Every now and then we have to reflect back in order to move forward in our lives and in business. As I move on into this new endeavor I am going to take a moment to look back and see what got me to this place in my life.
I began working in an office in my early teens. My step-father ran a successful small business from our house. He was one of the most driven people I have ever met. I have him to thank for my ability to think out of the box and my strong work ethic. He would have me doing the filing, preparing checks for deposit, and I helped with the computer. I remember our first computer, if you want to call it that. We had a word processor of some type. We got it when I was still a kid. We then got an IBM, this was pre MS Windows. I think we still have it in the basement. Our first Windows based pc was an IBM Thinkpad Laptop. It was thick, had a small screen, and was so heavy. Needless to say, I have used all types of personal computers since I was young.
After graduating high school and moving out of the house I spent a couple of years working in restaurants and the like. Though serving and bartending are not glamorous jobs, they teach you that customer service is priority. The more you are accommodating to the guest the more money you make. I carry this with me to this day. Anytime a service is provided to a customer/guest/client I bend over backwards to give them the result they are looking for.
In my early 20’s I got my first office job in the “real world”. I was brought in to do temp work in the accounting office for a car dealership. I started out just filing for them, and after I completed that task they kept me to do some data entry. One thing led to another and after a short period of time I was a full time employee and was being taught every aspect of their office. Life happened and I ended up moving to Florida, but at the time I left I was being trained to be an accounting office manager.
After moving to Florida I got a job with Sallie Mae. I was hired as a financial reconciliation analyst. I loved the job and quickly was assigned the largest accounts, reconciling over $3,000,000 a day. I was the team lead on a project that would automate our jobs. Life happened again and after completing the project I moved back home.
I spent the next 6 months of my life with my step-father who had been diagnosed with lung cancer. He and my mother had since divorced, but he had raised me and I considered him my father. During those six months I was his executive administrative assistant. I developed a database that helped him with his invoicing and accounts receivable. We also had lots of long conversations about running a business, being an entrepreneur, and the future of his business. It was a wonderful time and I learned more about him as a person in those 6 months than I knew most of my life.
During this time at home, I reunited with my high school sweetheart. We hit it off and since my step-father seemed to be doing well I moved so that I could work at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort & Spa, a 4 star resort in the Pennsylvania Laurel Highlands, as the Food & Beverage Administrative Assistant. With this job I seemed to be everything to everyone. I managed payroll for all of the food & beverage employees that were located in more than 7 restaurants and food service outlets. I did the on site marketing for all of the restaurants including the design of the restaurant menus. Anything that needed done I did, for anyone on the property. Flexibility was a must for this position and I loved it. Every day was a surprise.
While I was employed at Nemacolin my high school sweetheart and I were married. My step-father also passed. It was a tough time and became even tougher when my mother called and said that her new husband had severely burned his leg and they couldn’t run their restaurant that they had opened just weeks before. She was in jeopardy of losing her restaurant, so my husband, who is a chef, and I packed up and moved to Tennessee to help her. My husband was the Executive Chef/General Manager and I was Front of the House Manager. We loved running it and we were the buzz of the town. After being there a few months I became pregnant. My mom and I started to have some creative differences and after her husband recovered from his burn, my husband and I left.
We spent the next several months, until I had our first son, working for my uncle. My husband worked in the field with him and I did his office work. After my son was born we moved back home into the same house that I grew up in. I had found out during my pregnancy that I was getting it from the passing of my step-father.
After moving back and getting into the swing of being a mother I got a job in the office of another restaurant. Though it was doing what I am good at, it was a long drive to get there and when I found out that I was pregnant again, it was just too much. My husband also got promoted in his job and would be working longer hours so I wouldn’t have as much time to devote to an out of the house job.
The birth of my second son has since came and went and now he is into his toddler years. Now I have two toddlers and have come to the realization that I would like a career. Though I want a career, I hate the thought of leaving my two boys. This has led me to follow in my step-father’s footsteps by pursuing a career from my home. After much research and trying a few things, I fell upon the up and coming field of Virtual Assistants. This field seems to suit me perfectly. I can use all of the aspects of my prior positions and work with other small businessmen and women to improve their business. I am truly looking forward to this venture and am looking forward to what my future holds.
Kellie Stotsky
The Essential Virtual Assistant
www.theessentialva.com
