My Jaw Dropped
I went to a networking event this evening that I had never been to before and everyone went to the front of the room to do their little speech. One of the organizers who is a bit of a smart-a** was cracking jokes especially with those he knew well (I've been a customer of this guy in the past). After my talk as I was going back to my chair, he said, "so what do Virtual Assistants charge per hour, $10?". I know that I was networking, but I'm sure I fixed him with a glare and said "uh noooooooo" and went back to my seat.
During the break he came up and asked if I was bothered by the joke and I said that yes, actually I was. That this is a real sore point for many who do what I do. That we are actually highly skilled, highly experienced professionals who feel that their time is valuable and he and I had a really good conversation. He then said, "so what do you charge per hour", and I said "$XX and I feel it is well worth the money". He agreed with me about that you always get what you pay for.
Well after the break, he stood up in front of everybody and said that he had to make an apology to someone in the room who he had offended. He pointed me out, said he was very sorry, told everyone my name and business again and said, "Julia's hourly rate is not $10 per hour, it is in fact $XX per hour and I feel she is worth every cent of it". My jaw dropped and he looked directly at me as he apologized. All I could say was "thank you".
Everyone else got their name mentioned in front of everyone a couple of times tonight; mine got an extra mention.
I'm so glad I didn't leave at the break as I had intended to do. If I had left, I wouldn't have had the conversation with him and this wouldn't have happened. This was a real learning experience for me.
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Julia
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