Podcast by Catherine Gladwyn - UK Virtual Assistant Trainer
31 May 2025
Kellie shares her magnificent journey to become one of the massive success stories of my mentoring.
We talk niching, we talk growth, we talk money! Which is why this episode is titled: Is it possible to earn £10k or even £20k a month as a Virtual Assistant?
You'll have to listen to find out - and if it is, how?
Kellie Simpson Legal Ltd was established in 2018 to offer virtual assistant services specially tailored to the legal sector. Having worked in the legal sector for over 23 years, Kellie has an incredible in-depth knowledge of the workings of law firms and the support legal professionals need. During her career she has worked in small, medium and large sized firms both in the UK and Asia, supporting busy legal professionals at all levels and across a variety of practice areas.
Kellie has helped to organise and implement gold standard processes and procedures within a large number of law firms. Due to her deep expertise and knowledge of law firm operations, terminology and processes, Kellie is able to provide a level of VA support that legal clients find invaluable.
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37:57
17 May 2025
In this inspiring and down-to-earth episode, I'm joined by viral social media professional Rebecca Shipton. We chat all things LinkedIn – from showing up authentically, to building real engagement, and handling the negativity that sometimes comes with putting yourself out there.
Rebecca also bravely shares her personal journey with PMDD and mental health struggles, reminding us all that success online (and offline) doesn’t mean being perfect.
If you’re a new or aspiring VA wanting to grow your presence on LinkedIn and keep it real, this one’s for you.
'Rebecca Shipton is a social media professional with over 8-years worth of industry experience. Specialising in organic social, she has applied her skillset to iconic brands such as Gymshark, Flo Health and Lounge. Outside of her day-to-day, she is one of the first seven writers for the Pretty Little Marketer blog (a marketing community of over 600k people) covering platform updates, is a mentor for Fashion Retail Academy and has spoken at brand events for the likes of Adobe.'
I loved chatting with Rebecca and I hope you enjoy the episode.
Rebecca shares her experiences of managing PMDD, how it affects her MH and how to navigate running your life alongside all of that. Rebecca is one of nearly a million women in the UK who live with this (stat taken from the first PMDD UK Charity, here April 2025 - https://thepmddproject.org/)
In this episode we feelings of helplessness. If you're ever feeling like life is getting a bit too much it can sometimes help to share it. The Samaritans are there to listen and not judge. It's like having a mate you can share things with, but you don't have to listen to their stuff in return. There's more info here: https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/
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41:35
03 May 2025
Chisola Chitambala is an Essex-based entrepreneur who reached the final five and finished fourth on this years edition of The Apprentice UK. She is the co-founder of CB Virtual Assistant, a successful virtual assistant business that she has run with her business partner for nearly three years. With a background as a paediatric nurse and an MBA to support her transition into entrepreneurship, Chisola brings a wealth of experience to her work. She is also a passionate advocate for migraine awareness, a children’s storyteller, and a keen netball player.
To thank Chisola for her time I made a donation to her charity of choice, The Migraine Trust. You can find out more about their work here: https://migrainetrust.org/
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33:22
19 April 2025
Setting boundaries in your Virtual Assistant business helps to ensure it never feels like work, that you never dread a task, or feel burnt out, or guilty about anything. You are an equal to those you work with, you are in charge of your own working day now, so I'd like to share a few things you may, or may not - we're all different - wish to have in place to ensure no day feels like employment.
In this episode I refer to KoffeeKlatch's VA contracts and my affiliate discount code: CATH10 for 10% off.
I also mention my Facebook group, which you can join here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/catherinegladwyn/
Thank you to Lily Attwell-Rowan for suggesting this as episode 17's subject.
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28:36
05 April 2025
I can't believe I've not covered this subject already because it's such a common question. Of course, I've answered it for you in this episode but I've also shared why you might not be getting associate work and how you can turn that around.
I enjoyed doing this one because I really think it's going to help. As always, there's no gatekeeping. This is all I have in my brain about how to get associate work as a Virtual Assistant.
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26:50
23 March 2025
Have you heard of the feast or famine cycle? Basically, it's a common thing for freelancers / small business owners to have some good months financially and some bad months. 'It's just the way it is' was what I was told early on in my business. After my first time in the famine part I decided I was never going to be in it again and I came up with many ways to ensure that didn't happen. Some of which I am only too happy to share with you in this episode.
As always, I can't thank you enough for listening and... guess what? You got my podcast into the top ten on Apple Podcasts in the Careers category! Go team!
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16:21