Colleen Barrett, the Executive Assistant who rose to President & COO of Southwest Airlines during her five-decade career at Southwest, and the namesake of the Admin Awards’ most prestigious award, was laid to rest on May 8th at the age of 79.
Here is our origin story.
Thirteen years ago, I approached Colleen with the belief that public recognition of Administrative Professionals was long overdue and that I was creating the Admin Awards to ensure its time had come. As the daughter of a retired Executive Secretary, I knew firsthand how beloved and valued Admin Professionals were. I presented the idea for the Admin Awards to Colleen as someone pretty much unknown to her, taking weeks to craft what I hoped was the perfect email. My ask? To allow us the honor of making her the namesake of our program’s most prestigious award. As the beloved former EA who rose to President & COO of Southwest Airlines during her five-decade career at Southwest, I could not imagine a better example.
Her response came within an hour: “Yes! Count me in! And I love that you’re recognizing receptionists as well – because they too are important!”
Colleen thought the Admin Awards concept was an excellent idea and couldn’t believe that it hadn’t been done anywhere in the world before. We indeed would be the first public recognition program for Administrative Professionals, ever. I was thrilled and terrified in equal measures. Colleen Barrett’s name was now attached to ours. We could not screw this up.
In 2012, we held the first Admin Awards in Dallas, Texas. I remember when I went to reserve the ballroom, thinking ‘if nobody shows up, we’ll just spread the tables out enough to make the room look less empty’. I was a single mother at the time, with no nest egg and no plan B. Not only could I not afford to fail, I would not disappoint Colleen Barrett.
But on that cold November day back in 2012, we welcomed hundreds of area Administrative Professionals and Executives, filling the ballroom to capacity within a week. Originally, I had no vision of becoming a national recognition program, much less the Administrative Profession’s highest honor. But that afternoon, as we left a ballroom packed with Admins and Executives cheering one another on, I knew we had created something truly special. And we made grown men cry - which is always fun. What I knew from watching my mother’s dedicated service to the profession, before retiring just shy of 80, was there never was a shortage of appreciation of Administrative Professionals. What was lacking, however, was a meaningful way to show it.
Over the next 12 years, as we expanded the Admin Awards from coast to coast, Colleen meticulously deliberated over every decision regarding the Winners and Finalists of the Colleen Barrett Award for Administrative Excellence. She would scribble notes in the margins of printed nominations, indicating what resonated, what didn’t, and her rationale for each decision. She would often call me to discuss her decisions - it was important to her that I understood her 'why' (although I continue to play no part in the judging process of our programs). Colleen was clear and uncompromising about the behaviors, skills, and ideals that Nominees in her award category needed to embody—attributes she believed were essential to her impact and success at Southwest. She also warned me that there may be a time when she declared no winners, and to be prepared because one day she may also have more than one. Colleen’s compass was true north and she made sure she followed it. She also took great care in hand-selecting the person who would make these decisions in her absence in the future, Monica Van Slate, who represents the Colleen Barrett Institute at Southwest Airlines.
Colleen also soon became my friend. I’ll never forget the day, in 2013 and early in our partnership, when I received an invitation to a dinner party at her home. I looked at my husband wide-eyed after opening the email invite, panicking. ‘This has got to be a mistake!' But when we arrived and met the diverse group of salt-of-the-earth people with nothing to prove but all equally tickled to be there, I understood. Colleen was for everyday people doing extraordinary things. You should also know that we everyday people were told on the invitation to be out by 8:30. Colleen was full of love - and boundaries.
I will forever be grateful to Colleen for her example of Golden Rule leadership and for the times she spent with me that felt like a mini MBA on how to be a human being in business. Our last day together, pictured above with my husband and business partner Ben, was like that. She invited us to the house for lunch (we brought her favorite, Chic-fil-A) and we sat at the kitchen table for hours hearing story after story as she reminisced about times past. She was full of gratitude for the remarkable life she lived, which she said she never could have envisioned growing up in a small town in Bellows Falls, Vermont.
I’m thankful that Colleen demonstrated for Administrative Professionals everywhere, that the sky truly is the limit, and to know their ability to have enormous impact.
My hope for Administrative Professionals everywhere is that you are guided by Colleen’s incredible example of servant leadership; because I believe that is what truly transcended her roles at Southwest and defined her legacy.
My hope for executives is that you are inspired to regard your Administrative Professionals the way Herb Kelleher regarded Colleen Barrett.
You see, Herb was Colleen’s biggest fan. He championed her every step of the way, from Executive Assistant to President & COO at Southwest, as far back as the 70s, long before it was a thing to consider your Admin your 'strategic business partner'. Herb not only gave Colleen a seat at the table, he gave her a voice. He created an environment where she felt safe to spread her wings and try new things.
But I think the greatest gift he gave her was his confidence in her ability to go beyond where she thought she could.
As Colleen shared with me on our last day together a few months before her passing "If Herb told me I could do something, I just believed it."
He gave her a chance.
Just like the chance Colleen gave me 13 years ago. I’m not sure where we’d be today without it.
With love and gratitude,
Sunny Nunan
Founder, CEO & Proud Daughter of a Retired Executive Secretary
Admin Awards: The Administrative Profession's Highest Honor
-1.png?upscale=true&width=1200&upscale=true&name=Mask%20group%20(2)-1.png)
-1.png?upscale=true&width=336&upscale=true&name=Mask%20group%20(3)-1.png)
