Empowered VA Services

25/12/2024

Merry Christmas everyone from myself and Harry (whose face you will see more on here in the new year!)

Have a wonderful day!

23/12/2024

𝑴𝑬𝑹𝑹𝒀 𝑪𝑯𝑹𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑴𝑨𝑺 𝑬𝑽𝑬𝑹𝒀𝑶𝑵𝑬!

Today on Successful Strides, I have some amazing business friends sharing their messages to you all like the wonderful message from Janet Shreeve of Shreeve Care Services below!

This year has been full of learnings - some I'll be sharing on social media soon, including the time it takes to run a podcast! - and I hope that those lessons continue throughout the next year.

Thank you to everyone who has supported Empowered VA Services and Successful Strides this year including my fabulous clients and guests!

If you'd like to be a guest in the new year please email [email protected]

To listen to the episode in full visit www.empoweredvaservices.co.uk/podcast

20/12/2024

My awesome secret Santa present from Businesswise!

That's a wrap on my networking for 2024!

19/12/2024

Last night I was back at CotswoldNetworking and it was such a great meeting. I haven't been for the last two months - expos have taken precedent so being back in the room, talking about who I am and what my achievements have been throughout 2024, got me thinking about them!

1. I graduated from The Open University with a Business Degree
2. I started my podcast Successful Strides
3. I brought my stepson into the business - he's enjoying what he does and he's really good at it.
4. I drove to Manchester in November when I hadn't driven for 4 years. It was also the furthest I've ever driven!
5. I gained some brilliant new clients!
6. I've learnt A LOT and I feel like 2025 may bring some more lessons both good and bad because if you aren't always learning then what's the point?

What have been your achievements in 2024?

11/12/2024

Every Monday morning my day starts with some networking with Connect run by Stefan Thomas. Since joining and attending the 9am Monday morning calls, I've found my weeks are a lot more productive! It really is amazing what networking with the right people can do for your mindset!

This week has been especially busy. I had friends down on Monday so only worked half a day, yesterday I was at Swindon 105.5 recording podcast episodes for BusinessWise Swindon, today I'm with Scott Media and we have her Monthly Meet Up Christmas lunch and then Thursday is the first ever Christmas craft fayre at Basepoint Swindon that I've been helping to organise. Friday is my only day at home in my office and then Saturday, Harry has his day with me as we prep client content for the rest of the month and into the new year!

I won't really be winding down much in the lead up to Christmas although the plan is to finish on December 20th and have a good read reading some books! As business owners we all know that plan can change in a second!

How has your week been so far?

02/12/2024

THE FIRST MONDAY IN DECEMBER...

I always struggle with December. Mainly because conversations turn to winding down and how much time people will be taking off over the festive season. Truth be told - I don't actually take a lot of time off - not just in December but in general!

Yesterday I managed to take the day out and not do any work - yes, I know it was a Sunday but I normally do some prep on a Sunday evening. I thought I'd start as I mean to go on in 2025 and have a day out of work completely to relax, read, crochet and start watching my Christmas films - yesterday was the delightful Violent Night (it has Santa in it, he saves the day - it's definitely a Christmas film!)

For me December is about making sure clients social media posts are scheduled and ready, about making sure my admin tasks are complete and about working on my own marketing plan for next year.

If I plan it right this will be the first year where I actually get Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day off. I will be working the 27th and probably the 30th - I get bored easily so getting ahead with the work for January seems like the perfect thing to do to keep me occupied.

I find it hard to wind down when I have so many clients social media that I need to keep tabs on - I don't want to come back to work in January and find that something didn't post that was important!

How much time do you take off for Christmas?

29/11/2024

It was great to be a guest on Janet's podcast 'You Care, I Care'. Janet is a force of nature in the care industry and it was wonderful to be able to share my experience with her.

Head to https://shreevecareservices.co.uk/podcasts/ to take a listen!

25/11/2024

I'm really excited to share with you that my guest today is networking legend, Stefan Thomas!

Stefan wrote the book Business Networking for Dummies ten years ago and since then has become a leading expert on networking for business owners. He has his own online networking group as well as running courses including The Speakers Retreat, The Networking Retreat and The Networking Success programme.

I got to hear about Stefan when I was part of the team at a local networking group and was quite eager to meet him but, thanks to the pandemic, that wasn't to happen for a few years until he started working with his PR partner - my client Fiona Scott, who was my very first guest on this podcast.

Since then I've gotten to know Stefan and it just made complete sense to have him on my podcast sharing his networking wisdom.

Be sure to listen to the episode in full at www.empoweredvaservices.co.uk/podcast

21/11/2024

Annnnd home. Car dropped back to it's spot, meds taken and in my pj's.

In a ton of pain but I drove to Manchester and back in 2 days!!!

