About Me
My name is Michelle LaVine and I am Your Essential Assistant.
I have been in the executive support space for close to 20 years. But before I found my passion as Virtual Executive Assistant I spent 12 years as an emergency services 9-1-1 dispatcher. This was a job where you had to thrive under pressure, respond calmly and think on your feet. It was there that I developed the skills & dynamic foundation for my career as a Virtual Assistant.
I transitioned from the 9-1-1 industry to the private sector by taking my first administrative assistant/office manager role for a national forklift company. Within four years I went from that role as an entry level assistant to becoming an executive assistant for senior leadership of a call center at a major credit card corporation. I supported executives not only locally but across multiple domestic sites. I very quickly realized that it requires an extremely unique set of skills required to support leadership that were at various locations or for executives who travel consistently. I began to build & enhance my skill set to specialize in virtual and remote support. I soon became a subject matter expert for virtual support within my division. I leveraged my skills and knowledge and developed a training curriculum for other assistants on how to provide seamless remote support.
Sadly, that role came to an end almost 8 years later due to a site closure and layoff. As the saying goes, when one door closes another one opens. It was during my layoff that I created and founded Your Essential Assistant. I took a leap of faith and followed my passion. Providing support is what I truly enjoy doing! There is no better satisfaction than partnering with other small business owners, entrepreneurs and executives to understand their priorities and help them reach their goals. My experience spans a variety of industries including executive leadership coaching/training, veterinary services, youth sport team, media sales, healthcare, cybersecurity, sales, banking and construction.
