I was Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian's executive assistant. Here's how being an EA gave me the skills to help run a company.

• Eight years ago, Lissie Garvin was hired as an executive assistant to Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian.
• Garvin now runs a foundation with Ohanian and said being an EA can help you move up in a company.
• She told Business Insider how she harnessed the skills she learned as an EA to become a program director.

This is an as-told-to essay based on a conversation with Lissie Garvin, a cofounder of 776 Foundation, about her career working with Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian. The following account has been edited for length and clarity.

I first moved to the Bay Area in 2013.

Everyone was working in tech, so I applied for a position to be an executive assistant to one of the Reddit founders.