Eps. 1: The Secret Weapon Founders Are Using to Reclaim Time and Sanity in 2025

In this episode of Scale Smart, Stay Grounded, Amber Matthews discusses the transformative power of the right support in business, focusing on the roles of Executive Assistants and Lifestyle Managers. She emphasizes the importance of delegating tasks to enhance productivity and maintain a healthy work-life balance, especially for founders managing multimillion-dollar companies. The conversation addresses common hesitations about hiring help and reassures listeners that support is not a luxury but a necessity for success.

Key Insights

1. The right support can significantly transform your business and life.
2. An Executive Assistant acts as a strategic partner, not just a scheduler.
3. Fractional Executive Assistants offer flexible and customized support.
4. Lifestyle Managers handle personal details to prevent chaos in daily life.
5. Hiring help is a smart and strategic decision, not an indulgence.
6. You don't need to have everything organized to hire help.
7. Delegating tasks can lead to a noticeable difference in productivity.
8. The first 90 days with a new assistant can be transformative.
9. Mental clutter can be alleviated by delegating responsibilities.
10. Scaling your business should not come at the cost of your sanity.

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Transcript

Hello friends. Welcome to the very first episode of Scale Smart, Stay Grounded. I'm your host, Amber Matthews. And today we're going to dive into a topic that is very close to my heart, "How the right support can transform your business and your life". If you're a founder and you found this episode and you are in a current season of running a multimillion dollar company, juggling a thousand moving parts and feel like you're one missed email away from chaos, this episode is dedicated to you.

And if you're someone that's close to the founder, maybe you're a friend, a spouse, or a colleague, and you're watching them from the sidelines, hold it all together with duct tape and determination, you, my friend, are in the right place as well.

Now, let's talk about what it really means to have the right support. And we're going to start with the basics.

First things first, what is an Executive Assistant?

You've probably heard the term Executive Assistant, but let's be real. In today's day and age, an Executive Assistant isn't just someone who can book your travel or schedule your meetings. Most times they're more of a strategic partner and a great Executive Assistant clears your plate so that you can focus on what really moves the needle in your business. I encourage you to think of them as a gatekeeper of your time, along with an amplifier of your impact.

Now, let's take it a step further.

What's a Fractional Executive Assistant?

Well, to put it simply, it's support on your terms. You don't need to hire someone full time in order to get the expertise and the precision of a high level experienced Executive Assistant. Fractional means flexible and customized, and it's perfect for the founders who at this time don't want to commit to a full time hire.

Now let's segue into the secret weapon, the Lifestyle Manager.

You might be thinking, "what in the world is that"?

Well, a Lifestyle Manager is the person who handles the details that keep falling through the cracks of your personal life.

As a Lifestyle Manager, they're going to be the one that makes sure that your car gets service, your car registration stays up to date. They're making sure that you are not driving around on a suspended license. They ensure that your close friends and family members milestones aren't forgotten, that they are on your calendar and you are either showing up in person or you are sending something in your behalf to acknowledge said milestones.

They act as a liaison between yourself and your construction crew if you're in the middle of a home renovation. They actually move the needle forward so that the things in your everyday normal life don't become a nightmare. They keep you in check with all of your routine medical and dental care, as well as your wellness visits. There is so much a Lifestyle Manager could do.

If I shared with you all the things that I do for clients as a Lifestyle Manager, you would roll back and laugh and then immediately say, "Girl, I need you!"

But do you really need one as a founder?

I'll let you decide. But if you in this season are feeling guilty about missing personal commitments, or you feel as though every day you are constantly playing catch up in your personal life, a Lifestyle Manager for you is not a luxury. It is a necessity!

Okay, so we've discussed the Executive Assistant. We've discussed the Fractional Executive Assistant. We dove into the benefits of a Lifestyle Manager.

Let's now address the elephant in the room. And that is your hesitation. You might be thinking, "are my friends gonna think that I am doing the most and being extra if I hire this type of help?"

Or you may think to yourself, "Amber, I am just too overwhelmed. I don't have the mental bandwidth to onboard someone right now".

Or "my life is so disorganized. Even if I hired someone, they wouldn't know where to start".

Do any of these sound familiar? Well, here's the truth. Hiring a Fractional Executive Assistant or a Lifestyle Manager, it's not about being extra. It's actually about being smart, as well as strategic.

You've already built something incredible, your business and your life. You deserve to protect it and you don't have to do it alone. As for onboarding or being too disorganized, trust me when I tell you, we as Fractional Executive Assistants and Lifestyle Managers, we thrive in the mess. We start where you are and we get you caught up from there.

So what does it take to get started? Well, honestly, it doesn't really take much.

A skilled Fractional Executive Assistant or Lifestyle Manager already knows how to lead. You as the client don't need to have the perfect system. They should be able to step in with their system and their framework and quickly move the needle in your business and your life. I personally have experienced a variety of ways of information being dumped on me within the first 90 days.

It's come in the form of electronic notes, handwritten notes, Google Docs, Google Sheets, emails, and my personal favorite screenshots.

Yes, my friends screenshots have been sent to me of things that founders have kept inside of their phones to make sure they didn't forget. And then they winded up sending it to me as their new hire.

But how quickly will you notice a difference? I would like to say that you will notice a difference within the first 90 days. A lot of it would depend on you and how willing are you to start delegating as soon as you partner with someone.

The sooner you delegate, the easier it is to breathe! Imagine waking up and now you know when you wake up in the morning that the mental clutter and the day to day minutiae of all the various tasks that need to be done inside of your business and inside of your personal life is now someone else's responsibility. That is a type of transformation that I want for you.

If you are listening as a friend or a family member, that is the transformation that I want for the loved one in your life.

So in closing, whether you're the overwhelmed founder or you're the person watching them from the sidelines, I really hope that this episode resonates with you and it sparked some clarity.

If you're ready to explore what it's like working with a Fractional Executive Assistant or Lifestyle Manager, I would love for the two of us to connect.

You can find me on LinkedIn or you can reach out to me through my website.
I'll make sure to drop both links in the show notes.

Thank you again for tuning into this very first episode of Scale Smart, Stay Grounded.

Until next time, remember, scaling your business doesn't have to mean sacrificing your sanity. 

You've got this. And more importantly, I'm here to help.