Pre-Conference Workshops

The Elite EA Masterclass

9:00 AM – 12:30 PM

From Support Role to Strategic Partner: Your Career Transformation Starts Here!

• The most successful Executive Assistants aren’t defined by the executives they support, but by how they transform those executives’ effectiveness through strategic partnership rather than mere support.

• The Executive Assistant who masters both human connection and technological advancement doesn’t just survive disruption—they become the indispensable bridge between the efficiency of automation and the emotional intelligence that drives organisational success. The difference between a career plateau and continued advancement for Executive Assistants isn’t technical skill—it’s the courage to step beyond your assigned role and into the strategic vacuum others haven’t yet recognised

Are you ready to be recognised as the strategic asset you truly are?

The Elite EA Masterclass isn’t just another training program—it’s your career reinvention blueprint. Designed exclusively for ambitious Executive and Personal Assistants who refuse to be boxed in by outdated perceptions, this intensive experience  transforms how you work, how you’re perceived, and where your career can go.

The Reality EAs Face in 2025:

• Expected to master AI tools without proper training
• Transitioning from administrative to strategic roles with little guidance
• Navigating unclear pathways from “assistant” to “advisor”
• Managing increasing responsibilities without corresponding compensation
• Fighting to be recognised as more than “just an Assistant”

Your 4-Session Journey to Excellence:

1. Confidence, Empowerment, and Mindset breakthrough limiting beliefs and develop the executive mindset that
commands respect

2. Executive Presence and Creating Opportunities Master the subtle art of presence that turns heads and opens doors

3. Strategic Thinking and Leadership Elevate your thinking from task execution to strategic partnership

4. Effective Partnering and Career Progression Position yourself for advancement and negotiate your true value

The 5 Essential Skills Every EA Needs in 2025:

1. Insight & Decision-Making Capabilities - Move beyond executing decisions to shaping them

2. Adaptability in Rapidly Changing Environments - Thrive amid uncertainty while others merely survive it

3. Executive-Level Communication - Speak with the clarity and influence that drives organisational outcomes

4. Critical Thinking Beyond Basic Problem-Solving - Anticipate needs and develop strategic solutions before problems arise

5. Digital Literacy, Especially AI Integration - Harness technology as a force multiplier for your effectiveness
EXCLUSIVE BONUS: Receive a custom AI prompt template designed specifically for EAs to automate routine tasks and
reclaim valuable time.

Don’t just survive your workday—learn to thrive within it. Your executives (and your peace of mind) will thank you.

Through expert-led sessions, immersive exercises, and personalised guidance, you’ll emerge with both the mindset and
practical tools to transcend the traditional boundaries of your role.

Your career evolution doesn’t have to wait. The strategic partner your executive needs is already within you—we just help bring it to the surface.

SUMMIT DAY 1 – 23rd September 2026

9:00 AM: Mihi Whakatau

9:30 AM: Opening Remarks from Emcee

Danielle Colley is an integrative life coach and founder of Your Good Life. She helps successful women in business who are dissatisfied with their lives and dealing with pressures from all angles, to reach their full potential by helping them clear the debris from their past, super charge their present and transition from where they are now to where they desire to be.

Session 1:
9:30 AM: “The Trusted Partner: What Executive Level Influence Really Looks Like”

Today’s EA is no longer just a gatekeeper or organiser. The most valuable assistants operate as trusted partners, shaping conversations, anticipating risk, and influencing decisions at the highest level. In this powerful session, we explore what real executive-level influence looks like in practice. You’ll learn how to think commercially, contribute strategically, and build the kind of trust that gives you a genuine seat at the table.

Discover how to move from reactive support to proactive leadership, strengthen your executive relationship, and position yourself as indispensable in complex, high-stakes environments.

10:10 AM: Leadership Networking

10:30 AM: Morning Tea

Session 2:
11:00 AM: Executive Presence in High-Stakes Rooms

Most AI training treats Executive Assistants like data entry clerks with better tools. That misses the point entirely.

