Abegail Loste – Administrative Assistant

Hi! I’m Abegail 🙂

“A frustrated Doctor”, they said. LOL Yes, it’s true – I originally planned on becoming a Doctor and that’s why I took up BS Biology Major in Cell Biology back in college. I finished the course with flying colours and was extremely excited about it.

While my batch mates were busy and thrilled about taking entrance exams and attending interviews to different medical schools, I was thrilled to be preparing myself to embark on a spiritual pursuit. I had applied as a full-time representative (missionary) for my Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I had set my mind to commit to 18 months of voluntary service to sacrifice for the Lord. Of course my mind was still set on continuing my medical studies in the future – but first I wanted to go home and pursue my temporal goal.

While serving as a full-time missionary, I learned a great many things! Our work was basic: we established a habit of scripture and language study every day and looked for people to teach the restored gospel to. The habit seemed to be rote, but because of the differences and uniqueness of the people we spoke with and taught each day, my mission became even more meaningful. I love engaging with people and being involved in their lives! For me it is much more than just being a spiritual adviser – I am their friend and confidante. And because of the love I developed for them, I worked really hard to prepare them for baptism.

If I was to connect my experiences in my mission with Virtual work, I would say my mission was like managing my own Customer Relationship Management (CRM) with the people I taught. We spoke with people every day, just like connecting with potential leads, sifting through them to find the golden ones. The skills are very similar, as is the attitude – persistent and diligent.

I was good with making follow-ups and setting plans on a daily basis. We also sent weekly reports about the work that we did during the week. We have an accountability system to our Mission President and to the Bishop of the Wards where we were assigned to work. I also developed the habit of writing in my journal; it’s like writing stories of my experiences. Throughout my mission, all my companions were foreigners, and this opportunity allowed me to learn English and improve my skills with communication. I have been so blessed! As time passed, my work become personal and influenced my perspectives on life. My desire to follow God’s plan increased, and I felt a willingness to submit to whatever was in store for me after my mission.

When I returned home, I met my future husband and we decided to get married. After a few months, I fell pregnant, and we now have a wonderful one year old baby boy. Having a family has always been part of my plan, and while I knew I could be a great doctor and a great mother, I felt that I couldn’t be great at both at the same time. Because family is essential to the Lord’s plan of salvation, I decided to put motherhood first. When my child (or children) grow up and go to school, then I will consider going back to medical school myself.

My husband is currently finishing his degree in college and works part-time as an online English tutor. To help contribute to supporting our family the idea of working virtually became a good option for me.

Before my husband and I were married I was working as a customer service representative at a BPO company, and I’ve now worked there for more than two years. During my first year, I was an email support agent for one of the largest online retail shops in Australia. I am very familiar with the online sales and service processes. I would reply to customer’s emails, and perform administrative tasks (acting as a virtual assistant) which included using MS Word, MS Excel and filling out forms. By the end of that year, I was awarded a plaque of recognition for being the top agent of the year.

During my second year at the call center, I was transferred to a voice account. There I learned to enhance my speaking skills and experienced the feeling of real customer service. At that time I was not able to perform as well as I wanted to because my baby became ill. Sadly, I had to stop working so I could attend to my baby.

After my son was well again, I began the journey of finding another job. I started applying online for jobs and took on short-term work as an online English tutor for Chinese students. Two weeks later I was hired by a digital marketing company based in Australia. I felt blessed because I had found a job. At first, my work revolved around data entry. Then I was promoted to being a project coordinator. I had challenges at first because I had no experience performing these tasks, and the company did not offer training. I am very proud to say that despite this, I was able to build their standard operating procedures and I grew so much within a short amount of time. I learned new skills, and became an executive assistant/virtual assistant, performing in depth research for my client. I learned how to handle their CRM tool, calendar management, social media management, and enough WordPress to get by.

I’ve always believed that skills can be developed – and after my work experiences, I know this for a fact.

What’s really important to me at this point in my life is to work remotely so I can balance a career while I stay at home so as to be within close reach of my family, if needed. I am a fast-learner and have an eye for detail. I am very eager to learn new skills and develop them to better support my employer.

For a copy of Abegail’s resume please click here.