by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Nov 17, 2020 | Entrepreneur, Life Thoughts, Virtual Assistant
Your virtual assistant is more than that amazing avatar behind the company name that gets your SH** done in a timely manner. We are your left hand, right hand, and perhaps a toe or two that manages all those business nuisances and trying tasks so you can focus your most valuable time on what you do best. The prime reason you started your business.
You know we exist because everything you need or want seems to get done. Kind of like some unicorn magic. We are damn good at what we do, or at least I know that I am. I have been in business since 2002 and absolutely love what I do and whom I serve.
Social media has blessed me with wonderful connections, colleagues, partners, clients, and even sub-contractors, some that I have met in person.
While running your business, and mine, is paramount to my success and paying bills, of course, I do have a personal life that I highly value, protect, and embrace. I am more than the Ace behind the keystroke of our partnership of timely deliverables and virtual support.
Since I have introduced my new website, I thought I might grab your virtual ear and share a little bit about me. What drives me. How I thrive in life. My goals.
My foundation, my essence if you will, begins with my personal beliefs about health, well-being, and longevity which grew out of my firsthand experience working in a naturopathic clinic with the founder (also a relative). My philosophy continued to develop due to my social media research role for various client professions: chiropractor, sports/conditioning coach, and health industry authors/podcaster. I read, researched, learned, and educated myself. The more I learned, the more I wanted to know. I followed doctors, health professionals, organizations, and clinics on social media. I purchased books. Talked to people, listened to interviews, and formulated ‘ME’ based on the science, case studies, and personal stories. A life-long learner with an interest and passion for living MY BEST life.
My health is extremely important to me. If I am not healthy and thriving, I cannot provide the executive support I promise to you. I choose to live out my years actively and dis-ease free.
I think in terms of ‘healthspan’ not just lifespan.
“Healthspan,” a coinage now gaining traction, refers to the years that a person can expect to live in generally good health — free of chronic illnesses and cognitive decline that can emerge near life’s end. Although there’s only so much a person can do to delay the onset of disease, there’s plenty that scientists are learning to improve your chances of a better healthspan. via Kaiser Health News (KHN)
I have been whole food plant-based for about six years and love, love anything veggie related. The produce aisle is my candy store. I do prefer shopping at local farmer’s markets if I can. I can’t really think of a fruit or veg that I don’t like or can’t prepare for that matter. I enjoy raw vegan as well as cooked foods. Playing in the kitchen is my therapy and have created many recipes of my own. Food can harm or heal. I love to eat healing, whole foods to nourish and feed my mind, body, and soul.
Exercise is my other passion. Exercise and fitness! I don’t ever want to say, ‘I’ve fallen and can’t get up’ before I’m 100 years old. I want to be able to play, jump, run, climb, squat, get dressed, sit on the floor, tie my sneakers, sit in the sand, or splash in the water until my eyes close forever. As you may have read in Virtual Assistants, Passion, Preference, and Persistence (MY WHY of starting Ace), my mom, sister, and more recently, my niece all passed from breast cancer. I embrace and value every day of my life and will live my best life in their honor because theirs were drastically cut short.
I have a gym in my basement, love to kayak, hike, SUP, and cycle. My longest bike ride is 52 miles so now 30 seems so short. I will get to a century ride. Goals!
I have been tracking my fitness since January 2019. I keep a whiteboard in the basement gym and record the time I lifted, time on the treadmill, steps, calories, miles walked, and whether it was fasted cardio. I also write down every lift with reps and sets. This is just me. I want to be accountable, motivated, and responsible for my own healthcare. [bctt tweet=”I am the architect of my body/life and I need to be proud of my building.” username=”AceConcierge”].
My day starts between 5:15 and 5:45 with my morning routine of hitting the gym for 1 to 2 hours. If I’m not doing intermittent fasting I will make a high protein green smoothie and perhaps some avocado toast after I train. I do change it up. After the gym and breakfast, you’ll find me outside weeding, pruning and planting until it’s time to move on to the office. In the colder months, I’m seated at the helm much sooner.
At the end of my workday, I prefer to enjoy a bike ride, a hike, or kayak. If I could, I’d always be out doing something. I don’t watch any television. I love to read, mostly health books or client books.
The ocean is my air but living in Virginia I’ve adjusted to appreciate the beauty of the mountains. They are majestic in all seasons. I love seeing the bones of the trees. I am in awe at the shapes, sizes, and expanse of these skeletons in the winter. We have many that were here during the Civil War and I wonder what they saw. What stories they would tell.
And no story about me would be complete (as many would tell you), without the mention of my love of wine, a newly acquired taste for bourbon, and now craft beers. Virginia is the mecca for adult beverages. We have beautiful wineries and vineyards, amazing distilleries, and fabulous breweries. There are even biking trails around some of the venues. How can you go wrong? Right?
So, this is your personal behind the scenes look into your virtual assistant.
Tell me, who are you? What do you love? What are the routines that make you, you?
