Keynotes
- Celebrity assistants must be prepared to work around the clock, often putting in 16-hour days and remaining on call at all times.
- The job requires exceptional multitasking skills and the ability to handle a wide variety of tasks at a moment’s notice.
- The role often blurs the line between personal and professional life. Assistants may find themselves deeply involved in their employer’s daily life, acting as confidants, problem-solvers, and even stand-ins for certain tasks. This can make maintaining a personal life challenging.
The life of a celebrity assistant is often imagined as a glamorous whirlwind of red-carpet events, rubbing elbows with the rich and famous and living vicariously through the exciting lives of A-list stars.
While there’s certainly an element of excitement to the job, the reality is far more complex, demanding, and sometimes unglamorous.
Let’s pull back the curtain and explore what it’s really like to be a celebrity assistant in today’s fast-paced entertainment industry.
The 24/7 Job
For a celebrity assistant, there’s no such thing as a typical 9-to-5 workday.
The job is essentially a 24/7 commitment, with workdays often stretching up to 16 hours.
Brian Daniel, a former celebrity assistant and now head hunter for The Celebrity Personal Assistant Network, explains,
“Your phone will always ring, and when you are working for celebrities, billionaires, or a royal family, their reach extends worldwide.”
Via Independent
The Early Bird Catches the Worm (and the Oven)
A day in the life of a celebrity assistant might start as early as 5:20 AM, not because of a set alarm, but because the celebrity employer is calling with an urgent “request.”
It could be something as simple as checking if they left the oven on at their main residence while they were staying at their beach house.
The assistant must always be ready to spring into action, regardless of the hour or the nature of the request.
Multitasking Maestro
Once the day officially begins, an assistant’s tasks can range from the mundane to the extraordinary.
They might find themselves sorting through fan mail, helping their employer choose an outfit for the day, running lines for an upcoming role, or coordinating with stylists, hairdressers, and makeup artists for an award show appearance.
The job requires an extraordinary level of multitasking.
As Erica First, assistant to actress Debra Messing, puts it,
“Each day begins with the emails that have come in and as I start answering them, naturally there are interruptions or other tasks that come up, so multitasking is really important.”
Errand Runner Extraordinaire
A significant part of an assistant’s day involves running errands.
This could mean anything from picking up dry cleaning and fetching breakfast (and potentially returning it if it’s not exactly right) to more unusual tasks.
Some assistants report having to fly in specific coffee from across the country or spending thousands of dollars to have a restaurant reopen after hours just so their employer can have a particular burger.
Problem Solver and Gatekeeper
Celebrity assistants often find themselves in the role of problem solver and gatekeeper.
They’re expected to handle any issue that arises, no matter how unexpected or bizarre.
This could involve finding a way to maintain a specific room temperature and humidity for a Grammy-winning singer or figuring out how to obtain a particular candy from the UK while in the US after all the specialty shops have closed.
As gatekeepers, assistants control access to their celebrity employers.
They screen calls, manage schedules, and often decide which opportunities or requests make it through to the celebrity.
This position can be both empowering and challenging, as it requires making important decisions on behalf of their employer.
The Emotional Labor
Beyond the practical tasks, celebrity assistants often find themselves providing emotional support to their employers.
The job can involve being a confidant, a therapist, and sometimes even a companion.
As one former assistant notes,
“It’s very lonely at the top. If you are famous or a billionaire, everyone ‘loves’ you, but they don’t have a lot of true friends.”
The Challenges
While the job can be exciting, it comes with its share of challenges.
The hours are long and unpredictable, the stress levels can be high, and the boundaries between work and personal life often blur.
Assistants need to have thick skin, as they may encounter demanding behavior or eccentric requests from their employers.
Moreover, assistants often have to sacrifice their own ambitions and personal lives for the job.
They need to be available at all hours, ready to drop everything for their employer’s needs.
This can make maintaining relationships and pursuing personal goals difficult.
The Perks
Despite the challenges, being a celebrity assistant does come with some enviable perks.
These can include traveling to exotic locations, attending exclusive events, meeting other celebrities, and sometimes receiving generous gifts or salaries.
Some assistants have reported receiving significant presents from their employers, including cars and even homes.
The Takeaway
Being a celebrity assistant is not for everyone.
It requires a unique combination of skills, including organization, discretion, problem-solving ability, and emotional intelligence.
While it can be a stepping stone to other careers in the entertainment industry, it’s a demanding job that requires total dedication.
For those who thrive in fast-paced environments and enjoy the challenge of managing the complex lives of high-profile individuals, being a celebrity assistant can be an exciting and rewarding career.
However, it’s crucial to understand that behind the glamorous facade lies a job that demands hard work, sacrifice, and an unwavering commitment to making someone else’s life run smoothly.
In the end, the life of a celebrity assistant is a unique blend of the extraordinary and the mundane, the glamorous and the grueling.
It’s a job that offers a backstage pass to the world of celebrity, but also requires being content with staying behind the scenes.
