Jennifer Lawrence’s Assistant Forms Clyde Staffing Agency

Jun 29, 2023

Meghan Grimm might be Hollywood’s best matchmaker.

In addition to being Jennifer Lawrence’s executive personal assistant, Grimm is the founder and CEO of Clyde Staffing, a first-of-its-kind staffing agency led by a seasoned personal assistant that is dedicated to vetting and matching prospective assistants with top talent. But unlike other agencies, where the extent of their involvement may end after the placement, Grimm prides herself on providing her network of assistants with continued support — whether that’s through hands-on training or in the form of a group Slack, where assistants in the network can reach out to one another for tips on things like nabbing reservations at Nobu, accompanying A-listers on high-profile press tours and finding contacts for the best florists in New York.

Since quietly launching in 2020, Clyde’s clients have included Anne Hathaway, Brian Tyree Henry, Uma Thurman, Dakota Johnson, Benicio del Toro, Finneas O’Connell, Mandy Moore and Tommy Dorfman, as well as corporate clients like Lighthouse Management and Media and Untitled Entertainment. Henry, who most recently appeared alongside Lawrence in Apple TV+’s Causeway, is quick to sing Clyde’s praises: “You’re getting top-tier attention based on exactly what you need and even the things you didn’t know you needed,” the actor tells THR over email. “Meghan does her job with so much care and finesse that you can absolutely trust that anyone she sends your way will do the same. … I’m very thankful to Meghan for making my experience a dream.”

To connect with Clyde, past clients have reached out to Grimm or even DM’d the @clydestaffing Instagram account to make the request (e.g., “Please find me an assistant who will stay with me for two to three years and then I’m happy to promote them within my production company” or “Please find me a career assistant”). Grimm will then connect with the client or their team to figure out their priorities and needs.

Going back to the @clydestaffing account, Grimm will typically post about open roles on Monday mornings, making sure to keep details about the client confidential: “Male actor looking for assistant in LA” or “Female actress in NYC needs a new PA.” From there, Grimm — with assistance from her four interns — will go through resumes, which can be submitted through Clyde’s website or via email, check references and narrow down the pool to find possible matches. Potential assistant candidates will also fill out questionnaires that help Clyde determine personality and fit with questions like “What are you looking for? Where’d you grow up? Do you have siblings? What are your goals?”

And then come the rounds of interviews, where Grimm will personally hop on a Zoom call or sit down with a candidate and look out for green and red flags, as she describes them. “If someone tells me that they grew up nannying, that is a green flag for me because that person already knows how to be integrated into someone’s family. They know the importance of family time. They know when to be visible but invisible,” Grimm says. “That’s almost better for me than someone with a traditional corporate background because being a personal assistant is such an intimate job.”

Depending on the client, the leading candidate will then be interviewed by someone on the client’s team (like a former assistant, manager or publicist) before reaching the talent. Sometimes, the client will be happy to hop on a FaceTime directly with the prospective assistant, which also helps the interviewee get a sense of how formal or casual their potential new boss may be.

The entire vetting and placement process through Clyde typically takes between one to two months. Grimm says there are no upfront fees; instead, clients will pay Clyde a one-time fee amounting to 20 percent of the assistant’s yearly salary. The fee is refundable within 90 days if a placement doesn’t work out and, if so, Clyde will look for a new assistant.

Grimm says her background as a personal assistant allows her to identify who will and won’t succeed as an assistant, giving her a leg up from other traditional recruiting or staffing agencies where the interviewer likely has never done the assistant job themselves. And at the heart of Clyde is Grimm’s personal and professional network across L.A. and New York, which she has painstakingly burnished since getting her start as an assistant for Madonna.

Assistants coming into the Clyde network also appreciate Grimm’s attentiveness toward making a good match. “She understands not only how demanding the job can be, but how a successful partnership requires both parties to trust the match is a good fit,” Sarah Dolan, Kaia Gerber’s personal assistant, says. “Meghan doesn’t just help you find a job, but a home. The support she gave me both during and after the process was immeasurable and I will be forever grateful for her.”

Helen Joel, the executive assistant to Mandy Moore, agrees. “I was looking for a very specific job when I came to Clyde,” Joel says. “[Grimm’s] years of experience and personal connections made placing me in my role a seamless experience. It really has been the perfect job for me.”

Grimm, who grew up in Manhasset, New York, and graduated from Georgetown University, first began her career at Ralph Lauren, turning a freelance gig doing celebrity styling and PR into a full-time opportunity with the fashion brand. She’d regularly interact during fittings with actors’ and musicians’ assistants, sparking her early interest in pursuing that line of work. As it just so happened, Grimm’s boss at Ralph Lauren knew Madonna’s stylist and, when an opening for an assistant position came up, Grimm interviewed for it and got the job.

The year she spent assisting Madonna, who she refers to simply as “M,” would later help serve as the inspiration for launching Clyde. “I was spending time with her children and her family, and I walked away from that job thinking, ‘I really want them to have good people around,’” Grimm recalls. The feeling would continue when Grimm went on to work for the producer Casey Patterson and, later, Jennifer Lawrence — the latter of whom Grimm says was incredibly supportive of her launching Clyde.

She also credits Shavawn Rissman and Sara Zambreno from Madonna’s team and Justine Ciarrocchi from Lawrence’s team for their invaluable mentorship. “[These] women helped me learn everything and I will always remember that and be grateful for them,” Grimm says, looking to Clyde as a way to offer mentorship to more assistants in her network.

As of now, Clyde — the name is inspired by Bonnie & Clyde — is mostly centered on L.A. and New York, with a few clients in Nashville, Georgia and the UK. But Grimm has her sights set on expansion and hopes for Clyde to “pave the way for other people to work in entertainment jobs” and see being a career assistant as being more than just running errands or picking up coffee.

“When people hear that I’m a personal assistant, most of the time the first question I’m asked is, ‘How did you get started?’ There isn’t. There isn’t a ‘way’ if you want to work in entertainment,” Grimm says. “I think that’s why I feel so fulfilled in my new role with Clyde. The amount of people who will write me months after the placement and say, ‘I just want to let you know I’ve never been happier in a job’ — it makes me feel so good. And it’s incredibly rewarding.”

A version of this story first appeared in the March 29 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.

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