Meet Emily Crawford

We recently connected with Emily Crawford and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Emily, thanks for sitting with us today to chat about topics that are relevant to so many. One of those topics is communication skills, because we live in an age where our ability to communicate effectively can be like a superpower. Can you share how you developed your ability to communicate well?

Written communication is a crucial factor in business. Early in my career, I took a business writing class to hone my written communication skills. I learned the importance of getting to the point by asking this question: What’s in it for my reader? After all, I know it doesn’t take me long to stop reading and start skimming – or abandon the job altogether – if I have to hunt for information.

Getting to the point means being concise and choosing impactful words that zero in on the heart of the message. I often use a thesaurus to ensure I’m choosing the word closest to my intended meaning and avoid repetition. I regularly pause in writing to read what I’ve written, remove words and phrases to tighten up the language, and confirm that it still makes sense. At the end of the piece, I read it through at least one more time in full.

After working on an article or blog post for hours, it’s entirely possible to stop seeing one’s own typos and grammatical errors. When I can, I set a longer written piece aside for at least two days before coming back to proofread. The delay helps to reset my focus on the words so any mistakes are easier to spot and correct.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

When I tell people I’m a virtual assistant, I sometimes get asked if I’m the “live agent” behind the chat icon on their banking app. In one networking group exercise in which our goal was to create a 10-second elevator speech a 5-year-old could understand, I came up with this gem: I do other people’s work for them so they can do fun stuff.

In more words, my role is to support small business owners and solopreneurs with the administrative tasks in their business so they can focus on doing what makes them money. I’ve done research projects, event planning, email newsletters, loan applications, client onboarding, Quickbooks, sales and marketing collateral design, STR property management, and lots and lots of business writing, proofreading and editing, For some local clients, I also handle physical tasks like writing checks to pay bills and sending hand-written thank you cards to new customers.

I love the intrinsic variety of my business. My clients and their needs can vary wildly, so I’m never bored. Discovery calls are exciting because I get to learn about new industries, hear fascinating and sometimes empowering origin stories – and figure out how I can help these entrepreneurs, these daredevils and explorers, find their way out of the weeds and get back to doing the thing they love, the very reason they started their business in the first place.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Before I started my business, I was an executive assistant for many years. That experience was absolutely essential in my career development because it taught me how to talk to and work with C-level executives, take responsibility for mistakes, and find a way to get things done when there seemed to be no way. Previous roles in sales support and marketing also contributed a lot to my overall skill set and general business knowledge.

I’d advise anyone who works with people to treat them all the same – the CEO, the executive assistant, the mechanic, the salesperson, the office cleaner, the HR rep – they’re all people worthy of the same respect and consideration. Most likely they all have a sense of humor and enjoy jokes. They probably eat food. You can always find something to talk about, and people usually appreciate being treated like a human regardless of their job.

Despite a reputation for extreme efficiency and getting things done, I did occasionally make mistakes in my job which sometimes cost the company money – a nightmare for anyone. but especially for one whose direct boss is the CEO of the company. I learned that honesty really is the best policy and that it’s always better to flag up your own mistake, especially if you’re able to offer a solution at the same time. Pretty much anything can be fixed, and they can’t eat you.

How would you describe your ideal client?

My ideal clients are small business owners and solopreneurs who embrace the idea that they don’t have to, shouldn’t try to, and in fact can’t do everything that needs to be done in their businesses. They value the skills and abilities of others which they personally don’t possess. They are willing to trust me as their virtual assistant to pick up the ball and run with it.

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Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

How would you describe your ideal client?