What does it take to build and maintain a successful business partnership? Vanessa Rosenblum and Liza Lambert from Pro REA Staffing reveal how trust, communication, and accountability have paved the way for their thriving collaboration.

In our conversation, we explore how Vanessa and Liza use their 'one thing' strategy to stay on track and productive every week, explain the ways Executive Assistants can lead and manage up for better productivity, and share valuable insights on the ROI of hiring a personal assistant.

Don't miss this opportunity to learn from Vanessa and Liza's experiences and see what's possible when two individuals are committed to communication, care, and creating a strategic business partnership!

[00:00:18] C E o. Vanessa Rosenblum believes in designing the life you want to lead, and she's passionate about helping clients do the same by hiring talented people in creating powerful leverage in their businesses and coaching agents to develop their leadership skillset. Vanessa founded Pro r a staffing, the real estate industry's leading recruiting firm for real estate teams and brokerages in 2008.

[00:00:58] Vanessa also built her business while traveling and exploring different cultures and lifestyles, and has lived in places as diverse as Tuscany, Costa Rica and Maui. Today she works remotely from Spain where she and her husband and son live. Executive assistant, Liza began her career in the hospitality industry where she gained extensive experience in the HR and as an executive assistant to multiple general managers.

[00:01:41] I love it when I get to talk to founders and force multipliers who just get it. The partnership between Vanessa and Liza is amazing and really showcases what's possible. When you bring together two individuals who are committed to communication, care, and creating a strategic business partnership, be sure to check out the show notes to download a free real estate assistance salary guide as well.

[00:02:17] Vanessa: Well, we're glad to be here. Thank you.

[00:02:41] Vanessa: Yeah.

[00:02:56] Vanessa: Yeah, definitely. So Priori Staffing is a recruiting firm. We're a nationwide firm that specializes in placing administrative staff on real estate teams. And I started that company in 2008 and. Eliza joined me a few years after that, not too long after that. And then,higher Lab is really just an extension of the Pro Pro r e a staffing brand.

[00:03:45] Hallie: Very cool. And Liza, when you came into the picture and into the company, I'm just kind of curious, like what was your background and how did you two meet? because that's always a question we get is how do you hire somebody like la And I'm sure you get that too, Vanessa, all the time. Like, did you hire through your own staffing program or some other way?

[00:04:26] And so I moved over to that role and I was the executive assistant for the GM for about three years. And then when you're in hospitality, your career trajectory kind dependent on your ability to move to different hotels in different cities. And so when I left Phoenix, I went to Huntington Beach and then eventually ended up in Washington DC where I was the executive assistant for the area vice president there. And my husband, who also is hospitality, he's in food and beverage, he obtained a job in Maui, Hawaii. And ironically, I was six months pregnant at the time. So we decided to pack our bags and move to MA Hawaii, and I took about a year and a half off to care for my son. And when I was going back to the career force, I was looking at jobs on Craigslist and Vanessa happened to post a job and I applied and the rest is history, so to speak.

[00:05:31] Vanessa: No, no. I mean that, this speaks to how long ago we met, right? Nobody uses Craigslist anymore, but back in the day, that was a good place to find

[00:05:50] Vanessa: Yeah, so I was a finance major at USC and I started working for a real estate business coach while in school and while working for, I ended up becoming his operations manager when I graduated from school, and very quickly started helping our real estate agent clients hire. So I was. 23 ish and had no idea what I was doing.

[00:06:37] And that was the, the beginning of, pro staffing back in 2008.

[00:06:50] Vanessa: Well, I knew it was something that I always wanted to do, but it was scary. I mean, I really got pushed out of the nest because I had this, you know, I had a salary and I had support, and I was sort of part of this organization, and then he just said, surprise, we're not doing this anymore. I'm going out of my own.

[00:07:24] And then finally I could afford an office. And, you know, I got myself established. But yeah, those first couple years are, are scary and really up. I was just winging it. I mean, I, I think my story is so much like most young entrepreneurs, like you're just making it happen and you're flying by the seat of your pants and you're acting as if, and then suddenly you need help.

[00:07:59] Hallie: Was Liza your first hire?

[00:08:22] And I knew that I was just gonna need more support. And so I originally hired Liza part-time and I just thought, well, she can like go grab my lunch and file things. I mean, I had no idea. And then Liza got in and it was like really quick that I realized that wow, she's underutilized. Like I need to find a real job for this woman.

[00:08:44] Hallie: That's awesome. So you were in the same place in the beginning of the partnership and then now do you, does your whole team work completely remotely?

[00:09:12] Hallie: So what was that, seven, eight years at this point, or eight years? Nine years.

[00:09:18] Liza: Yeah, eight years.

[00:09:20] Hallie: Crazy. But it clearly works. So, so what are you, what are you doing? What can you share with our, our listeners about how you're continuing to build this really strong, lasting partnership with each other remotely, but also with the rest of your team?

[00:09:50] Vanessa, would you agree with that?

