It's almost Admin Awards Gala time!!!

And guess who’s been summoned to the stage like a sparkly corporate Vanna White?

✨ Me. It’s me. ✨

If you’re coming to the San Francisco / Silicon Valley gala on Monday night, PLEASE COME SAY HI. I’ll be the one handing out Admin Awards on stage and trying not to trip in the platform heels I bought yesterday.

Anyway—this week on The Offer Letter:

🧁 Freaking SWEET admin jobs I saw this week

🟢 To Green Banner or not to Green Banner? (Let’s emotionally prepare ourselves)

🧠 And how to stop playing calendar whack-a-mole by thinking like a..... physicist? 

Let’s go!

Me on Monday Night:

Did someone forward this newsletter to you?

🔥 This Week's Best Openings

I am not partnered with these companies, but if any of you get a job here, you know what to do! (make your new boss write me a check to be their recruitment partner). 

•Executive Assistant – Sweetgreen, LA [Apply here]

•EA to CIO and CMO – Chobani, NYC (I'm hungry)[Apply here]

•Executive Assistant – Chainlink Labs, NYC [Apply here]

❎ Winners Don't Use Green Banners?

I came across this post a few weeks ago and have been sitting on it becuase, honestly, I was sort of scared to open the can of worms that is this deeply cursed and HOTLY depated topic.

Listen, is this post worded a bit harshly? Probably.

Is what he's saying true? I think yes.

Is the alternative he offers so good that it could put me out of work forever? YES but I am not gatekeeping this gold.

(Yes, this post is clearly aimed at sales bros—but let’s be honest: recruiting is sales with more rejection and fewer golf outings.

I have MANY thoughts about point #2 - spoiler: I don’t agree, and I’ll break down why in the next issue.)

For now, click the pic below to read the whole post and then sound off in my replies because I know y’all have thoughts. Let’s fight (lovingly).

🛠 Admin Toolbox: The Mental Model That Makes You Dangerous (In a Good Way)

If you’ve ever looked at a process and thought, “This is incredibly dumb, but I guess we’re doing it anyway…”. Congrats! you’re already halfway to First Principles Thinking.

Let’s break it down.

What Is First Principles Thinking?

First principles thinking is a way of solving problems by breaking things down to their most fundamental truths—and then reasoning up from there.

Instead of asking:

“What’s the best version of how this is usually done?”

You ask:

“What are the basic truths here, and how would I design this from scratch if I didn’t know any of the norms?”

This idea has been around forever. Aristotle talked about it in Metaphysics. Elon Musk used it to build SpaceX rockets at a fraction of the cost. But don’t worry—you don’t need to launch anything into orbit. You just need to apply one rocket science principle to running your exec’s life. 

First Principles vs. “Because That’s How We’ve Always Done It”

Let’s be real: most people solve problems by doing a slightly shinier version of whatever already exists. 

They say things like:

“That’s how the last EA did it.”

“My old boss liked a daily check-in.”

“We’ve always had this meeting.”

Okay cool—do you also use a fax machine and pay for cable?

That’s conventional thinking. It’s lazy. It’s reactive. It’s how we end up with 72-slide decks and a leadership sync that could’ve been a group chat.

First principles thinking is different. It doesn’t ask, What’s the usual solution? It asks, What problem are we actually trying to solve here—and if I nuked everything and started from scratch, what would I build instead?

It’s not about being a rebel. It’s about being right.

Because the truth is: the only reason half the systems in your company exist is because no one had the time (or nerve) to say “this is stupid.”

You do.

You’re the EA who asks "Why are we doing this at all?"

And then quietly rebuilds it into something that actually works.

Strategic ≠ complicated. Strategic = intentional. And that starts by blowing up the defaults and starting from zero.

For example: Your CEO has five recurring weekly 1:1s with direct reports. No agenda. No prep. Just vibes and vague updates. What started as “staying aligned” has turned into five 30-minute energy drains that eat their entire Thursday afternoon and leave them wondering what actually got done.

Instead of blindly protecting the time like a calendar bouncer, you zoom out and ask:

What’s the actual goal here—visibility? Issue escalation? Trust?

Does that need to happen live? Weekly? One-on-one?

You scrap the check-ins and design a better system:

•A shared weekly update doc where each exec drops three priorities, one blocker, one win, and one ask.

•A single 30-minute “Leadership Pulse” call on Mondays—everyone joins, answers two smart questions, then gets out.

•You protect Thursday for deep work and call it what it is: CEO Focus Time.

Now your CEO gets real insight in less time, the team feels more trusted, and suddenly Thursday doesn’t feel like a slow death by conversation.

That’s First Principles Thinking: don’t tweak the system—question the whole damn premise and rebuild what actually works.

Stuck in your job search? Not sure how to handle a tricky interview question or navigate the hiring process? Submit your question anonymously, and I’ll answer it in an upcoming newsletter—no names, no judgment, just real advice from a recruiter who knows the game.

📅 See you next time!

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