In a time lacking in truth and certainty and filled with anguish and despair, no woman should be shamefaced in attempting to give back to the world, through her work, a portion of its lost heart. — Louise A. Bogan

The Past, the Present, and the Future

THE PAST

1. Founded in early 1997 to meet the demands of people who wanted to know how to be Virtual Assistants and create successful Virtual Assistance businesses.

2. Over 600 VAs have received training from AssistU

3. Stacy Brice, founder, began assisting others virtually in 1988. She formalized the profession when she founded AssistU.

THE PRESENT

1. AssistU trains more than 50 Virtual Assistants per year; students are from all over the U.S. and Canada, as well as the Caribbean, China, Japan, Germany, and the UK. As of January 2007, AssistU had no employees; it practices what it preaches and draws on the skills of contractors.

2. AssistU offers a 20-week formal training program called the Virtual Training Program. It's available in three different formats: a group of six for $2695, one-on-one with an AssistU trainer for $3595, and one-on-one with Stacy Brice, founder of AssistU, for $8995. Four weeks of the training is about creating a solid business foundation. Research shows that less than 50% of all new business owners will see the fifth anniversary of their businesses because they didn't have strong business foundations. AssistU makes sure students build on a solid base.

3. AssistU has the highest standards in the industry. Not all who apply to the program make it to the initial admissions interview. Of those who do, most are accepted.

4. The curriculum is synchronous and asynchronous. There are weekly classes taught using a teleconferencing technology called a "telebridge;" most of them are in the evening, during the week. These classes are interactive and call on participants to use what they are learning through intensive situational role-plays and discussion of case-studies. Additionally, there are guided study, coaching, and more than 1700 pages of reading and exercises; 900 pages are original training materials.

5. There is a rigorous final exam consisting of multiple choice, fill in the blank, true/false, and short essay questions about the curriculum, ethics, and diverse client situations designed to test the knowledge and retention of the students. Graduate status is awarded to those who earn 80% or higher on the exam and have completed all the elements of the training on an exemplary level.

6. Once graduated, VAs can choose to sit for certification. AssistU offers the highest level of certification in the industry. For Certified Professional Virtual Assistant (CPVA) status, 150 additional training hours are spent in a simulated work environment, and mastery of more than 50 skills must be proven. The Certified Master Virtual Assistant designation (CMVA), currently the highest available certification in the industry, is awarded only to those who hold their CPVA certification, and who, thorough their work with clients and real world experiences as virtual assistants, have moved to a place of mastery in their profession.

7. AssistU's mission is to train VAs in the virtual, cyber, communication, business and professional skills they'll need to build and sustain successful businesses and relationships with their clients. In addition, AssistU meets the needs of VAs through the lifecycles of their businesses through the offerings of advanced systems, tools, programs and resources.

8. AssistU offers two blogs about working virtually: The Virtual Wire is a team blog, written by VAs and their clients, and Virtual Moxie is written by Stacy Brice to help VAs keep their business standards high.

9. AssistU turned ten years old February, 2007 and celebrated that milestone with a party in September which was attended by VAs from all over the world-many of whom had never met another VA in person prior to the party.


THE FUTURE

1. The question today is, "What is a VA?" Soon, the question will be, "Who is your VA?"

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