Leadership Team
Gina Cotner
FOUNDER & CEO
“We love each other like family. We have the unique ability to wear different hats with each other.
Sometimes it’s the CEO developing her managers. Sometimes it’s girlfriends supporting each other through a tough spot in life. Sometimes it’s the Millennial schooling the Gen Xers on technology or the more modern way to do something.
One of us is a mother of two. One of us is an only child with no children. One of us is a foster parent who had 5 girl siblings in her home!
We are bold and communicate straight. We pull the best out of each other. We are compassionate and generous.
We hold each other to account. In our space people thrive. Wellness and Family are top priorities.”
–Gina
Fun facts:
- Serious Dog Lover
- I love word games and card games
- Big time Pickleball enthusiast
- I’m a fighting warrior for people living lives that they love
Jennifer Tracy
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & CLIENT CARE MANAGER
“It is an honor to be a part of this team. We work for each other and with each other. Communication is the key to the success of any relationship. Being in communication on a daily basis allows us to work through anything together, fulfill on each other’s expectations, find the gaps of what is not working and put structures in place to have it work, and ensure that our clients and team know we have their back. I get to live an amazing life because of these two ladies and the space that they hold for my humanity and my greatness!”
–Jennifer
Fun facts:
- I obsess over my dog Tes
- I love traveling anywhere with my husband, but especially Cabo
- I love to cook!
- My favorite music is Frank Sinatra, ABBA and Air Supply and I own it!
Dorian Zarbakhsh
OPERATIONS & PERFORMANCE MANAGER
“Working with these two ladies is unlike working anywhere else. We wear many different hats. We are friends, partners, and colleagues. Sometimes, we discuss things as Ops Manager to CEO. Sometimes, it’s Performance Manager to Client Care Manager. Sometimes, it’s girlfriends catching up on how life is for us. Regardless of which role is speaking to which, we are relentless about having the other win. We empower one another, we lead each other, and we don’t let one another get away with anything less than our best selves. There is truly nothing like leading and being led by people who empower you and want your life to work.”
–Dorian
Fun facts:
- Love the outdoors with my husband and Daughter
- Enjoy my Reformer Pilates sessions
- My happy place is near any body of water
- Empowering and elevating people is my passion
Blog Articles About Athena
Case Study: RISC Zero
Case Study: RISC Zero Background: RISC Zero, a brand-new start-up, came to us smack in the middle of the pandemic, August 2022. They were in need of executive assistance to support their operations and leadership team. It was no coincidence they were referred...
Case Study for Athena Executive Services
Best Selling Author, Gary John Bishop “My career is about to go ape-shit” This case study demonstrates one of the many different places our potential clients find themselves before they hire us. Gary was in the ideal place when he approached us – a place that many...
Creating Systems That Work for You Now
As you may know, I was part of Athena on its inception day several years ago. I was the first contractor hired here and was a part of our firm’s growth for four years before being offered an opportunity to serve an impact investing firm as their Chief of Staff....
Does Having an Executive Assistant Feel Too Fancy?
Do you ever have the experience that you work all week and then most of the weekend you're still working, but for a different boss? Do you shift from working for your boss or your company to working for the family or household? Even though I'm 52 and the term...
Jet-Set with Ease: Smart Travel Hacks
I have been traveling a lot this year. Two to three trips a month. Most of it was planned before the end of 2023 so I knew it was coming. I’m excited to share with you my thinking, my structures, and my approach to travel, which helps make travel smooth and...
From Conflict Management to Conflict Curiosity
What is the best way to avoid or manage conflict? I hate conflict as much as the next person, but there is an interesting paradox here. If you get interested in the conflict or issue, then a lot of the fire or fury can quickly be taken down a notch. People tend to...
Trusting the Captain of Your Ship – Your EA
Gina celebrated a milestone birthday a couple of years ago and wanted to do something on her bucket list - a yacht trip around the beautiful Puget Sound area where she lives most of the year. How the heck do you plan something so fabulous? You turn to your EA, of...
Your Time and Your Health
“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.” – Henry David Thoreau We all know that rest and sleep allow our body and mind to recover, rejuvenate and heal. Studies have shown how important this is. Experts have published articles and papers about...
Learning and Growing Together
A couple weeks ago we had our Athena Leadership retreat. This happens a couple times a year with me and our two managers, Jennifer and Dorian. We met together right back where we were last January, in Pismo Beach, California. This is one of my happy places. It’s on...
Delegating: Take the Risk and Be Surprised
I have been doing a lot of podcast interviews lately. (Thank you, Your Expert Guest.) It has given me the opportunity to speak to many different audiences and communities, from architects to bookkeepers, to women lawyers and moms running businesses. I particularly...
What Does an Assistant Really Want to Do?
