Estate Manager
Senior leadership for the private home, staff, vendors, budgets, and the day-to-day operation of one or more residences.
Personal Assistant
Hire a Personal Assistant
A personal assistant gives you back the most valuable thing you have, your time. Through Perla, you engage someone trusted to manage the details of private life with discretion and quiet efficiency.
Core Responsibilities
What this role looks after, day to day
Calendar & Scheduling
Owning personal calendars across a couple and their children, appointments, commitments and the quiet buffers that keep a day from unravelling.
Travel & Accommodation
Planning family travel end to end, from flights and cars to hotels, itineraries and the details that make trips effortless.
Correspondence & Gifting
Handling private correspondence, thoughtful gifting, and the memberships, subscriptions and renewals that are easy to forget.
Errands & Personal Shopping
Running errands and personal shopping with taste and discretion, anticipating needs before they are voiced.
Household Liaison
Acting as the single point of contact for household staff, trades and vendors so the home runs without friction.
Private Events
Coordinating private dinners, birthdays and family occasions from first idea to final detail.
The Role
What a Personal Assistant Does
A personal assistant supports the private and household side of a principal's life, as distinct from the business support of an executive assistant. The focus is personal: the home, the family, the calendar, and the hundred small arrangements that make a life run smoothly.
In practice, a personal assistant manages personal scheduling and appointments, coordinates family travel and accommodation, and handles correspondence and gifting. They run errands and personal shopping, liaise with household staff and vendors, and keep track of subscriptions, memberships and renewals.
The Scope
A Single Point of Contact
Many also oversee event planning, private dinners, birthdays, school commitments, and act as a single point of contact for the trades, services and professionals who touch the family's daily life. They might manage a household calendar shared across a couple and their children, book medical and personal appointments, and ensure the home is stocked and ready.
The role calls for anticipation and tact. A strong personal assistant notices what is needed before it is asked, manages sensitive personal information with care, and moves through the family’s world without disruption. Where private and public life can blur, that discretion is essential.
Why Perla
Why Hire Through Us
A personal assistant works close to the heart of your private life, your family, your home, your confidences. Trust is the only foundation for the role.
Perla background-checks and reference-verifies every candidate, and we assess specifically for the organisation, discretion and warmth a personal role demands. We look for assistants who have supported private individuals or families, not only offices, and who understand the difference.
From your first inquiry, your privacy is protected.
What to Expect
Polished, Proven, Discreet
Expect polished, capable assistants with several years supporting private principals or families, verifiable references, and genuine fluency with the tools and logistics of a busy household. Many bring backgrounds in high-end hospitality, private offices or personal staffing.
You can expect total discretion. The personal assistants we place treat your family's affairs as entirely confidential, always.
Inside the Role
The quiet architecture of an easier day
The morning opens with a review of the family calendar, a school pickup shifted, a dinner reservation to secure, a gift that needs to arrive by Friday. The personal assistant clears the small obstacles before they become the principal’s problem.
By afternoon they are confirming travel for an upcoming trip, liaising with the housekeeper about a delivery, and quietly arranging a surprise for a family birthday, all without a single dropped thread.
Done well, the role is almost imperceptible. The family simply finds that life runs more smoothly, that the details are handled, and that their time is once again their own.
Personal Assistants, Placed With Confidence
10+
Yrs avg. experience
3–5 wk
Typical time to place
100%
Reference-verified
Live-in/out
Flexible arrangements
What Families Say About Their Personal Assistants
All testimonials are anonymized and approved before publication; no client identities are ever disclosed.
Personal Assistant Searches
Searches we are running now
Personal Assistant
Questions, Answered
What is the difference between a personal assistant and an executive assistant?
A personal assistant supports the private and household side of life, family, home, travel and errands, while an executive assistant focuses on business, meetings and professional correspondence. Many principals engage both.
How much does it cost to hire a personal assistant?
Experienced personal assistants generally earn competitive six-figure compensation, scaled to hours, travel demands and the complexity of the household. We share current market ranges during your first confidential conversation.
Can a personal assistant travel with the family?
Yes. Many personal assistants we place travel regularly with principals to manage logistics, accommodation and daily needs on the road. We match specifically for travel flexibility when it matters to you.
How does Perla vet personal assistants?
Every candidate is background-checked and reference-verified, and assessed specifically for the organisation, discretion and warmth a personal role demands. We prioritise assistants who have supported private individuals or families, not only offices.
Do personal assistants work live-in or live-out?
Both arrangements are common. Some families prefer a live-in assistant for seamless availability, while others engage a live-out professional on set hours. We tailor the search to your preference.
Related Roles
Depending on your needs, you may also consider an executive assistant for business and calendar support, an estate manager to run a larger household, or a nanny to care for your children.
Executive Assistant
Polished administrative and calendar management at the intersection of home and professional life.
Private Chef
Bespoke daily dining and refined entertaining, tailored to the family's tastes, health, and lifestyle.
Nanny
Warm, professional, long-tenured childcare from caregivers who become a trusted part of family life.
Estate Manager
Senior leadership for the private home, staff, vendors, budgets, and the day-to-day operation of one or more residences.
Executive Assistant
Polished administrative and calendar management at the intersection of home and professional life.
Private Chef
Bespoke daily dining and refined entertaining, tailored to the family's tastes, health, and lifestyle.
Nanny
Warm, professional, long-tenured childcare from caregivers who become a trusted part of family life.
Request a Personal Assistant
When the time is right, reach out quietly. Submit our confidential inquiry form and a Perla advisor will respond personally to understand your life and present assistants suited to it. See all private service roles, learn how to hire household staff, or read about our placement process.