Working from home is a great lifestyle. But it is important to establish a healthy work/life balance when working from home as a Virtual Assistant. It is hard to keep work from creeping into your personal time and your personal time from creeping into your work time. 

 Defining work/life balance can be different for everyone. You need to be clear on what balance looks like for you so that you can structure your day to meet your expectations. Not having a healthy work/life balance will cause you undue stress and chaos that cancels many of the benefits of creating your own Virtual Assistant business.

So how do you create an environment to support this balance in your life?

1. Get ready for work every day. 

Just because you are not commuting, doesn't mean you shouldn't have a morning ritual. Many of the Virtual Experts® in my group start the day with a morning routine that might include reflective time, exercise, a good breakfast, a shower, and then...

Nobody is perfect, and we all make mistakes. Mistakes are part of being human. You’re bound to make some mistakes along the way. 

As a Virtual Assistant, you work from home for multiple clients juggling multiple projects. No matter how careful you are, mistakes will happen. 

So, if mistakes are inevitable, what do we do when they happen? 

First, we hold ourselves accountable. 

 We self-acknowledge we made a mistake. Accept that we made a mistake, giving ourselves some grace. 

Again, no one is perfect and everyone makes them. Beating ourselves up doesn’t make it disappear and it also doesn’t fix it. 

Then, we own our mistakes to those it impacts - our clients, vendors, or team members.

We approach this with courage and honesty. We also correct, revise, adjust, or amend whatever it is that has happened. If it’s something beyond our control or wheelhouse, we ask for help and...

I get asked all the time what makes a successful Virtual Assistant. As though there was a special recipe. 

It makes me think of grandkids marveling at the delight of their grandma’s “secret sauce”  and wanting to know what is in it that makes it so exceptional. And, more importantly, can they replicate her recipe if she gives it to them? 

Anyone who knows me will tell you, I’m an open book. I don’t have secrets. What I know, I share.

Today I want to share these facts with you: 

• There are some central ingredients in becoming a successful Virtual Assistant. 

• That doesn’t mean they are fast or cheap ingredients to come by. 

In other words, knowing the ingredients doesn’t guarantee anything. It’s how you use them. 

 Successful Virtual Assistants possess habits that empower them to face challenges, believe in themselves, and accomplish their goals. 

The keyword there is “habits.”...

Virtual Assistants (VAs) and Virtual Experts® (VEs) make the business world a better place to be in. Across the globe, VAs and VEs are removing tasks from business owners’ and entrepreneurs’ shoulders so they can stay in their zone of genius. The VA/VE is happy because they get to focus their services on those they enjoy. Businesses of all sizes thrive as a result. Better yet, everyone is happy and everyone feels successful. Happiness is important, even in our careers.

 We as human beings need to feel seen. Heard. Appreciated. Valued. And when it comes to our contribution to a business, corporation, organization, or individual, we want what we bring to the table (experience, skills, education, accolades, connections) to matter more than implicit biases clouding the view of our excellence. We want to be given a chance to succeed and contribute.

We want to be paid for what our knowledge and contributions are worth and offered opportunities that our knowledge and...

by Kathy Goughenour

Planes are grounded. Airlines are suffering. People heading places to see new sights, take vacations, go to conferences, or visit family is at an all-time low.

Everyone is gathering virtually. In fact, people are even going to the zoo or museums online just to get the slightest taste of the travel they long to do.

Who knows how long the travel industry will be suspended?  What do you do then as a travel agent with no one to send anywhere? How do you continue to professionally thrive, pay your bills, and use the specific skills you have that make you good at what you do?

 You become a Virtual Assistant.

Travel Agents make exceptional VAs. Here’s why:

As a travel agent, you are excellent at truly getting to know the travelers you help. To create the most customized travel arrangements, you ask questions, truly listen, and learn the preferences of your clients - from what modes of transportation they like, to hotel chains they prefer, to where they...

by Kathy Goughenour

Some are saying that the return of live, in-person events won’t happen until 2022. (Did your mind just blow and your heart break? Because mine did when I heard that.)

I LOVE live events. As someone who works virtually all the time, I relish the in-person time. But I also relish physical health and safety. So when COVID hit I had to take my humongous and typically-live event to the online space, because I desperately wanted to still see my community while also keeping them safe.

To make that event successful (especially since it was my first ever virtual event of that magnitude), I required the expertise and support of event planners. I needed them when I was planning the live event, and I needed them, even more, to transition the whole thing to a virtual event.

You know what this means for you, right? If you’re an experienced live event planner, there’s tons of opportunity for you to transfer all of your skills and experience to the online...

People aren’t barreling into the Holiday Inn or Hilton or Marriott right now. Travel - for any reason - is at an all-time low which is leaving hotels quiet and empty.

As someone who works in the hotel and hospitality industry, what do you do?

No one is making reservations, calling from Room 355 with a request, or wanting to book the conference room for their event.

Who knows how long the travel industry will be suspended and the hotel lobby empty.  So how do you continue to professionally thrive, pay your bills, and use the specific skills you have that make you good at what you do?

You can become a Virtual Assistant.

Here’s why Hotel Industry Professionals, like you, can easily transition your skills into a career as a well-paid Virtual Assistant:

Hotels are all about customer care and hospitality. People will remember how their stay was based on the friendliness and care of the staff.  From the guest concierge to the front desk receptionist, to the hotel...

As the summer of 2020 draws to a close, we watch new skyrocketing cases of COVID-19 sweep across the U.S. People everywhere are holding their breath.

We all wait for the other shoe to drop. We ask ourselves, “What are we in for next?”

While physical health and safety are at the forefront of most of our minds, I’m willing to bet on what the next worry in line is...

 -Employment/ Jobs.

-Finances/Paying bills.

-Keeping the lights on.

I imagine that educators and teachers are wondering if they want to go back to school and potentially get the virus. Or is it time for a career change.

People working in the hotel and travel industries are wondering what to do as the hotel chains, airlines, and airports aren’t returning to business-as-usual.

Others, whose work relied to some extent on a physical location, like:

-a physical office for administrative assistants and office managers to run

-convention centers for live event planners to set up

I imagine are finding...