The IAAP Achievement Awards highlights an administrative professional each year who has demonstrated advanced leadership qualities, excellence and professionalism in their workplace, and exemplifies the core values of IAAP. We are excited to announce that Emily Vogel, CAP, OM is the 2017-2018 IAAP Achievement Award winner.

Emily Vogel (left) being presented with the IAAP Achievement Award in Austin, Texas

Emily is an administrative professional in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She holds a B.S. in psychology and received her CAP certification in 2014. She has continued her professional development through IAAP, completing both Leadership Academy and a specialty certificate in Organizational Management (OM).

She has worked in Higher Education for over a decade and currently serves as Assistant to the Chair for Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE). She was the first administrative assistant at MSOE to be promoted to that title and, combined with her role on the university’s strategic planning committee, continues to be an advocate for staff to receive equal professional development and advancement opportunities.

Most recently, she was a recipient of the international Office Ninjas All-Star Award and was selected by her campus faculty and staff to receive the Johanna Seelhorst Werwath Distinguished Staff Award. In the upcoming year, she looks forward to pursuing a specialty certificate in Project Management (PM) and serving as Membership Chair for her Milwaukee Branch.

Emily was presented the IAAP Achievement Award during IAAP Summit 2018 in Austin, Texas. She shared a few words with the attendees, and we thought it best to share them with you.

I admit that when I was told I would have to speak to over 1,000 people as they stare at me, it was a little terrifying. But when I thought about who I was speaking to, over 1,000 men and women just like me, over 1,000 administrative professionals, that became much less terrifying and much more inspiring. So, I hope and I pray that today I am able to offer a little of that inspiration back to you.

Receiving this achievement award, especially after only being in the field for a little over ten years, is an absolute honor and incredibly humbling. I confess that when I first heard the news, and I thought of previous recipients—people like Vicki [Hahn], and Ann [Dahlke], and Elizabeth [White-Peters]—I thought, “How can I possibly be ranked among them, with all the work that they have done?”

You see, it’s an annoying little voice, self-doubt. It’s like a perpetual sales call that you struggle to avoid every day because it is convinced you want what it’s selling. So, when I had that very brief moment of self-doubt, I knew what I wanted—what I need—to tell you today in the brief time I had in front of you. And that is… you are deserving.

You are not limited to your job title. You are not the sole of the role given to you, or to the labels you have given yourself. You are brilliant; you are creative; you are valued—and that one is worth repeating. You are valued.

You are the maker of change. You are not merely minute-takers, schedulers, or the keeper of the very good chocolate. You are a business partner; you are an entrepreneur; you are an artist; you are a writer; and you are the smile that someone so badly needs today. So, it doesn’t matter exactly what your little voice is telling you, because that’s a little different for everyone, what matters is that you put down the phone when that call comes in; you don’t want what it’s selling you. You want the truth.

And the truth is that you inspire others and you inspire me. The truth is that you have the power to change the culture of your company. The truth is that you are capable of reaching any goal that you set for yourself and you have more influence than you know. So, I believe that if you believe this you will be so busy making change and tackling your dreams that you don’t have time to answer that call of self-doubt either.

In accepting this award, I would like to thank each of you for inspiring me in all that you do. I want to thank my family for their never-ending support, for giving me solid ground that lets me always reach just a little bit higher. I thank my supervisors, past and present, for seeing something in me and making sure that I see it, too. I’m thankful to IAAP headquarters for continually pushing us forward and bring more admins into our family. Thank you to the selection committee, for hearing my story and awarding me this very great honor.  I thank the Foundation, not for only all the work they do, but for selecting me for a Leadership Academy scholarship. And a very heart-felt thank you to both Francisco and Veronica for leading that, you have irrevocably changed my life in every way. And lastly, but most importantly, I thank my heavenly father, from whom this blessing and all my blessings flow.

Emily is most deserving of this IAAP Achievement Award. Congratulations, Emily.