You open your inbox to what actually needs you.
I sort your email every weekday, answer what I can, draft the replies you'll want to send yourself, and leave you a short list of the decisions that are truly yours.
Fractional executive assistant for small creative companies
Return to your true north.
I’m Heather. After 16 years of keeping senior leaders at Nordstrom and Amazon two steps ahead, I now offer that same operational support to independent publishers and creative studios. I work with teams of 5 to 15 to handle the day-to-day details, helping you reclaim your time, your focus, and your weekends.
Sound familiar?
Somewhere around employee six, you became the company's memory.
It's Sunday night. Dinner's done, the house is finally quiet, and you open the manuscript you've been saving all week. You make it three pages in.
Then the mental checklist starts. Did the printer ever send the revised quote? The venue wants the deposit by Friday, or was it Wednesday? Your designer has been waiting on your notes since Tuesday, and the budget meeting has slid to "next week" three weeks running.
None of it is hard. It all just lives in one place: your head.
Your team is talented, and they care. But the whole picture (who's waiting on what, which deadline is real, what's slipping) exists only in your memory, because you've been there since the beginning. So you carry it. In the shower, on the walk to get coffee, at 11 p.m. when you meant to be reading.
And carrying it all in your head takes the same energy needed for that specialized deep work that only you can do: choosing the next book, shaping the season, having the conversations that make your company what it is.
You've probably thought about getting help. Maybe you've tried handing things off one at a time and spent longer explaining than it would have taken to do it yourself. What you need isn't another pair of hands. It's someone who can take the whole list and carry it for you.
How I help
You can set it down now. I've got it.
That's what I do. TrueNorth EA is a monthly retainer with one senior executive assistant—me—who absorbs the operational noise of running your company, so you can return to the work you actually love.
Your retainer secures a dedicated monthly partnership with about 10 to 12 hours of weekly capacity—but it’s never restricted to a rigid window. I maintain a continuous, responsive presence throughout the standard business week, flexing up during your busy seasons. It’s the same senior partner every month, working right alongside your team when the stakes are highest. Retainers start at $3,500 a month.
Here's what you get to put down:
You can see your whole year on one page.
In our first month I map it out: list planning, catalog and copy deadlines, budget check-ins, launches, the team retreat. Then I keep it running, so nothing sneaks up on you.
The list in your head finally has a home.
Everything you've been tracking moves into one shared plan that I keep current, so the 11 p.m. mental inventory can stop.
Your launch, retreat or fundraiser comes together without eating your month.
I handle venues, vendors, timelines and all the small confirmations, and keep the run-of-show document everyone works from up-to-date.
Planning meetings happen when they should, and people arrive ready.
I schedule them, gather the numbers and notes ahead of time, and send them out early, so the meeting is for deciding.
Your team gets answers without waiting on you.
Scheduling and logistics questions come to me first. You see only the ones that need your judgment.
You hand over the outcome, not a manual.
Sixteen years working beside senior leaders taught me what to own, when to check in, and when to just handle it.
Small fires are out before you smell smoke.
When a vendor misses a date or a contract arrives with the wrong terms, I take care of it.
On Friday, you know exactly where things stand.
A short summary of what's done, what's coming, and the few things waiting on you. Then you can actually have a weekend.
Hello, my name is
Heather
- Role
- Senior executive assistant
- Years beside leaders
- 16
- Most recently
- Amazon, Nordstrom
- Home base
- Greater Seattle
- Fuel
- Coffee, rain optional
About me
I spent 16 years at Nordstrom and Amazon keeping senior leaders' worlds running.
At Amazon, that meant a color-coded calendar across multiple time zones: a finance leader in New York, a team of about 50 from Seattle to Luxembourg, and an annual plan due before anyone felt ready. But my favorite part was never the scale. It was the people. I loved earning the kind of trust where I could rebuild a leader's whole week without asking first, because I knew which meetings mattered and which could wait. Freeing them to stay focused on the big picture.
Today, I bring that same level of organization to independent publishers and creative studios. The leaders I’ve supported over the years loved that they never had to follow up, double-check, or wonder if a ball was being dropped. My goal is always to be two steps ahead of you, clearing the path before you even realize a roadblock is there, giving you back the mental freedom to just create.
