Upcycling is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or a higher environmental value. The upcycling industry has made great leaps and strides in the last few years, but until now, there has not been one place to shop for these products.

In only a month, Hipcycle has already caught the attention of savvy shoppers and the New York Times, who recently featured the company in an article. Andrew previously worked for a variety of different companies, from bootstrapped start-ups to venture-backed mid-tier firms to Fortune 1000 behemoths, in various capacities. To learn more and perhaps get started on your holiday shopping, visit www.hipcycle.com.

Is THSS your first VA? And how did you decide to start using a VA? 
Yes. As a start up I needed bookkeeping expertise and was not ready to start hiring a staff yet.

How does using THSS’s services make running Hipcycle easier?
It’s like cloning myself, but a myself that has better bookkeeping and clerical skills than I do. 

How did you decide on THSS as your VA?
Killer website, great references, and a great proposal/start up package.

Mark is a pricing expert with a Ph.D. in Marketing (Pricing) from U.C. Berkeley and more than 15 years of experience helping companies implement value-based pricing strategies to increase profits. A speaker, coach, and consultant, Stiving has worked with esteemed companies such as Cisco, Procter and Gamble, Grimes Aerospace, Rogers Corporation, as well as many small businesses and entrepreneurial ventures.

To learn more about Mark’s valuable insights view his blog, www.PragmaticPricing.com or visit www.markstiving.com. You can order your copy of Impact Pricing on Amazon.com.

Naturopathic Medicine is a distinct health care profession that bridges the worlds of conventional and traditional medicines. Naturopathy is based on the belief in the healing power of nature and that the human body has an innate ability to heal itself if given the right conditions.

Through Naturopathic Medicine and a groundbreaking whole-systems approach to medicine called Functional Medicine, Dr. Mendribil uncovers and treats the roots of disease with natural and non-toxic therapies.

In addition to being a naturopathic physician and functional medicine practitioner, Dr. Mendribil is a transpersonal coach with a gift for bringing out the genius in people. Through curiosity and feedback he assists you in discovering and expressing what’s unique and exceptional about you.  The aim is for each client to directly experience his or her most authentic self, and from that experience, craft a life path that reflects their unique talents, interests and aspirations.

Dr. Michael Mendribil is a Board Certified Naturopathic Physician, Functional Medicine Clinician, and a Pioneer in Transformational Coaching with over 20 Years of clinical experience. He maintains a private practice in Greenwich, Connecticut — seeing patients from Fairfield County, Westchester County and Manhattan — and consults with clients from throughout the United States. To learn more about Dr. Mendribil visit his website at www.mendribil.com.

How did you decide to start using a VA?

Linda is my first VA. I was spending hours and hours on bookkeeping and administrative activities that were draining, and distracting me from doing what I do best.  In fact, it was so bad I started putting off reconciling my accounts until I got so far behind.

How does THSS make your job easier and help you better allocate your time?

When I started working with Linda, we got all caught up. She helped me straighten out my books and get a better view of what was going on. I felt so much lighter.  It saved me over 10 hours a month, but even more importantly, it set me at ease.  Knowing that I no longer had to stress and strain over my books was a huge relief.  Another thing that was important…Linda is always looking for ways to help me save and be more successful. I appreciate her information, insights and suggestions.

How did you decide on THSS as your VA?

When looking for a VA / Bookkeeper to work with I did a Google search. I was looking for someone who was certified and was savvy with QuickBooks for Mac. After speaking with her, it was obvious that she was the one. I’ve never looked back since.

NSA-NJ is the New Jersey Chapter of the NSA and is dedicated to advancing the art and value of experts who speak professionally by:

• Enhancing platform excellence
• Facilitating business development opportunities
• Fostering community
• Increasing NSA’s brand identify

The chapter (www.nsa-nj.org) was formed in 2005 and membership is open to anyone who is already a member of NSA. However, everyone is welcome to participate in meetings and events!

How has the use of a Virtual Assistant helped NSA-NJ?

There is so much more to running a volunteer organization like NSA-NJ than meets the eye.  As President, I tried to interact with members, guests, former members, our national organization, and people who could hire some of our speakers.  And I have my own business to tend to…

How does using Linda’s services make your job easier? And/or how has using a VA changed how the organization allocates its time?

