Jay Jay Thompson shares her corporate success at SAP America Inc. & Chris Hope Foundation
BY MARYAN AIKEN. ASSISTED BY TAYLOR MAHER. CO CEO INTERN. KENNESAW STATE UNIVERSITY
“The best advice I can give my younger self is believe with all your heart you are more than enough.”
Give us an overview of your role as an Executive Assistant for 3 top level executives at SAP America Inc. Being a right-hand to my executives and anticipating their needs for the business is my first priority. Supporting their teams is secondary. Embracing my talents to add more value to my organizations helps round out my role.
What is a typical day for you at SAP America Inc.? Typical day for me is never typical. I have an action list that I prepare the evening prior and do my best to accomplish it the next day. I run through it as much as I can but I have to be ready for the challenges and hiccups that happen along the way. So, can’t really say typical. It keeps it fresh for sure!
Jamelia (Jay Jay) Thompson
Official Title Executive Assistant
Hometown Columbia, Maryland
School/College Towson University
Major Pre-Med
Company SAP America, Inc.
Number of years at this company 13 ½ years
Reports to Amy Spruill, Southeast RVP . Volker Reinert COO, Latin America and the Caribbean . Kevin Hester COO, NA Ariba. Department Southeast . Charity Involvement Chris Hope Foundation
Look Good & Feel Good
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In your professional experience how do you expertly maintain calendars, book appointments and arrange meetings that meet the needs of the Chief Operating Officer of Ariba North America, Chief Operating Officer of SAP Latin America & Caribbean, and the Regional Vice President of SAP America Inc.? The only way to maintain calendars with meetings and appointments for my three executives is to ensure first that my calendar is managed at its best. I look ahead on calendars as much as possible to anticipate the need, whether it is a customer meeting or an internal call urgently scheduled. Can’t stress enough the understanding of how to logistically plan ahead for each of them. I ensure to speak with them regularly to proactively review what is going on in the next few weeks. The travel content on the calendars have to be the most detailed because in my best control. It is important that I anticipate any shifts, such as a weather forecast, that can change the course of travel. I also look for ways to save money, especially if there is an attendance at the same event. For example, I will seek out who is renting the Hertz car and can have shared rides. Little details such as this can further assist in a successful travel day or meeting execution.
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Your role as a top notch Executive Assistant to 3 busy high level executives requires you to be on your A Game at all times. How do you manage a successful & vibrant home life with your entrepreneur husband Charles, a go getter college freshman student and a 9 year old son who is a promising future business leader? I am a top-notch EA not because I am always on my A game. That’s not it at all. It is very challenging to maintain the personal and professional sides of my household as well as control what I can at SAP. I look at it more as harmony vs life balance because I feel the individual knows their own drives and limitations. What motivates me to excel may not work the same for my colleague as he/she is set with various situations and lifestyle choices that suits them best. When I do make mistakes, I take ownership of it. Not an excuse person. My work ethic keeps me grounded and allows me to adjust and shine at anything that comes my way.
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With the demands from your professional realm & home life, how do you find that critical balance to ensure that you have a Jay Jay Time to refresh and reset to keep yourself at optimized state? I laugh at this question, about refreshment for myself. I am quite guilty of not taking care of myself as I should. When I do take time to reset, a sunset over the Smoky Mountains in a cabin or journey to an awesome city is what I love most. Spending quality time with my family with no disruptions of electronic fervor, listening to any genre of music, or a girls’ weekend helps tremendously with my relaxation. First and most important is staying in prayer and peace with God.
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You have been at SAP America Inc for nearly 14 years. What do you attribute to the longevity and commitment of staying loyal and committed to one company? The commitment of staying loyal to one company is attributed to the belief in the core principles of SAP. Also, my continued longevity is ensuring I have a super network, that is both long and wide. Working with the best in the company endures my commitment.
With 14 years in the making you've encountered challenges and triumphs. Looking back, what was the most compelling challenged you've experienced that made you more pliable to grow and what resolved did you find to offer and implemented? I am thinking the most compelling challenge I ever faced is knowing that there were people ready to attack me and undercover, couldn’t be trusted, because I was the new kid on the block or changed the status quo. I had to work around the adversity of feeling knives around me. A very wise past manager advised me to “sustain.” From there, I focused energies on how I am an attribute to the company and left other noise behind.
