Meet Sophie A Virtual Assistant
Have you ever wondered what a Virtual Assistant does, how you could become one? Or are you thinking of or hiring one? Then you need to read today’s interview with uber organised, mama boss, Sophie. Sophie talks candidly about getting out of her own way and overcoming self doubt, which is something I know so many of us can relate to.
● Sophie kick us off by telling everyone about yourself?
My name is Sophie and I am a Virtual Assistant, based in Surrey and South West London, where I live with my husband and 4 year old son. I am 29 years old. I am also a volunteer Netmums Chairmum for Kingston upon Thames.
● What’s your career background?
I have an administration and customer services focused career background; from being a reservationist at the Holiday Inn London Kingston South, a Front of House CoOrdinator (Supervisor) for Kingston College’s busy Library and an Event’s Organiser and Virtual Assistant to The Secret Garden Play Café, which when it closed I decided to launch full time self-employed as a Virtual Assistant.
● Where did the idea for your business/venture come from?
With an extensive career history in admin, and a love of all the aspects a Virtual Assistant can cover (I support businesses with administration, marketing, social media, market research, creative design and events) I knew I could utilise my skills. I also wanted a career that could be flexible around my son and his school/ routine as it’s very important to me that I’m present throughout his childhood.
● What has been the biggest obstacle you’ve had to overcome?
Self-belief in knowing your worth. It’s very tempting when you first become self-employed to price based on the length of time you’ve been self-employed, rather than price based upon the quality of the work you can do and years of experience and qualifications that have led you to this point. That’s been the biggest obstacle; discovering where I fit into the market and how to price myself but I think I’ve got it right now.
● And your proudest moment so far?
There’s been lots! My first continuous client who said they wanted me to work for them on an ongoing basis was surreal. My first invoice being paid was fab! My first review based on work I had done since being self-employed was validating. All the lovely comments and support I’ve received from networking groups and online groups is wonderful. And when my son’s grandad said that he didn’t like his job, my son turned round and said “you can work from home like mummy” and that gave me a real sense of pride that my son understands what I do, and it isn’t missed or lowered in worth because it’s predominantly from home.
● Why is work so important to you?
I worked hard to gain a degree from the Open University in Business Management and overcome a lot of obstacles to finish the degree, so to not put it to good use would have felt like a real waste. It’s also important for me to set an example to my son about what can be achieved when working hard no matter what the circumstances or financial difficulties you face. It’s also really important for my mental health and sense of self-worth. I like bringing into the family an earned income; that really does mean a lot to me. And I absolutely love what I do so work brings me a lot of pride and enjoyment.
● Who inspires you and why?
My grandad Sid inspires me- he is my hero. He worked his whole life, never let excuses get in the way, was in World War 2, and was always there for us growing up. Whilst I’m close to my dad, I grew up in a single parent family with my mum and so I really saw my grandad as a father figure too and am constantly inspired and humbled by him. My work ethic is definitely inspired by my mum and grandad; and my self belief is definitely encouraged by my dad.
● How do you balance your business/career with your family/other interests?
It’s difficult. I try to set aside strict “no-work” time but in the early days I think it’s inevitable that the strictness of this can’t be maintained. I’m focusing on making memories with my son; making sure I’m present and building a career around him so that I can always do school runs and attend school shows and what not. That’s really important to me.
● What are your three top pieces of advice for someone wanting to do something similar or starting a business?
Network — working self employed is difficult and can be lonely so the more you surround yourself with a support system of people in the same boat, the more you will thrive as you feel like you have someone there to help along the way.
Self worth — Know your worth. Research competitors, define your skills and what you can do and realistically pitch yourself so that you can target correct markets and pricing.
Know your strengths and admit your weaknesses — just because you’re self employed does not mean you need to do it all by yourself. If you have weaknesses either train them to be strengths or outsource.
● Describe your typical day?
Typical weekday-
Up and getting ready for the day, getting my son ready for nursery and then doing the school run.
Back home to work from home on clients work.
Lunchtime pick up of my son and lunch.
Some set time for fun with my son before my husband returns from work.
Work from home including client calls, etc.
Dinner
Family time until my son goes to bed.
Work once my son’s in bed.
● How do you find time to relax after work and what do you do?
As I work from home there isn’t really an ‘after work’ period for me; but I enjoy what I do so I actually find working very relaxing and enjoyable. And then around work I have the time to be a part of my son’s childhood and be involved in everything which I’m very fortunate with.
● When your motivation dips, how do you get back on track?
Remembering how fortunate I am to be able to work for myself, in a job that I love that I can do around my son. My son is my key motivation.
● What is the best thing about your job?
The best thing I love about my job is variety. I could be working with one company’s social media, to doing market research and lead generation for the next; to working on the content for someone’s website; every day can be different within the areas I cover which I love. I also love working with small and start up businesses. Especially when people are in the ideas stage or pre-launch/ just launched. I love being a part of that journey. It’s also amazing the difference people feel when they hire a VA. From feeling comfortable to go on holiday when they were too anxious to go before and leave their business behind, or from someone who didn’t feel they could manage their social media to suddenly seeing their platforms soar.
● Where would you like to be in 5 years time?
I’d like to run my own Virtual Assistant company with a team of assistant specialists that can support many more businesses than I can do alone.
● Do you have any tools/resources that you couldn’t live without?
A notepad and pen, laptop and my mobile
● What’s the most interesting thing you’ve read or seen this week?
An article on the benefits of delegation.
● What’s next for you?
To continue building my brand, network and reputation. To keep building my client base and supporting small and medium sized businesses. My son starts Primary school in September so that’s a big personal next too.
If you’d like to know more about Sophie head over to her website https://www.eastop-scopes-va.co.uk/ you can also find Sophie Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn. Please do head over and support her platforms.
