When I was a young girl, I dreamed of being a hair sweeper at Supercuts. I got my hair cut there and that job looked so fun! I never wanted to be a stylist, I just wanted to sweep the hair for the stylists. Fast forward to my Jr. year of college and I saw an opening for my dream job. I had worked in restaurants because it was beneficial to me as a college student, but it was time to live out my dream. I was a business and marketing major with the hope of being an assistant of some sort, just didn’t know where I would land after graduation. I was up for anything and I knew Supercuts was just temporary. I never wanted the responsibility of being a boss. I wanted to support the boss. I landed my first job as an Admin Assistant at a software company and after that served administratively in biotech and medical device. I worked for some great companies and met some great people. I knew ultimately, I wanted to be a mom and I knew daycare was not an option. It just wouldn’t be worth spending half my paycheck each month. When I was ready for kids, I starting asking about the possibility of working from home. The answer was, “If we let you do it, then we have to let everyone do it and its just not possible.” They planned to eliminate my position after returning from maternity leave and have me join a department I wanted nothing to do with…so my answer was very clear. I supported sales reps across the US, whom I rarely saw and they knew I could make their lives easier, so why not reach out to them for some work? I did just that. I didn’t get a big pool of clients, but a handful was enough to get me on my path of working virtually. One of my first virtual jobs was placing baby adoption classified ads in newspapers. Next thing you know, I was finding babies for 3-4 couples! When my boys became school age, I had more time on my hands, so I started researching virtual jobs online and came across Michael Hyatt. I saw he used a virtual assistant, so I reached out to him for some advice and guess who he referred me to? BELAY!! 5 years ago I joined this tremendous company who became my third option. They allow me to first be a mom who can send my kids off to school and welcome them each day. They allowed me the opportunity to use my administrative talents remotely to serve others, plus they placed me with some great executives whom I adore. I don’t miss my hour commute each way. I don’t miss the office drama and gossip around the water cooler. I do love the flexibility of a virtual career. I don’t miss out on my kids activities. I can go to a doctors appointment without requesting time off. I can literally work ANYWHERE that has wifi. I have amazing clients who understand I am a mom and might have some screaming in the background. My clients see my value even though they rarely see me. Thanks to Belay, my virtual dream has come true. I honestly don’t see myself returning to an actual office any time soon! #mythirdoption #iamBelay
– Robin