Inspiring Conversations with Carrie Zwisler of Efficio Virtual Assistance

Today we’d like to introduce you to Carrie Zwisler

Hi Carrie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My journey to founding Efficio Virtual Assistance started thirteen years ago when I graduated from Colorado State University with a bachelor’s degree in…interior design. I’ve always been the achiever type, someone who sets goals, makes a plan, and then pursues them relentlessly. At the time, my passion for interior design was incredibly strong. Strong enough to uproot my life and move to Los Angeles (site unseen) for an entry-level designer job offer. From there, I subscribed to the destiny many of us do in corporate America. Put your head down, earn your stripes, work that overtime, climb that ladder. The challenge was fun for the first few years as I could feel my experience and momentum gaining. Until I eventually started to question more about what I wanted from my life. I was excelling in my career, but it was requiring me to work seemingly endless amounts of unpaid overtime. I was also quickly falling out of love with the work itself, design wasn’t lighting me up in the way it used to. From there, it took me many years of push and pull – trying to strike a work/life balance, trying to love interior design like I once did, reading this self-help book, trying that mindset adjustment. Until I eventually took a long look in the mirror and realized that it was time to break from my original ‘plan’ and make a strong pivot.
 
Virtual Assistance was one of the first career changes that really stood out when considering my next move. When I zoomed out to evaluate my natural strengths and what parts of my design career were the most fulfilling, I realized my knack for organization, systems, and strategy were all qualities that both filled my cup and had become my superpowers in design. I also realized that I loved being in a service-based line of work, where I could support multiple clients at one time in a way that provided variety and healthy challenges to my day-to-day routines. Next, I considered what I wanted to be completely different in this next career. I wanted the freedom to work from anywhere (I’m an avid traveler and have been to 33 countries and counting). I wanted to be compensated for ALL my work – no more unpaid overtime. And I wanted the autonomy to engineer a career that supported my life outside work, instead of monopolizing it. I continued to dig into virtual assistance, and the more I uncovered about the career the more resounding my YES to pursuing it became. I mapped out a plan to launch my own virtual assistant business in October of 2023 and by January of 2024, Efficio Virtual Assistance was up and running!
 
I couldn’t be happier or more grateful to have taken the leap and started Efficio Virtual Assistance. From a small inkling all those months ago to today, my decision to launch this business and pursue this career has been the best decision I have ever made. Everything I hoped to enjoy about this career and more has come to fruition. I’m deeply fulfilled in supporting my amazing clients – all small business owners who have entrusted me to come behind the curtains into their businesses. As of today, I’m working with spa owners, photographers, landscape architects, interior designers, and event planners. I support each business owner in different ways – bespoke to their unique needs and businesses. It keeps me on my toes, allows me to play into different strengths, and most importantly provides critical assistance to these rockstar business owners who have typically been doing everything themselves to date. I consider it a privilege to provide this support and can’t imagine any other career.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
In comparison to my road as an interior designer, which felt wrong for a very long time, my road at Efficio Virtual Assistance has felt incredibly smooth. I credit a lot of that to giving myself several months after ending my design career, to really dig into researching a new path that was in alignment with my strengths and lifestyle goals. As I was building Efficio, I was carefully crafting goals, boundaries, and processes that helped protect my priorities in and outside of my career. I’ve also committed to a growth mindset in launching and running my own business for the first time. There are a lot of intimidating and new challenges that you face along the way, but if you’re committed to the growth that is on the other side, you can approach each hurdle with enthusiasm and gratitude.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
At Efficio Virtual Assistance I pride myself on providing marketing, systems, and operational support to small business owners around the world. Just as no two businesses are the same, the way in which I support each business is completely bespoke to their unique needs. For many clients, I provide monthly recurring support for ongoing business needs such as social media management, inbox/calendar management, newsletter drafting/publishing, inventory management, marketing flyers, project management, and miscellaneous research and administrative tasks. I also provide project-based support to clients that have 1-time needs such as brand design, website design, template design, E-book creation, and CRM setup.
 
When clients hire Efficio Virtual Assistance, they receive more than just a list-taker. At Efficio, I provide support through the lens of a strategic partner. I want to understand your business goals and aspirations to help you meet and exceed them! I want to dive into your standard operating procedures to find efficiencies and optimize them! I want to help level up your business in a way that you can start to earn more but work less.
 
Not only do I bring 12 years of experience in corporate America, but I also bring my skillset as a designer where I honed my craft in curation, storytelling, and graphic design. I love it when I get to apply this to brand design, website design, social media, and more!

Any big plans?
I recently joined a small cohort as part of a business coaching program to help map out Efficio’s next chapter. For the future of Efficio Virtual Assistance, I’m scheming up ways that I can make a larger impact in supporting more small business owners outside of 1:1 support. Digital courses, E-books, VIP days, and more are all on the table! Stay tuned for more to come!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.efficiova.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/efficio.virtual.assistance
• Other: https://efficiova.ck.page/2f6eb4d28e

Image Credits
Photographer: Emily Howell
https://www.emilyhowellphoto.com/