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Nov 12, 2020 | Entrepreneur, Goals, Productivity, Time Management
Our magnificent brains have a restricted capacity for devoting attention. When you multitask, you are not training yourself to manage more activities, but in fact, you are simply instructing your brain to take on more, with limited individual attention. It isn’t an act of increased productivity. It is distributing your focus over multiple activities simultaneously. You are more apt to forget, lose, or miss important details. You may think you can function on full throttle with a hoard of tasks, but it comes at a great loss. Consider it mental overload.
It is more important to be present and engaged with whatever you are doing versus being in the overtasked coma state. Your brain switches back and forth, stopping and starting whenever you choose to multi-task. Diverting your focus increases inefficiency, no matter how badly you convince yourself that you are the master. You’re not and it’s detrimental to your results.
While you can manage automatic, higher-level task switching like walking and talking at the same time, crafting an email, sending a text while Zooming a co-worker produces less than satisfactory results. Writing and speech-related tasks compete for attention in the prefrontal cortex. Some researchers suggest that multitasking can actually reduce productivity by as much as 40% and the number of errors can increase by 50%.
In an NPR interview, Stanford University professor Clifford Nass said ‘heavy multitaskers” have trouble tuning out distractions and switching tasks compared with those who multitask less The study revealed that even when chronic multitaskers were focusing on a single task, their brains were less effective and efficient.’
If you try to multitask in the classic sense of doing two things at once, what you end up doing is quasi-tasking. It’s like being with children. You have to give it your full attention for however much time you have, and then you have to give something else your full attention. Joss Whedon
Instead of consistently jumping around from project to project, create focused time blocks, turn off notifications, and tune out distractions.
Steps to STOP Multi-Tasking
- Set priorities
- Figure out exactly when you are most productive
- Reduce or eliminate distractions
- Turn off notifications
- Sign out of social media
- Time block your day
- Be present
- Finish what you start
- Don’t be afraid to say no
- Take breaks
- Be mindful of your habits and adjust accordingly
Take a step back and think of all of the times where you have been engaged in 2-5 activities at once.
Seems a little outlandish, right?
What were you able to:
1. Absorb
2. Contribute
3. Conquer
4. Complete
What will you do to minimize multi-tasking and commit your focus to a single project?
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Nov 2, 2020 | Leadership, Life Thoughts
Change isn’t just something you find deep in your pockets or between the couch cushions. It is the journey to growth and greater things in both your personal and professional life. It is essentially impossible to push forward with yesterday’s thinking. This is just the pond of stagnation with a green gooey film. It’s not efficient or effective to repeat the ritual of yesterday’s thinking, trusting you’ll experience different results today. This is sure to bury you in the end.
‘If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.’ Henry Ford
Over the past year, my web developer reached out asking if I was ready to update my website, change my theme, and make it mobile responsive. Well, I did not want to. It was that simple for me. No matter how many themes or websites I looked at, none truly stood out and made me squeal with delight. They were all so blah and I couldn’t envision Ace on those pages. Besides, I didn’t like the scrolling and shifting and flowing of today’s present-day themes.
I continued to push the site to the back burner while I pressed on with my clients and managing their business operations. My clients take precedence.
Fast forward to an email from my developer when he was updating my plugins and security;
“The latest version of WordPress doesn’t work well with the theme you have been using for quite a while. The theme author will no longer be updating the theme so you need to decide what you want to do going forward. It appears that the site will be visible but there may be some incompatibilities.”
This was the kick in the pants I needed to move it or lose it. It was time to suck it up and put in the time and effort to work on my site. To evolve. To change.
My developer sent me to the Divi site to pick a theme and I quickly messaged my designer to help me ‘see’ Ace in a different place. I was stuck in my old ways. Old theme. Old style.
The green gooey film was suffocating and I allowed my old thinking to trap me like quicksand. I knew I needed to peel off the layers because I DO embrace growth, change and rebirth!
Silly me. Who wouldn’t want a refresh?? The excitement began to pique. I was eager for something new.
It’s been an exciting ride to watch my designer magically create the new Ace Concierge site from documents I wrote, questionnaires I answered, discussions we had, images I sent and the long-term relationship we have nurtured. She and her team put me on (digital) paper, sharing my passions, my business experience, my authenticity, and genuine desire to help others. If you want to know WHY I created my company, click here: Virtual Assistants, Passion, Preference and Persistence
Old ways, yester-days are just that! Old and expired. Keep the past in that bucket in order to generate new innovative ideas, processes, business, and personal growth, your health, and anything else that needs to be reexamined. Anything else that requires transformation.
We are evolving beings.
Embrace the new.
Life is about revitalization and advancement.
Welcome to the rebirth of the Ace Concierge website.
I hope you enjoy your time here.
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Mar 27, 2020 | Small Business, Social Media
As a brand, it may seem prudent to step back and stop posting or creating ads on social media. We are in a crisis mode – on overdrive, fighting a global pandemic. COVID19 has infiltrated every aspect of our lives.
BUT! Perhaps you may want to reconsider.
Consumers are longing for answers, distractions, entertainment, messages of support, things they can do at home and a way to process this new sense of [crazy] ‘normal.’
