My Journey as a Virtual Assistant by Melissa Nicholson
After being an Executive Assistant for over 14 years in the corporate world, I decided that I could do more, that I could be more and followed my heart and ultimate passion and that is to be an entrepreneur. I decided that my strongest skills revolve around organising and administration. I then embarked on the Virtual Assistant journey in 2014. Exciting? Yes! Exhilarating? Yes! Scary? Hell yes! But here I am 4 years later, going strong never to turn back!!!
The journey has been difficult at times, but mostly completely rewarding. It has shown me what I am capable of as a person and ultimately as a woman entrepreneur. To most, when I tell people that I am a Virtual Assistant, immediately say “ah you are so lucky, you get to stay at home all day and work in your pajamas”, but little do people know, working for yourself might have many benefits, but the hard work completely remains. You have to constantly manage your time, you do not have any one telling you what your workload responsibilities are for the day or what to prioritise or what time you should be at your desk in the morning. It is completely up to me to take ownership of my time and my work. And this is what drives me, having ownership over my time and quality of output.
I found that working in an office environment was not uplifting to me as a person, and slightly supressing. I found that with my personality and drive to continuously be more and do more that working in an office haltered all that I know I was created to be.
As a Virtual Assistant, besides the freedom to think and apply my own mind to tasks, I get to work with people all over the world and have been exposed to so many cultures and different personalities. Being a Virtual Assistant also does not limit you to a certain job description, you find yourself doing tasks that you have never had exposure to before and then it is up to me to research more information on how to actually perform these tasks. In turn this has skyrocketed my skills set a hundred fold since I started the VA journey. I am the type of person that likes to see progression in my skillset and work capabilities, being a VA has automatically allowed and offered me the freedom to explore my personality and see how far I can push my own boundaries and I really enjoy that most of all.
Another key aspect of being a VA is that after you have dabbled in a couple of client businesses, I have seen what kind of niche my skillset revolves towards and I have really started becoming an expert in some areas. This for me is the biggest reward of being a VA, is being able to visibly mark my own progress and ultimately has given me the confidence that I have needed to be the best that I can be. My partnership with VA Connect, has also allowed me to ensure that I can be the best that I can be with both Founders, Karen and Albert, who are both passionate entrepreneurs, always pushing and boosting us to be the best that we can be as Virtual Assistants and for that I will be eternally thankful!
