At 4:15 a.m., long before her children wake and the meetings begin, Sandia Miller is already awake and in motion. This is her time. With every thud of her sneakers on the pavement and the clang of weights hitting the floor, she becomes more in sync with her thoughts.
Because for the rest of the day, she must show up in two of the most important roles she holds: executive assistant to the CEO and mother of two.
When the kids’ alarms finally go off and the reminders begin to roll in, she moves into position with precision. From the outside, it looks effortless, but this precision has been more than 20 years in the making.
It became clear early on that Sandia’s role extends far beyond calendars and coordination.
Sitting across the boardroom table from Sandia, one thing stood out. At the center of the C-suite, she operates as an extension of leadership. Cable Bahamas CEO Franklyn Butler has referred to her as “the glue” of the executive suite, and the description fits. She is like wind, the unseen force helping keep everything moving in one direction.
“The role has certainly evolved,” she explains, describing strategic business partner as a more accurate reflection of her day-to-day responsibilities.
It is a position that requires strong organization and exceptional intuition. The ability to read the room, anticipate needs before they arise, and understand not just people, but the business itself. She is a confidant, an advisor, and a communications professional who filters, translates, and disseminates information from the executive level across an entire organization with clarity and impact.
Switching Roles Without Missing a Beat
Yet beyond the board meetings and briefings, there is another world that demands just as much of her.
“When I walk in the door, I show up as mom. My kids don’t really care what I am at work,” she says with a smile.
As the mother of a teenage daughter and a spirited six-year-old kindergartner, she is constantly moving between two very different stages of parenting, one growing into independence and the other still needing her parents’ full attention.
“When you get home to your six-year-old, she wants to tell you about her day,” she says. “I’m careful to ensure I give her that time, to let her know I’m listening and that I care about what’s going on in her life.”
The Discipline Behind the Balance
Her family’s schedules and daily needs weave into the same carefully constructed rhythm as her professional responsibilities. When asked how she manages to hold everything and everyone together so effectively, her answer is surprisingly simple.
“You have to be organized. If you’re organized at home, then you show up organized everywhere.”
Sandia relies on her calendar to keep a clear mind. Every school event and payment reminder is there. On Sunday nights, she prepares for the start of her week by packing lunches and laying out clothes. She refuses to begin her mornings in a rush because that is when chaos sets in.
But unlike calendar invites, motherhood does not come with a clear agenda.
Choosing Between Two Important Places to Be
Sandia does her best to remain present for her children’s activities and leans on family support when needed. Still, there are days when even the most organized person ends up double-booked.
“Recently, we had a series of strategy sessions for the company. However, that very week my daughter had some functions at school that she wanted mom to attend.”
It is a quiet conflict many working mothers understand well. Do you prioritize the work that sustains your life, or the people who give it meaning?
“I came to a good middle ground,” she says.
Sandia recalls opening the meeting before stepping out to attend her daughter’s event. One smiling daughter and several family photos later, she returned to the office to finish what she had started.
“You have to find that unique balance. You have to find community, because there are times that I may not even be able to step out.”
Building Community When It Matters Most
There was a time more than ten years earlier when Sandia was raising a toddler on her own while working shifts in an unforgiving operations role. During that season, she learned one of her most important lessons. Sometimes you have to build your own community to survive.
Many days, she and her coworkers took turns taking the children to school. When she worked the night shift, she had peace of mind knowing her child’s schedule would not suffer because of her own.
“I think single moms everywhere could leverage their relationships with other single moms to ensure that their bases are covered,” she says. “That’s the only way.”
Through those years of motherhood, Sandia strengthened her organizational discipline and sharpened her relational intelligence.
“I was actually forced into being organized by being a mom. I was all over the place before that,” she laughs.
There Is No Single Timeline
Somewhere along her journey, she also began to unlearn something many women quietly carry: the fear of running out of time.
“A lot of people feel that they have to delay being a mom to pursue their career. That’s absolutely false.”
Sandia has seen both ends of the spectrum, women who paused careers to raise families early and others who followed traditional timelines only to later want families without the opportunities they hoped for. She encourages women to step outside the rigid timelines society often creates.
“You can be every woman that you want to be. Mom, EA, executive, hockey player. Whatever you want to be,” she says. “There’s no limit. You just require structure, guidance, and execution.”
Then she adds:
“And when you need help, ask for help. That’s most important.”
The Glue and the Anchor
Perhaps that is what makes Sandia’s story so compelling. Achieving balance is not about getting everything right the first time. It is about discipline and connection. These are the same pillars that support both a household and an executive suite.
As professional women, we can be both the glue and the anchor. We do not have to choose one role over the other. We can carry both in a way that is sustainable, intentional, and most of all, real.
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Written by Taja Longley