Leslie Auman

Certified OBM®️

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March 9, 2018

How I Converted Clients to Retainer Packages

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It’s hard to believe, but I’ve been working from home full-time since the fall of 2016, running my virtual assistant business as my main focus and source of income. I spent several weeks before this transition crunching the numbers and thinking about how best to make that happen. Prior to working from home full-time, my virtual assistant business was run on simple straight hourly work, with a flat rate for all services. But, part of my plan to be able to work from home included switching from straight hourly to monthly retainer packages.

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By: Leslie Auman Hirgelt · Filed Under: Just Virtual Assistant Things, Running a Business · Tagged: business, business owner, grow your business, growing business, running a business, small business owner, solopreneur, virtual assistance, virtual assistant, virtual assisting

February 7, 2018

5 Online Business Tools You Need

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I don’t think you need me to tell you that running a business is hard work. Like, really hard. It’s always hard, but I think it’s especially hard when you’re a solopreneur like me, because you have no one to fall back on, no one to swoop in when you can’t get to something, and no one to tell you you’re doing a good job. With all of that in mind, it’s important to make things easier when and where you can, which is why online business tools are so important.

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By: Leslie Auman Hirgelt · Filed Under: Just Virtual Assistant Things, Running a Business · Tagged: business, business owner, grow your business, growing business, running a business, small business owner, solopreneur, teacher-author, teacher-authors, teacher-seller, teacher-sellers, virtual assistance, virtual assistant, virtual assisting

December 12, 2017

How Do I Become a Virtual Assistant?

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I was just recently asked about this (again), so it seems like a timely post to write! I started my virtual assistant business in August of 2015, after my online acquaintance Meg Bateman commented on my post in a Facebook group I was in (for food bloggers) and told me to consider it. I grew my business part-time on the side while I worked a full-time job, and then, in September of 2016, I made the leap and started working from home full-time with my VA business as my main source of income. I’ve been fortunate enough to be doing that ever since!

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By: Leslie Auman Hirgelt · Filed Under: Just Virtual Assistant Things, What Is a Virtual Assistant? · Tagged: business, business owner, virtual assistance, virtual assistant, virtual assisting, what is a virtual assistant

November 14, 2017

3 Things a Virtual Assistant Is Not

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I’ve been a virtual assistant – and now an editor – for the Teachers Pay Teachers niche since the fall of 2015. I launched my business in August of that year, and since then, I’ve learned quite a bit about what types of services I enjoy doing and am willing to offer clients and which services are not my cup of tea. There’s an interesting dynamic between Teacher-Authors and virtual assistants, because there have been, unfortunately, a couple of virtual assistants who took advantage of Teacher-Authors in the past and who used their position to steal money from clients without providing the agreed-upon services. As you can imagine, this has caused a certain degree of strain between Teacher-Authors and VAs in this niche. I’ve done my best to try to remedy that over the last few years, but I still see some of that tension coming out in the demands that some clients make upon their VAs. That’s why I’ve decided to write this post – to try to educate a little more about what a client can reasonably expect of their VA versus a few things they shouldn’t.

[Read more…]

By: Leslie Auman Hirgelt · Filed Under: What Is a Virtual Assistant? · Tagged: business, business owner, virtual assistance, virtual assistant, virtual assisting, what is a virtual assistant

December 13, 2016

Virtual Assistants Are Business Owners, Too

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I want to start this post by saying that I come in peace. Really, I do. I want to strengthen the relationships between virtual assistants and clients, and that’s my motivation behind writing posts like this one.

But it drives me a little crazy when I see bloggers and other entrepreneurs and business owners talking badly about virtual assistants. I don’t mean in the sense of, “This virtual assistant took my money and didn’t complete the job.” They’re justified in…spreading awareness, let’s say, about that VA’s unethical handling of their working agreement. What I’m referring to is when people make claims that VAs are “just” stay-at-home or work-from-home moms and imply that they don’t have any real skills.

[Read more…]

By: Leslie Auman Hirgelt · Filed Under: What Is a Virtual Assistant? · Tagged: business, business owner, small business owner, virtual assistance, virtual assistant, virtual assisting, what is a virtual assistant

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Hey hey, friend!


I'm Leslie, a former middle school teacher turned Certified OBM®. I'm here to help kick-ass womxn entrepreneurs scale their businesses with behind-the-scenes management and support. I'm glad you're here!

