Hi, I'm Kathy Berona and I'm proud to be an AssistU graduate from the class of July, 1999. I have to start this off by expressing my heartfelt gratitude for this professional, incomparable and supportive community.

Here's my story. I stumbled upon the AssistU web site by accident one night when I was looking for a work opportunity for my oldest daughter. She wanted to be a stay at home mother to her newborn baby girl. While the virtual assistant program didn't appeal to her, I wanted to climb a mountain and shout, "Eureka! My ship just came in!" I jumped on board and set sail for the high seas excited about the adventure ahead.

Up to this point in my 12 year career, the work didn't continue to challenge me after the initial learning curve. I always took work advertised to be challenging, promises of professional growth and work which required the need for a person who excelled at multi-tasking. Yet, no matter how initially challenging and no matter how far up the ladder of success I went, I ended up in Boredomville. I even ventured into customer service and sales to see if I would enjoy it. While I did well in both, I felt the most fulfilled when I was in a one on one supportive role. So, I went back into administrative work always thinking to myself, "this CAN'T be all there is" and keeping my heart open for that something more.

Finding AssistU was the answer. It presented a training vehicle to do what I love and in such a way I am never bored. I get to work one on one with executives in different occupations, with very different personalities, work styles and administrative needs. No two days are ever the same. I'll tell you more about this a little later. Equally important to me is the freedom and independence I have being my own boss.

If I had to classify my business niche, I really couldn't because I don't want a niche. It would bore me to tears to work with the same kind of clients. Each of my client's have a unique personality and no two of them are alike in what they do, how they work or in the tasks they need support with.

Quite frankly I have never considered failure a possibility in this venture. I left my corporate job on May 31, 2001 and launched a full time practice on June 1. Within 6 months I met my financial goals. By July 2002 I was billing over $5,000 a month with a client base of 12. I scaled back during a health crisis and after that was conquered I went full time again. This venture has supported me through a divorce and it currently produces a six figure income.

I love this work so much that I do not intend to retire and I expect to be doing this work until I am no longer able to do it. I'm only 47 years young so I think I probably have another 25 years left in me. I'm excited about each day and what the future holds.


For more information about Kathy Berona, please visit her website at http://www.executiveva.com.

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