Yvette Simpson has spent three decades in the EA seat; the last several building a business around never doing it for just one executive at a time. She tells Executive PA about the mental switching that comes with juggling a portfolio of clients, knowing when one has ‘graduated’ from part-time support, and what still needs to come from her, not AI.
- Tell us about your career path. What brought you to this role?
I started as a junior receptionist and group secretary at Colonial First State in the late 90s. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, so took the first job that paid well and put me in the city where the action was. I was promoted to PA about a year later and things naturally progressed from there.
I didn’t realise it but I’d already subconsciously chosen my career path. At school I was always the one organising things; the group trip to the movies, who was going in what car and the finer details of a party.
Thirty years later, I’m the founder of The Y Principle, a fractional executive support business, where a team of senior EAs support founders, executives and board members on a casual and part-time basis.
- What does a typical week look like for you?
There’s really no such thing. I have a portfolio of clients rather than working for one company or one leadership team. One day I might be preparing papers for a board meeting, managing an executive’s diary and working on an operational project for another client, then switching hats completely to work on my own business.
It’s a constant juggling act and there’s a lot of mental switching involved. I can move between completely different businesses in a day. And I need to understand the people, priorities and context of each one.
- What does your executive lean on you for most?
I work with multiple clients and they lean on me for different things, from traditional EA support and systems to operational support and board administration.
The common thread is judgement and trust. Because I only have a fraction of the time with each client, I need to understand their business and working style quickly – and anticipate what’s coming and know when to step in.
Often it’s also about being a sounding board. As an EA you see and hear a lot across a business. Sometimes an executive just needs someone who can read the room and say, “Have you thought about this?” That trust is probably what they lean on me for most.
- How has AI changed how you work and what do you still insist on doing yourself?
It’s changed the way I work dramatically, helping me work faster and smarter, freeing up more time to support clients in a deeper, more strategic way.
For me, though, the need to be authentic and original is important. Clients invest in my work for the judgement, experience and knowledge behind it. When something needs my voice or creativity, I still want the starting point to come from me.
I use AI for research, sense-checking my own work and generating ideas for streamlining processes. Often I don’t use all its suggestions because they don’t sound like me. AI is a great tool, but I still want the finished product to feel like it came from a person.
- What’s the hardest part of the role that rarely gets talked about?
The hardest part of being a business owner is that the work never really stops; a bit like being a parent.
People assume owning a fractional support business means working flexibly most of the time. It’s flexible for the client, but not always for me. If I’m not working on client tasks, I’m running my own business – marketing, sales, finance, team management.
- Have you ever had to push back on your executive? How did you handle it?
Yes, occasionally. An executive may reach a point where they want more time and support than you can realistically provide within the fraction allocated.
The important part is being honest about that early. Good support isn’t about saying yes to everything. Sometimes it means recognising that what the business needs has changed and having that conversation.
It’s often bittersweet, because for most clients it means their business has ‘graduated’ from needing a small amount of support to needing someone full-time. When that happens, we help set the foundations for the full-time EA then it’s time to find a new fractional client.
- What’s changed most about the role since you started out?
In the late 90s, it was very much an assisting role, often quite personal, reactive to your executive and your surroundings. You were often seen as a stop gap or a fixer.
I still do some traditional tasks but these days the role is much more proactive and strategic. It’s about making time to look at the bigger picture and asking how you can add value. Every business has a strategy, and as an EA you need to understand it and work out where you fit.
For every EA that will look different – project managing a strategic pillar, working with HR on culture, testing new ways of working with IT. For most of us, all of the above.
- What do you know now that you wish you’d known earlier?
That burnout is a real thing. As EAs, we naturally put others before ourselves and it took me a long time to learn that being constantly available didn’t necessarily make me better at my job.
You can’t help others if you don’t look after yourself first. Set boundaries around when you’ll work and what you realistically have capacity for. And review those boundaries regularly. Performance review time is always a good prompt.
There will be occasions when you need to work outside those boundaries but that should be the exception, not the norm. Mistakes happen when you’re not at your best and when you’re working at the management level of a business, the stakes can be high.
- What are you working on or thinking about professionally right now?
I’m really interested in where the EA profession goes next. AI is changing how we work, but we shouldn’t lose sight of the human element.
I’m also enjoying sharing what 30 years as an EA has taught me with the broader industry. Networking and sharing knowledge are two of our greatest strengths as EAs. There’s so much we can learn.
- What’s your advice to an EA reader who wants to operate at a more senior level?
Understand the business, not just your executive. Know what it’s trying to achieve, where the pressure points are and what matters to the people making decisions. Then think about where you can add value. Operating at a strategic senior level means asking better questions, anticipating what might be needed next and having the confidence to respectfully offer a different perspective.
And don’t underestimate your knowledge. EAs often have an extraordinary view across an organisation. We just don’t always recognise how valuable that perspective is until we find ourselves in our next role.
