Baltimore, MD, May 19,
2006 – For most professionals Friday, May 19, 2006 will be
an ordinary workday – but not for Sharon Williams, Becky
Gregory, Kirsten Womack or Carolyn Moncel, all African
American Virtual Assistants, who along with over 5,000
colleagues worldwide will be celebrating the first annual
International Virtual Assistants Day (IVAD).
Proposed by Sharon Williams’
online advocacy group, Alliance for Virtual Businesses
(A4VB), IVAD is now officially registered with Chases
Calendar of Events, the recognized authority of special
days, weeks and months. IVAD will appear in the 2007
edition and will be held annually on the third Friday of
May. The inaugural celebration of International Virtual
Assistants Day coincides with a three-day assembly
sponsored by the Online International Virtual Assistants
Convention (OIVAC) running from May 18 – 20, 2006. Virtual
Assistants worldwide will display the free IVAD logo and
creed on their websites.
“VAs are making important
contributions to the growth and stability of small
businesses everywhere, and the establishment of IVAD
simply acknowledges all of those virtual professionals who
work so hard to honor our creed: Dedication, Experience,
Expertise and Determination to Succeed (DEEDS), ” says
Williams who says almost 10 percent of her organization
alone is comprised of African American VAs. “In the 10 to
20 calls I receive from aspiring VAs each week, 25 percent
of them openly identify themselves as African Americans.
It’s great because these women view this industry as an
open opportunity to take control of their careers and
become serious business owners."
Williams, a former City
employee, is a VA pioneer who started her business, The 24
Hour Secretary, long before the Internet Revolution.
Specializing in digital dictation and transcription
services, her company literally operates 24 hours per day.
Utilizing the latest technology at her finger tips, she
and her expert team of internationally-based Virtual
Assistants handle the responsibilities busy and often
overwhelmed executives and entrepreneurs dislike or lack
time to complete. She is a Master Virtual Assistant, a
certified Real Estate Virtual Assistant, a mentor and
author of three books.
Virtual Assistants or VAs
are independent entrepreneurs who work remotely and use
the latest technology to deliver professional
administrative, creative, managerial, technical, business
back-office and/or personal support services to busy
professionals. Clients only pay for the time actually
spent working on projects and often retain a fixed amount
of hours per month for service.
Typical services could
include everything from general secretarial and word
processing services to desktop publishing, website
creation and marketing. Projects are often handled over
the phone, by fax, e-mail and even instant messaging. Most
attractive is the fact that VAs are also responsible for
their own taxes, training, healthcare, insurance -
overhead costs that make hiring an employee expensive.
With a 25 year career
within the academia, healthcare and law, Becky Gregory of
Virtual Administrative Services (VAS) operates her
business from Baltimore, MD as well. Gregory uses her
extensive administrative, technical and desktop support
experience to serve busy, mobile professionals who need
expert administrative assistance but don’t need an
‘employee’. Launched in 1992, VAS provides a wide range of
business support services including complex document
processing, information processing, desktop publishing and
customer service management. A graduate of Virtual
Assistance U, one of the leading organizations designed to
train aspiring virtual assistants, Gregory is also a
Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) and a Certified
Microsoft Office User Specialist (MOUS).
Kirsten A. Womack, owner
of Im-mack-ulate Impressions runs her company from Turtle
Creek, PA, located just 10 miles outside of Pittsburgh. In
addition to offering general administrative and HR support
to business owners, her company specializes in
interviewing, training guide development and PowerPoint
presentations. Holding a series of management positions
before starting her own firm, Womack is also a
VirtualAssistanceU graduate, but holds a Bachelor of
Science Degree in Human Resource Management.
Since 1996 more than 5,000
professionals around the world have become VAs. More than
90 percent of them are highly-skilled working mothers who
choose to start their own businesses in order to achieve a
better work/life balance. According to a study conducted
by Brenner Books in conjunction with A4VB in 2004, the
United States accounts for the largest number of VAs
followed by Canada, Australia and Great Britain.
Carolyn Moncel, a former
marketing and PR manager, launched MotionTemps, LLC in
July 2001. When her French husband, accepted a job offer
in October 2002 and moved the family from their home in
Chicago (her hometown) to Paris, Moncel decided to expand
her company rather than close shop. Moncel, whose company
specializes in working with English-speaking
communications professionals to create training materials
and web presentations, still works with her Chicago
clients. Additionally, she now services clients in the UK
and Canada as well. Like so many others throughout the
industry, Moncel started a new career in order to spend
more time with her oldest daughter who was in pre-school
at the time. Ironically this year, IVAD and Moncel’s
daughter’s ninth birthday will share the same date.
About Alliance for
Virtual Businesses
Established in June 2003 the Alliance for Virtual
Businesses™ is volunteer-directed organization, whose
primary mission is to promote the growth of free
enterprise between virtual assistants, entrepreneurs,
small businesses, corporations, associations and other
business entities. At the web site client-related case
studies, industry-related demographics, and a wealth of
other types of information are available to facilitate
learning about our industry. Visit the website at
www.allianceforvirtualbiz.com.
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Message
from Denise Trifiletti of 
