expected of me and I wanted to do a really great job at that and then I wanted to see how I could do things better or push myself even more . I think it ’ s really benefitted me because it ’ s constant growth that I ’ m pushing for .”
During her time at Eze Software , Alison was also the Chief of Staff and Vice President of Eze ’ s Women ’ s Network . The women ’ s network was founded by a senior sales executive
22 Chief of Staff | Issue 1 2021