Capital EA: Your virtual genie in a bottle

Posted on 29 January, 2016

Ever wished for an extra pair of hands, or a genie that can take care of that ever growing ‘to do’ list?

Well your wishes have been granted with the arrival of Capital EA. Founded by Ursula Kohler, who has over 20 years Executive Assistant/Personal Assistant experience, a new Canberra business that provides services ranging from Executive Assistance, Events, EA coaching and mentoring, EA Selection Services and the newly introduced personal Concierge Service.

“Our Managing Director was frequently getting calls from executives saying ‘help me get organised!'” explains Catherine MacGregor, service provider at Capital EA. “She realised there was a need so started with Executive Assistance and then realised there are a lot of people who need this in their personal life as well.”

“Both the professional and personal aspects of the business are quite similar in the way they are all about organising and coordinating what the client wants, getting to know the person and thinking what might be helpful for them, making their lives easier,” says Catherine.

Ursula Kohler, Managing Director of Capital EA

“There are a lot of people in Canberra who have very demanding jobs, who are trying to run their home life, they’ve got kids – it is very hard to keep all those balls in the air,” says Catherine.

“So what we have introduced is that access to someone who can step in for a few hours a week, or on a once off, to just give them back that breathing space, to have some time for themselves, something that is always the first thing to go when you’re the main coordinator in the family.”

From a business perspective, Capital EA also offers coaching and mentoring sessions where they work one on one with EAs to help them deal with the challenges of their role. These sessions can be individually tailored to cover just what you need, whether you are starting out as an EA or just wanting to re-energise your career.

“Collectively we have over 50 years experience in the industry, there is a lot that you learn in that journey – the mentoring service is very personalised but it is basically just helping the person to grow more confidence in what they can do and help them with challenges they may be facing in their role,” says Catherine.

Ursula and her team pride themselves on finding the ‘right fit’ for their clients which, if you ask any EA, is key. Capital EA provides a highly specialised EA selection service, which identifies and matches different requirements, interests as well as competencies and compatibility. The team believe that this process ensures the ‘right fit for the job.’

Catherine MacGregor, service provider at Capital EA

“It is about the fit of the people, it’s all about finding out how that person wants to operate, then using the process that we have at Capital EA to look at the candidate and provide that interim assessment as well as shortlisting and finding the best fit between the two people,” says Catherine.

Capital EA provide EAs and personal concierge services on a casual basis for one off projects like data entry, gift shopping or holiday research (sign us up!) and don’t worry too much about location because the EAs are available on a virtual basis for most tasks, which makes for a very cost effective option for businesses.

However, Capital EA do offer in-person assistance, whether it be hosting events or having someone come to your house and wait for a tradesmen! It all depends on the clients needs.

The team at Capital EA are passionate about the work they do and are excited about the introduction of their new concierge service, as it is the first of its kind in Canberra, “it is a growing service industry – we have taken an outsourcing model and made it very personalised. We can give people the help where they need it, we can be that genie in a virtual bottle,” says Catherine.

Find out more about Capital EA here.