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With access to your company’s most sensitive information, highly effective executive assistants must maintain confidentiality and discretion. How do you navigate complex office politics without compromising the significance of confidentiality in the workplace? To keep everything confidential, especially in the most sensitive areas, I play a bit stupid when some may ask me a question that has nothing to do with their business. I also stay diplomatic when it comes to protecting my managers and teams, not really siding with anyone. It’s just best to not look left or right but keep to the middle and in the zone.
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Your skillset as a valued gatekeeper is impeccable and prized by your team at SAP America Inc. If I were to ask Kevin, Volker and Amy, what are the 3 qualities they value about you that's been the vital elements to the success of your overall seamless flow of engagements resulting to the extraordinary pairing you have with each of them, what would they be? Loyalty should be, I believe, the most consistent quality all three of my managers will say about me. I have such a unique relationship with each of them, so it may be best to ask them this value. If I had to gander, they may say also I am authentic. Maybe humble. Hence the reason this is best to ask them, LOL!
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What do you most enjoy about SAP America Inc? The most enjoyable thing to me at SAP is the wonderful people I have always worked with, for and beside. These incredibly smart people make it very rewarding to show up to work every day.
If you were to mentor your younger version, what advice would you give yourself? The best advice I can give my younger self is believe with all your heart you are more than enough.
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Who were your mentors that made a significant influence that redirected your journey and explain why? My Uncle Leon, who is no longer living, was a true business influence for how to live your life and understand where my place should be in the world. My mother (also deceased) was my influence to help me balance my heart. Confidence, style and business sense is what I exhume from my previous Mary Kay business. Currently, I look to my managers as my mentors, as each of them bring a great energy and flavor to our business. I love that they help me better my best.
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What is the secret formula to your success? My secret formula is knowing who I am, what I stand for, and know my true worth to leverage others to do the same.
Your commitment and active involvement with over a dozen of charities at work is unrepresented. With all the charities that you're involved with why did you choose Chris Hope Foundation to focus on as your chosen charity for The Catalysts? It was a tough decision to choose which charity I wanted to promote for The Catalysts event. So many are worthy and in need of more attention to their focus and benefit to the community. The Chris Hope Foundation, housed in Memphis, TN, seemed the most appropriate one to choose because it was a new platform for those who never heard of it, first of all. This foundation assists families that have children with cancer. I believe Chris (the founder by name) has a hybrid style of a Make-a-Wish and Ronald McDonald House Charities that give to the Memphis area. I am hoping my platform can leverage those around me to take action in assisting him brighten these children’s lives, while they are going through many incredibly challenging times with their health. I have close friends who have children or relatives with childhood cancer. Anyone who can help facilitate comfort into the agony of the hospital visits and rounds of chemo for a child, had to be the chosen charity to support.
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With your chosen charity, how can your business colleagues, friends and family help make a difference & to make a significant impact for those families that are directly affected with Childhood Cancer? I am looking forward to my colleagues and friends making a committed decision to support the Chris Hope Foundation as long as they wish and however they wish. I would love for them to out to the Summer Habit website and if they so choose, make purchases where proceeds of certain dollar amounts will help support the Chris Hope Foundation.
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THE CATALYSTS
She is a gatekeeper, a product performance expert, a professional coach and luminary for medical doctors, and a strategic marketing executive for two iconic brands. Collectively, they serve as the stronghold for their respective fields to deliver exceptional contributions to the triumphs of their companies.Their invaluable skillsets are legendary. They consistently deliver commanding impact that is valued and respected by their peers, colleagues, and superiors. Together, they are prized for their accomplishments and revered for their passion to give back to their community and to the important causes that matter to them. We invite you to join them as The Catalysts unite with their peers, friends, and business colleagues to give back to their chosen charities.
The Catalysts Program is written & developed by Maryan Aiken for CityBox Media.
Shop Summer Habit Clothing Co and with every $99 to $199 8% of the proceeds & any purchase from $199 + Summer Habit will donate 10% to The Catalysts’s chosen charity. Shop today and Look Good & Feel Good.
Listening to Spotify. Lose Control. MEDUZA. Becky Hill. Goodboys
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