[00:10:15] Like she's priority number one. And so it doesn't matter where we are in the world, like we've got each other's back, which is really special.

[00:10:39] But no matter how the real estate energy changes, our relationship is always strong. It's always stable because we have that foundation.

[00:10:50] Vanessa: I think Liza is so incredibly consistent. Like she, I am not, I, I like to change things. All the, I'm pretty much, when I read the founder of the force multiplier, I was just giggling at some, some

[00:11:06] Vanessa: Exactly. Yeah. And I really like having someone who I could say this needs to happen every Tuesday at 10 o'clock. And it literally happens every Tuesday at to the point where I will forget that that thing is still happening and Liza will like discover a year later that she's still logging something in a report that I haven't looked at.

[00:11:42] And even though we have that care for each other, she never takes advantage of it. Like if she's gonna have to take time off or something's gonna happen, she always lets me know. Even though she knows, like, I don't care. I go, you do you like, it's all gonna get done. But she's so consistent and so respectful of.

[00:12:04] Hallie: That's really amazing. Liza, how did it, how did that trust get built for you?

[00:12:37] And I believe that's what Melissa does. She pours into her people, she makes working for her a joy. And so for me, it's not going to work. It's actually doing something that I'm passionate about and working for someone who's passionate about something as well. And so me, I think that trust is built through open communication.

[00:13:18] But for Vanessa and I, we've always found that our relationship continues to grow and I think that's it's because of the trust that we've built throughout the years.

[00:13:40] Liza: Well, on my end, I'm not afraid to ask the hard questions. So when you have a founder who's have all these innovative ideas and they have all these projects, you have to ask hard questions. And Vanessa knows that I'll ask her thousands of questions a day when it comes to specific project because I wanna put care in that project and wanna execute it the way she wants because as an executive, she's casting the vision.

[00:14:21] Hallie: Yeah.

[00:14:35] I just need like a week chunk at a time. and so she makes me think, okay, what is my, what is my priority this week? What do I need to get done by Friday? And then she's there to support me through it, and then she knows whether or not it happened by Friday. And if, if it was just me saying, I'm gonna do my, three 15, or I'm gonna set my goal for the week.

[00:15:07] Hallie: Yeah, that, that's awesome. I do love that one. focusing initiative or project for the week. I find that that is such a great framework and I particularly love that Liza helps hold you accountable to that and I'm sure helps you make it happen.

[00:15:21] Hallie: Liza, you mentioned about, having these hard conversations with Vanessa, which I agree in asking those tougher questions or just asking questions in general.

[00:15:42] Liza: Well, no, it's definitely not something I was comfortable with at first because I'm an introvert, and so for me it was really hard. I felt timid at first to do that, and I think what we talked about is building that trust and the fact that we've been together for nine years. Helped me with my, you know, confidence in being able to do that.

[00:16:28] Hallie: Hmm.

[00:17:03] Right? And so, even though I'm annoyed cuz I just want her to read my mind. I make sure that I answer those questions and I try really hard not to show that I'm annoyed because I want it to be safer to ask those questions. And I know that there are times when like she knows she's pushing me to get clarity.

[00:17:25] Hallie: Yeah.

[00:17:39] I'm gonna, you know, lean in, gonna do what I need to do because it's important. I'm not gonna annoy her by not answering her questions.

[00:18:09] But if you don't do some of that miscellaneous questions in the beginning, you never really are training your assistant to think like you do. So I think that I'm so great grateful to hear that you, invested that time.

[00:18:38] So let's like figure out like exactly what it is you want because it's clear that, that your leader doesn't know. And so, you know, sometimes that's hard to get your leader to slow down, but, but there's no point in moving forward if you don't, if they don't even know what they're asking you to do.

[00:18:55] Hallie: Yeah. Yeah. And asking those clarifying questions is so important. Eliza, you talked a little bit about, asking questions, helping hold Vanessa accountable. Are there any other,strategies or again, just kind of things that are in your calendar day-to-day or week-to-week that you do to help lead and manage up to Vanessa?

[00:19:37] I'll take care of executing this project. I'll take care of doing the business plan agenda. And so those are the different things that I do to manage up, because the most important thing is protecting her time and giving her that creative space to focus on other things, which will then increase her productivity.

[00:20:06] Liza: So when we first started, we didn't have any systems, in place. And so I had to create and implement and streamline our systems. And for that, that was something that I took the initiative in doing. And it was something that I asked for forgiveness later. But at the same time, you know, I, there are certain tasks that Vanessa will assign me, but you also have to take that proactive approach when it comes to that.

[00:20:45] I think, you know, she'll, you know, give me a project to work on, or I'll take the initiative to work on something.

[00:21:10] and, and what happened with the relationship and how did you work through it?

[00:21:30] So she was supporting the recruiting team and, and she was sort of, had her hands in everything and. I was happy as a clam. I thought everything was good. And then I had a conversation with an intuitive advisor named Nme Mangold, who you might know, and we were having a conversation, and one of the things I love about her is she's really good at dialing in on the motivators and like things are going on with other people.

