The Number One Reason to Work Online - My Journey to Virtual Assistant Work

Virtual Assistant work is not that complicated. There is one KEY reason I found to start and continue working online...

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I'm Tracey. I have been working online since about 2012 and I'm in South Carolina.

If you're watching the video above or reading this blog, then I assume that means you're considering online work or you already work online. I know how that feels to be wondering... wondering how to get started and what DO you actually do if you work online as a virtual assistant? What do you actually do?  I understand wondering... wondering if it's a right fit for you. Could you do it? Wondering HOW to get started.  I certainly know how you feel.

I felt the same and had all those same questions twelve years ago or so, when I was considering working online. So I know how you feel and I've been there.

What I found though is that working online is really not that complicated. It's actually really amazing to be able to work around the life that you create or want instead of living life around work. That's really the number one reason why I pursued online work all those years ago and why I keep working online.

I think the number one thing benefit for me in online work is the flexibility to be able to work when and how and where I choose. The time freedom, I guess you would say, is what I love most. I want to share my story just to encourage you and help you to see what's possible when you work online.

So around 1995 is when I started my entrepreneurial journey, as a Mary Kay consultant. I was a Mary Kay consultant and then sales director for, I think, about ten years. I loved it because of the flexibility and and the ability to earn a professional level income with part-time hours. That's where I started my entrepreneurial journey, working for myself. I absolutely loved that, but then I had children, and things change in life. During that time as a Mary Kay director and consultant, I earned a couple of cars and led a team and, taught people how to run their businesses as well.

Then around 2008, I discovered the flexibility of  working at home. I had a three a 3, 4, and 6 at the time. I worked for our church, mostly online and from home because I wanted to be more available for my kids. Maybe you can relate to that if you're considering online work? I wanted to be more available. I wanted to be a mom who was there for them.

I also wanted them to see a strong work ethic. I wanted to pursue a job and a career, while also being with them. So I did want both worlds, so to speak.

As the kids got older, the flexibility of working online is what got me so much more interested in this online business realm. As the kids got older, and maybe if you have children you can understand this, they had so many activities! That's what, really attracted me! That's what drew me into virtual assistant work because I wanted that flexibility and also wanted to be able to earn a a nice income.

I started in VA work around 2014 when I heard, leadership guru and teacher, Michael Hyatt on his podcast about his virtual assistant.

I remember it like it was yesterday... I was taking a walk with my dog and was listening to the podcast (way back then before podcasts were all the rage) where Michael Hyatt was talking about his business. He had recently started working for himself from corporate. He talked about all the things that were dragging him down in his business and how he had started working with a virtual assistant. He shared all the things that that his VA did for him: managed his calendar, did his travel arrangements, reconciled travel expenses and his bank account and, managed his email. I thought, I could do that. That doesn't sound so hard. That's where my official online work as a virtual assistant started.

I came home from that walk and went right to my computer and to the agency's website that he mentioned. I applied and started working that year for this agency!

Over the years working with that agency, it was so fun. I got to work with several different clients before I was hired directly for one of them. I worked for the agency, started working for a VA client, and then later, maybe about a year later, they hired me directly. So I wasn't with the agency for that client anymore, but I was still working with other clients through the agency. Then I got another client directly through word-of-mouth. Then I used community groups on Facebook to find clients.

I continued to gain clients through word-of-mouth, and that was, like, the ultimate compliment. I was very thankful for that. And over the years, I guess I've had maybe six or seven clients because for me, I always wanted longer term clients. I wanted to be able to serve them well to really dig into their business, but some VAs like to have more variety, and they change a lot, which is totally fine. That's another thing I love about online businesses. You can make it whatever you want it to be.

When my kids were younger, when I first started as a VA, the flexibility was really paramount.

My oldest child is a girl and she took sewing classes. I still remember vividly going to her sewing classes. I would sit in the lobby or in the computer with my laptop and working for my clients while she was at her sewing class. I could take her home from class and be able to chat with her and hear what she learned and be really available while at the same time I did some work and earned some money.

I also remember, my middle child, my son, took a coding camp after school. I would pick him up from school, we would go over to a hotel that was near the coding camp, go in the lobby form him to work on his on his homework and I would work on my computer for my clients. We would just work together. Then he would go to his camp. I would keep working and then I would take him home. It was so valuable that I could take my work wherever they needed to be and not have to miss anything that they were involved in while I still earned income for our family.

Then my third child was involved in local community theater. Later he also went to a fine arts high school. That required lots and lots of driving, lots and lots of time at rehearsals. I spent a lot of time in the theater working while he was at rehearsals! He would be there for a couple hours so I would just take him there, work, and get to hear everything that was going on in rehearsals, and then head home together.

That's what's great with online work: you can work at any time day or night, when you want. You can fit it in and around the life you want versus work dictating your life, and that's what I really loved most.

When my son was in high school he went to a fine arts high school and then he would go to his other high school for his academic classes. I would take him and sit in the parking lot while he was at his theater classes and I would be working in my car.

The flexibility in being a virtual assistant was really more important to me than earning super high dollars at a corporate job. The freedom to work wherever I wanted was super important to me.

You can earn great money as a virtual assistant, but you also look at your priorities and say, what is the most important thing? High dollars or time? For me it's maximum time with the people that you love.

In about 2019 I started my own online business as a yoga teacher. I taught online yoga and met awesome people from all over the all over the world and got to interact with them, teach them yoga, help them to connect with themselves and with God. It was Christian yoga. I love that online work offers the opportunity to meet people from all over!

Now I'm here starting limitless business online to help people who want to work online. I want to help you do work online with support, systems, operations, and I'll be teaching how to become an exceptional virtual assistant.

What's the point in me sharing all this?

1. If you're looking for flexible work, then online is an excellent way to go! It's an excellent choice, and becoming a VA is a great way to start. If you've never worked online, becoming a virtual assistant is a great way to get started. I wanted to let you know a little bit about my story so that if you are interested in working as a virtual assistant, perhaps down the road, I can be your guide. I can help you to do that. I am gonna be launching a virtual assistant course in a few months, and I will help you to learn everything you need to know to be an exceptional virtual assistant.

2. So you know a little bit more about who you're listening to. I also wanted to remind you that you don't have to have it all figured out when you get started. From my story you can see things kind of progressed and went in a roundabout way to working online. You don't have to have it all figured out when you get started. You just have to be willing to say "I could do that" when you're thinking about online work. Can you manage Gmail? Can you manage a calendar? Can you use Google Drive? if you can use basic online platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, you would be able to be an excellent excellent virtual assistant.

3. To share what's possible if you want flexible work. If you want work that allows you to pursue your life's passions, like raising your children or maybe it's traveling or mission work, pursuing another business venture, whatever your life's passion is right now, maybe being a virtual assistant or flexible online work is something that would be perfect for you.

If you're wondering if online work is for you, or if you should continue with it if you're already an online business owner, then I hope my story encourages you to keep going if TIME FREEDOM is valuable to you.

If you're considering online work and wondering if virtual assistant work could be for you, take The VA potential quiz to see if it is something that would be right for you for online work.