The 3 Questions That Make Delegation Finally Work (with Gina Cotner)

PodcastScalingEntrepreneur ExperienceOnline Business
Written By Gillian Perkins

WORK LESS, EARN MORE PODCAST EPISODE #345

Delegation sounds simple: hire help, hand things off, get your time back. In reality, it often creates more questions and more management — unless you build the right structure around it. This week I'm joined by Gina Cotner, founder and CEO of Athena Executive Services, one of the top US-based executive assistant agencies. Gina's spent the last decade pairing highly skilled EAs with busy founders and executives, and she doesn't just treat delegation as an outsourcing task — she teaches leaders how to build trust, transfer real ownership, and create accountability so their business runs better without them doing everything.

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Show notes + links:

LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE TO HEAR:

  • Why delegating a task doesn't automatically buy you your time back

  • The one habit that turns a hire into a task-doer instead of a real partner

  • Why the first 30 days with a new hire matter more than any month after

  • The exact three questions Gina uses to hand off a project and make it truly theirs

  • What a US-based executive assistant actually costs, and how that compares to overseas VAs and solo freelancers

  • How to tell early whether you've hired the wrong person for the role

About Gina Cotner

Gina Cotner is the founder and CEO of Athena Executive Services, one of the top virtual assistant firms in the US. Athena pairs highly skilled executive assistants across the country with swamped, successful entrepreneurs and executives — her team of elite EAs takes ownership of key processes and projects, freeing leaders to focus their time and energy where it matters most. Gina is also a dynamic speaker and workshop facilitator, known for her practical, engaging approach to delegation, helping leaders confidently hand off the "heavy lifting" and build teams rooted in clarity, accountability, and trust.

Connect with Gina Cotner:

Website: https://www.athenaexecutiveservices.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/athenaea/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aes_executive_assistants

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