ROI (Return on Investment)

Nobody likes wasting their time or effort for nothing. Studies show that humans generally function better and live happier lives when they feel productive, and being productive is largely qualified by what you accomplish and how that product or service succeeds.

I consider myself fortunate enough to have been able to stay home with my son since his birth almost two-years ago. My husband and I have agreed to reassess our financial situation every six-months and, to date, he has been able to provide for our family financially, which has allowed me to be our family's helper.

My role as the family helper comes quite natural to me, as I feel like all my professional roles have been built around this "helper" idea: server/bartender, Customer Service Representative, Quality Sales & Service Coordinator - charged with analyzing the soft-skills of the employees across our bank organization, rewarding successes, and developing training for areas of improvement (i.e., help the employees develop their professional skills, making them more of an asset to this company and any they pursue throughout their career, and helping the customers get better products and services that best meet their needs), Customer Experience Manager of a retail outlet - again, helping customers, but also being a direct support to the Store Manager, Operations Administrator - aka: Executive Assistant to the CFO and, because it was a smaller company, all around general go-to person for every employee and helping them with a variety of needs. My point is: I am a Professional Helper. And thank God because this area of expertise taps into my personality type (ENFJ: Protagonist) in such a way that has enabled me to feel fulfilled in most areas of my life! Even today as I help my family.

And while I am blessed to stay home with my little man, it's just not natural for me not to be in a professional role, because I have been in the workforce for more than twenty years! So I took that knowledge of not always knowing what to do with myself, and applied it here...

Direct from my Home Page: The handyman for today’s mom - not the fixer-upper, but rather your living-helper!

As much as I want to be, I am NOT a DIY'er... but the skill set that I have built over the years in administrative, service oriented, and leadership roles ABSOLUTELY has application in our day-to-day lives.

I don't want to reinvent the wheel; I would rather use what I know. And what I know is:

• Transcribing my husband's emails.

• Researching everything from medical to educational, extracurricular to life-skills that are important for my stepdaughters well-being from our home.

• Soaking up legal knowledge - family law, insurance claims, contract law.

• Scheduling everything from the refrigerator repair man to our next family vacation.

• Party planning for my son's 1st birthday and my grandma's 80th birthday celebrations.

• Organizing the calendar for each member of my family and then utilizing the tools available to me to keep communication channels open and clear so that everyone can feel included in traditions and fun!

• Everything home management - organizing, paper management systems, meal planning, cleaning routines, family chores, family budgeting, home maintenance and repair.

And the list goes on!

I also don't want to go back into the work force unless I am doing something that I absolutely LOVE!!

• I am 38 years old,

• a stepmom to a beautiful, 17-year old senior in high school,

• the mother of an energized 22-month old son,

• the wife of a handsome, and oftentimes cocky, man who has been there for every, single person in his life who has ever needed him, and

• a Jesus loving, Bible trusting Christian.

• I graduated from college in 2015 with a B.A. in Organizational Management and a Minor in Project Management from Ashford University's Online Program - so tapping into a digital career feel natural to me.

• I love to do anything that makes memories - from travel to photography - I want to create a legacy for my family worth passing on to future generations.

• I enjoy organizing, planning, creating, and doing life!

• And, I'll say it again, my Myers-Briggs personality test identifies me as a Protagonist (ENFJ) - a warm, forthright type that loves helping others, and tends to have strong ideas and values. The ENFJ backs their perspective with the creative energy to achieve their goals. <<< I'd say, simply based on what I've written in this post up to this point, this sounds EXACTLY like me!

Taking what I know and adding who I am, The Handy Living Mom was created.

It started as a Virtual Personal Assistant side-gig intended specifically for other moms - stay-at-home and working moms alike! But explaining the value add of a Virtual Personal Assistant to a stay-at-home mom is challenging! I like to think of myself as the Cleaning Lady you hire, or the Meal Kit you order - but my heart is more vested in wanting to help develop and implement a chore system in the home for the working mom and her kids! It's that idea that I know us (as moms) to have, or to find on Pinterest, but don't have time to execute. It's an extension of these Home Edit shows that we see on TV and want to take action towards but don't quite have the wherewithal to execute... Enter: The Handy Living Mom - a professional service provider that you pay for, at a Jill-of-all-trades-type handyman price point.

That's not to say I won't provide expert services! I am enough of a perfectionist and care about my work ethic to ensure results; I just don't have the certificate or years of professional experience to currently call myself more than a Virtual Personal Assistant.

And don't get me wrong, I claim that title with pride - I LOVE the idea of being a VPA!! It may actually be my professional calling... what I was meant to do with my life - my purpose!! My point is more about taking what I am and learning how to educate my clients on why they need me or how they can use me because to simply present myself as a VPA kind-of leaves my audience staring back at me with a deer in headlights kind-of look.

So I am enhancing my services. No longer will I simply give a man a fish (provide a service for hire), but I also recognize a great benefit in teaching a man to fish (cross-pollinating the analytical ideas I have, researching on Pinterest the how's, creating a best practices of all the information I am personally spending time researching and then packaging it in a format that allows you the benefit of its take-aways) --- I am also now a Personal Blogger.

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The biggest hurdle I am facing right now as a blogger is helping to communicate WHY you should pay attention to me. What makes me different? What makes my information pertinent to you, such that you will want to engage with me and utilize my tools?

I often joke with my parents about the Echo Show in my kitchen - they think "big brother" is listening to our every word. Of course he is, but they still walk around with their smartphones and use their smart TV's every single day - so regardless of whether or not I incorporate an Echo into my daily routine, "big brother" is ALWAYS listening! And, honestly, that's ok because the truth is: I am an open book! (Almost to a fault!)

You may look into this fishbowl lens of my life and find that I am very boring, and that's OK! Maybe this blog isn't for you. But are you successfully managing every aspect of your personal life? Could you use some help getting that task that keeps being pushed down to the bottom of your To Do List off that list? Well, there in lies how I can be of service to you - your very own, a la carte, Virtual Personal Assistant.

It's all about getting a return on your investment on your time and effort. If it's worth your time and energy to do it yourself, then I hope you can find some useful strategies within my blog posts to motivate and/or give you the tools necessary to completely your tasks! If not, then let me know how I can virtually invest my time and energy into those tasks on your behalf! Either way, as it says on my Home Page:

My goal is to help you complete your tasks. Whether it be to plan, organize, prioritize, schedule, or to complete your to-do's ...so that you have more time to be you!