As we enter 2020 we have lined up a great list of ACEA® Alumni interviews.
First in 2020 is the wonderful Marcela Brito from Brazil.
Marcela attended the Advanced Certificate for the Executive Assistant: ACEA® in São Paulo in 2019.
Marcela is a great supporter of the profession in Brazil and publishes her own Blog and has published her first book “Secretariado Intercultural”
Marcela Brito
Hi Marcela,
Please tell us a bit about yourself?
My name is Marcela Brito and I am a Brazilian executive assistant. Currently I live in Brasília, Federal District, Brazil. Here I work at Brazilian Agriculture Research Corporation.
My main role is to assist the Innovation and Technology Executive Board. My responsibilities involve managing the agenda, planning the work trips, scheduling meetings in and outside the company and to become the relationship with partners easier.
I am married for seven years with an executive assistant, Victor Brito, and we have a daughter, Elisa. She is six years old and is too smart. In addition my professional experience, my husband and I own a little business. We help people and companies to achieve better results and perform in a highest level through mentoring and short trainings. We offer professional education based on customer service, business etiquette and office management.
As a hobby I also own a blog for ten years where I write about how to be a better professional, how to handle with difficulties in workplace and how to share the workplace with peers and bosses think different from us.
Finally, in 2015 I published my first book, named “Intercultural secretariat: how to help companies and professionals in business abroad”.
Where and when did you attend your ACEA® training and who delivered it?
I attended my ACEA in São Paulo, Brazil, from 10 to 14 June, 2019. Richard Arnott was our instructor in this training.
There are many training courses available for Executive Assistants. Why did you choose ACEA® in particular?
Actually we were demanded by our boss (my colleague and I) to find out a strategic course to improve our professional performance. In Brazil we have many courses and trainings for executive assistant, however, none could effectively boost us to achieve better results in our routine. Then, my colleague Tatiana already knew this training because her sister attended one year before in the United Kingdom. ACEA presents all contents are really important to perform as a manager, as a real advisor for our boss. Subjects as Project Management, Communication Skills and Financial management are mandatory for the modern executive assistant. For our surprise this training was announced to happen in Brazil this year. So, we met with our boss to show him the content and to convince him to allow we both to attend the training. He accepted and there we went!
What were your favourite subjects covered and why?
In this training my favourite subjects were time management, Communication skills, profile assessment D.I.S.C., project management and the abilities around the modern executive assistant profile.
Has achieving ACEA® helped you personally or in your career?
ACEA has expanded my vision about myself and how I could manage my knowledge to become a better executive assistant and to deliver more results than I was demanded for. In my personal life and experiences ACEA allowed me to meet people I just followed in social media as Taís Fagundes, who was the key person to defend ACEA promotion in Brazil. This was one of the best experiences I have ever had in my whole professional life!
Was there anything in particular that you remember returning to the office with and implementing?
My relationship with my peers and boss improved immediately because I came back to the office understanding people’s different ways to think, act and make an important decision. From this comprehension moment, I have changed my behaviour when I have to report my work for each person in my team.
If a friend or colleague asked you to convince them to attend ACEA® what would you say to them?
After achieving ACEA® many people in my network asked me about this experience. And always as possible I share my learning in this training, the way I overcame my limitations and fears with the foreign language and how I became a more rational and assertive professional. In addition, ACEA became possible to access a knowledge which helped me to think ahead in comparison with other people where I work and where I live. ACEA really changed the way I do my work and the way I see people around me. I am so grateful for this opportunity!
Blog link: www.marcelabrito.com
Instagram: @marcelascbrito
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/marcelabrito
The Advanced Certificate for the Executive Assistant: ACEA®
is running in
Rio de Janierio 15 – 19 June 2020
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