- Iulia Nandrea is an executive assistant to Rana el Kaliouby, the deputy CEO of Smart Eye.
- In her role serving a tech leader, she’s learned to always ask for compensation for your work.
- She says discipline at work and in her personal life has been crucial to hitting financial goals.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Iulia Nandrea, a 35-year-old executive assistant for Rana el Kaliouby, the cofounder and former CEO of Affectiva and current deputy CEO at Smart Eye. Smart Eye acquired Affectiva in 2021 for $73.5 million. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
My career has been very nonlinear. While at university, I bartended and worked as a sales representative for a liquor company to get myself through school. I thought I would go into criminal law, but I realized during those experiences how much I loved the social aspect of my work, so when I finished school I decided to continue working my way up in the hospitality industry.
I moved from Toronto to Maui, Hawaii, after graduating and worked as a wedding and event planner and restaurant manager for five years. But as beautiful and fun as Maui is, I developed what they call “island fever.” After a few years, you can start to feel like you’ve hit a ceiling there, especially if you have a lot of ambition.
