This is the question for one of VANA’s contests for October.
I have made the decision to update my blog at least twice a week, and sometimes, when setting goals for yourself, it’s hard to stay on track. When you’re trying to start a small business goals are so important, and starting a VA business is no different. So when I saw this question, I knew I had to submit my essay to answer this. As I wrote my essay, I was reminded of some very important reasons for my decision to start this journey. I am posting my essay here so everyone can see where I’m coming from. This will also hold me to this path come what may!
Who Inspired Me to Become a Virtual Assistant?
He inspired and motivated me. He gave me a strong foundation and solid support. I knew whatever I set out to achieve, success would be right around the corner.
My father was a strong man; in mind, body and spirit. He was honest, hard-working, and kind. Through his example he showed me many ways to live a full life; the virtues of hard work, the meaning of selflessness, always remaining positive, having compassion for others, and constantly striving to do better. He WAS my daily affirmation. He was the voice in my head constantly whispering, “You can do it. Don’t ever doubt yourself.” The values he instilled within my heart guide me towards success.
The path of a successful, small-business owner is one I was destined to follow; something I felt was my purpose. Virtual Assistance was something I knew I could do, and do well. What a perfect pairing. So, I went to my father with my decision to become a Virtual Assistant. I was unsure of the response I might receive and nervous about what he may think about quitting a full-time job at an established company. To my surprise, he was overjoyed with the idea. In fact, he gave me my first small-business loan to help me on my way. My apprehension was totally unfounded and the reasons why this was true was not completely clear to me until my father suffered a massive heart attack, suddenly, three months later. Sometimes things are not clear until we are shaken to our very foundations.
In the year since my father’s passing I have learned a great deal about me and my desire to be a successful Virtual Assistant. I have realized things about the history I share with my father. I see the shared desire to succeed as a small-business owner. As a child, it is hard to see a future beyond the next school day, birthday party, best-friend’s sleepover. It would seem as though children do not recognize the reasoning behind going to work every day and toiling away at a job that seems hard and tiring. But they do. I did. I was paying attention back then without even realizing it.
For 30 years he was a self-employed landscaper and tree trimmer. He was very good at what he did and his clients were longtime customers. Much of his business was referral business and word-of-mouth, but I recall the first batch of business cards and flyers he had printed. He was so proud of these. My brother and I would place cards and flyers on door after door in any neighborhood he was working. I remember asking him why we were putting this stuff on every door when it seemed no one cared or even bothered to look them over. He gently explained that even one phone call for work would pay for all the cards and flyers and that even though I may not realize, he was receiving phone calls almost every day for some kind of yard work to be done. My father was not a marketing mastermind, but he knew what he was doing and he was always busy. Every day he had a yard to mow and tree to trim.
As a child, watching him toil in the hot, Florida sun, I often thought to myself, “How does he do it? Why does he continue on, day after day, pushing that mower and running that chainsaw?” Something that escaped me then is crystal clear to me now – he enjoyed what he was doing and being self-employed allowed him to enjoy the fruits of his labor. For us; it was always for us. He always found time for his children.
There have been days I have been afraid, and sad, my father will never know how my life as a Virtual Assistant turned out. He won’t see obstacles I’ve overcome or the great joy and fun I’ve had on this incredible journey to becoming a small-business owner. But then I see my dad. I see him pushing the lawnmower across a yard. I see him look up, smile and wink at me, and then I understand. He always knew. He saw it before I did. He could already see me as a successful young woman. He saw my success and it made him proud to know I would follow in his hard-worn footsteps. I now move forward in my Virtual Assistance career with the knowledge that my father always knew, with every passing, sun scorched day, everything he was doing would one day pay off with the decisions of one, self-driven, self-motivated daughter.
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