Introductions

[Linda Belan]

Hi All,

I see we have quite a few members already. I think we should start a
round of introductions so everyone can get to know each other better.
Let me start off by introducing myself!

I'm a Virtual Marketing Assistant and have been doing so for almost a
year. Although I'm fairly new working virtually I have had 20+ years
in the corporate world. I decided to go into business working from
home because I wanted the flexibility in the hours and the freedom my
business could offer me. The 9 to 5 grind was getting old plus the
long commute and high gas prices was also a factor.

The challenges of setting up a business and watching it grow has been
hard work but also exhilirating!

Linda...

[Maria Russi]

Hi girls, here is a little bit about me.

My name is Marìa Russi and I have been working (to date) for 15 years as EA
to three partners of PricewaterhouseCoopers. I am also a mother of
4-year-old twins.

I started researching on becoming a VA due to lack of motivation at work,
need of flexible hours, stress in handling motherhood and home management
away from home with sick leaves from my twins and nobody to take care of
them, etc.

Even though I have a bunch of clients I made thru Elance, I have now started
a 4 month online course towards certification with IVAA in order to have
more skills and get better fees so as to jump to gradually totally virtual
but make as much money as I make now (not that much) but to have the
certainty to pay bills, daycare, etc.

I have found this offshoring/outsourcing opportunity fascinating and hope to
give it a try.

Would love to hear about you all.

[Patti Hendrix]

Hi ladies,

My name is Patti Hendrix and I've been an EA for over 25 years and a VA for about 5, on and off.  I'm set up a bit differently (I don't own my business yet) but am working on that (long story and too much to type here!) I support 3 gentlemen: one an entrepreneuer, one a financial consultant and one an property/real estate developer. I'm in Georgia and they are all over the SE.  I not only support them with their businesses but also personally (for instance, I manage one of their vacation homes).  I love what I'm doing and especially love my commute of about 5 seconds! 

 

Looking forward to getting to know you all better and learning from each other. Thanks.

Patti

[lelia...@vaunlimited.com]

Hi there!

My name is Lelia Koepnick and I have been an EA for 20+ years. A few
years ago I started working on my own out of my home, but had no idea
there was actually a field called "Virtual Assisting". A little over
a year ago I moved with my family from Ohio to WV and decided it was
time to get serious about this. I opened Possibilites Unlimited
then. I love what I do and since I have worked in various fields over
the years, I seem to have become a "jack of all trades". I've got 3
full time clients right now and my goal is to grow this to the point
that I'm having to refer clients to others that I meet & develop a
working relationship with.

I have a 14 yr. old daughter & a 21 yr. old son & working for myself
is something I've always wanted to do. I am currently working on
getting my Bachelor's in Accounting and then I will add that to my
resume and hopefully, that will allow me to build my business in great
ways!

I'm really looking forward to this group and all the things that we
can learn and share with each other.

Lelia

[Liz Gessaman]

Good Morning,

My name is Liz Gessaman and I have over 12 years of business, project and information management experience. I had the opportunity to leave the corporate life a little over 2 years ago to work with a friend on her retail consulting business. The opportunity to work from home has been amazing but I'm still in an employee position if you will, as a contractor. I feel certain people are able to work with virtual assistance and others need to have the control. Anyway, we have discussed my decision to grow my business and I have started Virtually Yours. I thought I was pretty genius when I started this, only to find out there's a whole network of people out there working as virtual assistance and the Virtually Yours is used in several regions. Guess I should have done more homework.

Anyway, with developing my client's websites and my own, I became really interested in Internet Marketing and social media. I have since become certified and continue to find seminars to learn more. I love it. I also have a passion for health and well being. I hope to have alternative practitioners as my target market, assisting them with their Online Presence.

 
I'm looking forward to this group and sharing ideas and information.

Liz

[Julie]

After 15 years in the corporate world with all the office politics, I
decided to start my own company - J2J Creative. I am really enjoying
the opportunity to work with the clients I choose and have a flexible
schedule. We are still in the early stages, so any advice you can
share would be greatly appreciated.

