What is a virtual assistant?

I learned about virtual assistants about a year ago, and thought “that could be a good career path”. I never really thought it would be something that I would be pursuing. A virtual assistant is essentially a personal assistant that works remotely and generally can make their own decisions about the services that they offer. There are loads of benefits to hiring a VA, especially for growing small businesses and one-person teams.

Benefits of a virtual assistant

Hiring a VA is a lesser cost, with loads of benefits. It means hiring help, without hiring an employee. It saves tons of money when it comes to the hiring process, the time that you pay for, and having to have space for them—virtual assistants work from where they are! On top of the monetary savings, a VA will save you and your business so much time. You can hand off the tasks that are no longer worth your time so that your time is spent more efficiently and you get to do what you love. A VA will also save you time compared to hiring an employee. You won’t have to worry about payroll or extensive training, you just pay the invoice and let your VA work for you!

My path to the virtual assistant world.

In high school, I wanted to be a lot of things. An art teacher, a daycare owner, a photographer, a graphic designer—at one point I even wanted to be a mailwoman. My career path has been long and winding. I was always an overachiever. In grade school, I was the valedictorian. By my junior year of high school, I was experiencing burnout and a HUGE identity crisis. I didn’t know who I was or what my hobbies were or why I was doing what I was doing. I didn’t really want to go to college but didn’t know what other route I could take. So, I took inventory of myself. I knew that I loved art and especially photography, but I really did not believe that I had what it takes to be a full-time photographer. After looking into it some more, I learned about the multimedia track at my local community college. It meant that I could learn about photography, graphic design, video and audio editing, and other forms of digital media.

From college life to VA all day

After a semester, I realized that what I liked the best was graphic design, so I switched my major. It was perfect for me. I loved what I was learning about and my goal was in sight. As I was finishing my portfolio and preparing to transfer to a 4-year school, COVID hit. And while there are so many terrible things about this pandemic, I learned that I really thrived working remotely. I loved not having to leave my home and deal with all of my anxieties being in unfamiliar places, and going at my own pace really helped me to be able to work more efficiently. After transferring schools, I spent the first few weeks going to classes on campus, and it was TERRIBLE. Absolutely awful. I was having panic attacks twice a day before each class I had to show up for.

I had hoped it would get better, but after two weeks it got increasingly worse. I couldn’t help but think about how much better things would be if I could have just done the work from home. Eventually, the entire school went online for a few weeks, and the school offered to let any student transition to taking all courses online and I scooped that opportunity up! As it turns out though, college as a whole was making me miserable. So, at the end of the semester, I decided to take the next semester off.

After about a week it became apparent to me that I would probably not be returning. I do not need to keep myself miserable. So I worked like I had been doing since I was 14 years old. By the beginning of 2021, I was doing really poorly when it came to my mental health. I moved back home and left my job. By all traditional measures, I was a failure. It was SO difficult for me because I had always been an overachiever. It was so difficult for me to rest, even now I feel guilty when I rest. I end up never feeling rested. I learned to forgive myself for not being constantly productive, changed my standards, cried a LOT, and moved forward. I told myself I would take a few months to rest and plan out my next steps. And here I am.

Why becoming a virtual assistant was the right move for me

As a child, I loved helping adults. I was always asking if I could help. I followed my grandpa around and helped him tinker. If I finished my work early I would ask my teachers if they needed help. I would ask the adults at daycare if there was anything I could help with. When I got a little older, I started babysitting—not even for the money, I just loved knowing that I could help somehow. I loved the satisfaction of knowing I could do something to make someone else’s load easier. All of my part-time jobs have been in the service industry and I stayed with them for years because I loved being able to help people. Becoming a creative VA feels natural to me at this point. I get to be helpful while doing things that I enjoy. This career move is such a joy for me, and I am so excited to see where it takes me!