To celebrate The Arts VA’s third birthday, here’s a personal post from our founder, Charlie...
This week, we celebrate three years of The Arts VA! What a year it has been for the arts, but we survived and I am incredibly grateful for the support our company has had during this difficult time.
Now that theatres are reopening and we’re busy again, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank those that have supported and influenced me, ensuring that The Arts VA not only survived COVID-19 but is now thriving.
Clients
Where would we be without our wonderful clients? I am so grateful for the support and loyalty of all The Arts VA clients during a really tough time for theatre - from ensuring we survived financially by continuing to pay retainers when work was minimal, to supporting me emotionally with phone calls and emails to check how homeschooling was going!
Business Mentor
When starting out as a VA, I did the VA Mastery Course with Amanda Johnson, VACT, and she went on to become my business mentor. Amanda was there with quick responses to my messages when I was panicking about my reduced workload during COVID-19 and encouraged me to keep going despite how difficult it was.
It was thanks to her suggestion to contact other VAs for associate work that I was able to keep working. She was also there with tips for how to juggle it while homeschooling a five-year-old and looking after a newborn.
The VA Community
It’s thanks to the VAs that entrusted me to be an associate for them that I was able to continue working for myself from home.
While the theatre industry was closed, I worked for their clients in other industries. They filled the gaps in my working week and I gained ‘colleagues’ - I didn’t realise how much I was missing having other VAs to bounce ideas off of.
Friends and Family
One of the reasons The Arts VA has grown and is so strong is because of our VA, Jenny. Her ideas and enthusiasm for the business and support of me as a business owner is something I will always be grateful for. After working in theatre together for so many years, I am so happy we are now working together again and our families are benefitting from having us at home.
And how could I forget my husband, Liam, and all our supportive family and friends? They were the ones telling me to keep going and taking care of the children (once Covid allowed) so I could focus on the business.
Thank you!
The Arts News
Auditions for the Royal Opera's Jette Parker Young Artists Programme are still open - applications close 30th July. Find out more here.
National Theatre Productions have a host of roles up for grabs for their UK and Ireland tour of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. The closing date is Monday 2nd August.
We’d Love to Hear From You!
If you have any questions or would like to know more about how you could work with The Arts VA, you can contact Charlie here.