When the Mission Is Personal: How Strategic Support Powers the Woman Leading Base
- The WW Team
- Feb 8
- 5 min read
“It’s not just delegation. It’s knowing I can hand something off and it will keep moving until my input is truly needed. That level of trust changes everything.” — Sara Altuna, President at Base
Over the last several weeks, we’ve profiled pairs of executive assistants and the executive women they support. We’ve shared stories of transformation, about leaders who reclaimed time, stepped into new roles, or found breathing room they didn’t know they needed — all thanks to the power of strategic support.
This is the fifth and final story in the series — and this time, we’re taking you behind the scenes at Base itself, the company behind all of those partnerships.
Meet Sara Altuna, President at Base and the one who both helps executives and cultivates the team of expert executive assistants that support them. So it’s no surprise that Sara practices what she preaches.
This is the story of how Sara and her EA, Tabby Wilkerson, built the kind of strategic, trusting relationship that doesn’t just help things get done — it helps pave the way for growth and success.
Closing the Gap Between What You Should Be Doing — and What You Actually Are Doing
Before becoming President, Sara had led product teams and held senior leadership roles. But even with a sharp eye for systems and scale, she reached a point many leaders do: her days were full, but not in the right way.
“I was spending too much time on repetitive tasks and operational details that kept me out of high-leverage, strategic thinking,” she explains. “It wasn’t just slowing me down — I could feel myself becoming a bottleneck for the team.”
She didn’t want to be a reactive leader, stuck in her inbox or triaging project timelines. She wanted to think deeply, move proactively, and drive the company forward. But there simply wasn’t space.
So she relied on the very solution Base exists to provide: an Executive Assistant who could do more than manage logistics. Someone who could think with her, anticipate her needs, and become an extension of how she leads. That someone was Tabby.
From Behind-the-Scenes to Side-by-Side
Tabby’s path to Base was deeply personal. A mother of two young daughters, she was searching for flexible, meaningful work that aligned with and supported her life — instead of detracting from it.
When she discovered Base,the company’s mission and vibe clicked instantly.
“I had no experience as an EA, but I was all in from day one,” Tabby recalls. “I just kept thinking: this is the coolest company ever. And I wanted to be a part of it in any way I could.”
What started as a freelance role quickly grew. Today, Tabby is Talent Success Manager at Base, coaching EAs across the network — while also supporting Sara directly in her role as President.
It’s a unique, full-circle dynamic: the woman responsible for uplifting the EA community is herself supported by an EA she helped bring into the fold. And their relationship is anything but transactional.
“Sara and I operate like true partners,” Tabby says. “She comes to me with big, sometimes messy ideas, and we work them through together. I’ll challenge her thinking, play devil’s advocate, and she always listens. I know what I say matters.”
Sara agrees:
“It’s not a checklist relationship. As Tabby has learned how I think, what I care about, and how I operate, she’s taken on more complex responsibilities with almost no direction. She doesn’t just support my tasks — she supports my function.”
The Emotional Intelligence That Leaders Didn’t Know They Needed
One of the most unexpected parts of their working relationship? The emotional layer.
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Tabby gives me permission to be human,” Sara shares. “As a leader, you often feel like you have to hold it together for everyone else. But she notices when something hits emotionally. She grounds me. She creates a pocket of space where I don’t have to perform.”
It’s a kind of support that doesn’t show up on job descriptions — but makes all the difference when the pressure is high and the pace is fast.
When asked to describe a misconception that people often have about working with an EA, Tabby echoes the sentiment that an EA plays a role that goes way beyond logistics.
“Most people think EAs are just there to fix calendars. But we’re also second brains, second hearts. We’re here to help our executives succeed — in every sense of the word.”
Real Trust Takes Time — But It’s Worth It
Even with their mutual respect and long history at Base, Sara and Tabby didn’t have a perfect rhythm from day one. It’s a lesson anyone starting to work with an assistant, or any teammate, should know: great partnerships require intentionality.
“There’s this balance, especially for women, between wanting to be clear and not wanting to micromanage,” Tabby explains. “But you have to give feedback. You have to be direct. That’s how you build something real.”
Sara learned to delegate not just tasks, but trust. She started brain-dumping thoughts into Slack or voice memos, and Tabby would run with them — turning ideas into agendas, outlines, or project plans.
As their system evolved, so did the outcomes.
“Now, I can be fully present in meetings. I’m not carrying mental to-do lists in the back of my head,” Sara says. “That kind of clarity? It’s everything.”
What Happens When Women Build for Women
What makes this story special isn’t just that it’s about Sara and Tabby — it’s that it embodies the very thing Base was built to do.
Sara is one of the few women leading a company focused on executive support. And Base is one of the few executive assistant companies that is actively creating space for women to lead.
“A lot of women leaders feel like they have to do everything themselves,” Tabby reflects. “But that’s not sustainable. When we build systems of support — for ourselves and each other — everything changes.”
Sara didn’t just adopt the Base model. She scaled it. And by working side-by-side with an EA who believes in the mission as much as she does, she’s showing exactly what’s possible when we stop trying to lead alone.
One way Base is putting this mission into action is through its 2072 Initiative — a direct response to the persistent gender pay gap. At the current pace, white women in the U.S. won’t reach pay parity for another 22 years. For women of color, it could take until 2072. That’s nearly 50 years too long.
So Base is taking a stand: they’ve committed to subsidizing 20.72% of every hour of support provided to a woman leader by a Base EA. It’s not a discount — it’s a recalibration. A tangible investment in equity, and a signal that accelerating change starts with all of us.
The Right Support Isn’t a Luxury. It’s a Leadership Strategy.
If this story feels personal, that’s because it is. Every story we’ve shared in this series — every woman leading boldly with a trusted EA at her side — is part of a bigger movement. One that Sara and Tabby are actively driving forward.
“There’s nothing like having someone who just gets it — who can meet you where you are, help you move faster, and remind you that you’re not alone,” Tabby says. “That’s what we do at Base. That’s what we believe in.”
And it’s clear: when women support women in this way, they don’t just grow businesses.They change what leadership looks like.
Base pairs high-performing executives with exceptional U.S.-based Executive Assistants — the kind who do more than schedule meetings. They unlock your bandwidth, your vision, and your leadership potential.
Even the Founders of Wednesday Women work with a Base EA. And now you’ve met the woman leading the company behind the magic.
Ready to see what the right support could do for you? Learn more at basehq.com →
