It has been a little over a year since I landed my first client as a VA, and I am still working with that client today and we’ve become great friends. It’s been a rollercoaster of a year, moving from full time employee, to fully self employed in April and I’m not going to lie – being self employed is definitely not for the faint hearted!
But as I reflect on that first year, and have just filed my very first tax return, I am just so proud of what I have achieved. And knowing that all my hard work is not lining someone else’s pockets, it’s all building the foundations for myself, and my family.
I am finally getting to be creative, choose my own working hours, and be there for my kids when they need me (which seems to have been quite a lot this winter so far!!)
Being self-employed may not be the easy way out, but being able to use your skill set and learn and challenge yourself in new ways every day is pretty amazing.
I’ve also learnt that there is a huge network of VA’s around the country, all like minded individuals with our own specialist skillsets, priding ourselves on #collaborationnotcompetition. Chances are, if you don’t know how to do something, someone in your network will know!
I was lucky enough to attend the VA Conference in September, which as you can see from the photograph above was an incredible turnout (thanks to Amanda Johnson at VACT for the photo!), and we got to meet so many other wonderful people – put faces to names of those we had connected with virtually and have a few drinks and let our hair down in the evening!
After a year of being just me, I am now branching out into the world of having team members on board, and what an exciting prospect that is. Here’s to 2023 and another year of all things VA.
