How I became a Virtual Assistant:
It’s actually a funny story.
My educational background is actually in environmental engineering. I worked in that field a bit until my position was eliminated. I started a family and then opened a business as a consultant and trainer with The Pampered Chef®. I had put in 10+ years with that business when I discovered virtual assisting. And while I still enjoyed my Pampered Chef business, I felt I had gone about as far as I could with it. I’d been a top sales performer, earned multiple incentive trips and even had the privilege of being a National Conference speaker. My children were also both in middle school. There are a lot of evening activities with middle school students. So while that business was a great choice when they were younger, it just wasn’t fitting my family situation any longer.
I heard from a friend that she was becoming a virtual assistant. The concept intrigued me. As I researched and dug deeper, I discovered that work I had been doing all along for peers could be considered virtual assistance. The more I dug into it, the more right virtual assistance felt for me.
I formed CanDoVA in September 2009. I applied to AssistU and was accepted into their Virtual Training Program.
I am now an AssistU trained Virtual Assistant.
I like to learn.
I have earned the designation Certified Social Marketing Specialist from VAClassroom.com, a leader in providing training for virtual assistants. Social Media is becoming a large part of the success of small businesses and entrepreneurs. I wanted to educate myself so that I can provide Social Media services to my clients.
Since then, I’ve earned a Product Launch Support Specialist certification as well. I am also a Constant Contact Experts trained presenter.
Since I studied environmental engineering in college, one can expect some logical thinking from me.
I’m a big believer in the concept of “knowledge is power.” The more you know, the better you are.
I do like to work with a certain type of person.
I love working with people who are goal-oriented and want success. I enjoy clients who recognize I’m a great asset to their business and trust me to give them my best efforts all the time.
There’s lots of work I like to do.
While I am skilled in what could be termed general administrative functions, I excel at operations management. I am hugely objective; I can not only work on the tasks of today, but see what can be done for the goals of tomorrow.
Mary, how can I connect with you?
Use the Contact Mary tab at the top of this page to send me a message. Or you can call 763.634.1536. I look forward to speaking with you.