I'm a creative at heart, and after years of big-tech pace I wanted my work to help bring something different into the world. So I built TrueNorth EA for the people I most want to help: small creative companies making good books and big ideas happen.
How we start
From hello to handled.
- 1
A free 30-minute conversation
We talk about your team, your year, and what you're carrying right now. No pitch, no pressure.
- 2
A proposal in two business days
What I'll take off your plate, how we'll work together, and your monthly retainer, all in writing.
- 3
We begin within two weeks
Month one is for learning how you work. By month two, the list lives with me instead of you.
Free starter kit
Not ready to talk yet? Start with a rhythm.
The Rhythm of Business Starter Kit gives your team a simple operating calendar, three meeting agendas, and a worksheet to map your year. Build yours in an afternoon.
Good questions
Before you reach out
What does $3,500 a month actually get me?
A dedicated third of my working month, about 10 to 12 hours a week, plus the judgment of someone who's done this for 16 years. Some weeks need more (planning season, the week of your launch) and some need less; it flexes, and there are no time sheets. You get senior-level support without recruiting, training, payroll or benefits, and without paying for 40 hours a week you don't need.
Is my company the right fit?
TrueNorth EA works best for founders of creative companies with 5 to 15 people: independent publishers, authors and speakers with a team, design studios, and arts organizations, ideally on the West Coast. We'll work especially well together if you've had an assistant before and you're ready to hand over outcomes, not just tasks. If you need help with a single project and then you're done, I'm probably not the right fit.
How does this work day to day if you're remote?
You give me access to your email and calendar and add me to your team's chat. I integrate into the systems you already use. I work Pacific business hours, Monday through Friday, and answer messages the same business day. We meet for 30 minutes each week, and you get a short note every Friday. Sudden urgent need pops up after hours? I'm a text message away.
What won't you do?
I don't answer phones or cover a front desk. I'm also not your bookkeeper or accountant; I plan around the numbers and work alongside the people who keep them. Almost everything else on the daily operations side is on the table, and we'll draw the lines together at the start.
How soon can we start?
After our first conversation, I'll send a proposal within two business days. Once you sign, we can begin within two weeks. The first month is for learning how you work, your team and your year, but you'll feel the difference in week one. By month two, most of what you've been carrying should be off your plate.
What if it isn't working?
Tell me, and we'll fix it at our weekly check-in. If it still isn't right, the retainer is month to month with 30 days' notice, and everything I built for you stays with you.
How do you handle confidential information?
Carefully, the way I have for 16 years, including eight supporting finance leaders at Amazon. I'll sign your NDA or provide mine, I use only the access you give me, and you can take it back at any time.
Stay because it's working, not because you signed something.
Bringing someone into your business is a leap, so here's how I make it a small one:
No long contract.
The retainer runs month to month from day one. If you want to stop, email me and give 30 days' notice. That's it.
An honest 30-day check-in.
At the end of our first month we look at it together: what's off your plate, what isn't yet, and what we'll change. If it isn't a fit, you can give notice right there.
Nothing goes back into your head.
Everything I build is yours: your year on one page, templates, vendor lists, project files. If we ever part ways, I hand it all over organized, with a short note on where everything lives.
And the first step costs nothing: a free 30-minute conversation about your team and what you're carrying.
Start a Conversation
Picture next Sunday night.
Dinner's done, the house is quiet, and the manuscript is open.
This time that mental checklist stays quiet too, because it lives somewhere else now. The printer quote came back Thursday and it's approved. The venue deposit went out Wednesday. Your designer has your notes, and the budget meeting is on the calendar with everything people need already in their inboxes.
No more scrolling for the bottom line. No phone lighting up your face. Just the text on your laptop screen, and an hour that belongs entirely to you.
I work with only two or three companies at a time. Right now I have one opening, starting in November. If you're ready to put the list down, let's talk.
After you click
Pick a time that works for you and answer a few quick questions about your team. You'll get a calendar invite right away for a 30-minute video conversation. No pitch, no pressure.
Prefer to write first? Email me at heather@truenorth-ea.com.