Personal & Executive Assistant Placement
for Discerning Principals
What Is a Personal Executive Assistant?
If you have a packed schedule, an inbox that never empties, decisions that need to be made, and a personal life that deserves attention — the need for a personal executive assistant becomes undeniable. A personal executive assistant keeps the principal’s professional world organized and their personal life running, so neither falls behind.
At MHM, the personal executive assistant role is primarily executive in character. Managing calendars, correspondence, and professional logistics is the core of the role. The personal side — appointments, travel arrangements, personal errands, family scheduling — extends naturally from that foundation. The result is one trusted professional who handles both worlds with discretion and capability.
MHM places personal executive assistants with HNW and UHNW principals, family offices, and private households in Chicago and South Florida — and with select clients nationwide.
What Does a Personal Executive Assistant Actually Handle?
The role exists because the principal’s time and attention are finite, and the demands on both are not. A personal executive assistant takes the things that would otherwise reach the principal — emails, scheduling requests, logistical decisions, appointments, correspondence — and handles them at the same standard the principal would, without having to be walked through every preference each time.
The executive side of the role covers professional life: calendar management, gatekeeping calls and communications, coordinating with business teams, preparing for meetings, managing follow-ups, and keeping the working day from becoming unmanageable. For principals with family offices or wealth management relationships, a personal executive assistant often serves as the liaison — fielding requests, routing information, and ensuring nothing is missed.
The personal side covers everything else: personal appointments and errands, wardrobe management, gift sourcing, event coordination, and the kind of day-to-day logistics that quietly consume time when left unattended. The strongest candidates MHM works with are genuinely capable in both areas — not stretched thin across them, but naturally suited to moving between professional and personal contexts without losing standard in either.
Personal Executive Assistant Responsibilities
Scope varies by principal and household. Personal executive assistant responsibilities typically include:
- Calendar management and scheduling across personal and professional commitments
- Gatekeeping — screening calls, emails, and meeting requests
- Correspondence drafting and inbox management
- Coordinating with business teams, family office, and financial advisors
- Personal errand running and appointment scheduling
- Gift sourcing, wrapping, and occasion tracking
- Wardrobe management and dry cleaning coordination
- Event planning and reservation management
- Vendor and contractor coordination for personal matters
- Record keeping, bill payment, and file management
- Overseeing other household staff schedules when needed
Many MHM personal executive assistants also support family logistics — school schedules, family travel, personal appointments — particularly when working in households where a house manager is not in place.
Personal Assistant, Executive Assistant, House Manager: Understanding the Differences
The titles overlap in conversation but describe meaningfully different roles. A personal executive assistant at MHM is primarily focused on the principal as an individual — their schedule, communications, professional logistics, and the personal details that go with them. The role follows the principal, not the home.
A house manager is focused on the household itself — the staff, the vendors, the interior systems, and the physical running of the home. Where a personal executive assistant manages what needs to happen for the principal, a house manager manages what needs to happen for the home. Many principals with complex lives need both. In households with one, that person often absorbs elements of the other — which is where role clarity at the point of hiring matters.
A family assistant — sometimes called a nanny/house manager — is a hybrid role that combines household management with childcare. The personal executive assistant role does not include childcare and is not a household-focused position.
Common Questions About Hiring a Personal Executive Assistant
The Discovery Call is the right place to start a conversation about your household.