We were lucky to catch up with Bonnie Low-Kramen recently and have shared our conversation below.

Bonnie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

In 1986, I took a job working at a small theatre company in Montclair, New Jersey called the Whole Theatre. It was run by a woman in her 50’s named Olympia Dukakis who later won an Oscar for the film Moonstruck. However, in 1986, no one knew Olympia Dukakis’ name except the New York theatre community. There, she had made a name for herself. My title at the theatre was Public Relations Director. I wrote press releases and talked with reviewers and newspaper and television reporters, all to get press coverage for the work we were doing at the theatre. I loved the work and I especially loved being behind the scenes in show business.
Because of my role, Olympia and I had to spend a lot of time together. I needed to get inside her head about her vision for the plays we were producing in order for me to write about them. We got along very well, mainly because I was a strong writer, armed with my degree in Theatre and English from Rutgers University.

Olympia was one of the smartest people I ever met. She was articulate and funny and profane. She gave me my seat at the table and often asked me my opinion on the ways to approach marketing and public relations. Olympia made it safe for me to share my honest thoughts. She expected it and demanded nothing less.

When Olympia was cast to play Cher’s mother “Rose” in Moonstruck, I did not know at the time that this single event would change my life and lots of other people’s lives as well.

Much of the shoot would happen in Toronto, Canada in the spring of 1987. During that month, Olympia needed someone she trusted to be “informational central,” the person who would triage the needs of the other staff at the theatre.

That person was me.

Olympia and I talked by phone once a day, sometimes more. I never knew when the call would come because she needed to contact me on breaks from shooting. It was a high-pressure time but I was having a blast being responsible for all these details and being the point-person for pretty much everyone in Olympia’s life.

That month was the beginning of my work as a Personal Assistant, even though I had no idea at the time that there was a name for what I was doing. In those early months, I would often think, “how can I be as great an assistant as Olympia is an actress?”
I decided to answer that question. I went on the search for books on running offices. I drove to Barnes and Noble and found the “Business and Management” section in a far corner of the store. I found next to nothing about what I was doing running a one-person office out of my employer’s home. I stood in among the books that day and said out loud, “I think I have to write the damned thing myself.”

I wrote “Be the Ultimate Assistant” and Olympia wrote the Foreword. I have sold 15,000 copies since 2004. I went searching for a class to know how to be a great assistant, and again, found very little. I put pen to paper and built curriculum for the workshop called “Be the Ultimate Assistant.”That’s how my company, Ultimate Assistant Training & Consulting, Inc. was born. That’s how it happened. Out of a need. I built a company not because I wanted to be a business owner, but because I was frustrated by the lack of resources for high-level assistants.

I became involved as a founding member of New York Celebrity Assistants (NYCA), a professional networking organization. Through NYCA, I met the prominent New York City recruiter Melba J. Duncan who connected me to my first paid speaking engagement which led to 300 more.

I have now taught and spoken in 13 countries and 38 states. My second book called Staff Matters, came out in February, 2023. Melba J. Duncan wrote the Foreword to the book.

Bonnie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

As a former assistant who had very few resources, I am committed to training the assistants of the world and to providing the resources that will support them to succeed at the very highest levels. The post-pandemic workplace has presented many new challenges that leaders and HR were unprepared to handle. I design training for leaders and assistants together called “Building the Ultimate Partnership.”

The remote and virtual workplace has created fractured and dysfunctional systems in many companies. My work is about bringing order and organization to the chaotic work cultures. Stress and anxiety among the staff are running very high and it is vital to address the issues that will bring down the temperature. I am very proud that I regularly hear from my clients from years ago writing to tell me of their latest success as a result of our work together.

I believe that the 1500 interviews that I conducted for Staff Matters has given me a perspective that others do not have. I see that the status quo is not sustainable and that we have an obligation to fix what is broken in our workplace, not only for ourselves but for our children. I am passionately committed to doing that.

Now I speak at conferences and inside companies, both virtually and in-person. I have trained the teams at British Parliament, Starbucks, and the Wharton School. I am based in Jacksonville, Florida. www.bonnielowkramen.com

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

After 27 years of marriage, I could no longer ignore that I had a serious and unfixable problem. Sheryl Sandberg is right when she says in her book Lean In that the most important career decision a woman makes is the choice of a partner. Getting a divorce was like throwing a grenade into my life that impacted every single person in it. The most important person this decision impacted was my son who was 16 at the time. Looking back, I wish I had had the courage to leave sooner.

Doing this required everyone at my work understanding what was happening. I was not used to sharing so much of my personal situation with the people I worked with. I was a humbling experience that helped me understand that we need other people. We all stand on the shoulders of others.

I wasn’t sure how long the divorce would take or where I was going to move and so many other things. I had to rely on others and trust that it would all be ok if I stayed clear on why I was doing what I was doing.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Sheryl Sandberg’s book Lean In has been an important book as it showed me what it means to be a working woman in the modern workplace. Then I went to hear Sheryl speak and learned even more about negotiating money and the way women are socialized. Her TED talk was another aha moment as she talked about why there are too few women leaders. Sheryl helped me make sense of my world as a working woman and I try to do the same for my students and audiences.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bonnielowkramen.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bonnielowkramen/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UltimateAssistant
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bonnielowkramen/
• Twitter: @BonnieLowKramen
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BonnieLowKramen/playlists