The priorities I outlined above leave scant time for announcements, websites, tracking, bookkeeping and the like.  We hand Linda down from President to President, and no one in their right mind would take this job without her!  Also, she has developed a history of the organization, in archives of minutes, marketing materials, processes, etc. that would be very hard to collect from previous presidents and board members and keep track of.  And she’s always right on the spot when we need her.

How did NSA-NJ decide on THSS as it’s VA? 

Referrals, how else?  One of our previous presidents recommended her and she is also highly regarded in her own professional organization.  Several other VA’s have spoken highly of her.

Meetings are held monthly in the Bridgewater, NJ area. You do not need to be a member to attend meetings (unless they are noted as Member Only Meetings). To learn more about NSA-NJ and to see their upcoming meeting schedule visit www.nsa-nj.org.

Drawing has always been a part of Megan’s life and is a wonderful means of creative expression to her. Megan’s interest in art began during childhood and developed into a greater passion in both high school and college. While attending Columbia she was exposed to a wonderful core curriculum and learned how literature, philosophy, and fine art informed and influenced one another. Megan continues to enjoy art from many different eras and movements but has a particular fondness for Italian Renaissance art where the old masters created beautiful paintings and sculptures of people. People and portraiture is ultimately where she found her artistic voice.

Megan creates grayscale portraits using graphite pencils to achieve different levels of shading, so the final product has a similar aesthetic to a black and white photograph. Working as a portrait artist has been extremely rewarding for her because she is able to do something she loves while creating an image of a client’s loved one. Megan draws portraits of people because the human face can reveal a narrative merely through an expression. To view Megan’s Gallery of fabulous drawings and to contact her, visit Megan Winchell Peter Portraits.

How has the use of a Virtual Assistant helped you better serve your clients?

I spend a great deal of time rendering my portraits with fine details; a process which is extremely time consuming, and so I am so grateful to have the support of Linda, my virtual assistant. Linda is a wonderful resource for me because she assists me with all of my bookkeeping so that I am able to focus on the client facing meetings and working in my studio.

How does using a Virtual Assistant make your job easier?

I know that having Linda as my virtual assistant has been an incredible asset for me as an artist and small business owner as I have all the benefits of having an assistant, but I can utilize Linda’s help at my discretion. Linda’s organization and expertise is an essential component of my business management and helps to keep my company’s financial reporting up to date and easy for me to access and understand.

How did you decide on THSS as your VA?

When searching for a virtual assistant I was referred to the International Virtual Assistants Association (www.ivaa.org), which is a reliable site for securing qualified assistants who are consistently improving their skills with continuing education and professional development. It was here that I found Linda, the perfect complement to my growing art business.

According to Stuart Betsill, President, the company specializes in the following areas:

Concrete Construction

Lake Glenn Enterprises, Inc. is committed to helping owners, architects, engineers and contractors build concrete structures while providing the most value for each dollar spent. The company’s team of professionals are involved from project inception phase to completion of the construction project.

Heavy & Highway Construction

Completed projects include site preparation for industrial parks, bridges, dams, landfills, highways and interchanges. They have undertaken sensitive historic restorations as well as more modern and advanced engineering challenges.

General Construction

The company is a one-stop shop for all general construction needs and they have engineers and architects on board to help customers undertake all aspects of their project.

How has the use of a Virtual Assistant helped Stuart better serve his clients?

Linda has helped me by completing documents and keeping my bookkeeping up to date in a professional and timely manner, which free’s my time to focus on construction related field operations and bidding opportunities.

How did Stuart decide on THSS as the company’s VA?

I decided on THSS after reading testimonials from others that use her services and how highly she was recommended.  Additionally, after I spoke to Linda and she explained much more about what she could do to for me and I explained some of the things to her that could help me, she was in full agreement to get involved.

What a great honor and major achievement – we wish you much success and know you will offer great advice on the Dr. Oz Show Blog.

Link to the blog – http://www.doctoroz.com/blogs

Joshua earned his MBA – Entrepreneurship at California State University – Fresno in 2003. Along with utilizing his skills as an entrepreneur, he also taught a Business Plan Writing course to Entrepreneurship majors at his alma mater.

Examples of what Enlightened Solutions can do for their clients:

• A client might have a very entrenched product line and Enlightened Solutions will come in and look for new ways to package it or combine it with other synergistic products they have in their inventory to find new markets or go deeper in the current markets they’re in.
• Another example could be to create a communications plan to engage their prospects or clients on a regular basis to increase conversion/retention as well as tap the most committed clients for ideas and improvements to their current offering.

