If motherhood has taught me anything, it’s that you can have four kids, a full calendar, a million moving parts—and still run a smooth, happy household if the structure supports the strategy.
That’s also the foundation of organization design.
In my role as executive assistant to the CEO at AlignOrg Solutions, I sit at the intersection of priorities, people and processes every day. I see firsthand how alignment—or misalignment—shows up in the real world. And while my job may look like calendars, meetings and logistics, the truth is simple. I help create the conditions that allow leaders to lead and the organization to operate with clarity. That’s organization design in action.
Where Executive Assistant Work Meets Org Design
A lot of what I do at home and work mirrors the principles our consultants use with clients:
1. Prioritization: Choosing the Right Work at the Right Time
At home, I’m constantly deciding what needs my attention now and what can wait until later. This means balancing homework, athletic events and personal responsibilities, making sure that everyone’s most important needs are met while optional obligations and activities are handled as we can get to them.
At work, I help our CEO and leadership team do the same. This is core to organizational alignment—channeling energy into the most strategic things, not just the loudest or most urgent. I help protect time for strategic conversations, client needs and transformational work rather than letting the calendar fill with noise.
2. Designing Systems That Support People
A mom of four cannot survive without systems. Neither can a growing organization. (At home, this means carpools, crock pots, and nightly planning conversations with my husband on how we will divide the demands of the upcoming day.) At work, this looks like building processes for travel, planning internal events or managing the flow of information. I’m essentially doing mini org design: creating small but powerful structures that make it easier for people to do their best work.
As our team grows and evolves, those structures matter even more. They reduce friction. They enhance clarity. And most importantly—they help real humans succeed.
3. Clarifying Roles and Hand-offs
Nothing derails a household—or an organization—faster than confusion about “who is doing what.” At home, this means having a clear plan on how my oldest is getting to lacrosse practice or who is in charge of dinner. It extends to work—part of my role at AlignOrg is making sure the right people are involved at the right time, that communication flows cleanly and that nothing gets lost in the hand-offs. This is one of AlignOrg’s core beliefs: role clarity is foundational to organizational success.
4. Enabling a High-Functioning Operating Model
Every family has an operating model (even if we don’t call it that). Ours includes routines, responsibilities, rules and rhythms. Pro Tip: Our family utilizes a large digital calendar that gives each person a clear understanding of what is required each day. AlignOrg teaches companies to build operating models that connect strategy to day-to-day behaviors, and I get to help reinforce that internally. Through planning, scheduling and internal events, I help ensure our rhythms support our strategic priorities. The right operating model turns vision into action, and my job is helping us live ours every day.
Internal Events: Alignment in Real Time
One of my favorite responsibilities is planning our internal summits, offsites and learning forums. These aren’t just meetings—they are intentional spaces where alignment becomes visible.
In every event, I see org design come to life:
- Leaders clarifying direction
- Teams realigning around priorities
- Roles and responsibilities resetting
- New capabilities being built
- Connections strengthening across groups
These gatherings create the momentum organizations need to stay adaptable, focused and connected. And I take pride in creating the environment that enables those conversations to happen.
Why I Love the Work
Even on the busiest days (and trust me—there are many), I’m motivated by knowing that what I do supports our broader mission. Because when a CEO operates with clarity, when teams understand the strategy, when communication flows smoothly and when the organization is aligned, everyone wins. At home, when the systems work, when the priorities are clear and when alignment is strong—everything becomes just a little bit easier. Behind the scenes, that’s my contribution to org design. And it’s one I’m proud to make every single day.
