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Dear Miss Know It All,

I want to go from working full time to working part time, but I love my job. How can I get my boss to let me change my hours? The good news is that I have a significant other that brings in a good income, so making this switch won’t hurt my pocketbook too much. And I have been at my job for over 10 years. I feel like I have a good chance of asking and getting what I want. I guess I’m just nervous about asking.

Missy Independent
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Dear Miss Know It All,
When is it appropriate to tell your boss to leave you alone and when should you just answer their requests? Example: I was watching the Academy Awards a few months ago which is always held on a Sunday night. As the awards started, my smart phone goes off and I pick it up to see an email from my boss. What was so pressing she couldn’t wait to tell me on Monday morning? A box of hair dye! She wanted me to order her a special box of hair dye. I am not joking. Of course at 9:00 pm at night I answered the email and said “I will handle it.” Should I have ignored this until the next day?
Working 24/7
Dear Working,

Oh dear. Unfortunately, some bosses do want an immediate response, but on a Sunday at 9:00 pm you didn’t have to answer unless it was an emergency. I sometimes will receive an email late at night to let me know something needs to be handled BEFORE coming in the next day. That makes sense. The order you were asked for is odd, but a simple email back saying “OK” is all you needed to do. No need to drive yourself crazy with this.
As the British say,keep calm and carry on.

MKIA

Send questions to: dealingwithdivas@gmail.com

Dear MKIA,

Usually I read your column and nod in silent agreement with the questions and the answers. Usually the questions are about real life events that touch close to home — mainly my home away from home — my job.
So today I find myself in a strange position. I am writing to say I actually have been of late getting along with my boss really well. This is leaving me a bit unsettled. I guess my question is this: will the magic last?

Happy in Hollywood

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Dear MKIA,

l am not sure if you can even help me with my frustration at work but here it goes! My boss recently had a routine teeth cleaning scheduled with her longtime dentist. Unbeknownst to me, she had also scheduled on her own a follow up meeting with her dentist to talk about prior dental work and the future. I got a call the day of the appointment to say the doctor wouldn’t be there, however, the dental tech who was ready to do the cleaning was, so I kept the schedule as it was and didn’t say anything, thinking it wasn’t important. Well, you know what happened next, of course. Boss lady gets there, finds out the change while sitting in the dental chair, and gets up and leaves, refusing to have her teeth cleaned. I get ripped later at the office when she returns for not telling her the doctor wouldn’t be there.
This kind of stuff happens all the time and it just frustrates me and makes me question why I still come to work every day. Help!

Am I Too Sensitive

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dealingwithdivas@gmail.com

Dear MKIA,

I have finally decided to move to another state where the pace is drastically different and starting my life over. I’m kind of done with the Executive Assistant world. Many of my friends still work in this “world” and some of them are really giving me a hard time  about leaving. I have a job all lined up and I will definitely be living a completely different lifestyle far away from Hollywood. It bothers me that my friends are treating me like a some kind of person who is “lesser than” now that I won’t be working with celebrities. What to do?

Leaving On a Jet Plane

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Dear Miss Know It All,

I am curious as to how many letters or emails you receive and do you ever answer privately? You know, off the record? Thanks.

Want to Know

Dear Want,

The volume varies. It used to be a lot more when I was living and working in Hollywood. But that’s okay. I have plenty else on my plate these days! As to your question about answering “off the record” – sure, I am happy to do that. However, I personally feel that putting this column out here in a public forum does more good than harm.

MKIA

Send your questions to dealingwithdivas@gmail.com.

Dear Miss Know It All,

I’m so tired of being out of work! I never seem to stay in my jobs for very long. What can I do in the interview process to get a job and keep it?

Looking for Work in LaLa Land

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Dear Miss Know It All,
How do we deal with the divas in our lives?
Miss Guided

Dear MG,

Here’s a look at my TOP TEN ways to deal with a diva:

10.       Before you begin to interact with the diva in question, thank yourself for making it this far without either poisoning their food or pushing them off a cliff. I commend your level of restraint.

9.         Keep your sense of humor. Bursts of laughter for no reason are a great way to relieve the tension in the room.

8.         Don’t take anything personally. Let everything roll off your back. Of course, if you do this instead going into your usual panic mode, this will totally alarm the diva and render them harmless.

7.         If you can’t take it anymore, speak to the one person who can do something about the situation. Whining to your best friend is a nice start.

6.         Take up kick boxing or self defense karate classes. This will prepare you for anything!

5.         Learn a foreign language that the diva doesn’t understand and conduct all communications with them in that language. Esigente di persona!

4.         Show up dressed in identical clothes as the diva. Who’s the diva now? Take that!

3.         Call up the diva’s friends and tell them the diva has invited them to a party. When they all show up at the house dressed to the nines at the non-party with no food or alcohol in sight (heaven forbid!), blame it on the diva’s fragile state of mental health. Suggest they all sign a petition to get the diva committed to the closest psycho ward.

2.         The best way to deal with a diva is to ignore them.

1.         If you’ve followed all the advice above (and your diva happens to be your boss), I’d suggest you start looking for another job at night and on weekends.

MKIA

Send questions to: dealingwithdivas@gmail.com

Dear Miss Know It All,

Why don’t you write about the day to day life of  author Louise Hay? I don’t care about the letters you answer here.

D.S.

Dear D.S.,

Oh my. Well the “letters” are from real  celebrity personal assistants asking for advice. But since you asked, here’s a peek into the real rundown on Miss Hay’s schedule:

Mornings usually start with mediation, yoga and/or pilates, then a green drink topped off with reading fan mail, doing radio and magazine interviews (we just did one for someone in Slovenia!). Lunch can be with friends or visiting authors, maybe a stroll in San Diego’s Balboa Park, with the afternoon filled with writing her latest book or skypeing with collaborators, calls to her corporate office, picking out new carpets for her home, buying  plants for her vegetable garden, and/or approving grants given by her Foundation. This is when she is home and isn’t traveling to speak some- where!

MKIA

Send your questions to: dealingwithdivas@gmail.com

Dear Miss Know It All,

I have heard that those who work as personal assistants aren’t suppose to have plants, pets or people in their lives. That can’t really be true, is it?

Dear Perplexed,

Positively! Okay, getting away now from the use of all words beginning with the letter P… let’s just say that for some employers this is actually true. There are those folks who demand your attention 24/7. If you are young, and unattached you might want to work a job that requires you to travel a lot. Or to run errands in the middle of the night. However, for the rest of us with kids, significant  others, friends, and yes, pets or plants, we really prefer to have our work time and our personal time.
It is an industry myth that EVERYONE in the  entertainment industry demands that everyone that works for them be available 24/7. That’s really not the case. Why? Because those celebrities also have — gasp! — people, pets, parents, and plants in their life too!
Of course there is the remote chance that they might hire YOU to take care of said parents, pets, plants etc. In that case, all I can say is good luck with that and demand they pay you WELL!

MKIA