The EA sits at the most sensitive intersection in any organisation: the place where confidential information, executive judgement, and operational tempo meet. AI is reshaping every part of that role right now. The question is whether you shape it back, or get shaped by it.

This session moves past prompt libraries and productivity hacks. It looks at the real shift underway: EAs are becoming the first line of AI judgement in the business. You decide what AI sees, what it touches, what it remembers, and what it should never go near. That is not a productivity question. It is a trust question, a security question, and a strategy question.

You will leave with:

• A clearer view of where AI strengthens your executive's position, and where it quietly exposes them

• Practical frameworks for workflows that scale judgement, not just speed

• Cyber awareness habits that protect confidential information in an AI-saturated environment

• Confidence to lead AI conversations in your office, not just respond to them

But the real prize sits one level deeper. Used well, AI does not just speed up your work. It changes how you think, what you notice, and the quality of the questions you bring to your executive. Multiply that across an EA function, and something rare starts to happen: the organisation begins to compound its intelligence rather than just its output. That is the EA's hidden lever, and almost no one is pulling it yet.

SESSION 3
12:00 PM: Executive Presence: The Key to Recognition & Career Growth Opportunities

Walking into senior leadership meetings and high-stakes environments is not just about being present, it is about how you position yourself in the moments that shape your career.

Executive presence is not defined by title. It is built through how you think, communicate, and show up under pressure.

• In this session, you will learn how to elevate your presence from trusted support to strategic partner, so you are recognised, trusted, and considered for greater opportunities.

• Position Yourself as a Strategic Partner - Move beyond task execution and contribute at a higher level by aligning your input to business priorities. This is how you build a more senior, credible presence in the room.
• Communicate with Clarity and Authority - Executive presence shows up in how you communicate. Speak with clarity, confidence, and control in high-pressure environments, so your voice is heard and respected.
• Turn Visibility into Career Growth - Use key moments to build trust, advocacy, and recognition. This is how your presence translates into real opportunities, progression, and next-level roles

1:00 PM Lunch

SESSION 4
1:50 PM: Thinking Like an Executive: From Decision Support to Strategic Career Growth

The most influential EAs do more than manage logistics. They shape decisions, clarify priorities and think commercially alongside their executive. In this powerful session, learn how to approach challenges with an executive mindset, frame options clearly, anticipate risk and present information in ways that drive confident decision-making.

At the same time, explore how mastering decision support elevates your own career trajectory. Discover how to expand your scope, strengthen your strategic credibility and position yourself for greater responsibility, influence and progression. When you think like an executive, you don’t just support leadership, you become an essential part of it.

SESSION 5
2:40 PM: From EA to Strategic Career Architect: Building Influence, Visibility and Opportunity

Career progression in today’s EA profession is rarely linear. It is shaped by resilience, visibility and the courage to step forward, even when the path is uncertain. In this inspiring and highly relatable session, Linda Bailey, Senior Executive Assistant to the Head of Recycling Victoria, shares her personal journey of navigating change, building credibility and creating opportunity within complex, high-pressure environments.

 Through lived experience, Linda will explore how mindset, self-belief and strategic action can accelerate your growth and open doors you may not have thought possible. Discover how to raise your professional profile, contribute beyond your role and position yourself as a valued, forwardthinking partner. This session will leave you feeling empowered, motivated and ready to take the next step in your career with confidence.

3:10 PM Afternoon Tea

SESSION 6
3:30 PM: The Courage to Change Course

For many people, success looks like reaching a goal and staying there. But some of the most rewarding opportunities come from having the courage to evolve, take risks, and embrace new challenges.

From dietitian to MasterChef winner, entrepreneur, author, television personality, and farmer, Nadia Lim has built a career defined by growth, reinvention, and a willingness to back herself in unfamiliar territory.

In this inspiring keynote, Nadia shares the lessons she has learned from stepping into the unknown, navigating change, and redefining success at every stage of her journey.

You will leave with practical insights into trusting your instincts, embracing new opportunities, and having the confidence to pursue a path that is uniquely your own.

