Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa St. Clair. She shares her story with us below:
Melissa Whiteford St. Clair hails from picturesque Harford County, Maryland. She married her high school sweetheart, and for the next 30 years, home was where the U.S. Marine Corps sent them.
She’s a worker bee.
The product of two working parents, she told her mother she knew she wanted to be a secretary [just like her mother] in the 5th grade. As part of career exploration, she made a trifold brochure titled: “Secretary,” which she held on to for years.
Fast forward to 2006, she started a new job at the local Chamber of Commerce when she got stung by the entrepreneurial bug before finishing her probationary period. The cause and effect of this sting arose out of:
1. Her desire to maintain a professional career alongside her active-duty military servicemember.
2. Needing flexible and portable employment knowing PCS (permanent change of station) orders and future moves were imminent.
3. Inspired by the small business owner members she was interacting with as the Project C.A.R.E./Special Events Manager.
The Virtual Assistant (VA) industry was just bubbling to the surface, becoming an option with the technological advances at the time. She seized the opportunity given the prospect of:
1. Becoming self-employed and earning a consistent income.
2. Helping others by continuing to do the work she loves on her terms.
Melissa resigned from the Chamber and exchanged her staff position for a membership!
Her first client was an agency she was already collaborating with who trusted her and took a bold move to utilize a Virtual Assistant (VA) in an executive services capacity. It was an obvious win/win. So often, timing is everything.
Being industrious.
Having a degree in business management, she attended workshops at the local Small Business Center to:
1. Learn business ownership and operations.
2. Network with professional colleagues.
Melissa fully subscribes to the philosophy your network is your number one resource.
Hive mind.
The nectar for her fuel:
1. Building a strong network of like-minded colleagues.
2. Personal, professional, and spiritual nourishment.
3. Community involvement.
4. Mentoring military spouses.
No birds, just bees.
You may have noticed her affinity for bees. Here’s the bee’s wax on that. During the due diligence for her startup, she discovered entrepreneurs and small business owners needed a worker bee to take over tedious tasks and streamline systems to help grow their business. Later she learned Melissa in Greek means honeybee!
Along the way, she adopted 3 Bs for Success:
1. B present > difficult to do with distractions of life
2. B persistent > stay focused, don’t give up
3. B positive > attitude is half the battle
Make a beeline.
If you are a high-achieving woman solopreneur who needs to catch a breath, connect with Melissa. She is a Communications and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) Specialist at Paper Chaser Biz LLC, a certified military spouse-owned enterprise. Paper Chaser Biz helps busy women solopreneurs experiencing overload and overwhelm catch a breath by helping them get better organized to optimize their time and help more clients. Who doesn’t want to be more organized and grow their business?!
5 Fun Facts:
She has a knack for finding 4-leaf clovers
She is a cat lady
She laughs at corny jokes
She loves Post-it ® Notes
Melissa means honeybee in Greek
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Keeping it buzzing. She found the need for educating others about the who, what, why, when, where, and how to work with a VA was a constant struggle at the beginning. Explaining the mechanics and benefits of how to work with a VA until it became rote. Technology and innovations progressed rapidly over the next decade along with a paradigm shift about the workforce.
Another challenge was her mindset in making the first household move with her business with the result being seamless for her clients since the work is done remotely with the bonus of building her network along the way.
Moving is a stressful life event. Moving frequently as part of a military lifestyle is even more stressful, compounded by moving a business as well for Melissa. Doing due diligence to close the business in the current town and reopen in the new town is cumbersome and costly in fees and time spent. To make those moves less stressful, she became highly organized and created a PCS (permanent change of station) checklist to keep herself on track.
Small business owners are working smarter, delegating more, and utilizing the services of a VA as a cost-effective, value-added option.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Melissa partners with busy women solopreneurs helping them to reach their organizational goals. By utilizing her efficient and effective virtual support services, her clients have discovered how to work smarter, not harder in growing their businesses.
Putting her methods into practice, creating systems, and delegating tasks to her Virtual Assistant (VA) team members, Melissa can put energy toward directly serving her clients as well as making time for her passion projects and self-care.
Connected to Paper Chaser Biz LLC, she wrote her first book of poetry “Home Work A Collection of Poems Sparked by One White Woman’s Journey on the Matter of Race” bringing readers into the author’s meaningful exploration and study of racism and social justice in American history and today’s society.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Melissa shares her business expertise as a speaker, mentor, and workshop leader on multiple media platforms and has been quoted in Julie Perrine’s book, “Become a Procedures Pro™” and is the author of “Home Work A Collection of Poems Sparked by One White Woman’s Journey on the Matter of Race.”
Collaboration is a core value for Paper Chaser Biz LLC. In fact, Melissa received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Golden Rule Awards in Jacksonville, NC for collaboration. Contact Melissa at https://paperchaserbiz.com/contact/
Pricing:
- Virtual Assistant Services Hourly Rate starting at $45/hour
- Standard Operating Procedure Starter Pack $117.00
- All Systems Go: Standard Operating Procedures Simplified e-course $297.00
- Standard Operating Procedure Work Session 1.0 $500.00
- Home Work A Collection of Poems Sparked by One White Woman’s Journey on the Matter of Race $9.99
Contact Info:
- Email: melissa@paperchaserbiz.com
- Website: https://paperchaserbiz.com/
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/paperchaserbiz
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5mGzqpVJOd5iQAyc6zE20A
- Other: https://paperchaserbiz.com/homework/
Image Credits
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