I Love My Virtual Assistant

I love my Virtual Assistant. Her name is Debs.

It is sort of strange to be sitting in the seat of a client when I sat in the seat of a Virtual Assistant for so long. I wonder if I was ever as good as she is.

It’s so hard to get into the flow of things when I’m distracted by the ever growing list of things that needs to be done. Debs seems happy to take care of anything I throw her way. Researching vendors, making reservations for my daughter’s graduation weekend, reviewing voice messages, filtering job applications, finding voiceover talent, getting printing quotes, providing social media support… the list goes on. It seems like all I do is think about something I need done and she’s already on it.

Debs also has an ability to take in the whole picture at once, seeing what could make things run more smoothly and taking care of it. She has created documents in various parts of our company to help clarify and organize our communication which have really helped the process of making decisions run more efficiently.

With her funny, infectious personality it’s been easy for us to develop a great personal relationship;  I feel she really understands my tastes, my vision, and there’s a lot of trust. She has developed a great understanding of the types of information I gravitate towards, and has become a filter for keeping me current with articles that interest me and pushes the 100Ninjas ball forward.. She’s helped ease that feeling that I’m being bombarded by too much information.

I know when I need to focus on certain aspects of my business, other elements won’t fall through the cracks. Debs is on it. Whatever it is.

So many people ask me what type of background most VAs have. There really is no “type.” The VAs that work at 100Ninjas have all sorts of interesting life stories. Although Debs has quite a professionally diverse background which includes event management, marketing, branding, project management, and, of course, executive administrative support, she’s also lived in the US, France, London, and the Netherlands, and performed and traveled with a circus! Currently she volunteers at a zoo.

A short list of the areas our team at 100Ninjas has worked in includes: public relations, marketing, project management, education, video editing, copy editing, event planning, bookkeeping, employee training, and the music and entertainment industries.

Some of the unique experiences that enrich our team are: one of our VAs has worked 3 seasons at Dollywood as a singer and dancer and is an amateur Choir Director. Another VA is a former member of the US Women’s National Water Polo team, and a Division 1 Water Polo player. She’s also an avid crafter. Every year she creates a weeks worth of NO SEW costumes for herself and her family for their own week of Halloween they call HalloWeek.

Another one of our Ninjas, a poet and former college professor, had 2 of her poetry pieces turned into music by a composer. Vocal Essence (who are notable for having performed with the Rolling Stones) performed one of these pieces at a national acapella conference. She also says “if I ever went back to school it would be for entomology or astronomy; I have a telescope on my patio and taxidermied bugs inside my house.” At 100Ninjas we deeply value the ‘off the beaten track’ experiences and interests of our Ninjas — it makes our Ninja community richer and more vibrant and it makes our Ninjas even better at what they do!

A Virtual Assistant wears many hats. One day they might be meticulously going through a database entering hundreds of names and categories; the next day they are teaching themselves their client’s CRM software or expense management system.

What I look for when bringing a VA on to our team is someone who is smart, nimble, very independent, and proactive in nature. I hire individuals who have the resourcefulness and confidence to take on any challenge that comes his or her way; whether it is learning a proprietary software or calling a list of contacts as part of researching a particular product. Excellent communication in both writing and speaking is key. We are virtual and it is through that lens that the world sees us. Our Ninjas understand, in a deep way, the importance of professionalism in all that they do. They have the professionalism and integrity to know that every email they write, every task they complete, reflects on their client. So second best is never an option!