4:20 PM Closing Reflections and Insights to Action

4:40 PM Close of Day one & Networking Drinks

Conference Day Two | 24TH September

9:00 AM: From Insight To Action – Key Take Aways From Day 1

SESSION 1
9:15 AM: Sustainable Success in High Pressure Roles

Executive support roles in the public sector often involve fast paced environments, high expectations and constant change. While the work can be rewarding, sustaining performance over time requires balance, resilience and self awareness.

In this inspiring session, Danielle explores how to maintain energy, focus and clarity while operating in demanding roles. Learn how to manage competing pressures, establish healthy boundaries, and sustain your effectiveness without burnout.

SESSION 2
10:00 AM: Brave Conversations: Managing Up Without Burning Bridges 

In high-performing executive environments, avoiding difficult conversations can cost credibility, trust and results. The ability to speak up with confidence, clarity and professionalism is a defining skill of a trusted partner. In this empowering session, discover how to manage up effectively, push back with diplomacy, and navigate complex personalities without damaging relationships. Learn practical communication strategies for handling unrealistic expectations, shifting priorities and high-pressure moments. Explore how thoughtful, courageous conversations strengthen your executive partnership and position you as a respected voice in the room. Because real influence is not about staying silent, it’s about knowing how and when to speak with impact.

10:50 AM: Morning Tea

SESSION 3
11:40 PM: High-Performance Workflow in Complex Environments

Supporting senior leaders in fast-paced, high-stakes environments requires more than strong organisational skills. It demands structure, foresight and the ability to manage competing priorities with confidence. In this practical and empowering session, discover how to design workflows that bring clarity to complexity. Learn how to triage effectively, create decision rhythms, protect strategic time and manage shifting demands without losing control. Explore tools and habits that support focus, reduce reactivity and strengthen alignment with your executive’s priorities. Walk away with a refined approach to workflow that enhances performance, sharpens judgement and enables you to operate with calm authority, even in the most demanding environments.

SESSION 4
12:30 PM:  The Power of Being Yourself

For much of our careers, we are encouraged to fit a particular mould. To be more polished, more confident, more authoritative, or more like someone else.
Yet some of the most successful and influential people are those who have learned to embrace who they are rather than trying to become who they think they should be.

Over a career spanning journalism, television, radio, and some of New Zealand's most recognisable media organisations, Hilary Barry has built a reputation for authenticity, resilience, and an ability to connect with people from all walks of life. Along the way, she has learned that confidence does not come from perfection. It comes from self acceptance, perspective, and having the courage to show up as yourself.

In this inspiring and highly entertaining keynote, Hilary shares stories from her remarkable career and reflects on the lessons she has learned about confidence, criticism, resilience, and staying true to yourself in a world full of expectations.

Because leadership becomes far more powerful when you stop trying to be someone else and start backing who you already are.

SESSION 5
2:40 PM: The Power Partnership: Leading Without the Title and Shaping Culture from Within 

The most effective EA–executive relationships are built on trust, clarity and shared purpose. But true partnership goes beyond task management. It requires leadership, influence and the ability to shape culture from wherever you sit. In this powerful session, explore what makes a highperforming executive partnership thrive, from communication rhythms to aligned expectations and mutual trust. Discover how to lead without formal authority, influence team dynamics and model the standards that strengthen organisational culture. Learn how to elevate your impact, deepen your executive relationship and position yourself not just as support, but as a trusted partner and cultural force within your organisation.

3:30 PM: Bringing it all together: Final From Insights to Action

As the summit draws to a close, take a moment to reflect, reset and refocus. In this energising closing session, will guide you through the key insights of the past two days and help you turn inspiration into practical action. Identify your next steps, clarify your priorities and commit to the changes that will elevate your impact. Leave feeling focused, confident and ready to step forward as a trusted, capable and future-ready executive partner.

4:00 PM Conference Close

09:00 Goal setting, positive mindset & steps to leadership success for women