We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tara McKelvey a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Tara thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you take vacations? How do you keep things going – any advice for entrepreneurs who feel like they can’t step away from their business for a short vacation?

Absolutely! Travel is a HUGE passion of mine. I grew up in Germany for a decade (my dad was in the military) and I grew a true love for Europe. The castles, food, culture and sights are honestly magical! I have a growing bucketlist of places that I want to see in my life-time. I became a virtual assistant so I would have the freedom and flexibility to travel when I want!

I also think vacations are good for the heart. You need to take time for yourself, whether it’s relaxing or immersing yourself in the place you’re visiting, it’s SO important to do as able.

Tara, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I started It’s Virtually Tara, LLC. because I wanted to help women in business gain support in their business. I also wanted to be able to use my skills, creativity, and passion while creating a life on my own terms.

College completely burned me out. I found myself graduated from Texas A&M, entering into the pandemic with a job outside of my major. I worked at an Engineering company as the executive assistant to the CEO and absolutely LOVED working under such a BOSS WOMAN. After about a year, I felt the push to pursue a role in my degree field, environmental geoscience. I have been an environmental project manager for 2 years and felt I found a company and role that allowed me to positively impact the environment.

But I realized that I wasn’t feeling passionate about the role. After meeting a few entrepreneurs in the area, I signed up to go to Boss Vision Conference. I met and mingled with many AMAZING women entrepreneurs and business owners. Here’s where it clicked. I wanted to be able to do what they’re doing. Working for themself, building a business, and creating a financially secure present and future for their family. I decided to dive into taking the In Demand VA course with Sabatini. To be honest, I didn’t necessarily have the money to do this, but I felt that passion and fire in me that I hadn’t felt in years.

This is how It’s Virtually Tara was born! I’m running my Virtual Assistant business where I get to assist, support, and uplift of hard-working women business owners by taking on their social media and administrative tasks! It’s been over a year since I’ve started my business and I’ve worked with over 20 AMAZING clients! I’ve decided to expand my business outside of the virtual world and purse wedding & event content creation! I’m so excited to see what else the life of business owner will bring!

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Instagram! It was crazy to me when I had several clients reach out to me because they found me on Instagram… WHAT?? It’s a free marketing tool that allows you to reach and connect with people that you wouldn’t normally. And Instagram is a place that you can really showcase your personality! When I started my business, Instagram was the first platform I committed to marketing myself on because I felt the most familiar with.

When I started posting about myself, and my services, I had potential clients inquiring about my services! It seems wild, but it works!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Being a business owner isn’t easy. I hit a really rough bump in my business during my first year right after I quit my full-time job. I had one client ghost me, one client pause her services, and one-client drop due to financial reasons. I felt like my business was crashing down around me. I lost half of my income.

I broke down. I called my husband like “Oh my gosh, did I make a huge mistake?” I was literally questioning all of my life choices! But after we talked, I remembered who I am. I am determined, ambitious, capable and creative. This bump in the road is only a bump, not the end. And no one said it would always be easy!

So I took some time to look at what’s good in my business and improve on some portions in my business! I restructured my packages, increased my prices, and continued to market myself! The following month, I hit my highest income month yet!

I love the phrase “Adversity is always a partner to progress”.

Contact Info:

• Website: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsvirtuallytara?igsh=MXh3NG82aWZ0OHB6&utm_source=qr
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tara-mckelvey-96767b18a?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@itsvirtuallytara?_r=1&_d=eb8755lgai385b&sec_uid=MS4wLjABAAAAC54tNTMnZLC_KLpdcOiFw3b1gmPsyc9HsctHfxhvgrVqTJQRcbZcLrfesA5teZm-&share_author_id=7166259590685951022&sharer_language=en&source=h5_m&u_code=e5046b7le3dbkh&ug_btm=b0,b0&social_share_type=4&utm_source=copy&sec_user_id=MS4wLjABAAAAC54tNTMnZLC_KLpdcOiFw3b1gmPsyc9HsctHfxhvgrVqTJQRcbZcLrfesA5teZm-&tt_from=copy&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=client_share&enable_checksum=1&user_id=7166259590685951022&share_link_id=D3E6DB50-8B0A-45CD-B6D5-29AD3DFA546D&share_app_id=1233

Image Credits
Taylor Thomas Studio