Thanks to all of you for your nice comments and welcome to the forums! I'm so happy to know the website is fulfilling it's intended purpose!

Hi Tess,

I can't believe I never stumbled across this thread! It's great to learn a little more about the person who brought us all together.

I too have aspirations of someday growing my business to the point where my husband can quit his job and either work with me or occupy our daughter while I'm working. My hubby and I talk about this all the time, and I am hoping for the day we can make it happen! We have visions of working side by side in our home office while our daughter plays on her own little desk, and taking "family breaks" whenever we want to, to go play outside or just spend time together. It will happen someday...it's just a matter of when!

Good luck to everyone else who is hoping for this setup too!

__________________
Tammi
The Write Associate
www.writeassociate.com

Tammi, it is something wonderful to work toward and I have no doubt that you're on the right track!

We're truly blessed to be able to live and work the way we do and I thank the universe every day for conspiring to make it happen.

I feel the same - great interview! Thank you for sharing it.

Dusty Warren
Jorren Co.

Hi,

I am new to this forum and thoroughly enjoying and soaking up all the great info, and anecdotes!!!

As I read your interview, I saw that you recommend Pdf995.... I'm just wondering if there's a huge difference between that and just plain Adobe Acrobat 8.0. And if so, what that is....

Thanks!!

Terri

Hi Terri, so glad you're enjoying yourself here

PDF 995 is a great *free* option but nothing can compare to Adobe when it comes to features. PDF995 basically lets you 'print to PDF' but doesn't actually link URLs or have permissions or security, note options, etc. For a VA just starting out who simply wants to convert docs to PDF PDF995 is a really good option. Adobe products don't run cheap and are a hard sell to the new VA on a budget

Great interview, it doenst take long to identify an expert

Thanks for sharing, Tess! For us newbies (or at least this one), hearing other VA start-up storiess gives us encouragement and let's us know that we're not alone in this and that all of our dreams come true if we just push the button.

(I just watched a very inspirational movie about a small West Virginia mining town in the 50's called October Sky. It tells the story about a group of boys who were inspired to build a rocket after seeing the Sputnik in the sky. Just in case any of you would like to watch it, I won't give out more than that. But, what I'm getting at is that I came across one of my new favorite lines towards the end of the movie and had to use it just once...lol..."It won't fly unless somebody pushes the button")

I love to read these threads! I think it's time for a new interview!!

Marcia

Tess, thanks for sharing your 'start' in the VA business.
They say necessity is the mother-hood of all invention and given your history, you certainly 'invented' yourself to get what you wanted. Way to go! I agree with MDThompson though, a new interview might be in order. I bet a lot has happened since that initial interview and we would all love to find out more.
I quit my 'day' job just over 2 years ago as I felt my talents were being taken advantage of and I was missing out on my 1st daughter's life. She was just turning a year old. I was also pregnant at the time and had no idea what I would do. I had worked in the 'real' world since I was 15. I checked out Craig's List and a Virtual Staffing Company and I started working virtually when my 2nd daughter was 6 months old. I look forward to the day when my husband can work along side me at home as well.
Thank you again for sharing your story and your site. I love this forum and tell all of my friends / VA colleagues about it.