My name is Angela Young and I have been Executive Assistant to the CEO & COO for 5 years. Approximately six months ago I received an email from Annie Hardy, who is the Executive Assistant to the Bishop at my church. The email message was not the first thing I noticed, but it was the designation after her name, CAP. I immediately became curious about what the letters stood for because I never knew that anything like this existed for Executive Assistants. I decided the next time I saw Annie in church I would ask her about it. Unfortunately, I didn't see Annie again until two weeks before Christmas. However, when I saw Annie I immediately ran up to her quite excited and asked her about the CAP designation behind her name. She explained what CAP stood for, encouraged me to join IAAP, and made me realize this was something I needed to pursue for my own self development, growth potential, and compensation. During my conversation with Annie, she informed me another member of our church Anita Spry was also an IAAP member and had both her CAP and OM certification. Within five minutes of our conversation, Anita approached us and I literally bombarded her with questions about CAP and asked what OM stood for. She was very excited to answer all of my questions and offered to email information about IAAP and the various certifications. True to her word, the next day Anita sent me the link to IAAP and a link to Marie Herman's CAP study group. Within that same day , I joined IAAP. I also went to my boss who was very excited to hear about my decision to pursue certification and immediately had the company pay for my membership, CAP Study Group, and books. Both Anita and Annie offered to help me in any way possible. By having a support system such as Annie, Anita, Marie Herman's CAP study group, and more importantly my company behind me, I knew I had made the right decision and am very excited about my CAP journey.

Congrats on taking the leap toward CAP. Great networking provides you the courage to take this great leap. You got this.

You have several important messages in your story - that you need to develop networks with your colleagues and that you need to ASK your company to support your training. Great job! Let's get this done!

What a great story! I love your enthusiasm. Congratulations on taking this next step in your personal and professional development. With the support of your friends and the guidance of Marie through your study group, I have no doubt you will earn your CAP. Best wishes with your studies. We can't wait to celebrate your success with you!

Excellent story! Sounds like the 3 of you should celebrate with us at Summit. Hope to see you there.

Congratulations on taking these next steps toward your own certification! I'm thrilled to hear that you have your own support network with your company, other IAAP members/friends, and Marie's study group! Best wishes for your studies!

You go girl!

Angela - Fantastic story. Good luck with your pursuit of the CAP designation. Your curiosity and interest in wanting to know what CAP stood for and what IAAP is about is commendable. Welcome to the association. You should consider doing an article for "The OfficePro."

Linda L. Rolfe CAP (Ret.), OM

Thank you so much for your comments. How can I not be excited when I have such a dynamic group of women cheering me on. Linda when I get my CAP certification I may consider writing an article for "The OfficePro" because when I pass my CAP certification my excitement will be taken to a whole new level.

Angela - Look forward to reading your article in "The OfficePro" after you attain your certification.  Keep us posted on how you are doing.