What FEEDS a high-caliber Executive Assistant? They want to be of Service to you! You may think to yourself, “Really, they want to do this stuff that I absolutely do not want to do?” Yes, they do. “Really, they want to book my airline tickets and send out birthday...
Do I Have to Be ‘Cute Bitchy’?
“Cute bitchy, but not "bitchy" bitchy.” – The Diplomat. S1 Ep 3. There I was one evening where I often can be found, on the couch sitting next to my honey after he has cooked a great meal and I have thoroughly cleaned the kitchen. It was around 8pm when we usually...
Athena Team spotlight: Rachel Brown
https://youtu.be/tCb4pSQud9s Executive Virtual Assistant, Rachel Brown Meet Rachel Brown - one of our incredibly talented Virtual Executive Assistants. ⭐️ Rachel loves the work-life balance she helps her clients achieve, while also maintaining a healthy balance for...
Athena Team Spotlight: Hope Beach
Athena EA Hope Beach shares what she loves about working with Athena and describes the 'culture of yes' that is at the forefront of everything we do. AND… Congratulations to Hope who walked the stage last weekend for completing her Master’s Degree! ...
Security and Confidentiality
https://youtu.be/yHmNEzShvuk How do Athena EAs manage confidentiality, discretion, and security? Our Executive Assistants operate with the highest level of integrity required - which is all-important when you have people’s personal lives and personal data in your...
The Wild World of AI
https://youtu.be/6E5wgRpKFOk Gina, Jennifer, and Dorian discuss how AI is being used by their team to support clients. Dorian explains that they are using AI to help with scheduling appointments, proofing calendars, and preparing for debriefing. They also discuss how...
Overlapping Remote Work with Vacation
We enjoyed reading this recent article from the Wall Street Journal about working remotely while on vacation. We always encourage Athena EAs and our team to do the prep work before a scheduled trip or time off, so they can truly relax and recharge. However, one of the...
Seven Years of Athena Executive Services!
This month marks the seventh Anniversary of Athena Executive Services. Happy birthday to us! The Athena Leadership Team recently came together to reflect on where we've been, the state of things currently, and where the company is headed in the next five years....
What Wellness means to the Athena Team
What does wellness mean to you? To the Leadership Team at Athena Executive Services, Wellness is more than one's physical fitness or simply not being sick. WELLNESS is a core value of our company, with a laser focus on both health and personal happiness. Recently,...
Delegation is Empowering!
Athena CEO Gina Cotner does a household purge pretty regularly, going through closets and adding things to the giveaway pile. Recently she noticed that a lot of what she was sorting through represented who she was five years ago. Some of this had to do with the...
Perception vs. Reality
We will always take the opportunity to sing the praises of our high-caliber Executive Assistants. The role of an EA is so much more complex than many people realize! This article gives some great examples of the types of things an EA actually does - and the perception...
The Humbling Power of Learning Something New
There is something special about coming together with people in your community, and I’ve discovered it’s even more rewarding to meet your neighbors on a sport court for some friendly and fierce competition. I’ve written about my recent Pickleball obsession, but I’d...
Hooked On Delegation
For the first few years of owning and operating this business I didn't have an assistant. I was running a firm centered around the great benefits of having an Executive Assistant, but I had never had an Executive Assistant myself. It wasn’t really a problem, because I...
When a Team Member Leaves the Nest
If you’ve listened to any of the podcasts where I’m interviewed about our company and the VA industry at large, you’ve likely heard me answer the question, “So, how did Athena come to be?” And then I tell the tale. In the tale you learn that the first two people on...
Gina Joins the Authentically Successful Podcast
Gina was recently featured on the Authentically Successful Podcast, joining Leadership coach and podcast host, Carol Schultz, to talk about her journey through various entrepreneurial ventures to arrive at Athena Executive Services. Gina and Carol speak about the...
Effective Leadership and Remote Teams
Knowing and empathizing with whatever your remote workers are dealing with is critical. As someone who has always had staff who work from home, I have always been interested in what’s going on at home. Why? Because that’s the environment in which they are working (for...
Alone Time is Quality Time
I need to be alone sometimes. I’m not mad. I’m not upset. It’s just one way that I refuel and rejuvenate. Once an only-child, always an only-child. And I think when you’re a Gen X only-child, that somehow makes you even more independent and seeking some alone time....
Invest in your talent
We have always been a virtual company. Our team of high-caliber, high-performing Virtual Executive Assistants are located all across the United States. Working from home is a benefit and advantage for our contractors. However, this doesn't mean they are working alone!...
Giving Thanks
This is the time of year that giving thanks is truly celebrated, and we have so much to be grateful for! We are deeply thankful for everyone on the Athena Executive Services Team, both past and present. We are especially thankful for every client we have ever had...
