My Why and How of becoming a VA

 

 

Family

At the beginning of this year, everything was really looking perfect. My family were happy and I was happy that they were happy!

We’d just had a lovely Christmas, our granddaughters first one. She was 5 months old and had absolutely no idea of what was going on – seeing everyone in the silly santa hats, being dressed up in pretty red dresses, seeing lots of versions of a man with a funny beard and even having her photo taken with one – who IS this strange man?!

My then fiancé (now husband) and I were counting down the weeks until our Vegas wedding in June, we couldn’t wait! Everything was organised, the tickets were ready. My dress was picked, the party for our return home was arranged and organised to perfection. All that was left, was to get through our working weeks – me as a full time officer at a local charity and my husband, a builder. Our son was full time in Nursery where my daughter worked (was then on maternity leave) and my step son was doing brilliantly in secondary school.

Everything was lovely, a happy family and a happy life.

The Why

Fast forward to April 2019 and our whole worlds crumbled. Our granddaughter aged just 9 months, fell asleep and never woke up. We were devastated, her future gone, just like that.

The wedding went ahead in June as planned, as it was what my daughter wanted. We were ready to postpone, but she insisted that we went ahead. She stayed home and looked after her little brother whilst we were away. It was a lovely wedding, surrounded by close family and friends, but it wasn’t 100% what it was supposed to be, our hearts were still aching and we missed her. Still, we tried our best to enjoy our day.

It was 3 months before I returned to work, I was pretty anxious, but I needn’t have worried, my colleagues put me at ease and after a week or two, it was as if I’d never been away. But for some reason, it just wasn’t the same for me anymore, I longed to spend more time with my family and escape from the corporate world. I guess this was a re-evaluation of life and what was important to me after Isabella died.

The start of something New

At the beginning of September 2019, I had an idea! I can still spend more time at home and continue doing the work I love, but on my terms and in my time. I’d come across an article about virtual assistants and the more I read, the more I related to those I was reading about. I had over 18 years experience and employment at the charity at worked at. Over the years, I’d learned an awful lot about the administration world, databases, reporting, systems, dealing with a variety of people from all walks of life, events, training.. the list goes on. I enjoyed the work, I really did, but now I was longing to go it alone and from that moment, I never looked back. 

The How

Before I knew it LM Virtual Assistant was born! The name isn’t too creative, but I like it!

I was researching all I could, I had an amazing website built by the talented guys at DotGo. My Logo took 3 attempts, but eventually i found someone that designed the picture I’d had in mind and he also designed my impressive business Cards, shown here... Aren't they lovely?! 

I Spent (and still do) a lot of time on a facebook group, filled with inspiration, encouragement and lots of useful tips and advice. Being part of the group spurred me on even more and made me determined to make it work.

I sourced Insurance, GDPR policies, web policies, privacy policies, contracts and T&C’s. I was ready to go.

I joined a 5 day challenge for Linkedin, which was a real eye opener. I’d never really had to use it in my corporate job, although in hindsight it would have been very useful. I was learning lots of things and this filled me excitement. So many inspirational people out there that were doing so well. If they can do it, why can’t i?

I started face to face Networking- I was terrified but I did it and I’m glad I did, I love it! I’ve been given advice by other VA’s – the support has been tremendous and I got work in after a few weeks which is amazing!

I’ve had people reaching out to me, asking for help and advice on where to start. Asking the same questions I had been asking myself along the journey. It felt good to help those people and eventually I’d like to take that further – but that’s for another blog.

I’m feeling much happier on this journey, in control of my life again and it feels good!

Are you happy in your job? Do you have a happy work/life balance?

Do what makes you happy – There’s always a way. 

And on that note, I'll leave you with a quote that i absolutely love...it's helped me with a few things this week!