What networking groups is everyone a part of? Are you a member of
your local Chamber of Commerce?

Cheers.

Julie
www.j2jcreative.com

[smter...@gmail.com]

Hi Everyone,

My name is Monique Terrell, CEO & Academic VA for Sparkle Professional
Office Services, LLC. I officially opened my doors in April of 2008
and I am having a great time. I originally started thinking about
starting my own VA business back in 2004 but with the whole business
thing I decided to hold off. After more than 15+ years in the
traditional work world I felt it was time for me to be in control of
myself.

I have bachelors in Business Management, Certified Virtual Instructor
and currently working toward my Internet Marketing Certification. As
you can see I love to learn and technology and people are my passion.
I host my own radio show on Blogtalkradio; My VA niche is in eBooks,
eCourses and eMarketing.

I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone and learning a lot
from each other’s experiences.

Monique Terrell, Academic VA
www.sparkleofficeservices.com
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/SparkleVirtually

[Linda Belan]

Welcome Monique!! You will have to tell us more about your
Blogtalkradio during our web conference call! It sounds like something
cool and exciting!! :)

Linda Belan, VMA
Your Outsource Solutions, LLC

[ju...@360admin.com]

Hi Everyone! My name is Julia and I am a new VA and new to your
group. I just started 360 Admin a month ago and I have 1 client and
potentially another one. I set up a VA home office because I have 20
years of experience as an Executive Assistant for VP's and with very
good companies, but I was not getting long term satisfaction. Many
times I would bring home work to get everything done on time and one
day I realized I could do all of my work from home! So I started
researching VA's and just decided to do it! So here I am. Any advice
or suggestions would be great. I am mostly confused about how to bill
and collect to ensure you get paid.

Thanks for inviting me to join your group. I do not have a particular
day that is better than the other one yet for meetings. Since I just
started I am open!

[K...@cardinalpointassociates.com]

Hi all .....

My name is Kim Alvis and I am the founder of Cardinal Point Business
Associates. I started my VA practice in May of this year. I have
over 23+ years of experience as an EA and Office Manager in the
venture capital and business management industries. After more than
22 years working for the co-founder of a venture capital firm, he
decided it was time to retire and closed our office. I then went to
work as an Office Manager for a regional law firm. During that time
my husband and I adopted a baby boy.

When my position at the law firm was eliminated due to budget cuts
last year, I decided to pursue some type of "work from home" business
so that I could have a more flexible schedule for our little one.
That's when I discovered all my years of experience as an EA could be
put to great use! Even more of a bonus was my venture capital
experience working with so many different types of start-up companies
and managing various businesses.

I currently have one project client and hope to be adding more
quickly. I am looking forward to getting to know everyone and
participate in this group.


Kim Alvis
www.cardinalpointassociates.com

[lindag...@hotmail.com]

Hi Kim,
Welcome to the group. Check out the other discussions if you can. We
have a group meeting that Linda is in the process of setting up.
Welcome and Enjoy the group,
Linda Taylor

[Linda Belan]

Hi Kim,

Welcome to the Group!! Hope you'll enjoy being a part of our little
group!!

We are in the midst of planning our 1st VAMasterMind group conference
call and are trying to find out which members use Skype (or would like
to learn) and which members have unlimited long distance for a web
conference service. We plan to meet once a month and for now it looks
like second Tuesdays and fourth Thursdays of the month work best for
everyone.

If you could let us know which is your preference (Skype or web
conference service) and if you would like to be part of the group
conference call to get to know each other better and share thoughts
and ideas that would be terrific!! :)

Look forward to getting to know you better!!

Kind regards,

Linda...

[K...@cardinalpointassociates.com]

Thanks Linda for your kind welcome!

I would love to participate in the VA Mastermind group calls. I have
Skype and unlimited long distance - so either one will work for me.
Tuesdays or Thursdays work with my schedule although the time may be
an issue since those are the two days I have to pick up our little one
from daycare around 5 p.m. (ET).

I'm really looking forward to the first call!

Kim