Leaving a corporate job behind to start your own business is never as straightforward or simple as it may seem. Norma Kimber, an operational excellence director at an established, global financial services firm who pivoted to become a virtual assistant and business owner shares her journey of walking away from her stable, senior role in the corporate world to start her own business. In episode 86 of the Career Relaunch® podcast, we also discuss what impact organizational politics can have on your psyche and the relationship between your own health and your career decisions.

Norma and I have crossed paths a few times in the past because she’s joined some of my virtual firesides, and I’ve also personally chatted with her about some of her virtual assistance services when I was exploring the idea of hiring a virtual assistant myself. She shares some of the realities of not only leaving a full-time job behind but also the impact it can have on your psyche when your spouse still works at the well-known, global company you left behind while you try to build your own business from the ground up.

Key Career Takeaways

1. When you’re in a corporate environment, it’s very natural and almost expected to keep up with your peers and climb the corporate ladder.
2. Consider how much you thrive on or get disillusioned by the politics of your organization.
3. Delegate a task when doing it detracts from your ability to focus on what you’re uniquely good at or from  your income-generating tasks. Finding the right assistance isn’t about identifying someone who not only has the skills necessary to do the job but also a work style and approach that clicks with you.

Tweetables to Share

Freelancer Resources Mentioned

• Virtual Assistance: check out Norma’s profile on Pink Spaghetti.
• Business tasks & projects: I use Upwork (for longer-term projects) and Fiverr (for simple executional tasks). I’ve also used Squadhelp for naming ideas and Crowdspring, 99Designs, and DesignCrowd to crowdsource creative assets.
• In-person help: I’ve used Taskrabbit for help with tasks that require in-person assistance.
• Task list management: I use ToDoIst.
• Scheduling, I use OnceHub.
• Social media management: I use Vista Social to manage all my social media accounts in one place. I’ve used Buffer and Later in the past too.

(note, affiliate links above)

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Listener Challenge

During this episode’s Mental Fuel® segment, I challenged you to think about one time consuming task you’ve been doing that detracts from your ability to focus on one of your other professional or personal priorities. Or something you feel someone else could just do more effectively and more efficiently.

Delegate it. This way, you can can take that time and instead focus on something you’re uniquely positioned to do.

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About Norma Kimber, Virtual Assistant & Business Owner

Norma Kimber is a business owner and virtual assistant. After a varied start to her career, including office management and accounting software management, she moved to Brighton, England in 2003. Then, a couple years later, she started a 16-year career at an international financial services company, initially as an executive assistant. She took on several internal roles and promotions and ended her corporate career as a Director of Operational Excellence. She then left the corporate world behind to start her own VA business as a Pink Spaghetti franchisee.

Follow Norma on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.

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Thanks to Harmoni for Supporting the Career Relaunch® podcast

Thanks to Harmoni Design for supporting this episode of the Career Relaunch® podcast. The Harmoni Standing Desk offers a smarter, healthier way to work with its simple design that fits into any workspace. It’s the standing desk I’ve used myself since 2020, and Career Relaunch® podcast listeners can get 15% off any Harmoni order by visiting CareerRelaunch.net/Harmoni and using discount code RELAUNCH when you check out.

Interview Segment Music Credits

Thanks to Reeve for producing the music in this episode.