{"id":1302,"date":"2013-09-16T13:14:44","date_gmt":"2013-09-16T17:14:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/amykazor.com\/?p=1302"},"modified":"2024-05-16T11:53:43","modified_gmt":"2024-05-16T15:53:43","slug":"daring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amyhood.biz\/site\/daring\/","title":{"rendered":"Things to Celebrate"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"HopeLast Wednesday, I sat with my coach Anastacia Brice<\/a>\u00a0in a half-day, intensive business session, and she had me draw a Hope Card <\/a>for inspiration\u00a0before our session.\u00a0 I drew “the\u00a0key was in her daring<\/em><\/strong>” and I had yet to know how much it meant to me.<\/p>\n

Three days later, this past Saturday, I learned that I passed\u00a0my 4 month long exam to become an\u00a0AssistU\u00a0CPVA.\u00a0\u00a0What amazingly happened at the same time, something I am truly humbled by, was that my\u00a0AssistU colleagues\u00a0also\u00a0recognized me with the 2013 VA of the Year award.\u00a0 \"2013<\/a><\/p>\n

Now, I don’t want to minimize how\u00a0absolutely elevating it was to\u00a0know that\u00a0some of the women of AssistU\u00a0nominated me for this award, nor do I want to downplay the recognition I was given by then\u00a0being voted as recipient of this distinction in our community.\u00a0 I am immeasurably grateful.<\/p>\n

I want to, however, talk about the CPVA and what it means to me, because in earning my CPVA, I gave something to myself. I gave myself permission to dream<\/em><\/strong> and then I didn’t just stop and sit back and look at it on a vision board as a ‘someday’ kind of thing.\u00a0 I dared to do it… and the key was in my daring.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

You see, in the\u00a0winter of 2010-2011, as a part of my AssistU<\/a>\u00a0training, I wrote my business plan and created my business 5, 10, and 15 year goals. Back then, in reality, a big goal at the time was\u00a0just to make it.\u00a0 The odds are definitely stacked against the success of any new business venture.\u00a0 Another\u00a0of those\u00a0goals was to get my CPVA (Certified Professional Virtual Assistant)\u00a0certification by 2016.<\/p>\n

The CPVA designation from AssistU<\/a> is the first level of certification available to AssistU<\/a> trained VAs.\u00a0 It honors those who make the initial investment in our professional growth to complete the roughly 250 hours of training and study to graduate as an AssistU VA<\/a>, and then work to take things\u00a0to the next level.<\/p>\n

Having solid practical experiences working with my clients and building my business, I felt ready to take this next step, so in\u00a0May I embarked on my CPVA journey.\u00a0\u00a0 I dared to try.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

My exam basically ran from May\u00a01 – September 14\u00a0and I was tested on both what I know and what I am able to do practically as I work with clients.\u00a0 It takes mastery of many soft skills:<\/p>\n