Finding the Time to Live a Balanced Life with Gina Cotner
Athena Executive Services CEO Gina Cotner was recently a guest on Robyn Crane's podcast, "Growing Your Financial Business...The Woman's Way". Outsourcing work or expanding your team can be scary, especially if you’ve always handled it on your own. But if you follow...
B students, be proud!
I saw an article like this one last month and it made me smile. Yep, I was a B student! I graduated from high school with a 3.25 GPA and from college with a 2.75 GPA. Not exactly what mom and dad hoped for, yet paid a lot of money for, but it really did all turn out....
The Red Hot Chili Peppers, delegating thinking and fuzzy sweaters!
Athena CEO Gina Cotner recently had a fantastic conversation with Erin Keam on her podcast, "Erin Keam's Conversations about Closets with my Closest 1000 friends". The two talk delegation, breaking free to get back to the things you are truly passionate about, and so...
Partnership: The Key to Growth
You need partners to be able to grow, and I’ve been incredibly fortunate in this world. Meet my great friend, Dorian. Here we are five years after I founded this firm, Athena Executive Services. She no longer works for me, but we are still very close. She's now...
The Joy Of Not Being Accountable
A few weeks ago I wrote this blog on how I was preparing to completely relax and recharge on my upcoming vacation. Well... I did it! I did the real work and it paid off. The Operations Manager at Athena, Jennifer Tracy, was a Rockstar. It wasn’t all smooth sailing...
Matthew Jarvis: The real list of what one Executive has delegated to his Assistant
This newsletter was shared by one of our clients and it really captures why one would have a virtual executive assistant: Hi, In theory, delegation should be the simplest of tasks. Simply ask/pay someone else to do it. The reality is that for most people, delegation...
How Athena Started
I left IBM in 2006 to “become an entrepreneur”. After going to motivational conferences and reading some Robert Kiyosaki, my 32-year-old self said to herself, “No need to be bound to a large corporation! I’m going to go be free! I’m going to be in control of my...
Questions Executive Assistants and Executives Should Ask Each Other
Great stuff again from Jeremy Burrows! Jeremy is an Executive Assistant, Author and Podcast host. In this Op-Ed for Base, Jeremy discusses effective Communication, and outlines specific questions Executives and their Assistants should be asking each other. "Think back...
Would I have done anything differently?
Recently I was interviewed by a couple of students from the Entrepreneurship Program at the University of Washington. One of our current clients asked me if I would be willing to speak with them. When she introduced me via email, she said, “I believe that the training...
The Leader Assistant
We've been looking forward to the launch of this book! Our CEO, Gina Cotner, had the honor of writing a recommendation for The Leader Assistant, that is included on the inside pages. She was also interviewed by author Jeremy Burrows on his podcast last year, The...
WFH Perils and Predicaments – Part 3
Turning distractions and disruption into value! The distractions and disruptions that happen working from home, can be turned on their head into something valuable. The annoyance or burden of laundry or dishes can be turned into a “brain break” or a break in the...
Communication Secrets of Remote Teams
"Working from home, we don’t have hallway conversations and office parties that strengthen relationships and build trust. Also absent are the contextual clues that help us interpret meaning: body language, facial expression, and tone of voice. Without context,...
Co-viral Living: Sharing Your At-Home Workspace
Are there now two of you working from home in some amount of shared space? Have you started working through the issues that have popped up? Is this a cool new future emerging for you two, or a case for one of you moving to a tent in the backyard? We’ve been there!...
Happy 4th Birthday Athena!
It’s Athena’s 4th birthday this week! Four years ago, we incorporated. And how are we faring? All in all, well. We are grateful. This business has always “worked from home”, whether it’s me the CEO in a two-bedroom condo near Alki Beach in Seattle, WA (oh yes, our...
Sharing Our ‘Secret Sauce’
Gina really enjoyed getting to share some of the principles that make Athena EA’s high performers, with the great Personal Assistants at Pepper's Personal Assistants. Gina specifically outlined the “8 characteristics of an Athena Executive Assistant”. These 8 specific...
How Will You Prepare Now to Hit the Ground Running in 2020?
Will you be wondering where your next hot toddy is coming from, or will you be hitting the ground running with gusto in the first week of 2020? Our CEO, Gina Cotner, shares how Athena Executive Services assistants are helping our clients craft and plan now how they'll...
The High Road® Leader Podcast
Athena Executive Services CEO Gina Cotner was recently interviewed by Ron Rael of The High Road® Institute. The two discussed Gina's path to becoming a leader, how she partners with her team of virtual EA's and her definition of good leadership. Listen here: The High...
A Conversation with Dr. Marc Cooper of MBC Consultants
Gina recently joined Dr. Marc B. Cooper, of MBC Consultants, to discuss Core Values and the difference they can make in your company.
