A little more about me...
I'm Jo, founder of Your Favourite VA.
Before starting my business in 2019, I spent more than 20 years working as a Personal Assistant and Office Manager across all sorts of organisations, from accountancy and engineering to education and TV and film.
Looking back, I think I've always been drawn to the same kind of work - being the person behind the scenes who knows what's going on, keeps things moving and notices the little things that can make life easier for everyone else.
That's still very much how I work today.
I support growing businesses and teams across the UK, often at the point where they've realised they can't keep sharing all the extra work between themselves. Some have never outsourced before; others already have a team around them but need someone who can step in, understand how things work and take real ownership.
I like getting to know a business properly. Not just the tasks I've been given, but the people, the processes and all those little quirks every business develops along the way.
It means I can get on with the day-to-day work, but also notice when something could be simpler, better organised or done differently.
And when I'm not doing any of that, I'm usually spending time with my husband and our two children, walking our dog, pottering in the garden, going to the theatre, or occasionally being persuaded into a bit of karaoke.
Your Favourite VA started because I wanted more flexibility around family life. What I didn't expect was to build a business and a way of working that I genuinely love.
“Jo has been a highly effective, reliable and valuable extension to our team. A ‘safe pair of hands’ who is able to work both quickly and independently on projects without sacrificing quality at any point.”
Brian Casey, Changefirst
The businesses I work best with
Most of my clients are growing businesses with small teams. They've reached the point where there's more happening behind the scenes than the existing team comfortably has time to manage. Often, everyone has simply picked things up along the way.
The director is still managing bits of the diary. Someone else updates the CRM when they remember. Marketing gets squeezed in around client work. Processes have evolved as the business has grown and quite a lot of useful information still lives in people's heads.
Nothing is necessarily going terribly wrong.
There's just a growing sense that things could work better.
That's usually a very good fit for me.
I particularly enjoy working with businesses that want someone who will become part of the team, someone they can trust to take ownership, use their initiative and gradually get to know how everything fits together.
I work remotely from Surrey with clients across the UK, with most of my client relationships built around ongoing support rather than individual tasks.
Think we might work well together?
Tell me a little about your business and where you could use some support.
“Working with her certainly gave me a feeling of being in a team, as opposed to ‘doing it alone’. She is also sensitive to others' needs, and supportive in a genuine way.”
Sheila Rose, Tribal Angel