Meet Christine Thomas

We were lucky to catch up with Christine Thomas recently and have shared our conversation below.

Christine, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
Navigating through many roles in the corporate world, I wore the hats of sales, management, customer support, and more. The hustle and bustle of that life eventually gave way to a decision I thought would be for a brief time: stepping away to nurture my children. Little did I anticipate the twist of fate that lay ahead. My youngest, wrestling with a learning disability called Central Auditory Processing disorder, prompted me to take up homeschooling so I remained out of the corporate world.

The years continued on, and my commitment to guiding my daughter’s education remained steadfast. But in the midst of that, I never relinquished my connection to learning and work. I had many part-time jobs as well as volunteer positions, from evaluating websites to aiding small businesses and nonprofits, continuing to weave the thread of professional growth. I even found myself shaping young minds as a preschool teacher within my church community.

Time sped by, and as my children matured, a call resonated within me—a summons to reenter the so-called “real” working world. It seemed logical; after all, I possessed a wealth of experience and a marketing degree to boot. Yet, the corporate realm responded with deafening silence. No one seemed to be interested in hiring me or even interviewing me, doors stayed shut.

The year of Covid was my wake-up call. I had extra time on my hands and felt a nudge from God that was telling me to go for it. But go for what?

Amid soul-searching and prayer, a dream crystallized—to carve my own path as a business owner, sculpting destiny with my own hands. Digging deep, I assessed my skills, acknowledging gaps to bridge. A WordPress web design course beckoned, a skill to birth my business website. The idea took root—why not channel my abilities to aid small business owners? The notion sprouted wings: a virtual assistant business named Targeted Business Support, born in July 2020.

Today, I have the joy of supporting solo entrepreneurs and small enterprises, orchestrating a variety behind-the-scene business tasks—digital marketing, administration, graphics, and beyond. “Your Virtual Assistant Partner” declares my tagline, a label signifying my commitment to immerse in clients’ businesses, to craft their successes as mine.

The story of my purpose is like a woven fabric, made up of different roles and unexpected twists. It started in the corporate world and led me to create my own virtual assistant business. Through challenges and learning, my purpose became clear—to help small businesses succeed.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
As a virtual assistant, I love helping my clients go from being stressed to feeling blessed in their businesses! I assist with the back-end pieces of their business that they are either tired of doing themselves or tasks they know they need to do (Like social media or email newsletters!) but haven’t had time to figure out.
I offer a variety of services to help small business owners succeed such as admin tasks, website updates, digital marketing, business promotion, customer relationship management and more.

I use a unique debit card system where clients can purchase a block of time (10, 5, or 1 hour blocks of time) to use for whatever combination of services that they would like. Time purchased on my debit cards do not expire for 1 year. As I work, I track my time and send an email to my clients at the beginning of each week stating how much time is left on their debit card. When they run out of hours on their debit card, they simply purchase another one, if they so choose.

I feel that this takes the pressure off of a solo business owner and enables them to use a virtual assistant to support them in the exact amount of time that is appropriate for their business. For some of my clients, that means that I work with them every week. For others, it means assisting with one major project or only during busy times of the year.

I also offer a few packages for specific services like social media as some of my clients have requested a package price which they feel makes monthly budgeting a little easier for them.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Three qualities that I have found useful in my pursuit to develop a virtual assistant business are marketing knowledge, communication skills, and organizational skills.

I thrive in being organized and paying attention to the details. This has helped me design my business as well as relate details to my clients. As entrepreneurs, many of my clients are visionaries that may not pay attention to the small steps needed for some of their plans to come to fruition. They know their plan but don’t want to get tied down with the little steps to accomplish that plan.

I am able to communicate those steps to connect the dots so their plan can be successful. I can also assist them choosing the right digital tools for their situation.

In addition, my marketing knowledge empowers me to know how to get my clients connected with their target market, create a strong brand presence, and achieve growth as well as maintain long lasting relationships with their customers.

My advice to business owners that are early in their journey to would be to not expect yourself or your business to be absolutely perfect! You and your business will be constantly evolving. If you want to know how to do something, simply take a class to learn more about that skill. Done is better than perfect. You will never have everything working exactly perfect. Just get started! For example, you don’t need to start posting to 5 social media platforms your first day out of the gate. Choose one and get started. Then you can add more at a later date.

And don’t be afraid to ask for help! There are business coaches, virtual assistants, web designers, and many other knowledgeable people in this world to help you.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
When I developed my dream of starting a virtual assistant business, I knew that I had the determination to make it work but I also knew that I could accomplish that in a shorter amount of time by gleaning knowledge of someone that had experience. So I hired a business coach that had been a virtual assistant for 10 years named Belinda Sandor. She taught me the business processes that I needed to have in place for my business, shared her mistakes, encouraged me in the areas where I was not confident, and connected me with others that were on the same journey.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Brandie Baird of Brandie Baird Photography

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Productivity
Beating Burnout

Often the key to having massive impact is the ability to keep going when others

Leadership Development
Where does your generosity come from?

Over the years, we have consistently been blown away by the examples of generosity we’ve

Productivity
From Burnout to Balance: The Role of Self-Care

Burning out is one of the primary risks you face as you work towards your