Proactive Assistants celebrated 13 years in business yesterday, and I wanted to share our journey with you.
Throughout my career, I have always held a strong work ethic, not taking time off sick, always first in the office and last to leave. Which was not killing time playing solitaire as some colleagues did, so they didn’t get home too early and have to help the wife with the kids.
In 2008 I had my opportunity to do what I had always wanted to do. That was to be in business for myself, as the contract to become the secretariat for the Professional Speaking Association – PSA was up for grabs. Proactive Assistants was launched in April 2008 from my sisters living room (I have a very generous sister).
Five years of hard work and fun ensued, which came hand in hand with the huge learning curve to become familiar with Sage and pass my qualifications to RSA level III. Regular trips to London to take minutes at the board meetings and to organise and attend events for members. At the same time, keeping members happy every day and processing their applications to advance their status in the speaking world.
In 2010 I was very fortunate to be sent on an all-expenses trip to Phoenix, Arizona, to learn how the National Speakers Association – NSA operated their business. As you can imagine, this was a much larger organisation with over ten people working in their office. This was a great experience and opportunity to learn more new skills and to get to know how operations were handled on a much larger scale. The visit also included a road trip visiting The Grand Canyon National Park and having a ride on the back of a Harley Davidson in the snow.
Change of Direction for Proactive Assistants
2013 was the year I wanted to take my independence back; some said: “fortune favours the brave”. My business took a change in direction to focus on local companies that needed my support to help their business grow. I began to network more to help me replace the steady income I had been getting from starting my business journey.
Later that year, this slight change in direction saw us embark on a large project for Virgin Trains to support the Project Manager for Spherica and his team. This was to install new computers and laptops at all the stations on the West Coast Route from Euston to Glasgow. This was a considerable task which, thanks to my associates we achieved on time to meet the deadline.
Another of my interesting assignments was also in 2013 to fly to Frankfurt to take minutes for the European Group of International Accounting Networks and Associations – EGIAN, including the international meeting with their members contributing throughout the meeting.
In 2018 I decided to revamp the business and rebranded with the help of https://www.phddesign.co.uk/ and later developed a new website with https://www.birchhosting.com/
The new site was launched early in 2019 https://www.proactiveassistants.co.uk/
The reason for sharing my journey is to say if you want to achieve the dream, you need to be resilient and focused in everything you do. What drives me is being passionate about helping the businesses that I work with to achieve their own goals and dreams.
