Isobelle Christine Baterna

Call me Icee or Ice 🙂

I am a Mum of two and I have worked online since 2010. Living far from my parents and with a limited allowance, a good friend of mine introduced me to online jobs. I mostly secured writing gigs which allowed me to focus on my study and earn a living on the side. Then after college, I decided to go full-time with remote work, and have not looked back since!

Well… almost! I did have one incident where I was scammed and barely had enough money to last a week. 🙁 The outcome was as a newlywed with a 3-month old baby desperate for a stable job, so I submitted an application to a local BPO center here in Cagayan de Oro, even though it meant working away from my baby. Luck stepped in, and before I could show up for the interview at the BPO office, I was hired by an Australian company online, and I stayed with that company for a very long time. I’m not one to hop from one job to another. I like growing with a company and building relationships with the people I work with.

After my writing gigs, I started to widen the services I offered. From basic email and calendar management, I also offered bookkeeping and finance management. When my previous client needed someone to recruit more people for his business, I stepped up and lead the end to end recruitment. I am always learning and I make sure I learn quickly.

I owe it to remote work that I have the kind of life my family and I have right now. While we are not rich, we do earn more than what office-based workers do – without having to brave traffic and leave our kids at home in someone else’s care. We get to see them and all their milestones first-hand… their first word, their first steps, their first day at school and the many other treasures a parent experiences.

I am very passionate about my work and my family – and they are my motivation to wake up and face a new day every day. I find delight and inspiration whenever I help my clients do better and achieve their goals. I take care of the mundane, but important tasks such as email and calendar management or bookkeeping so my client can focus on growing their business. If they need a specific skill set from a remote worker which I don’t have (like web development or graphics design), I recruit the best person for the role. My client’s success is my success.

If you need someone who can wear multiple hats, someone who would treat your business as their own, and someone who would stay with you through thick and thin, I am definitely the VA you are looking for. 🙂

P.S. I like colouring my hair every once in a while so don’t be shocked to see my colourful hair during meetings. 😀

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