CEO Gina Cotner featured on The Leader Assistant Podcast
Our CEO Gina had the pleasure of being interviewed by Jeremy Burrows, on The Leader Assistant Podcast. Gina and Jeremy discuss what it takes to be a virtual vs. on-site Executive Assistant, time management and other tips, and how to set yourself apart as a...
I’m going to have a balanced life – as soon as I find the time- Part 8
I’m going to start to pull all this together now: So, we’ve talked about how time is different than money, in that you can’t make more of it. And we all have the same amount of time. You’ve begun to think about what would be a Balanced Life for you. And we’ve talked...
I’m going to have a balanced life – as soon as I find the time- Part 7
Ok, so now back to my request that you do this project by the end of the month. Many people can’t say if they can do that or not. When you’re out of money you start bouncing checks. However with time, we have some crazy notion that we can keep squeezing things...
I’m going to have a balanced life – as soon as I find the time- Part 6
You may be saying to yourself, “Yes, of course Gina, my CALENDAR IS clearly my check register for Time. Duh. That’s where I would look to see if I had time for that project." I know some of you have amazing calendars. Online. Color coded. Filters that can be turned on...
I’m going to have a balanced life – as soon as I find the time- Part 5
The point here is to get that you’re SPENDING. You know, you talk to your kids about spending money. You maybe talk to them about overspending or "living within their means". Or maybe you are having these same discussions with your spouse or partner. We’re pretty...
I’m going to have a balanced life – as soon as I find the time- Part 4
While we all woke up today with different amounts of money in our checking accounts, we all woke up with the SAME AMOUNT of time. It’s not like I get a 32 hours in a day and you get 20 hours in a day, and you get 35. You, like everybody else, get 24 hours in a day,...
I’m going to have a balanced life – as soon as I find the time- Part 3
Ok, well, as odd as it may seem, I’m going to give you a new way to think about Time by talking about MONEY. Unlike Money, Time is something you cannot make more of. I’ll probably say that 3 more times today. You all have different amounts of money in your checking...
I’m going to have a balanced life – as soon as I find the time- Part 2
A balanced life is different for everyone. It’s personal and individual. One could say that star athletes or famous musicians, have not lived a balanced life (thousands of hours of their life spent mastering their craft), but I suspect in many ways, it gave them the...
I’m going to have a balanced life – as soon as I find the time- Part 1
So the title of this presentation is, "I’m going to have a balanced life - as soon as I find the time". You are, aren’t you? As soon as you find the time, things WILL GET balanced, yes? Today my intention is to give you a new access, or a new perspective, or a new...
Live a balanced life once you have the time
We are delighted to share that our CEO is giving a talk on one of her areas of expertise this month! She is speaking about scheduling and living a balanced life as the luncheon speaker for the Women Business Owners organization on March 28th in Bellevue, WA! A...
Which overdraft fee are you paying on your life?
Money can be made. Time cannot. If you blow $5,000 in Vegas you can earn it back. If you had a day recently where you were overwhelmed and took on too much, and it left you tired and cranky and not great with your kids or your staff, and it gave you a migraine, you...
Remote Workers Outperform Office Workers
We sure do agree with these 3 reasons that remote workers outperform office workers. In addition, we can’t remember the last time we were sick. We’re not sharing germs with the office or the people on the bus or train. We can get some personal things done, so that we...
NEW YEARS SPECIAL- Available this month only – Set Yourself Free in 2019
Was 2018 a crazy year for you? Were you overwhelmed at times? Some days were you running around like a one-legged bear in a butt-kicking contest? And even more importantly - Is this what it looks like you’ll be doing in 2019?Did you make lists knowing you wouldn’t...
5 SIGNS THAT YOU ARE READY FOR AN ASSISTANT
This is an interview of our CEO, Gina Cotner, about the signs that you are ready for a part-time Executive Assistant. We love this interview so much we wanted to share it with you again.
Our Vision for Our Clients
In this short video our CEO shares with you our Vision for our Clients. Many organizations have “A Vision” for the company. We do have a vision for our company, but we also have a vision for our staff, and a vision for our clients. All of them remind us of why we’re...
Podcast from our CEO on Delegation
Gina Cotner, our CEO, was recently interviewed by Matthew Jarvis of the Perfect RIA on the world of Delegation. The Perfect RIA (Registered Investment Advisor) is an organization started by Micah Shilanski and Matt Jarvis who both have financial advisor practices....
Ikigai: A Reason to Enjoy Life
One of our great executive assistants, Dorian Roohi who serves three of our clients, passed this on to us. Ikigai seems like perhaps a mountain with no top, perhaps something we may never perfectly achieve. However the pursuit, or the climb, is enlivening. We are...
When Unsupervised Executives Work from Home
We are a virtual firm. We all work from home. We are people who are extremely effective at supporting a variety of Executives and CEO’s remotely. We are nothing like this guy in this article, but it’s such a fun article about working from home, we had to share it! We...
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