Our vision

Every leader builds a team that runs without them.

Our mission

To set the standard for executive support by designing operations around the leader and not the tools.

Our values

Equity

The leader is at the center, not the tools. Tools before diagnosis is malpractice. The assistant treats their work as a craft, not a task.

Excellence

We fact-check everything. We do not trade accuracy for speed.

Integrity

Not all money is good money. We do not work with people who are dishonest or dismissive of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Our story

LionsPride Associates exists because the industry told Wendy Hernández she was overqualified.

She had spent years deciding who was screened, vetted, and hired, then a decade inside schools, running operations, teaching, and coaching teachers. When she returned to business, she applied for executive assistant jobs. Nobody called her back.

So in 2014, she hired herself. She freelanced for small business owners. Her approach was personal, and referrals filled her calendar. Then she hit an impasse: turn down business or build a team. She chose to build, with the assistants everyone else passed over.

Then she noticed a bigger problem. Leaders were getting generic templates instead of support built for them. They disengaged, and the job started going offshore. They called it a talent problem. She knew it was a training gap.

That is when the teacher came back. When every student learns differently, you build the lesson around how each one learns. That is differentiated instruction, and it is the principle behind Differentiated Operations™ and the LION Method™, which teaches an assistant to read how a leader works and design support around it.

LionsPride Associates™ became a mission to protect a role that has been underfunded for decades and is now being displaced.

Leadership team

Wendy Hernández, CEO and Founder of LionsPride Associates

Wendy Hernández, M.Ed.

CEO & Founder

Massachusetts
M.Ed., Boston Teacher Residency at UMass Boston

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B.A. Human Resources Management and Writing, UMass Amherst; full academic Talented Minority Scholarship
Massachusetts educator licenses in Moderate Disabilities and English
Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses alum

Wendy started her career as a top-biller agency recruiter, then moved in-house at Kayem Foods and New Balance. That is where she learned to screen, source, and read a résumé for transferable skills instead of pedigree.

She transitioned into education and spent ten years inside Boston Public Schools under the leadership of Dr. Lindsa McIntyre, Deputy Chief of Schools. Wendy ran operations for two years, taught special education and English literature for six, and ended her tenure as an instructional coach. She was part of the team that took the Burke High School out of state turnaround status, the only high school in Massachusetts ever to do so.

She founded LionsPride to set a higher standard for the profession and to keep it a viable career in the United States.

Shantal Risk

Chief of Staff

New York
B.S. Communications and Rhetorical Studies, Syracuse University

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Shantal runs day-to-day operations at LionsPride. She leads our staff, Operations Reset engagements, and vendor relationships. She spent three years in staffing at a recruitment agency in Boston, MA, running background checks, reference calls, and skills assessments. That is where our screening standards come from.

Our assistants

These are some of the assistants who support our clients, and there are more on our bench. You meet your assistant before you commit. Every one of them is U.S.-based and trained on the LION Method™ before placement.

Rebecca

Sr. Executive Assistant

Florida
B.A. Technical Theatre and Business Management, Florida Gulf Coast University

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Rebecca supports clients across event planning, project coordination, communications, and scheduling. Rebecca has worked across diverse industries, from managing national programs and sporting events at the American Power Boat Association to overseeing theatrical productions and corporate communications in the Professional Theatre Industry. She has a passion for creating seamless experiences, navigating challenges, and building strong relationships.

Monica

Executive Assistant

California
B.S. Industrial and Systems Engineering, Lehigh University

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Monica supports mission-driven leaders across education and nonprofit work. She came to executive support from operations management at Amazon, where she ran delivery operations and compliance auditing. She is fluent in Spanish, and she builds the systems her clients run on.

Interested in being part of the team? Click below to fill out our pre-assessment form.

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