Yo.
I’m searching for a new personal assistant again and hope I don’t give up like I did the last few times.
Anyways, before you continue reading, you have to be based in Tokyo, and you have to be fluent in Japanese and English. I mean fluent-fluent. These are non-negotiables, so please don’t email me if these things don’t apply to you.
You don’t need to know anything about photography, tech, or startups; it’s the least important thing with this role for me :) I don’t care if you shoot on a Mamiya or were employee #4 at Uber, I need help with everything BUT startups and photography. It’s a nice plus if you have an aesthetic vision or an understanding of work, but it is not important. I need a lot of other things though:
Flexibility. I don’t mean late night work or anything of the sort! But my job field is very spontaneous, things come up very last minute. I would love to find someone who I can trust enough to watch my cat Louie for a night or two if I have to leave for a work trip, for example. Overall, I’m writing this huge list here of things I need, but I mainly need flexibility. I need help, but I am also flexible enough to find out what exactly I need help with. Maybe it’s just feeling like there is another brain or another set of eyes making sure that I have my life together.
Making shit happen. You can’t be afraid to pick up the phone to call a hotline, argue with FedEx, change a flight reservation, make an appointment, etc. I have enough confrontation in my daily work, and I'd like to avoid it entirely in my personal life. If I need something reserved at a certain time, you have to make it happen. So be prepared to argue with movers, vendors, and anyone else necessary to get shit done. I need someone who can be pushy in my name, and also I need someone to annoy me if I’m not getting my things done.
Organization. My photography archive is a mess, I lose rolls all the time. I don’t keep track of emails, forget things, everything is in chaos basically, so I need someone to be able to collect bills, track invoices, organize my life! I am also planning to buy and renovate a house in Tokyo, which I will need help with coordination in a few months with workers and moving, etc. The great thing about me being unorganized is, I will adapt to whatever method works for you. Whether you make Notion documents or use some other system or app, whatever works for you will hopefully work for me. I need help with organizing my closet, organizing and responding to emails, managing my calendar, handling requests, life organization!
Scheduling. Currently, I am saying no to 99% of things being asked of me or being offered to me, because I am overwhelmed with scheduling my own time. For example, I get asked for a lot of Thiel Fellowship interview help by students or founders looking for advice, and I never reply to any of them (asshole), and I would need someone to just coordinate these things and give me 20-minute time slots and put them in a shared calendar. Appointments, meetings, travel, everything needs to be a bit more organized.
Above all, I want to find someone trustworthy and respectful that is nice to be around, that makes me a bit more complete; Please write me an email, I don’t need a cover letter, I don’t want any typos, I don’t need a giant CV, send me your social media, tell me how you like to spend your free time, where you live in Tokyo, where you want to head in life (so I can see how I can be helpful to you in any way), if you like to travel, any information that you think I might find helpful. Japanese and English are a must, French would be a plus (I live there for part of the summer). You will be part of my life, so I want to find someone who I am not embarrassed to show my chaos to. I am very protective of my privacy and my personal life, and I just want transparency and trust - I am an open book when it comes to sharing contacts and sharing knowledge, and the last thing I want in my space is someone who is there for the wrong reasons.
And don’t rush sending out something badly written, I am assuming I will be getting a lot of emails, so I will read them over the next week. So it’s not first come, first serve!
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