[00:22:12] And I was floored. I had no idea. So, you know, she knew I was gonna have that call with inmate. So afterwards, you know, we hop on a call and I told her what inmate said and she started to cry. Sorry, Liza, if I'm outing you, if you don't mind. And she's like, yeah, it's true. I like, I love working here, but I want to work for you.

[00:22:52] and I'm so glad we were able to fix it.

[00:23:14] I think it's quite common that especially in a growing organization, they start getting more and more responsibility and then they start running things, but it, which seems great and they're pro, you probably were fantastic at it. and yet you start missing that. What got you into the job in the first place, or got you excited about what you were working on in the first place, which I completely agree.

[00:23:49] Vanessa: Yeah, you're welcome.

[00:24:04] Vanessa: Yeah, I, I think that's a really good thing to talk about. I think one of them is that fear of the unknown, so that I know I need help, but I don't know what I need. Oh my gosh. And then I have to bring somebody into my life. But then if you're doing it, Right, with an ea they know basically everything about you, like they are in your business, right?

[00:24:41] Like that lack of like sense of control. and then to let somebody into your email and then somebody knows your banking information and then they know your wife's anniversary and birthday. Like they, they have to know all these things, right? if they're doing it right, they know everything. So there's just a lot of trust there and I think that's hard.

[00:25:25] Hallie: Yeah, yeah. I think, I think all of that is so true. Do you find in any of your conversations that. entrepreneurs or agents or whoever you're working with don't understand the, because the ROI is harder to quantify with a assistant than adding a salesperson, for example. so how do you, how do you navigate that part of the conversation about letting them know that hiring an assistant is actually a great return on their investment?

[00:26:16] I could literally be in a coma for three months and my husband would, there'd be money deposited into the account. Everyone would get paid. So there's this like insurance policy.

[00:26:26] Vanessa: That is really huge because people count on me. I am the breadwinner for my family. My husband's a stay-at-home dad. I have employees, like people count on me if something happens to me.

[00:27:04] Or should you be focusing more on those dollar productive activities? But I think it's just so much more than the dollars and

[00:27:28] Vanessa: Yeah, I was thinking about this one. I think the biggest and most important thing is your assistant is the most important person in your professional life, and you need to treat them like that. You know, these age, these professionals who, you know, like talk down to their assistant or don't get back to them, or, Are condescending or yell.

[00:28:01] you know, we talked about care, respect, and trust. Super, super important. And then, you know, we kind of also touched on this, but. You have to be the leader that's worthy of them. Like this. This is a partnership. This isn't a hierarchy with this person. Like they, they are like, you're, I always joke like, Liza's, my better half, right?

[00:28:31] Hallie: Yeah, that I I love that. I love that you,I can already see that we're gonna have a couple of sound bites from what you just said, because I think more we hear that. So thank you. Lizza, what could you share with some of the EA or chiefs of staff who are listening? About what you think, EA need to know to successfully work with a leader.

[00:29:10] And I tell my son this all the time, the word fail, is just an acronym for first attempt in learning. There's always going. Learning curve. And so you just have to keep that in mind that it's not gonna be successful from this get-go. It's a work in progress and it's always gonna be a work in progress.

[00:29:44] You're, essentially the extension of your executive. And so just wanna remember that. And I think, for every executive assistant out there, you know, you just have to have that open relationship with your executive. Where Vanessa, I, let's say she creates a safe space. For me, and she creates a safe space for everyone on our team.

[00:30:19] Hallie: Mm-hmm.

[00:30:24] Hallie: I love that. one last, well, a couple last questions. How, do you. I mean, you've shared a little bit about this already, but is there anything specific that you can point to that has really, helped you build a lo, a lasting partnership? maybe a couple of takeaways that others can also put into play so that they create a nine year relationship or a 12 year relationship or a 20 year relationship.

[00:31:11] And sometimes that means like, hey, you just, it's okay, you're just gonna work part-time, but I'm gonna pay you full-time for the next three months cuz you gotta go deal this thing. Cause I know we're gonna be together. Five years from now, or, you know, I'm going through something and Liza's like, okay, I know we're just not gonna talk to each other for about a month because you gotta go deal with what I'm gonna handle stuff for you or whatever.

[00:31:46] Hallie: Yeah, really. it makes me think that of the fact that you just, you've chosen to. Invest into the partnership. and you, you know, you've chosen to invest in open communication. You've made the conscious choice to invest time and energy into each other. and I think that that's just a, a really powerful thing.

[00:32:05] Hallie: So what are you both working on next?

[00:32:36] Teams. And then we're also, I'm the VP of operations for a mortgage tech company, that's a startup and we're, we're getting that rolled out. So Liza is coming along for the ride on all sorts of projects and still just making sure that the home front, which is pro r a, staffing, is still running on running smoothly.

[00:33:04] Vanessa: Awesome.

[00:33:16] Vanessa: Thanks for inviting us. This was fun.