She Used to Assist Hollywood’s A-List. Now She’s the Boss.
By Lane Florsheim / Photography by Ryan Lowry for WSJ. Magazine • May 17, 2023
On a Tuesday in late April, Meghan Grimm and two of her college interns gathered around her dining-room table for an all-hands meeting. Improvising an office setup in her Greenwich Village one-bedroom, Grimm displayed a laptop on her kitchen island that featured a third intern on video and an elaborate, color-coded spreadsheet filled with the names of celebrities, executives and socialites.
“This is my second official day without Jen, so everything is a little crazy,” she said.
After almost five years as a personal assistant to Jennifer Lawrence, Grimm, 30, parted ways with the Oscar-winning actress to focus on her own company, Clyde Staffing Ventures, where she sets up entertainment-industry players with Meghans of their own. Her client list includes the actors Dakota Johnson, Anne Hathaway and Uma Thurman, and the model Kaia Gerber.
On the spreadsheet were 37 open positions she was working to fill for, among others, an A-list singer; a Gen-Z television heartthrob; both members of a divorced Hollywood couple; and a billionaire businessman in search of a “travel assistant.” Grimm calmly read through the list, noting whom she’d sent candidates to; who needed to see more résumés; and desirable qualities and qualifications for specific clients. She described one, a socialite and businesswoman, as “super polished and proper”—Grimm wanted to send her candidates who were, too.
“I think being an assistant is very much like dating—you have to be 100% compatible with your boss because it is such an intimate job,” she said.
Many stars have multiple assistants and a chief of staff whose job is to know and manage everything about their boss’s life. When a pairing is particularly compatible, the employer could one day become a best friend or business partner to an assistant. On the other extreme, assistants may find themselves at the whims of a tyrannical or abusive boss. Some examples veer into parody: Earlier this year, an executive-assistant job listing for a New York power couple went viral for its extensive list of responsibilities, including managing dog potty breaks and packing the couple’s bags ahead of travel.
Grimm said that for most assistants, a good work-life balance exists, “as long as you’re aligned on boundaries and expectations.”
