Hello everybody! Join me in my chat with Connie Shepard, one of our very own VAs here in the Virtual Assistant Community, it's about what life is like for her as a Virtual Assistant.

Raquel: First tell us a little about yourself.
Connie: I'm a former homeschooling mom (my children are out of school now), married to my wonderful college sweetheart.  We attend and are very involved in our church.  I am a musician, and from the age of 12 until my youngest turned 8, (about 30+ years) I taught piano, voice and flute lessons from my home.  I have a B.A. in music, and was all but one semester shy of getting an Assoc. degree in Medical Records.  I love to learn, I love variety.

Raquel:  How long have you been a VA?
Connie: Officially, I have worked with a regular client for one year the end of this month.  I worked off and on a few other jobs before that as well.

Raquel: How many clients do you have?
Connie:  Two

Raquel: What kind of work do you do for your clients?
Connie: I handle their e-mail, their calendars, confirm appointments, type documents and spreadsheets, set up meetings, book hotel conference rooms, send information and forms to clients, set up fan pages and event pages, update clients Twitter followers and following status, order gifts….etc.,

Raquel: How many hours per week do you work?
Connie: This week I worked 19, but most weeks between 12 and 15 hrs.  That will be growing in the future.

Raquel: What's your biggest challenge as a VA?
Connie: You're always having to learn new stuff, and you have to have the proper mindset for that -- a "CAN DO" attitude.  If you don't -- you're sunk!

Raquel: What do you like best about being a VA?
Connie: The variety -- hands down!  I love that.  It's the one thing office positions I've had before could not offer, and I thrive on it.

Raquel: Connie, thank you for giving us a peek into who you are and what you are doing as a VA!  Is there any parting advice you'd like to give to the VAs in our community?
Connie: You can do it!  Go for it!