Also before Saturday I hadn't driven a car in 4 years so I'm calling that a win!

21/11/2024

It's an honour to be on Janet Shreeve's podcast today!

𝗜𝗧'𝗦 𝗣𝗢𝗗𝗖𝗔𝗦𝗧 𝗗𝗔𝗬!

Today I have the pleasure of welcoming Hannah Edwards, who is the director of Empowered VA Services.

Before setting up her VA business, Hannah worked in care from 2012 until COVID. She started as a support worker, was promoted to team leader and then a senior team leader over time. When she made the decision, she wanted to grow her VA business, she moved to a care company which meant she could work shifts as and when needed.

Sadly, not only did COVID hit, but also growing health issues of her own forced her to give up the care work, which she enjoyed.

Hannah talks about being diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and how it affects her life, every single day. Also, she explains just how much medication she has to take, plus the side effects – when she remembers.

Talking about her VA business, Hannah shares a wonderful Barbie analogy, which leads on to her gaining her Business Degree earlier this year.

You can listen to the episode in full at www.shreevecareservices.co.uk/podcasts

20/11/2024

Obligatory hotel room selfie. Looking forward to the expo at the Etihad tomorrow!

For now after a long drive to Stockport, I'm going to get some rest in bed!

18/11/2024

I'm heading to Manchester!

It's expo season and this is the last one of the year. Thursday will find me in Manchester with my fab client Scott Media spreading the news about all things PR, Media and social media diaries!

Be sure to stop by the Etihad Stadium between 10am and 3pm to see us. We'll be one of the most colourful stands in the room!

15/11/2024

IT ISN’T ALL ABOUT THE MONEY FOR ME…

Do you find sometimes that people expect you to be making a LOT of money from your business and when you say actually money doesn’t mean that much to me, you get a funny look?

When I started running my business, I was only charging £10 per hour! I didn’t mind – I was able to pay my bills, I was learning how to run a business, and I was earning above minimum wage. Even now my whole viewpoint of my business is that small business owners need support too. There are business owners out there drowning in admin and social media that takes over and gets out of control. Sometimes they don’t have a big budget – they can’t afford to pay £35-£50 an hour or £450-£800 a month and that could be for a number of reasons including health issues.

Those are my people…

It’s important to me that people, no matter the stage in their business they’re at or what their budget is, get support. Quite often you’ll find me asking some “What’s your budget for social media?” or “what’s your budget for admin support?”

I’ll then go away and come up with a package that suits them. Sometimes it might not be as much support as they were hoping for but it’s a start and it means that together we can grow and my hours with them can increase as their business takes off. Seeing the relief when someone realises that I can take on the tasks they hate and they can work on the big picture stuff that allows them to gain more clients and grow, is what lets me know that I am where I am supposed to be – I am supporting the people I am supposed to be supporting.

I’m never going to be about the money – I’m going to be about the people and supporting them.

What about you?

14/11/2024

My fabulous client Scott Media is holding a two day event on February 5th and 6th next year.

The No BS Media Summit give you the opportunity to get yourself in front of 5 journalists from different areas of the media industry!

Not only that but you'll be able to attend a masterclass day where three people will be teaching you personal branding, speaking and overcoming barriers in business!

If you want to know more head to https://scottmedia.uk/product/the-no-bs-media-summit/

Be quick because the early bird ends soon!

13/11/2024

Today is and I want to say a huge thank you to the kindest people I have met in business:

1. Scott Media
2. Lis McDermott Author
3. Barbara Leatham Photography
4. Louise Hunt Skelley Ply and Chris Hunt Skelley Mbe
5. Stefan Thomas

There are so many more to share but these people have had a huge impact on me and my business so I want to take a moment to say thank you for showing me the kindness you do on a regular basis!

12/11/2024

What a way to start a Monday!

Yesterday was my first Monday meeting at Connect run by the wonderful

I knew some of the people in the room already through email but it was brilliant to finally put faces to names and network.

I'm using the rest of this year and 2025 to push myself out of my comfort zone and networking is one of those things for me that makes me nervous as anything!

11/11/2024

Today I'm grateful to those who fought and gave their all so that I can be here today.

I'm grateful that my great grandad made it home.

I'm sorry to those who didn't make it home.

War seeps into everything we do and all these years later I'm thankful to all.

05/11/2024

I'm not knitting because I'm not as good at it as I am crocheting but I'm working on raising some money for The Bone Cancer Research Trust and using the time to finish a scarf I've been making and then working on some wash cloths for a family member to take to Africa in August 2025.

If you can spare even just £1, I'd really appreciate it.

https://www.justgiving.com/page/hannah-edwards-1728895479506?utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=page%2Fhannah-edwards-1728895479506&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=pfp-share