Introduction
Getting to know me
I have always been very organised since a child, due to the number of extra-curricula activities I did, including music, dance and swimming, which meant I always had to manage my free time to get everything done. Joining a swimming club around age 10 taught me dedication and determination, and started my love for health and fitness.
However, as I also excelled academically, initially I went to university and achieved a Masters in Electronic Engineering with Merit, followed by a postgraduate year in Design, Manufacture & Management. I then worked for British Telecom in commercial management for 7 years, doing market research, new product development & launch, marketing and then business planning and strategy, which is where I studied marketing at evening classes.
I eventually took voluntary redundancy and re-trained as a personal trainer, class instructor, and swimming instructor and started working in the industry that I was passionate about. I worked full time in the industry, and then part-time alongside office work including project support, where I completed my PRINCE 2 Practitioner qualification, and then starting a family.
I evolved as an instructor to focus on yoga and pilates, and also started to practice mindfulness. I also had an interest in mental health including anxiety, depression and stress as I have been there myself and wanted to make these topics more acceptable to talk about.
When I started living between South Wales, Essex and Gran Canaria, I decided to set up a business that was location independent, since each time I had moved, I had had to start a new business, building on previous experience, and I also no longer wanted to be tied to one location.
During the pandemic I completed a Level 4 Diploma in Physical Activity & Mental Health as Lockdown gave me the ability to train with a top provider online. In 2022, I became a Certified NLP Practitioner after doing an American Board of NLP approved course.
Having evolved the services I was providing to clients in 2022, I then completed a 6 month course during the first half of 2023, which included a week long intense certification week simulating working with multiple, demanding clients simultaneously to become a Certified Online Business Manager, which has consolidated all my skills and experience into an internationally recognised qualification and will allow me to provide services to my clients at an exceptional level.
My focus now is on providing my clients with the lifestyle they desire through using my extensive toolkit to provide a bespoke solution to their needs, whilst maintaining my chosen lifestyle as well.
Siân Faire
Why I set up this Business.....
Since 2014 I have been splitting my time between Gran Canaria and the UK and so initially found it difficult to maintain a business in either country.
Therefore the logical thing to do was to find a job which used as many of my skills as possible whilst being location independent; I started following Digital Nomad communities and then set myself up as a Virtual Assistant, using my administration and marketing skills, targeting the industries I was most familiar with.
Initially I worked with Fitness Professionals assisting them with the management, marketing and admin side of their business where they didn’t have the correct skillset, and I realised that I could make a big impact on people’s health and wellbeing by taking the stress out of running a business, allowing them to focus on where their skills shone.
Since setting up my original business, I realised I was operating at higher level than an admin assistant, which was the pre-conception many traditional businesses had of a VA, since I had many years of management skills and experience before I started out. Additionally, I have continued with my professional development since launching my remote business as I love learning new things, to maximise what I can offer a prospective client.
As the digital landscape is continually evolving, I ensure I keep up to speed with developments, and have honed my skills in picking up new tools to enable me to work with whatever a client already has in situ, as well as being able to recommend future solutions.
Setting up a remote business proved useful during the pandemic, as I had always worked virtually and so was able to continue supporting my client base and had ideas how they could alter their business model based on my experience and industry knowledge. It also made my business lifestyle choices become more acceptable in the wider business world.
I love to help people, and also realise that as a person’s business expands, often you have to take on tasks that are outside your comfort zone. Eventually the business owner also ends up reaching a plateau in the business growth plans, even after starting to outsource various tasks, since the Business Owner is still trying to manage all the day to day management tasks as well as growth plans; there just isn’t enough hours in the day/week to keep all the plates spinning.
My aim is to enable my clients do what they do best and also to do the actions they should be focusing on for the future of the business, by filling in the gaps in knowledge and experience in systems and processes to take over the day to day management of the business in a cost effective and time efficient manner.