Being a celebrity assistant is intense.
Much like being a royal nanny, celebrity assistants are held to an incredibly high standard, and have to juggle a million jobs at once to keep things moving smoothly for their bosses.
Here’s just some of those jobs.
Don’t expect to know who you’re working for ahead of time.
If you’re called in for an interview, odds are that you won’t be told who you may be working for.
“I didn’t know who the job was for, for a long time, and there were several vetting stages and then finally my second-to-last interview was with her current assistant, who I was going to replace.” Revealed Nate Berkus’ assistant.
They have to sign NDAs.
I mean, no duh.
Celebrity assistants have to be trustworthy, and that trust has to be in writing.
If an NDA is broken, the assistant can obviously be sued by their former boss.
Keeping it could earn you a trusted friend, like Theresa Marie Mingus found with Selena Gomez.
Always have your phone handy.
A celebrity’s schedule is your schedule, so an assistant has to have a phone ready to go at all times. Especially for those prime Instagram moments.
“You are working in all time zones – your phone is ringing all the time and you can’t turn the ringer off,” said Brian Daniel , owner of the Celebrity Personal Assistant Network.
Know when to stop.
Beyoncé made headlines when she dismissed her fussing assistant on a red carpet.
While the assistant was fixing her dress, Beyoncé told her to “Stop,” while still smiling through pictures.
You’ll probably have to learn to not take that personally, too.
Be prepared to do homework.
If your celebrity has kids, you might have to do homework with them.
“Anything less than an A is unacceptable,” said Shanna Mahin , a former celebrity assistant.
Guess brushing up on math is going to be part of the job.
Weird is part of the job.
One of Kim Kardashian’s alleged former assistants said that she has a very specific way she likes her sweaters folded.
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“Kim is very particular about how she wants sweaters folded, and in one incident, a staffer didn’t do it up to her standards, so Kim took one sweater out of the middle of the stack, completely messing up what was just done!”
Be available 24/7.
Interested in sleep, eating, or having a social life? Maybe rethink being a celebrity assistant, then.
One assistant explained: “[…] you’re going to be working grueling hours. It’s typical to work up to 16 hours a day.”
Don’t expect a big paycheck…but you can hope for one.
According to Brian Daniel, being an assistant used to be a more lucrative job. Now, it depends on the celebrity you end up with.
“However if you are extraordinary and you work with someone like George Clooney who has a big production company, you can earn between $100,000 to $200,000 a year.” He said.
You’ll be expected to do other people’s jobs.
“You’ll find yourself running interference with bad dates and drug dealers.
And doing the dishes if the maid doesn’t show, carrying luggage that outweighs you, and babysitting bratty offspring.” Shanna Mahin wrote.
Do not cry.
In order to keep your job, you have to keep your emotions reigned in 24/7.
“But you have to have a very, very thick skin and you cannot cry easily. It’s not for someone who is faint of heart.” Brian said.
Don’t expect a break.
If you need to eat or take care of your own business, you’re going to have to sneak it in.
There are no scheduled breaks, and no structure to your days.
“You work at a break-neck pace and you won’t get to sit down for lunch.” Brian said.
Glamor is not in the job description.
While you may get to go to some amazing places, you’re also being paid to be someone’s assistant in those places.
“[…] while you’re there you’ll likely to be on the receiving end of a 3:00 a.m. phone call requesting emergency tampons/a pregnancy test/condoms.” Shanna said.
Suspend all expectations of cleanliness.
For some celebrities, cleanliness is next to godliness. For others? Being a slob is part of the job.
Selena Gomez’s former assistant apparently said, “I never expected to see a celebrity’s dirty undergarments, let alone have to pick them up!”
Prepare to be uncomfortable.
Some tasks will push the limits of what you want or are willing to do. Among them? Ending a relationship that isn’t yours.
“I broke up with a very prominent actor boyfriend of hers.
She said, ‘Oh, we’re done making a movie together; it’s not really going to work; I’m sort of seeing somebody else. Could you just tell him to back off and leave me alone?'” One anonymous assistant said.
You might just meet your best friend…but be aware that you’re on the job.
For Blake Lively’s assistant, she found a friend in her boss — so much so that Blake attended her wedding days after giving birth.
That may not be the case for everyone, as both Shanna and Brian warn: “No matter what intimacies you share, at the end of the day, you’re still the hired help.”
