Mary Fitzgerald’s ‘Selling Sunset’ Assistant Explains How She Got the Job

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  • Nicole Kramer fell in love with “Selling Sunset” and knew she wanted to be a part of it.
  • A cold email she sent to Mary Fitzgerald led to an interview with the ‘Selling Sunset’ star.
  • Kramer says his experience with social media and personal branding landed him the job.

This narrated essay is based on a conversation with Nicole Kramer, social media manager and personal assistant to Mary Fitzgerald. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I sent my resume to Mary Fitzgerald on a whim. I knew I wanted to work for her as soon as I watched the first two seasons of “Selling Sunset”. I am now four months into my job as a social media manager and personal assistant.

I watched “Selling Sunset” when it was just released on Netflix. I was living in Chicago at the time and had just graduated from the University of Alabama with a degree in advertising in 2019. I remember watching the show and feeling like it was the world I wanted to be in – the mansions, the outfits, the luxury and the glamour.

So I emailed my resume to Mary and wrote something like, “Hello, I love ‘Selling Sunset’. I would love to work with you in just about any capacity. Here is my resume.”

I also mentioned that I was going to get my real estate license, which ultimately didn’t happen. I think it was a blessing in disguise because my social media background came in handy for what I do today.

I hadn’t even planned on moving to California, but I knew that if she contacted me, I would go.

I haven’t heard from my cold email for a year and a half

I moved to Los Angeles and started working anyway. When I flew out to view apartments, West Hollywood looked like my scene – I really liked it. Sometimes I walked past the “Selling Sunset” office and was impressed.

I feel like I have manifested this life for myself, because a year and a half after reaching out, Mary reached out to me.

I got a text from a random number late at night (and knowing Mary, it makes so much sense now) that said: “Hi Nicole, I’m Mary Fitzgerald from the Oppenheim Group. I received your resume a while ago. I was wondering if you’re still interested.”

And I was like, wow, no way – I thought a friend of mine was laughing at me. But it was the real deal.

I ended up phoning Mary, then going to meet her with Romain Bonnet. It seemed like the perfect solution.

Here is the resume I sent in my cold email:

The resume Nicole Kramer used to get hired as Mary Fitzgerald's personal assistant.  It shows experience with social media and personal branding in West Hollywood, California, and a degree in advertising.

Working with clients close to Mary and having marketing experience is probably what set me apart.

Courtesy of Nicole Kramer

Mary really liked my social media experience

My resume got me a phone conversation, and then my growing expertise in branding is what continued our conversation. I think what stands out about Mary is my experience with social media.

It was really beneficial that over the year and a half of waiting I worked in social media with other clients in the West Hollywood area. By this time, I had really developed my expertise in social media and personal branding. I think she enjoyed that experience and my degree in advertising.

The interview was more like a consultation

Our meeting was less about Mary interviewing me and more of a counseling session. Their attitudes were not, “Why should we let you work for us?” Instead, they wanted to hear about my ideas and how I could improve their personal brands.

Because I had looked at their pages before entering the meeting, I discussed with them what areas seemed to be missing, how they could increase their numbers, and possible partnership ideas. I think they really trusted my instincts and agreed with all the points I gave them.

Personal assistant Nicole Kramer with owners Mary Fitzgerald and Romain Bonnet.

Mary and Romain are really open to my opinions on what works for their social.

Courtesy of Nicole Kramer

Personal assistant salaries vary depending on who you work for

Some assistants make $45,000 a year, and those working for bigger names can earn up to $220,000 in New York or Los Angeles. It really depends on who you work for and what is required of you.

Mary pays me a good amount of money to have a nice lifestyle in Los Angeles.

Typically, Mary needs a personal assistant about 70% of the time and additional help in other categories the rest of the time. When she was looking for a new assistant, I think she was specifically looking for someone to help with her social media collaborations, as they are such an integral part of her brand.

His social networks are huge – his numbers are absolutely insane, as are the collaboration opportunities available to him. I think she really wanted to start focusing more on her personal brand, so I was a good fit.

My work is different every day

I film then edit all of Mary’s messages on social networks and collaborations with the brand. I also manage Romain Bonnet’s pages, even if he does a lot of things himself. I work mostly on Mary’s social media, but no two days are alike.

Personal assistant Nicole Kramer with owners Mary Fitzgerald and Romain Bonnet.

I film Mary’s content and then edit it at home.

Courtesy of Nicole Kramer

My personal assistant duties include helping her with her daily needs, planning with her stylist, making sure she has all her appointments taken care of, as well as helping with visits and scheduling appointments. open days for the real estate side.

Whenever she has a collaboration, we get it on Mary’s social media calendar and schedule a time to shoot. After we’ve done a few pictures, I go home and edit them. We then submit this to the brands to make sure it matches everything they hoped to have in their creative brief.

Sometimes I help with Mary’s real estate projects

I also help with any real estate listings Mary has going on. For example, one of his clients comes from London and settles here with his family. I helped her schedule screenings so that when he’s in town they have a really good schedule of rosters and screenings lined up so she can take him and his family too.

She has a few other lists that I’ve helped her with as well – for open houses I go with her and the movie content. Last open house we did a ton of amazing drone footage, which my boyfriend helped me with because he’s a videographer. I also help Mary promote ads on social media.

My role will change when we film ‘Selling Sunset’

My time with Mary hasn’t coincided with filming “Selling Sunset” yet. However, we just filmed a whole production for a social media collaboration. I think it gave me a little taste of what my job will be like when filming for “Selling Sunset” begins.

Mary told me that the production days can be very long and that the schedules are constantly changing. I guess for days she’s on set, I’ll probably be with her helping her with anything she needs, then also answering emails and helping film behind-the-scenes content.

My favorite day so far has been attending a photoshoot

I would say my best day working for Mary so far was my first editorial photo shoot with her. Mary had so many different looks — and it was really the first time I got to experience how I imagined California, because COVID had stopped so much production and filming when I first moved here. There’s a lot more going on around LA now, but at that point I hadn’t really seen anyone filming or shooting anything.

It was also my first opportunity to see behind the scenes of a shoot with hairstyle, make-up, changing outfits, a whole production team, a roadmap — a full-fledged photoshoot. It was the epitome of an assistant’s day: I ran out for coffee and met them at every location. Couldn’t have had a better time.

I haven’t necessarily had a worst day, but there are days when there’s a lot of diverse behavior – those are the ones I like the least. Something is going to happen somewhere and I’m going to have to drive 30 minutes, go home, and then go back in the same direction because something else has happened.

I hope that after working with Mary, I will have established myself commercially enough to create more opportunities – social media, real estate or just more business opportunities – for myself. I hope this job will provide me with many networking opportunities and provide the foundation I need to establish myself in Los Angeles.

If you work in Hollywood and want to share your story, email Eboni Boykin-Patterson at [email protected].

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