IVAA

In the Spotlight: Candy Zulkosky

We like to occasionally feature some of the people who have completed the Professional Author and Speaker Training and Certification Programs. This week we’re shining the InstructionSmith spotlight on Candy Zulkosky.

Candy lives at the beach, on an island along the coast of North Carolina which is especially interesting considering she spent the first 30 or so years of her life living in the same small town tucked away in the mountains of Pennsylvania.

She ran away to sea for five years and taught computer classes to cruise ship passengers on the love boat! She lived for months at a time onboard Princess Cruise ships—and got paid to sail around the world. She notes this was arguably the best time of her life.

Over the next few weeks, we are going to be featuring some of the people who have completed the Professional Author and Speaker Training and Certification Programs.

This week we’re shining the InstructionSmith spotlight on Colleen Wietmarschen.

Colleen was the first recipient of the Jan B. King Memorial Scholarship in 2015. The 2017 Scholarship is currently open for application. We have provided more information about the scholarship award program below.

Colleen is married to Steve, her husband of 33 years and has one son, Peter. Peter is the light of her life and now a partner in her business. She enjoys walking and doing Hydrofit water aerobics. In May she walked her second half marathon and completed a sprint triathlon when she turned 50.

Before starting her own business, 21 years ago, Colleen worked for attorneys where attention to detail was a necessity. She lists editing and proofreading among her passions, which came in handy when she owned a medical transcription company.

After being awarded the Jan B. King Memorial Scholarship, Colleen completed the Professional Author Assistant Course in October 2015.

International Virtual Assistants Day has been observed on the third Friday of May since 2006.

Virtual assistants are independent contractors who work remotely either by themselves or with a team of experts.

What does it mean to work remotely?

Usually working from their home office they provide administrative and/or technical support for clients in a variety of industries.

Virtual assistants own their own business and work independently or assemble a versatile team of other virtual independent contractors. The members of the group work independently, have shared interests and use technology to communicate and collaborate. Virtual teams bring together people with the best expertise, regardless of where they live.

When working remotely or working as part of a virtual team you rely on email, instant messaging, and video chat to communicate.

“As technology continues to evolve, implementing telecommuting policies will become easier—leading your business to save money on overheads, while keeping employee retention high thanks to a better work/life balance.” Global Telework 2016 Survey Results

Getting started

It has been said that you are known by the company you keep. Professional associations are a way to “keep company” with other leaders in your industry to learn from each other and support your business growth. Some of the benefits of professional association membership are: Lends credibility – Membership in a professional association indicates … Read more

In the Spotlight: Candy Zulkosky

In the Spotlight: Colleen Wietmarschen

International Virtual Assistants Day is May 19th

The Value of Professional Association Memberships