Synopsis
It's a fact that no worker or businessperson can ignore: The global work environment is changing radically, and at a dizzying rate. Telework, downsizing, the mass outsourcing of services (if your job can be performed over a "wire," as a Forbes article recently pointed out, it soon will be), virtual offices and teams, metastasizing gridlock and ever-longer workweeks-combine these with millions of small businesses scarred by the last recession and determined to keep staffing and other non-core costs to a minimum, and you'll begin to see why virtual outsourcing and home-based virtual careers are among the most far-reaching developments to emerge on the American employment and family scene in quite some time. As you'll find inside these pages, this groundbreaking movement is opening doors for people all across the working spectrum: work-at-home moms and dads, people with disabilities, home-schooling parents, family-values supporters, downsized staff and executives, "trailing" spouses, retirees, students-the list goes on and on. Whatever your own reasons for exploring the Virtual Assistant career path, we'll take you step-by-step through a proven startup and growth process that has already worked for thousands of VAs around the world. Chris Durst is credited with having founded the Virtual Assistant industry in her home in rural Connecticut in 1995, with the launch of the Internet-based My Staff, LLC. In 1999, with Michael Haaren, she founded the International Virtual Assistants Association - the industry's nonprofit parent organization - and served as its first president. As the co-founder and CEO of Staffcentrix, LLC, Chris spearheaded the development of groundbreaking virtual career training programs for such clients as the Department of the Army and the Department of State. She has appeared in numerous media outlets, including Forbes, Business Week, Fortune, the Singapore Straits Times, and the London Times, as well as radio and TV, and her presentations on virtual careers include several presidential committees and the United Nations. She resides in Woodstock, Connecticut, with her two children.An ex-Wall Street attorney, Mike was raised in a log cabin in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, and, as does Chris, remains a firm believer in the values of small-town life. He is the co-founder and COO of Staffcentrix, LLC, and co-founder of the International Virtual Assistants Association, serving as its first vice president. Mike is a recognized authority on virtual careers and is the editor-in-chief of "The Rat Race Rebellion," a widely-read weekly bulletin of screened telework and freelance jobs. His articles have appeared in such publications as Military Spouse Magazine, Paraplegia News, and the American Foreign Service Association Journal, and he is often quoted in the media, including The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Inc., Business Week, and many others. The great-grandson of the 15th Commandant of the Marine Corps, Mike served in the Army from 1968 to 1970. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Georgetown University and received his Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia.
From the Publisher
Recommended by The Wall Street Journal, John Tesh, Dan Pink and others, The 2-Second Commute is a must read for any who wish to work from home.
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