Besides being a business partner and co-founder of our latest venture with Visionary VAs, Jaime Lee Mann is also one of my clients. I reserved this month for her because in addition to being an outstanding virtual assistant, a business partner you could only imagine in your dreams, a wife, and a mother, she is also expecting another child—well any day really—and she still manages to do it all. She is the Super Mom we talk about and wish we were. I am proud to call her my business partner, my friend, and my client. And if all that isn’t reason enough to sing her praises, she was just named the recipient of the 2007 Janet Jordon Achievement Award a few weeks ago.
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As an administrative assistant, Jaime had no trouble finding work, but every job she was hired for ended up being a term position. She held several different upper-level administrative positions, including real estate office assistant, scheduling administrator of a business college, office manager of a non-profit organization as well as a real estate office. She loved what she was doing but was tired of the unpredictability of working for other people. When she became pregnant with her first child, she knew she would not be able to return to the “corporate world” after the baby was born and her maternity leave ended. She started researching ways that she could supplement her income, and came upon the VA industry. Having already considered freelancing as an administrative assistant, she immediately knew this was the perfect fit for her—but it was an amazing feeling to discover an actual industry full of people doing just what she’d imagined! Jaime has always had an entrepreneurial spirit, and her years of providing administrative assistance gave her a huge pool of experience to draw from.
In June 2006, Jaime started her virtual assistance business, Mann Made Time, targeting local real estate agents. She enrolled in the eight-week “VA Jump Start” program at VATraining.com which helped push her to succeed. She secured her first retainer client that month, and went on to fill her practice to capacity within four months. Besides writing the Visionary VAs Collection with Connie McVicker of Signature Worx LLC, Jaime has also authored an eBook entitled The Art of Follow Up, which helps virtual assistants follow up properly and thoroughly with potential clients.
Less than a year after launching her business, Jaime was nominated for the Janet Jordan Achievement Award presented by the Online International Virtual Assistant Convention (OIVAC). This award honors a new virtual assistant who has been in business for less than two years and has reached a milestone that helped boost his or her new business to overwhelming success. During the International Virtual Assistant Day celebration in May 2007, Jaime Lee Mann was named the recipient of this prestigious award.
Jaime is a member of several VA organizations, including the International Virtual Assistants Association (IVAA), the Canadian Virtual Assistant Connection (CVAC), the Virtual Assistant Networking Association (VANA), the International Real Estate Assistants Association (IREAA), and the Virtual Assistant Revolution. She is also a member of her local Chamber of Commerce and the PEI Business Women’s Association. She has a strong passion for the VA industry and helping others succeed.