HELP them.
Remain active. Challenge your own status quo. Get in front of people (6’). Don’t be afraid to do something different. Creativity in business goes a long way. Every effort you make is not only a deposit for your audience but also for your business.
Maintain sensitivity and respect with your content. Table the hard-selling, remembering many people are out of work and unsure of their future. They don’t want to buy what you are pushing. They are in survival mode struggling to pay bills and make ends meet. Be thought FULL by showing how you add value and compassion. These are hard times for all. Your customer needs you to think about them.
Shift priorities from the sale to customer relationships. That’s where retention lives. Your goal is to show support using the talents you bring to the table. Being relevant to today; it is your survival tool.
Social distancing is the buzz word but it is actually physical distancing. People have become MORE social, finding ways to remain connected, reach out and still engage in a new world. Kids are having virtual playdates, adults share drinks and stories via video, companies hold virtual happy hours. People holler to their neighbors across the street. This is your new audience. For now. Meet them where they need you.
Make the time to:
- Check-in with customers via text, phone, email or video
- Create handbooks and white papers
- Make offline events into webinars
- Support other small businesses
- Create fun social media contests
- Share some of your daily business activities
- Invite people into your day with video
- Make ‘how to’ videos
- Organize a virtual lunch meeting
- Brainstorm unique and resourceful tools, packages, or products to fill the social distancing void
- Review your website
- Write blog posts
- Build or enhance your digital footprint
If you’re unsure of a direction, please feel free to PM me to chat.
I want to share a local example of an AMAZING young couple, who are on top of social media, they have their finger on the pulse of their city, understand their customer needs, all the while, supporting other local businesses. I love this couple. I can’t say enough about them.
Kelley Farm Kitchen in Harper’s Ferry, WV is a phenomenal illustration of meeting customer wishes while instituting the highest level of safety measures. On March 20th, the owners posted a detailed video of their meticulous COVID-19 restaurant mandates from start to finish, including sanitization, the outdoor customer signage, menu placement, and disposal, down to the NO guest policy and pickup procedure. All of their Facebook posts profess their love and gratitude for the support and opportunity to serve the public. They consistently outline their policies and procedures, making sure everyone fully understands how, what and why they want to protect their clients. Always so genuine and from the heart.
Times are tough. The days are challenging. Couples must telework together [nightmare for many]. Finances are tight and some of the news is grim. We humans are tough and resilient. We will get through this.
Be resourceful and creative.
Find the compassion to be patient.
Support local businesses.
Innovate and inspire.
Step into each day with a positive mindset. It is a new opportunity to extend your hand for a better tomorrow.
If you know of a local business like Kelley Farm Kitchen or have read a story of innovative business practices, please share them here!
PS, remember that you still need to shower, brush your teeth and get dressed for work, no matter what your office consists of.
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Dec 12, 2019 | Communication, Life Thoughts
The population is constantly tethered to digital technology, romanced by the instant gratification coming from these devices. This has promoted a lack of respect and value for the company you keep.
Fueled by a recent article in Tiny Buddha, “Put Down Your Phone: Why Presence Is the Best Gift You’ll Ever Give”, my brain scanned the images of daily life. You’ll see it everywhere, whether on the street, at home, on a conference call or at a meeting, there’s the distraction of the click, click, click. The head is down, the mind is wandering, and the physically present person or persons have mentally vacated and immersed themselves in a tech device. They’re letting you know that some other matter or person is of much greater worth and significance than anything else around them.
Devices have become the lifeblood of today’s society, putting real-life interactions on the back burner. No longer are people present in the moment, but instead searching for the next best thing, taking a selfie, sending a text, spending money, posting a pic, or otherwise, totally removed from the current situation.
These harmful disconnections are slowly detaching human connections.
I remember reading a story a few years ago about something as simple as standing in line at the grocery store. Standing in line allowed us to think a little bit, and strike up a conversation with the clerk or person behind us. Maybe notice our surroundings. Be touched by some random act of kindness (RAK) or even generate a RAK!
Life before devices meant we weren’t so dopamine-distracted. When did we start needing to numb ourselves? No longer can most people survive without some form of ‘entertainment’ or busy time. It seems that any downtime, away from that virtual distraction, giving folks a moment of ‘reality’, is not within their comfort zones. Is the new norm that it’s freakish not to be scrolling, typing, or responding?
What message does this send? “My device is my priority in life. Not you or the current event.”
Is that what you are trying to convey in meetings, with co-workers, friends, colleagues or loved ones?
In the spirit of connection, here is my challenge: Put down your device and Practice Presence for 30 days using the list below for inspiration.
- If you are at a meeting, BE with your co-workers.
- If you are on a conference call, LISTEN, don’t just hear.
- If you are meeting a friend for lunch, ENJOY their company.
- If you are with your family, INVEST in who they are and those relationships.
- If you are in public, ENGAGE with a clerk, shopkeeper, or ‘stranger’
People feel valued and cared about when you are present. This is the best of what life has to offer.
