Executive PA media talks to Carla Mutis, Personal Assistant at Deloitte in Melbourne.
Tell me a little bit more about Carla
I trained as a chef, play netball and basketball, and I’m very involved in the community. I volunteer at my church (Faith Church in Dandenong North) and the Red Frogs Australia. I’m also a group leader for a faith-based group at Deloitte and host Alpha Australia for youths and adults in Melbourne. My studies at Alphacrucis College also keep me busy. I’m really passionate about helping. I really enjoy seeing other people smile and achieve their goals. I love helping others feel relieved and grateful or just at peace with the weight taken off their shoulders, knowing that you made their day easier. I love helping and supporting as best as I can.
How did you become an EA?
I kind of fell into it, and I’ve worked my way up over the years. I left the hospitality industry in 2018 and got my foot in the corporate world as a client services officer for the ATO during the Covid lockdown. We were flooded with all these new enquiries, helping businesses that were not able to operate and individuals who did not have an income – it was full-on. I enjoyed supporting the team and managing how we were going to manoeuvre. It was also around the time when MyGov was just implemented – we helped people use it, especially seniors.
After that, I worked as a secretary/receptionist at ServCorp at their 101 Collins Street office here in Melbourne. I also gained experience as an administrative assistant and office manager at Johnstaff, a construction development company. I started at Deloitte in April last year. It’s been great!
Tell me a little bit about your role at Deloitte
Every day is different. I support four partners, each with unique needs, and I manage their diaries and travel requirements and help them thrive in their roles. Because the partners have a number of commitments every day and are often in back-to-back meetings, I focus on helping them to prioritise their commitments. I’m also involved in many groups, including social, private, client and faith-based events, so I have to manage my time appropriately. I try to plan my day as best I can while remaining flexible enough to take on additional ad-hoc or urgent tasks from time to time. I’m grateful that I know how to organise my time and prioritise what is best suited to the overall success of the partners, the team and myself professionally.
What do you enjoy most about your job, and what are the major challenges that you experience?
My favourite thing to do is tick things off my list. It doesn’t matter what it is, if my list is being ticked off, it’s an achievement where I know I’m getting things done, not just for myself, but for those relying on me as well. If their lists are getting shorter, great!
A challenge would probably be being in the middle of busy people with competing schedules and trying to make it all work. But I also know how important the support we provide is to the work the partners do.
I also try to focus on building relationships outside of the partnership. The challenge for an EA, as with any role in the workplace, would be building those relationships with your direct manager and their wider team.
You work for multiple managers; how do you prioritise their competing demands?
I’m very fortunate that they are very different and equally amazing, so learning what works best for each of them balances out my time perfectly.
What skills or traits do you think are essential for thriving as an Executive Assistant?
Communication is absolutely key. Not just face-to-face communication, but also phone calls, texts or emails – keep it high-level, direct and make it clear. If you just need a yes or no answer from someone, and you send them 100 sentences, it will confuse people. I think a lot and want to give all the information to make decision-making easier, but it’s not always needed. You need to funnel it down and just keep it really clear and concise. Knowing who you are communicating with is also very important as everyone has different perspectives.
How do you find a work-life balance between your work and your personal life?
I’m very grateful that Deloitte has a wonderful, flexible, and respectful policy. Whether you’re a parent, student or athlete, they understand that for you to succeed in your role and to support your colleagues, coaches and team successfully, you must also have a healthy, successful and balanced personal life. They respect that we’re human beings, not robots, which is great. If you’re studying, they encourage you to complete your studies to the best of your ability. You have to organise yourself too – it’s not just all ‘them’. You also have to take it upon yourself to plan, prepare and follow through with your personal commitments.
Balance is also about setting your own boundaries. Whether it’s urgent or not, you have to figure that out on your own – what’s more important to you? For me, my family comes first, followed by my job, church, the community and then everything else funnels down from there like social events, sport and catch-ups. Travel plays a large role in my life as it helps me switch off, rest and refresh for everything I am committed to throughout the year.
What are your go-to tools or software for managing tasks, schedules or communication at work?
Because I often work remotely, I don’t always have access to a scanner. I’ve been using (since Covid lockdown) this PDF mobile scan app on my phone – it’s amazing! You can either scan everything as a JPG or PDF, and it’ll export it as either. It saves everything you’ve ever scanned in that app, so I can go back to 2021 and see the date and what I scanned then. It’s safe and secure, and you can just scan wherever you are- you don’t have to keep all those receipts. It is super underrated!
What is your favourite productivity hack or organisational method that you swear by?
I’m so grateful that Outlook has this functionality where you can flag things, for instance today, tomorrow, next week or customise the date and set reminders. If it weren’t for that, then there would be so many things that I would lose track of! I’m not sure how EAs did it back in the day!
Any career highlights that you can mention that are top of mind
I recently helped coordinate the ‘Meet and Greet’ moments when American Football star Tom Brady was in Melbourne. Efficiency was important because 300 people, over two sessions, have paid $1000+ a ticket to get their photo taken with him, but you only have 45 minutes to get it done. I think you need an efficient mindset to pull something off as successfully as the team did. We understand the urgency of getting things done. It makes those around us look great, and fortunately, us as well.
What did you want to do when growing up?
I never thought about this until two weeks ago, when I was talking to a friend. I remember watching a movie and one of the characters was wearing heels and dresses and running around the city getting things done. I always thought ‘I’d love to do that one day’! I never knew what the role would be, but I always knew that it would be something that I’d like to do. Now, here I am!
What surprised you the most about the role of an Executive Assistant?
What’s surprised me is that it’s not for everyone. It is a high-pressure environment, so I’m very glad to be coming from a hospitality background, where pressure is your best friend. Otherwise, sooner or later, you crumble. I have been able to adapt those skills to my corporate role. I have a thick skin but I also have a gentle attitude which is important because of the different personalities you deal with.
How do you navigate situations where confidentiality or discretion is critical?
I don’t know if it’s because of my faith, which certainly helps. I think when you’ve been on the other side of someone telling your secret, and you know how much it hurts – whether it’s work-related or personal, you would never wish that upon anyone else. I’m a good promise-keeper and a good secret-keeper! Everyone is different, but I feel sick when I hear gossip, and it’s easy to shut it down. I think growing up in a Latino household helped! You tell your mom something in confidence, and the next moment, the whole family knows! I think that shaped me to have natural privacy settings, ha!
What trends or changes in the corporate world will impact the role of EAs in future?
I don’t think the Executive Assistant role will be affected because even with AI, you still need someone with feet on the ground to fulfil that role.
If you could have lunch with any executive or historical figure, who would that be and why?
I had a discussion with a friend recently, and we wondered if we could be an EA to anyone in the world, who it would be. For me, it would be Georgina, who is Christiano Ronaldo’s wife or Toto Wolff, CEO of Mercedes in Formula One, and not forgetting Mark Bouris of The Apprentice! Honestly, if I could be God’s EA – that too!
What is the one thing most people don’t realise about the role of an EA?
We really, really care more than you’ll ever think or know. We have hearts that care too much sometimes! If you’re an EA and don’t like helping, you’re in the wrong industry.
Deloitte Australia is part of the largest professional services network by revenue and number of employees globally and is one of the Big Four accounting firms with a team of over 13,000 in Australia (deloitte.com/au)
Also read: EA Profile: Gabrielle Edwards | Executive PA Media