Testimonial to the benefits of the AVA Slack community.

One way to encourage VAs to join the Association of Virtual Assistants is the benefit of the AVA’s Slack community experience. I had the privilege of interviewing a veteran VEA (Virtual Executive Assistant), and founding member of the AVA, Bonnie Schutz, on the subject. I'll share some of the highlights in this blog.

Let me introduce Bonnie.  Bonnie C. Schutz, CEO/VEA & Sr. Admin Recruiter of Tandem Resource Solutions, LLC

 http://tandemresourcesolutions.com/

Bonnie holds her Professional Administrative Certification of Excellence (PACE) and is Chief Executive Officer at Tandem Resource Solutions (TRS). Bonnie is also a Virtual Executive Assistant (VEA) & TRS' Sr. Administrative Recruiter. As a bonus, she is a TEDx Certified VA through the Association of Virtual Assistants (AVA). After a 27-year+ career in administrative roles, (most of which was spent as an Executive Assistant, assisting C-suite executives in various industries, both on a national level and with their global counterparts), and gaining an entrepreneurial spirit in the process (inspired by those she’s worked for), Bonnie started TRS. She has worked in and managed offices from the small 6-person office to the larger 100-300 person office. Her industry background is diverse (non-profit, home building, engineering, software, medical - to name a few), and experience invaluable. It has enabled her to progress her career into that of a mentor, advocate, and recruiter of administrative professionals.

Let me share some of the takeaways from our interview. Bonnie said the main thing she enjoys about being a member of the AVA is the networking and connections that their Slack group promotes. She relayed that the sense of community the AVA & their Slack group offers, helps her avoid that feeling of isolation one can get when working alone at home - as opposed to a brick and mortar office full of co-workers. The specific channels that are her favorite are the: “just-for-fun” channel, and the “learning corner” channel. She says the AVA & their Slack group gives her the feeling of being in an office environment (the office water cooler) with co-workers (without the office drama). She further states, “We see mentoring, collaboration, and support from the warm and nurturing environment that the AVA & their Slack group fosters.”

Bonnie also brought up the fact that besides the sense of belonging, the AVA & it’s Slack group also has valuable channels for networking and posting job opportunities, as well as a channel that helps connect clients with AVA members directly.

Bonnie also made sure to mention the education & training channel in the AVA’s Slack community, as well as the" technology-software-apps" channel. To her, these channels are an extreme asset to have at her disposal for her VA practice & agency. They are her go-to places for learning new tools and solving technical issues with the current tools her team utilizes daily.

Finally, I asked her what her main take away from the AVA, and its use of Slack was. Bonnie said I should let folks know that the AVA and its Slack community (as a member benefit) is a safe place, that’s a warm and nurturing environment composed of fellow VAs, who are like-minded and committed to helping and encouraging each other to succeed!

Please see all the other benefits of the Association of Virtual Assistants here. 

- This article was contributed by David Rockey co-owner of Your Office SOS. He and his wife, Martie, bring over 100 years of business and professional experience to the rescue.