At VIP VA we can’t wait to share our inaugural conference EleVAte with the world in October this year.  In this blog VIP VA member Claire Grace shares why she is excited about the event, and why she feels that it is an important investment for her business…

“EleVAte feels like it has been a long time coming, not least because I’m wearing two hats in the run up! Firstly, as Charlotte’s Business Manager for VIP VA and secondly as a VA business owner in my own right.  It means I get the inside track on the agenda and all the fabulous speakers.  It also means I’m in the thick of the blood sweat & tears that go in to putting on a conference like this and realising Charlotte’s vision and goals for the day.

That said, here are 5 reasons why I’m looking forward to attending EleVAte as a VA business owner of just four months!

1. Collaboration & Connections

Having completed the VIP VA Nurture Programme at the start of this year and now benefitting from being part of the Members Club, I can without doubt say that I’m looking forward to giving some of the VAs I’ve met ‘virtually’ a great big hug (or a lick if you are Lucy Messaritis!).  I’m not sure what I expected when I launched my business, but I’ve found the VIP VA community to be very collaborative and 100% supportive and there are lots of attendees who I need to say a being thank you to for their help and for answering my random newbie questions!  Having the chance to network over dinner and during the conference is something I feel is important, as it helps cement the connections made online.

2. The chance of a good night’s sleep

Now, no doubt I’ll be up early on the day of the conference making sure that everything is running smoothly, but I’m also looking forward to a night in a lovely hotel room! In a double bed… that isn’t going to be invaded by my 4-year-old daughter at 4am! The conference is jam packed, so I know I’ll need a good night’s sleep to make sure I take everything in, I don’t do well on early starts or lack of caffeine.  I’ll just make sure I don’t have too many G&Ts at dinner the night before!

3. The first class line up!

I’ve been to a fair few conferences in my time, either as an Executive Assistant at industry events or internal conferences put on by my last empolyer. I’ve been to some great ones, I’ve also been to my fair share of rubbish ones!  At this point in my life, I’ve come to realise that you get what you pay for and I’ve left some events in the past with a sense of wanting more. At this point in time I also want to make sure that, if I’m taking a day out of my business to learn, I better be getting my monies worth. There isn’t one speaker I’m not looking forward to seeing or don’t think I’ll learn from.

Bar Nick Fewings, I haven’t seen any of the speakers before so there should be lots to take in! I’ve given you a sneak peek in to Nick’s session by writing this blog as a list, his profiling tool & questionnaire teases out your personality type in to one of four dominant colours based on your character traits… all will become clear on the day but I am basically red through and through with a touch of blue! Having read the bios of all the speakers there really is someone on the line up to cover off all the core aspects of running a business.  Without doubt they help us to elevate what we do, how we do it and to give us the confidence that we need to grow our businesses.

4. Looking ahead to 2018

The timing of EleVate couldn’t be better! As we ebb ever closer to Christmas by that point, thoughts will inevitably start turning to 2018 planning and I know that everything I’ll learn at EleVAte will help form those plans.  By that point, I’ll have been out of my corporate role almost a year and The Assistant Quarters will have been operating for seven months so I’m planning to come armed with a list of questions and thoughts on what has/hasn’t gone well so far by that point, so I can try and address them and find the answers throughout the day.

5. Investing in myself

As a business owner, the most important thing you can invest in, is yourself. I still have masses to learn but I see my ticket to EleVAte as a necessary investment, not just a business cost.  I’ve been on a huge learning curve as a VA, and I’m still on that curve, but I hope that through EleVAte and other training that I’ve invested in this year (both from a time & money perspective) will more than return the investment as I grow the business over the next couple of years.

I really do hope to see lots of you there – imagine what 60 VAs in a room could achieve with this line up!”

Claire Grace, The Assistant Quarters

If you want to find out more about EleVAte, the agenda and how you can secure your ticket you can do so HERE.