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When people ask me why I chose to do what I do I can tend to go off into a dreamworld and can often turn into a bit of a bore! The first time I realised that I no longer wanted to be in the rat race was in 2001 whilst I was six months pregnant with my first child. I loved my job working for a highly successful group of Independent Financial Advisers supporting the top consultant in the UK and working with some large international companies. Working in Berkshire and London it was a very rewarding yet stressful job with long hours and a lot of responsibility.
As well as being the right hand woman to the top consultant in the country meeting HR & Payroll departments within such companies as Telstra and Avaya, I was also the main trainer within the office and the IT guru on hand ready to deal with any issues. When I started the position it was to provide maternity cover but I quickly reorganised the office as it was clear that they could work much, much smarter! I needed to be on the ball at all times, extremely busy every minute of the day and it suited me down to the ground.
Having always been a very maternal person I was concerned that I couldn’t provide my unborn child with the attention I really strived to give whilst being in such a position. I tossed and turned at nights knowing that I wanted more than anything in the world to be a busy and successful person whilst also being a first class mum.
One evening whilst visiting my sister-in-law and her partner I broke down and confessed that I was really scared and totally confused. It was that night that I realised that I COULD do it all, I could work from home providing the same kind of support I had been doing for 15 years at home! I was tech savvy and had enough nouse about me to actually be a fantastic mum and also still be a first class PA and administrator. It didn’t matter where I was based as it could all be done online and I could work around my child with the greatest of ease.
So in 2002 Here2Assist was born, four months before my daughter Leigh-Ann entered the world. I had my first client, had found online networking and was soon introduced to the world of Virtual Assistants.
I soon realised that I wasn’t the only person to take that scary step into Freelance work at this time, the term VA (Virtual Assistant) had been around for a while and more and more people were taking the plunge. Through networking I got to meet many more VA’s and that same year helped to organise Virtually Together, an event which saw 100′s of VA’s being brought together to mingle and share stories.
That was nine years ago and it’s not always been plain sailing, there have been some very difficult times, especially when I became a single mum to two amazing kids, but nevertheless I’m still here and always learning through networking and sharing experiences.
2011 welcomes a new direction for Here2Assist to move with the times and ever changing technology. These days there are far more Virtual Assistant’s out there offering very similar services, and with the use of Social Media there are so many more opportunities to provide support to businesses and individuals all over the world and in so many industries. BRING IT ON!!!! Welcome into the world Office Support Solutions.
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