My experience as an Assistant

The past six months of my life have been a journey, I cannot exactly calculate of how many miles - but rest assured it has been quite an experience.

Follow me on this, let me tell you what I mean:

So in November 2015 (and November also happens to be my birthday month - Yes! I am a scorpio baby) I joined Troll River Publications as an assistant. So yes, I had two things to celebrate; first it was my birthday - the thought that am not getting any younger, probably wiser and then the good news of getting hired with my very first job application and the relief that I wasn't going to travel the road of job hunting. Let me make something clear, the relief wasn't just because I got a job...no no, the relief was because I got a job of my first choice and something I was sure I would keep my energy high on doing so ultimately I would deliver positively.

Author S.N.Mckibben who also happens to be the head Troll River Publications is my boss, I prefer to use Stephy so for the sake of this write up that is how I will refer to her. Stephy is amazing, she is just on a different level kind of boss, honestly I shouldn't even use the word 'boss' because that is not how she comes out to me. She is different, she has her leadership skills mastered and knows exactly what to do, what to say and how to say. Just that, makes me feel rewarded and appreciated for the work I put in. Sometimes I feel our relationship is those of business partners (I am allowed to be me, express my opinion, make changes where necessary and even growl if I had to). So excuse my limited lexicon for not being able to get one word to describe her.

Full disclosure; once in a while I brag to my best friend and family that I am an assistant head to a publishing company, the next big thing in the world of romance novels. LOL. I know that sounds ridiculous but trust me the thought of it inspires me. The inspiration is not just the title or the excitement it comes with but the DESIRE to want to do more and be the BEST in what I do; the hunger to be a worthy investment to the company and not a liability.

Aaah! I forgot to mention, I am not those "wake up in the morning, dress up, look at yourself in the mirror, get on your sexiest heels, ask for your family's opinion on how you look then report to the office looking so on fire that every one else gets a little distracted by your entrance"... I am a virtual assistant. Yes, once in a while I get all dressed up to create a working mode but most of the time I am just in my pyjamas behind my very faithful laptop and a corner stuffed with pillows to ensure my back is taken care of.

Working from home is fun because you have the control of doing whatever you want - whenever you want it and if you are a mommy like me, it gets even more special because you have all the time to watch over the little one. And that is where the challenge comes in, one has to make it intentional to work. If there is anything I have learnt in this past six months, i would say self motivation, disciple and time management. I mean no one bothers whether I report to office or not, no one monitors what I do but everyone looks and expects to see the result of the work I do.

I started working at five hours a week, now am at twenty and many more to come. The change has made me keep on toss, I have stretched and upped my game. I have learnt to create a timeline for my whole week and have a draft of how my day would look like. I love it, I have never felt this in charge and responsible of my life. I feel like I have the power to write my own story without anyone telling me who they think I am. I have also learnt that am very good in building lasting relationships, something I took for-granted in the past.

For me,this has been a journey of traveling to an unknown land because each new day, month, book release, launch party, virtual tour and much more comes with its own experiences. The trickiest part is trying to read Stephy's mind to figure out how many star ratings she gives me in each of these projects. Some days I wake up feeling not satisfied with what I delivered, I wonder if she feels the same or it's just self - judgement. But some days I wake up feeling a hero at how I made a kiss-ass newsletter and played around with words. I cannot give an exact ratio of these two happenings or say which feeling comes more often but I can say I love both reactions, they help me strike a balance. The 'unsatisfied' feeling pushes me to do more while the 'hero' feeling makes me feel I am improving and getting better at what I do.

I am dedicated to my work as a virtual assistant. I give it my all, I do it like I will never do anything else but sometimes I have fears; What if I wake up one morning and Stephy doesn't need an assistant any more!? What if she decides she needs to cut costs and I am top of her "cutting cost" list!? But in these moments, I hold onto the good relationship more like a friendship we have built and my loyalty to her and the company. I remind myself that whatever happens I will have given my best and will proudly walk head high knowing I was diligent. This is what am saying; working as a virtual assistant has taught me to build trust and see the very best in people, something I used to struggle with before. I was rather skeptical; but now I live each day at a time, give the best in everything I do and believe that nature has a way of rewarding faithfulness and hard work.

I feel like am a new person: the first time I felt that was on the 10th of October 2014 when I became a mom to my beautiful baby girl (That was an experience of a lifetime), 10th October 2015 when he went on his one knee and popped that 'life trembling question'. LOL. Then again on the 24th of November 2015 when I marked officially as my first day at work as a Virtual assistant, Troll River Publications. Why do I put this date as part of my special days calendar date? Because it is special to me, right from the start... I knew it was the genesis of a beautiful journey.

Faith Ombewa - Assistant Troll River Publications

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