At the time, I probably thought these moments were quite the lame way of spending our time ‘off’, but in reality, these daily reminders, watching them work so hard for what I now know was ‘ends meet,’ so us kids could want for nothing or know any different, instilled in me that with drive, perseverance, kindness, a forward-thinking mindset, attention to detail, positive attitude, and unwavering willingness to do what others wouldn’t, will lead you to have an exceptional, successful life. The desire to have the true American Dream, to work for myself and on my own terms, was born. Beginning in elementary school, my brother(s) and I started our own lawn cutting business, named, ‘Yatzeck’s Yard Service’ (appropriately donning my maiden name) servicing different families throughout our neighborhood with weekly lawn mowing and occasional upkeep on trimming. We grew this little business to have five or six customers every season, until I graduated High School; teaching us time management, responsibility, creativity, and accounting/bookkeeping. Because of this business, along with marketing/business classes (shout-out to Mr. Joe Dellis, the best marketing teacher EVER) and taking on other employment as a Golf Caddy and Receptionist at a local furniture store, I ‘saved my pennies’ to pay my OWN way through college at the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater, graduating Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Education. Incredibly, back in 2001, when I was 14 years old, I met and later married my cutie, lil’ hunk of a husband, Steve (Stephen, Stove…whatever the moment calls for me to call him, HAHA). As you can imagine, he has experienced every one of my crazy ideas, stints in MLM, and side-gigs, but most importantly, jumped at the chance of business ownership himself, starting, Brogli Building & Door, LLC, back in 2007, the year we also said our ‘I Dos’. For the last seventeen years, Steve (and I), with the help of family, have built our own Commercial Door Business, allowing me to work from home and take care of our now thirteen-year-old son and ten-year-old daughter through some really tough times medically and more, handle most of the administrative responsibilities, manage the day-to-day, and both having the flexibility to choose what each day will look like; all while providing exceptional, sought after service to our customers. It has been a true blessing for us in many ways and will continue to do so. So, with this experience and desire to keep growing, I asked myself, ‘if I am doing these tasks in our door business, then surely other small business owners are doing the same, hey? And I bet some would much rather hand off these duties to someone else, so they can get back to doing the fun stuff, right?’ Well, as Mr. Bigweld said, in the 2005 movie, Robots, ‘SEE A NEED, FILL A NEED’! Introducing Carli with Hi!CarliVA, your Freelance Virtual Assistant! I am BEYOND thrilled to learn about your business, your need and to help you get back to what YOU love!