Kathy
Ritchie, MVA, Editor
Kathy Ritchie began Ritchie Secretarial Service in June
1996. Specializing in quality virtual office assistance
at affordable prices. Since then Ritchie Secretarial Service
has provided quality virtual assistance across the Denver
Metro area, the nation and the world. Visit her award winning
website at www.thebestva.com for more information.
Being an entrepreneur is very important to Kathy. . "I
love being my own boss and working for myself. I am the
only thing standing in my way and the only thing making
things happen."
For Kathy, creativity is essential. The surge of emotion
that comes from within after designing the 'perfect' graphic,
writing the 'perfect' chapter, or winning another award
for having such an 'excellent' Website.... she says is nothing
short of addicting. Even more important for her is being
taken seriously as a professional - whether it be as a writer,
designer, or a virtual assistant.
Enlightenment is key to the success of the Virtual Assistant
industry. To this end, Kathy has committed to spreading
the word about virtual assistants. She has been featured
and/or quoted in the Denver Business Journal; Virtual Summit;
Entrepreneur’s Startups Magazine; In Search of Excellence;
ParentPreneur Magazine; Business-Seeds.com; The Portal Business
Park News (Lead Columnist); and interviewed for presentations
to the International Association of Administrative Professionals
(IAAP-Toronto) and the Wall Street Journal.
The RSS Herald is the vehicle to spreading the word on Virtual
Assisting and it's importance in the future of business.
"The Herald has taken on a life of it's own! From a
little two-page web based paper to eight or more pages every
month! We get awesome writers, and I'm always interested
in the thoughts of virtual assistants or other virtual workers,"
says Kathy Ritchie.
In her off hours, she enjoys reading, writing, fishing and
genealogy.
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Janice
Byer, Lead Columnist
Janice Byer has owned and operated Docu-Type Administrative
& Web Design Services
(www.docutype.net) since 1998 after graduating from the
Human Resources Development Canada's Self-Employment Assistance
Program.
Specializing in Virtual Office Assistance and Website Design,
Docu-Type has become a business and a lifestyle that she
is extremely proud of. Her mission statement, "To be
a happy, successful person whom others can admire and want
to learn from", has been something she has lived by.
Each day she provides services for her clients and assistance
to her fellow small business owners to help them become
successful and stay successful.
Janice's background includes over 15 years in the corporate
sector and 5 years in the small business sector. Now she
also has 3 years of small business ownership experience
to add to her accomplishments.
Her articles are written by a Virtual Assistant for Virtual
Assistants. They are 'been there, done that' articles designed
to help the VA/small business owner to reach new heights.
Her articles are not only featured in the RSSHerald, but
they are also read and seen in numerous online publications
and websites and in many international print publications
as well.
In 2000, Janice was proud to accept the Most Successful
Start Up 2000 award, presented by the Pinnacle Awards for
Women of Distinction, and the Home-Based Business of the
Year 2000 award, presented by the Brampton Small Business
Enterprise Centre, in conjunction with the Brampton Board
of Trade, the City of Brampton, and the Towns of Caledon
and Orangeville, all located in Ontario, Canada.
# # #
Clara
D. Fyffe - IAVOA Corner
Clara Fyffe is the owner of All-Write Virtual Office, established
in July 1995 in Evansville, Indiana.
Prior to opening her business, Clara worked in the accounting
office of a major auto dealership. When that office reorganized,
she found herself out of work and divorced. In hopes of
improving her life, Clara chose to return to college and
signed up at the University of Southern Indiana. In May
1992, she graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in
Communications, Journalism and Creative Writing. Clara had
always enjoyed writing and worked as a reporter for the
campus newspaper, "The Shield." Following graduation,
she wrote feature articles for the "Boonville Standard"
newspaper. She then worked as editor for the regional print
magazine "Road Trippin'" and advanced to writing
her own monthly column, "Mom's Musings," an ongoing
series of articles relating to the trials, tribulations,
triumphs and tricks of her college student son.
Following a serious auto accident in 1994, resulting to
injuries to her back and legs, Clara found that she could
no longer work outside the home. After talking to another
woman who wanted to close her home secretarial business,
Clara learned all she could and opened her own company,
then named "All-Write Creative Writing and Printing."
She did most of her marketing by word of mouth, but also
used the Internet, searching out those with like interests,
joining multiple "writing chat rooms" to make
her presence known. By doing so, she acquired many high-paying
projects.
In November 1998, Clara moved to Bloomington, Indiana,
to be near her family. She immediately sought out the expertise
of her local SBDC and took courses to further her abilities
for re-opening her business in its new location. She also
chose a new name, "All-Write Virtual Office,"
and created a new logo, as well. She set up an extensive
home office and got to work, enjoying every minute of it.
Then, in September 2002, a direct hit by an F-4 tornado
destroyed Clara's home, office and car. It took nearly a
year - and the support of the IAVOA community - to get through
the insurance red tape and re-outfit her business in a new
location and home. One year later, she was diagnosed with
a brain aneurysm and underwent brain surgery on October
8, 2003. Two years later, she is again moving her business
forward. As before, the IAVOA community helped tremendously
in supporting her and urging her not to give up.
Currently, Clara is marketing with zeal and writing as
often as she can. Her main areas of business are proofreading,
writing, re-writing, and editing of business correspondence,
as well as assisting future writers with their projects.
She also performs transcription of all kinds. Writing and
layout of newsletters is another area she enjoys. Clara
is an avid worker in the Media Department of her church,
developing and printing their weekly Bulletins and creating
the PowerPoints of Announcements and the Pastor's Message,
as well as any other necessary creative projects.
# # #
Sharon
Williams, MVA, AVS Corner
Sharon formed her secretarial service in 1990, initially
offering business management and administrative support
to entrepreneurs. She utilized her experience in project
administration, business and technical writing, and event
management to grow the company from a sole proprietorship
to a prosperous corporate entity. Her employment background
includes serving as president of a 7,000-member union, working
as a program compliance hearing officer and in the early
stages of her career as an administrative assistant to a
director of a city agency.
Throughout the years, Sharon instilled the entrepreneurial
spirit into her family, all of whom own their own businesses.
During the summer months, her grandchild works beside her,
learning the business and how to interact professionally
with clients.
Sharon has written comprehensive studies for state government,
is the chairperson of the local African-American Chamber
of Commerce, and has organized numerous local, national
and international events. She is certified as a Master Virtual
Assistant.
Sharon is the proud owner of The 24 Hour Secretary, a virtual
assistance and secretarial company that is open 24/7, PowerMakers,
Inc., a public relations, event planning and marketing firm,
and Good Health Choices, a healthy-choices corporation.
Sharon is a graduate of Antioch University, Yellowsprings,
OH, with a B.A. in Business Administration and a concentration
in labor relations.
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