Ultimate Assistant Training & Consulting Inc.

How is technology changing the classroom experience? In my trainings, I respectfully request no devices. I want to remove all barriers between people as they talk with one another.

What challenges are educators currently facing post-pandemic? Fear, stress, and time. The staff are highly stressed and burning out. They are very distracted and pulled in too many directions. And we still all only get the same 24 hours in a day that we have always had.

How do you support student engagement and well-being? I speak with them 1:1 to ask directly how they are doing and listen hard to the answers. I take notes for reference. Engagement happens when leaders take the time to talk with them.

What role does equity play in your educational approach? I don’t shy away from issues of equity, especially when it comes to the double standards between women and men. We talk openly about gender differences and how women experience the workplace very differently than men.

How are you preparing students for a rapidly changing world? By not sugarcoating the reality of what is happening.

Can you share an initiative that has made a real impact? I have spoken at two FBLA conferences this year. FBLA is the Future Business Leaders of America. I spoke in Orlando at the Florida State Conference (200 attended) in March and the National Convention in Las Vegas in June which brought together 1300 college students from all over the United States. They are ages 18-24.

In 2027, I will be speaking at the national convention again and I am looking to go onto college campuses and be a guest speaker at business schools. One of my goals is to get my book Staff Matters into the hands of as many college students as possible as a vital resource that gives them their bridge into the new and complicated workplace. After all, I wrote it for them.

Here’s the Dedication.
A Special Message to Business Students and Future Leaders
You will eventually have a staff to manage. When that happens, I want you to be as ready as you can be, equipped with information that will matter on a daily basis.
Know this: your success will depend directly on the success of your staff. No one gets there alone. No one.
Leading others requires moral courage and hard work. The best leaders rely and lean on their staffs. Every page you are about to read will support you to do exactly that. Welcome to Staff Matters.
As a direct result of speaking at the FBLA conferences, I feel honored to have received my first invitation to speak at a college graduation commencement ceremony and I hope that there will be more.

What’s your vision for the future of education? More formal training for leaders on the most effective way to engage and manage staff.