Here at Get Ahead our people are everything. Our ever-growing team has a wide range of highly skilled professionals with different backgrounds, expertise and even different personalities to ensure that we can find exactly the right Expert to match our clients’ requirements.
Here’s 60 seconds with our expert (name)
Name: Lucy
Area of expertise: Copywriting, content writing, editing and proofreading
When & why did you join Get Ahead: I joined in March 2021 on the recommendation of a friend, Gwen, who has been a VA for several years. I have been freelancing for over 20 years and I love doing the work a lot more than I do finding the work! Working as a VA is ideal, as it gives me the opportunity to do more of what I enjoy with a whole new range of clients.
What did you do before you joined Get Ahead: My initial career was as a sales trainer in financial services but later on. I became a project consultant, which gave me the opportunity to develop my writing skills in the form of training material, distance learning, procedures, software user guides, exams, etc.
I chose to go freelance in 2000 when my children started school as I wanted more flexibility in my working hours. I continued to work within financial services but a chance encounter at Guide Dogs for the Blind led to a long-standing relationship with them. I continue to provide communications support, which over the years has involved writing magazine articles, proofreading, editing a newsletter, writing various fundraising publications and editing web content.
The majority of my work is now in the voluntary and not-for-profit sectors and includes ongoing work for the Charlie Waller Trust, a mental health charity, and CABI, a development organisation that focuses on agriculture in the developing world.
Career highlight to date:
Maintaining a relationship with Guide Dogs for over 15 years. Despite the many changes in staff over the years, my reputation there has endured, and I continue to be asked to work on publications year on year, even when the people commissioning the work have changed.
Plans for the future:
I aim to continue to enjoy the very positive work life balance that being freelance has brought me but, as a VA, I am looking forward to working with a more diverse range of clients.