Have you been wondering how students put their Director of Operations (DOO) certification into practice?
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We have a success story today, a spotlight on Director of Operations (DOO) student LaToya Williamson who completed Round 17 of the program. She is a peer podcast host, someone who has an established business, and she brings amazing energy to our conversation.
Meet LaToya Williamson
LaToya Williamson CEO, Business Operations Strategist Job Titles: Chief of Staff & Certified Director of Operations LaToya Williamson is the owner and CEO of Virtually4You Business Solutions, LLC an agency designed to provide business strategy & management services to executive leadership coaches and business consultants. As an operations strategist and fractional certified director of operations, LaToya, who some call “Sunshine” or “POO” (power of one) has been a nurturer from the beginning. She truly “has the back” of anyone she comes in contact with and honestly wants to see them reach the goals they’ve set while making their dreams come true through the businesses they run. She loves connecting with her industry peers and sharing her knowledge and experience and is currently the host of the Elevate Your Biz Podcast Show on Apple and Spotify.
LaToya’s Background
- She came from a corporate background and worked over 20 years as an executive assistant/chief of staff
- She has an HR background in the diversity, equity, and inclusion space
- She naturally ended up in several leadership roles
- She was the go-to person who people came to for answers
- She enjoyed providing guidance to her peers
- She felt that executive assistants were undervalued, which gave her the idea of who she wanted to serve in her business
- She understands both the assistant and CEO perspective
- Her former boss expressed that one thing she remembered most about LaToya was how well she took care of her
What was the business you had as you came into the DOO certification?
- She was doing VIP days and was also doing “biz matching”, where she was pairing businesses up with assistants
- She was always looking to help the assistant who was looking for a job
- Things were going well, but she was having imposter syndrome and trying to figure out where she fit into the online space
- A friend was finishing the DOO certification program and it was exactly what she felt she needed
- She gained so much confidence through the program
“It was so hard for me in the online space because I’m a responsive person… but in the online space I kept trying to figure out what to talk about and if they weren’t engaging with me, I was struggling.” – LaToya Williamson
What were your expectations at the beginning of the program?
- She was looking for a proven framework to elevate the skills that she already had, to present to potential clients who value those things
- She wanted concrete knowledge to back the skills she already had
- Her big goal was to build a brand for herself so she could make an impact
“Going through this [DOO] program, I learned even more about what my specialties are.” – LaToya Williamson
“When you have a framework, communicating, selling, and sharing about it happens easier…” – Natalie Gingrich
Which frameworks are you leveraging today?
- The Strategic Mapping Method™ is what she has used to revamp her VIP day
- She is also using the framework around hiring
- She is looking at her business as a whole and thinking about all the things she wants to do and make sure it is all working together and supporting her mission statement
“I am now building out my service differently using that [hiring] framework, and I know it’s going to be so much more beneficial for what I’m trying to accomplish…” – LaToya Williamson
Are your offers different now than when you came into the program?
- She created a whole new offer around Strategic Mapping, which is now a three week experience
- She’s working on mapping out her new hiring offer
- She is now thinking about serving nonprofits also, and working out her offers for that avatar
What is your advice to someone considering the program?
- If you are on the fence you might as well do it… you will not be disappointed!
- She has been in a lot of programs, and this one has been the best!
- You will learn so much not just from the content, but through how the program is run
Connect with LaToya:
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