An internal recommendation helped Sona get her assistant job.
There is a boss-employee relationship between Movsesian and Conan.
She shared three important lessons she has learned.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation between Sona and O'Brien's assistant. It has been edited to make it clearer.
I've been O'Brien's assistant for four years.
Everyone is replaceable, but I feel like I have made myself indispensable in my job, so I get away with a lot. The boundaries of what a normal assistant should or shouldn't do are pushed by me. A large amount.
I wrote a book called " The World's Worst Assistant" with the blessing of Conan and it is now a New York Times best seller. There are some very important techniques and bits of advice in there, including how to nap at work, how to watch a feature length film at your desk, and how to do the most minimal amount of work possible.
This advice could cause you to be fired. Yes. Could it? My situation turned out to be a book about it.
I didn't always want to get in trouble at work. I was always trying to impress and go above and beyond in my work when I first started out. I wanted to work hard for a career in television.
When I was starting out in the entertainment business, it was all about paying your dues and giving yourself completely to your jobs, compromising who you are and what you want to get ahead, get a job, or to make your boss happy.
This was what I had to do. I began working for him.
I was an intern at NBC before I got the job as the assistant to the host. After I got a job at NBC, I heard that the show was moving to Los Angeles. I went to HR and asked if I could work on the show.
I had no idea how I would be a part of the show. I knew I needed to work on it. The jobs would be posted in the fall. The PA job was posted on the website. I was brought in to interview for the assistant position.
I had my first interview with them, which was straightforward and professional, and then I had my second interview with them, which was even more straightforward and professional. I think they were able to see that I was cool under pressure.
Right before my interview, the publicist for "Late Night," who I had crossed paths with at NBC, sent me a text saying "Sona's a rock star." I think he should apologize to him for lying to him. I think that having an internal vouch for me made me want to get a job.
There's a lot of personal assistants who are willing to go the extra mile, for example, they'll fill up the bathtub with lavender and replenish all of the flowers.
I think both of us felt like this is something that can really work since I was familiar with his work and I was someone who loved television.
Both of us were surprised by the relationship that developed. In my 13 years as his assistant, I have learned a lot.
I remember I was so buttoned up when I first started working with him that I can't believe it. When I first started working at the office, there was a very strong professionalism and respect there.
Three months into the job, I was on the phone with my grandma in Armenia. When I talked to him, he asked what was that. He said it sounded like I was arguing with my grandma. It was the first joke.
He made fun of my dad's mustache. My dad built my brother out of wood because he was a puppet maker.
He told people that I was born on the island of Armenia and my father was a goat herder. Apparently, there was an attack and my dad put me in a basket and I jumped out of a bush, thinking that he was going to domesticate this person and make her his assistant.
It was like that every single time.
I think he realized I had a sense of humor when he said ridiculous things about me after laughing at the joke he had made about me.
He appreciated having someone around who he could joke off of. Both of us let professionalism get in the way. There is only one left. When the dynamic changed, my work ethic changed as well.
I was allowed to be myself early on, and he made sure his audience did the same.
It wasn't something I wanted to be a part of. It was free of harmful substances. The people around him are good at making people laugh. He began having me on the air. One of the biggest ones was when I lost my mug, and I wrote a very critical email to the entire staff, which was a complete abuse of that email list. I was wondering where my mug was. An hour later, he comes to my desk and he has a camera crew with him. It was a thing from there.
I don't try to make myself look bad for the camera, that's what Conan appreciates about me. I remain who I am. I have no desire to be on camera. I don't think I'll become the next Conan. If he didn't use me for bits or I wasn't on the show, I would be fine, he likes that about me.
Our dynamic is enjoyable to watch. People think that a camera on it can't be real. They are curious when they realize that it is real. I think people are interested in the fact that authority is a complicated concept and I'm dynamic.
He hires me, he pays me, and eventually he can fire me. I don't act like it often. I speak to him again. Important things are forgotten by me. I don't pay much attention to things he thinks are important. I would do anything for him and his family, and he trusts me.
My job is to make sure that when he's supposed to be somewhere, he's there. Everyone expects me to have a boss-assistant relationship with him, but that's not something I have to do. I don't need to be treated like the back of a human centipede for him to do that.
I'm grateful that I left the wagon, but I don't know how. I was a lot of people when I began. I would like to take over the network. I wanted to work in programming, scheduling or research, but I thought I would take over television.
There were a lot of people in that situation. I don't think executives don't like their jobs. I think they do. They feel like they're always on the chopping block. If new management comes in, they're going to restructure everything and people won't have their jobs anymore.
I didn't find that appealing. I didn't want to feel pressure or fear at my job.
I loved working on the "Tonight Show" when I was hired. There are a lot of people who don't like Mondays. I've never worked for him. I realized how valuable that was. I'm working with the funniest person on television and I'm proudest of the show I'm working on. I stopped looking for the next thing. I think I'll be his assistant until he dies.
I used to think that I was an assistant. People don't think of an assistant job in entertainment as a long-term job. I didn't look at myself as a career assistant.
Everything that I wanted out of a job is in this role because I'm working with people that I love. I want to stay here.
I don't know if it's a lack of ambition or if it's just something else.
My old self would look at me and wonder if I was still an assistant. My page self would look at me and ask if I finished my book. The New York Times has a list of the best-sellers. It wasn't on the board. Are you on a radio show? Are you aware of what a podcasts is?
When I was a page, I never imagined that I would end up here. I have been able to keep an open mind.
I am fortunate because I was able to go with the flow. I had a lot of financial and emotional support to leave my job if I didn't like it. I'm aware that a lot of people aren't in that situation. One of the goals of my book is to give people the power to leave miserable jobs.
Everyone wants to work with people who treat them with respect and be paid fairly.
It will come down to luck if you want to work in an industry that is as competitive as television.
If it doesn't work out, you can read my book for tips and tricks on how to misuse your corporate card. How to use your maternity leave at work.
I hope that people will read "The World's Worst Assistant" and see that there are exceptions to what they think is the rule for this industry.
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