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© Leslie Auman, LLC 2016-Present. Photography by PAW Prints by Patti Wojtowecz. All photographs taken at Picnik Austin.
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About Leslie

I’m Leslie, a former middle school teacher turned Certified OBM®. I’m here to help kick-ass womxn entrepreneurs scale their businesses with behind-the-scenes management and support. I’m glad you’re here!

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Today is my 33rd birthday, and it feels like a goo Today is my 33rd birthday, and it feels like a good time to share that my sweet babe, Ian, was born a couple of weeks ago. 💓💞 He is my husband's mini, and he's so snuggly and sweet. 🥺 I had a long labor -- 23 hours -- but he was born without complications and was perfectly healthy. Our first week was very challenging and quite a struggle, but we're making it through and learning more day by day -- or minute by minute, really. 😂 We're a little family of Scorpios 🦂, and this year, I can't imagine a better way to spend my birthday than spending time with Ian and cuddling him. 🥰
We have less than six weeks to go until my estimat We have less than six weeks to go until my estimated due date! 😱🤯 We loved getting out in the woods to get some photographs celebrating our little bub with my best friend a few days ago. She did a fantastic job! 📷🥰💓
How fun and awesome is this swag from @thelaunchgu How fun and awesome is this swag from @thelaunchguild?! 😍🤩 I completed the first round of their Legendary Launch Manager certification program earlier this month (and am now a Certified Launch Manager!), and this package was SO fun to receive a couple of days ago! 📭📦
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The shirt is super soft (and will hopefully fit over my eventual bigger preggo belly 🤰🏼), and I’m loving the color of the @yeti mug. It was topped off with a nice little handwritten note and a sticker! 😁 Big thanks to @thetashabooth and her team for a great experience!
Another spring season is basically over, and so is Another spring season is basically over, and so is another certification program for me! 🥳 I’m super excited to share that I’ve just wrapped up the Legendary Launch Manager Certification run by @thetashabooth and her team at @thelaunchguild. ✅ So fun to add Certified Launch Manager to my bio!
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It’s been a busy time since March working through this program each week, but it’s been fantastic for me to get additional training in managing launches for clients, from the operations and implementation side of things, to add onto what I learned in the OBM certification. I’ve had a lot of hands-on experience managing several launches back-to-back for a client since August, but the Launch Guild team’s insight and knowledge to share throughout the program has been 💯. 
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All of that being said, I guess it’s time for me to start figuring out launch management packages to offer, for clients who don’t need or want full-on OBM support! 😅
We declare...pregnancy! 🤰🏼 And it's a BOY! 🥳 We've We declare...pregnancy! 🤰🏼 And it's a BOY! 🥳 We've been keeping this a secret for a couple of months, but we're ready to share our exciting news. 🥰 Our move back to Columbus last May was in preparation for this (in case you didn't know that!). 💖🏡 We can't wait to meet our bébé on or around November 2nd!

P.S. Our announcement is made up of a few different references to The Office, for everyone who's never watched it. 😅
New book suggestions for teachers looking to add d New book suggestions for teachers looking to add diversity to their middle school and high school classroom libraries! 📚
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I can't remember now how I came across this series, but I'm really enjoying it! 🖤 It's fantasy meets realistic fiction with engaging but flawed characters, an incredible alternate world, magic, and most importantly -- a Black female protagonist. 👏🏻
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I read them originally in Kindle version, borrowed from my local public library, but I liked them so much that I decided to buy them for myself as an early birthday gift (my birthday is in about a week 😝). There's a third book, A Crown So Cursed, due out in mid-April! 📅
I did my civic duty! 🗳️🇺🇲 PLEASE VOTE! . . . . . I I did my civic duty! 🗳️🇺🇲 PLEASE VOTE!
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I requested an absentee ballot because COVID is still very much a threat, and I'm an immunocompromised person. I researched candidates, issues, and the school bond issue on this ballot and made my selections. ☑️ Despite 45's fear-mongering about mail-in voting, I trust this election system that's been around for over 150 years. 📬 I'll be tracking my ballot on the Ohio Secretary of State website, and in the meantime, I'm going to make some donations to important campaigns! ✊🏻💵
Here's what I'm currently reading: The Nightingale Here's what I'm currently reading: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. What are you reading right now? 📚
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World War 2 fiction is one of my favorite genres. Some of my most favorite books are in this genre. 💜 It's taken me a bit to feel like I'm really getting into the plot, but last night I finally felt like it was getting really good. I'm roughly halfway through! If you've read this, what did you think? But no spoilers, please! 🙏🏻

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