Joshua jumps in and starts from the client’s foundation and works up through each process, most often revamping what is already in place. Just like remodeling a house to make it current, Enlightened Solutions remodels businesses so they too will last another 50-100 years.

Effective planning and execution is key to the success of a clients strategic planning and marketing efforts. Without those, no amount of ideas will help since they’ll never come to fruition without a holistic plan and thorough execution of that plan.

Why did Joshua decide to start using a VA?
Linda is my first VA and has been a definite godsend. In mid-2010 I found myself behind a pile of paperwork, as I needed to get my books setup for a new venture I had started by providing strategic planning and marketing consulting to small and midsized businesses. I am capable of doing the setup and input, but just never found the time, or motivation, to get it done.

How did Joshua decide on THSS as his VA?
I reached out to a number of VA firms I’ve come across, but they all required minimum monthly volume and none of them were very confident about their ability to setup QuickBooks and enter my account history. Third Hand Secretarial Service came up on Google when searching for something related to “bookkeeping virtual assistant” and after talking with Linda, it was obvious that she was very competent and could take this project and ongoing maintenance over with ease.

The best part was that she answered all my questions perfectly, without hesitation, so I knew she was competent through her confident responses. This was a relief as I had been burned badly when I first got into business years ago by a bookkeeper that had been in business for years, but couldn’t answer the simplest questions I would bring up after she had been managing everything for a few months. It was a nightmare cleaning that mess up.

How does using THSS make his job easier and changed how he allocates his time? Linda got everything setup and inputted in just a few weeks and saved me dozens of hours that I just couldn’t allocate to this, especially with a young family that gets the majority of my non-work time. Her thorough communication is perfect, as she’s reminded me of statements I need to get her when I’ve gotten busy and she’s got a great demeanor to interact with.

To learn more about Josh Long and Enlightened Solutions, please visit http://www.enlightenedinc.com/.

Yes2Yes is committed to helping individuals and companies live their Yes! to the fullest. Whether you’re a Fortune 500, a business owner, a director within a nonprofit organization, or a rising executive, Maria’s Leadership-for-Success Coaching will help you align your true strengths, values and goals to reach new levels of performance… and keep you moving toward your vision.

Here’s the real bottom line: confident, motivated people enjoying productive, fulfilling lives achieve fantastic levels of success. And Yes2Yes will help get you there. They offer innovative, results-driven coaching options to suit your specific needs.

Maria draws upon her unique and multi-faceted background when helping clients to successfully navigate the challenges they face and achieve new levels of positive results. She is a graduate of the Georgetown University Leadership Coaching Certificate Program. She is credentialed through the International Coach Federation and is an active member of the Philadelphia Area Coaches Association. She is also a Founding Member of the Leadership Coaching Association. Based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Maria has a rich life as a professional coach, wife, and mother to four children, one dog and four cats.

Why did Maria decide to start using a VA?
I asked myself — can I afford to hire a VA? Or can I afford NOT to hire a VA? The answer was clear. It was the time to take that major step forward.

How does using Linda’s services make Maria’s job easier? How has using a VA changed the way she allocates her time?
Linda totally manages my QuickBooks. That helps me sleep at night. Knowing everything is being monitored. I’m all ready for taxes. And what used to take me weekends to manage my expense reports and invoices, Linda effortlessly creates in one-tenth the time and delivers reports before I need them.

Finally, I do what I do best — and love — coaching. Linda actually helps me make more money by doing what she does best and effortlessly compliments what I need and what is required in my business.

How did Maria decide on THSS as Yes2Yes’s VA?
I decided on Linda because she is QuickBooks certified. She was recommended by Mary Motz, who I already worked with, and because she was Mac knowledgeable. All helped build the credibility I needed to delegate. Linda is the best. We work really well together.

What makes change so H.A.R.D.? We struggle to lose weight, change jobs, improve our relationships or our financial condition and even give up addictions. We succumb to our habits and accept a life of mediocrity, wishing it could be different and incessantly hoping for that magic solution.

The reality is that we are creatures of habit and change can be uncomfortable.  Change requires hard work, consistency and time. We perceive it as a chore and most of us just don’t want to work that hard.

Yet, there have been times in your life when you have made great change and it has brought you to a much better place. You were willing to do whatever it took to achieve the outcome you desired and you did it! You succeeded. To learn more about this new book, visit Julie’s website.

Get your copy today on Amazon. It will be available in bookstores in about 4-6 weeks and on Kindle in 4 weeks.