Her Story
About Katie
I've been working as a virtual assistant for about 4 years and running a travel agency for 3 years. My main area of expertise is the administrative assistant side, handling data entry, email response, and the back-end operations of a business. I really enjoy being organized and doing office management tasks, which is something I've always been good at. Before my current work, I owned my own childcare for 8 years and also worked as an administrative assistant office manager in the body shop field for 2 years. A lot of my training has been self-taught or through online trainings. What I'm most proud of is the flexibility of being able to take on multiple clients and help multiple clients out. For the travel agency, my typical day involves finding good deals for potential clients, advertising, and getting my name out there. On the virtual assistant side, I focus on finding the right clients to team up with and helping relieve some of the back-end tasks so they can focus on keeping and building their clientele without having to worry about the little tedious tasks.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Katie
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would honestly attribute my success to my husband and my kids. They've supported me in everything that I've done. My husband has been my backbone to fall back on and encouraged me to do other things. He really helped out when I opened up my childcare. My kids have also been a huge motivation for me, driving me and pushing me to do what I do, especially being able to spend time with them and my family.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've received is to not get too overwhelmed. Take it step by step, take a deep breath, and really focus. There's always an answer to everything. This has helped me stay grounded and remember that challenges can be worked through methodically.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Don't get discouraged. It does take a little bit to find the right clientele and to get your name and business out there, but just don't get discouraged and don't give up. It'll happen eventually. Building your client base and reputation takes time, but persistence pays off.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest opportunities in my field right now are helping clients and business owners relieve the stress of the back-end office admin tasks. This allows them to focus on keeping clientele, bringing in new clientele, and maintaining the relationships they have without having to worry about the little tedious tasks. Some of the challenges I've faced include consistency, especially consistency of coworkers, and communication issues.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Transparency and honesty are really important to me, and communication is really, really big for me in both my work and home life. Honesty goes hand-in-hand with transparency, and these values guide how I interact with clients, colleagues, and my family.
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