Georgia Garland, Virtual Assistant, has just launched her own business under the umbrella of the national brand, The Contemporary PA. Here she tells Northern Insight about her journey so far.
Since completing my A-Levels and leaving Westfield school in 2014, I always knew that one day I wanted to own my business, but never did I expect to be fulfilling my dream at the age of 24.
After always having a strong interest and passion for the world of business and marketing, I decided to study Marketing Management at Newcastle Business School. During my time at university I spent a year living and working in York for the very successful travel company, Inntravel, as a Marketing Assistant. Not only did I learn and develop keys skills through working in a dynamic and varied team, I also learnt how to be fully independent as well as gaining valuable life experience through living on my own in a new city.
Upon retuning to university to complete my final year, I knew I wanted to continue to further my work experience and keep myself integrated within the business world. To do this I got an internship at Saddle Skedaddle, where I worked one day a week to assist the small marketing team with a variety of different exciting projects. Strong time management and organisation skills enabled me to graduate with a first class honours degree in Marketing Management whilst also continuing with the internship.
Following the proudest day of my life, graduation, I secured the fantastic opportunity to work for London based Private Members Club, Pi Capital. An exclusive organisation that convenes extraordinary events with the worlds most sought-after speakers. Gaining an insight into the world of events planning and management at such an elite top level for a year was a truly eye opening experience which I thoroughly enjoyed.
After a year at Pi Capital, I moved to a completely different and new sector of business to me and held the position of Communications and Marketing Assistant at one of the North Easts largest housing associations, Karbon Homes. Not only did I have the pleasure of working with fantastic colleagues which I now consider my friends, but working within a new business sector enabled me to strengthen my marketing and communications skills, whilst also gaining new knowledge.
Upon discovering The Contemporary PA which was set up by Owner and Executive VA, Gemma Wall, I knew that this was an opportunity I had to grab with both hands. Offering virtual assistance to local businesses and start-ups whilst working under the umbrella of The Contemporary PA license felt like the perfect fit for me.
As a Contemporary PA I can offer assistance with simple every day repetitive tasks as well as those which are more time consuming and complicated. The services that I can offer small businesses range from administration, email management and social media through to designing business stationery and project managing events.
I am excited to see where my journey as a Contemporary PA takes me and I am eager to help small businesses reach their potential so that they can continue to grow and thrive within the North East business community.
