Meet Lauren Gall: Small Business Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lauren Gall and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lauren, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
The thought process behind starting my business was fairly simple in that I spoke to small business owners regularly in my job and they all had a need for this type of work. Two problems typically came up, they either didn’t have the money to hire someone in-house or they didn’t have enough hours to give someone full-time work. After realizing that, I thought there might be something there and we started VaVa. Soon after we started we realized how much of a need there really was and then the business quickly grew from there with dedication and hard work.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Whether you need a brilliant bookkeeper, digital marketer, administrative guru, or something else, VaVa Virtual Assistants offers expert backend office support to clients worldwide. Our diverse team of tenacious can-doers are thoroughly vetted and ready to take on any and every project to help a business achieve measurable growth and thrive. We want business owners and entrepreneurs to lean on us because we know how demanding it is to run a business. Too many entrepreneurs feel like they need to take on everything themselves because no one else will understand their big picture. And, the truth is, we went through that too, and that’s why our mission is to streamline the tasks and responsibilities of running a company, and make it as cost-efficient and convenient for our clients as possible. We know the challenges new business owners face firsthand. Our company is a pioneer; most people didn’t understand our system of running things remotely and working in a digital space when we first started. Businesses just weren’t set up that way. It took three years before we could quit our day jobs to run VaVa full time, but we’re thriving ten years later and we’re one of the longest running virtual assistant companies. Our clients are building something new or they have an established business that’s growing faster than they can keep up with; that’s where we come in. We can help develop systems that manage projects so entrepreneurs meet target goals, or track what doesn’t work so they can pivot to meet their goals. We do the necessary, tedious stuff that people procrastinate, like bookkeeping, so they’re never falling behind or making mistakes that can cost them later. We can map out marketing strategies that will carry their business through the year and track their trajectory so that they can grow their business to be invaluable to their market. We support business owners to focus on their big picture and their “why,” and we handle the rest.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Some of the most fun and interesting places to see and do in Atlanta are the following; Monday – Storico Fresco for some great italian and then just down the street you can have some after hour wine at Forza Storico or Gypsy Kitchen Tuesday – A braves game is always a fun gathering and a way to see the awesome stadium built a few years ago. Wednesday – The aquarium and then sneaking in a trip on the ferris wheel as well. Thursday – Grab lunch at Upbeet in West Midtown, then climb stone mountain just before sunset. Friday – Breakfast at Bread and Butterfly to get their amazing avocado toast, then walk/bike/rollerblade the beltline, dinner at The Optimist and then take a little drive to Andy’s Frozen Custard Saturday – Brunch at TWO Urban Licks and then slide on over to the skatepark down the way to relax and enjoy the weather. Sunday – Slide on over to Ponce City Market for some shopping and good eats at any of the amazing restaurants they have there. The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
When we first began we had several people that should be recognized for really jump starting our career as Virtual Assistants. I would say the first one is Marlene Eldemire. She was instrumental in giving us the courage to go out and complete work. She also took a big risk by hiring us as subcontractors to her busy VA firm which is extremely helpful in getting our feet wet and a great start to building relationships in the industry. The second person that was pivotal in work was Diana Ennen. She was the very first coach we hired and she gave us the confidence to charge what we are worth and don’t apologize. I think that’s important to recognize because so many people are wishy washy in what they charge because people doubt them or ask for discounts. Diana gave us the tools to succeed based on her many years in the industry and really believed in us. Lastly, the two contracted VAs we first hired (one who is still with us today) were a very big part of our journey to the successful company we are today. Both James and Meredith believed in our story, brought a high level of expertise to their work and gave us the confidence to build out a team of VAs that’s now 45 people and growing by the day.

Website: www.vavavirtual.com

Instagram: vavavirtual

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurengall/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vavavirtualassistants

Image Credits
Make Worthwhile Media took all photos