20four7VA CEO Talks Leading Diverse Teams on Leaders & Legacies Podcast
Catherine vanVonno, 20four7VA president and CEO, was featured on a recent episode of Craig Andrews’ Leaders & Legacies podcast. In the 29-minute episode, Catherine and Craig talked about the impetus behind the founding of 20four7VA, the company’s trajectory, and the challenges of leading a fully remote and diverse team.
What does leadership mean to Catherine?
On Leaders & Legacies, Catherine says that leadership is all about instilling integrity, allowing for expansion opportunities, and most of all, leading by example. The 20four7VA CEO shared that she is surrounded by incredible individuals and that she leans on her team for guidance. According to her, a leader is someone who can depend on others for fresh insights and who makes decisions that truly resonate with their team.
Challenges in leading a diverse team
20four7VA is a fully remote team with staffers and virtual assistants (VAs) scattered across the globe. While diversity makes 20four7VA (and any organization) stronger, it’s also something that leaders need to work on.
According to Catherine, as 20four7VA expanded and began onboarding talent from different countries and backgrounds, she faced some difficulties in communication and understanding different cultures.
Over a decade into leading her fully distributed team, Catherine says that fostering an inclusive and cohesive work environment has been her biggest leadership challenge. Now that the company has more than quadrupled in size and won various awards, Catherine says that the journey has taught her to actively listen to each team member and give them her undivided attention.
Get more insights about leaders and leadership from Catherine and Craig.
About Leaders & Legacies
Leaders & Legacies is a business podcast hosted by Craig Andrews. Every 25–40-minute episode introduces listeners to remarkable business leaders who are making a significant impact in their workplace, industry, and society.
About the host
Craig Andrews is the host of Leaders & Legacies and founder of allies4me. He has been in the business for over two decades and has driven over half a billion dollars in revenue. Craig is a well-respected entrepreneur who has been featured in multiple podcasts and leadership forums.
Learn more about Craig Andrews.
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Catherine vanVonno Talks About Empowering Small Businesses on the Listening with Leaders Podcast
Catherine vanVonno, 20four7VA President and CEO, was featured on a recent episode of Doug Noll’s Listening with Leaders podcast. In the 29-minute episode, Catherine and Doug covered a lot of ground, from how the company started to Catherine’s leadership “secret sauces.”
The journey so far
In the first part of the podcast, Catherine shared her life experiences before taking the helm at 20four7VA. She talked about earning her PhD and her previous life as an epidemiologist. The conversation naturally veered towards how she got involved in the world of remote staffing.
She talked about 20four7VA’s journey so far, from its early days to becoming an award-winning remote staffing company. Doug was also given a quick overview of exactly what the company does to empower small businesses through virtual assistant solutions.
The importance of listening
Doug and Catherine agreed on the importance of listening, with Catherine naming the ability to listen as one of the “secret sauces” of leadership. She states, “Great ideas don’t always come from the top.” She emphasized how active listening can help create a bond and expressed just how much she values her team’s diverse perspectives. She also mentioned how listening to people on her team helps her make better decisions for the business.
Hear more expert insights from Catherine and Doug.
About Listening with Leaders
Listening with Leaders is a business podcast hosted by Doug Noll. Every 20–30-minute episode introduces listeners to business experts, mainly founders and CEOs, who share their best scaling and leadership strategies. You can stream this podcast on major audio streaming services, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
About the host
Douglas “Doug” Noll is a podcast host and so much more. He’s a lawyer-turned-peacemaker who is also an expert in mediation and empathic listening. Since leaving his career as a trial lawyer and earning his Master’s Degree in Peacemaking and Conflict Studies, Doug has helped organizations and leaders master de-escalation and effective communication. He also founded the Prison of Peace Project, a non-profit organization teaching inmates how to become peacemakers, mediators, and trainers.
Learn more about Doug Noll.
READ MORECatherine vanVonno Talks Business Growth on The Wealthy Equation
20four7VA President and CEO Catherine vanVonno appeared as a guest on the May 13th episode of The Wealthy Equation. The podcast is hosted by finance coach and Women’s Money Mastery founder Kristen Wonch.
In the episode “Expert Hiring Secrets with Catherine vanVonno,” Catherine and Kristen covered a broad range of topics, including how Catherine made the leap from a high-level corporate job to president and CEO of an Inc. 5000 company. She shares how the perfect combination of dedication, a strong support system, and solid teamwork helped turn 20four7VA into the trusted remote staffing company it is today.
20four7VA’S Beginnings and Ongoing Success
During the show, Catherine talked about how she started 20four7VA, a remote staffing agency helping businesses grow with outsourced remote talent and a concierge-style staffing solution. She also shared her own tried-and-tested tips on how the company became one of the fastest-growing outsourced staffing providers worldwide.
In the episode, Catherine shares the inside scoop on:
- How to cultivate a positive company culture while working with a fully-distributed team
- The importance of feedback and clear communication channels
- The systems you need to onboard well and set your team up for success
- The biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make in terms of talent acquisition and people management
Listen to the full episode here.
About The Wealthy Equation
The Wealthy Equation podcast shares valuable insights on building wealth. Host Kristen Wonch invites business leaders to share their stories about the road to financial freedom and growth. From practical tips to mindset shifts, listeners will get unfiltered access to what it really takes to build wealth.
About Kristen Wonch
Aside from hosting The Wealthy Equation, Kristen Wonch is also an experienced finance coach. She helps women on their journey to financial freedom through the Women’s Money Mastery or WMM. Kristen’s WMM program is a 6-month step-by-step guide to building wealth simply and successfully.
Learn more about Kristen Wonch and the Women’s Money Mastery program.
Are you ready to take your business to new heights? Do you want to streamline your operations, boost productivity, and maximize growth? Book a quick discovery call that can revolutionize your business.
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Catherine vanVonno Appears on The Round Table Talk Show with Sharifah Hardie
20four7VA President and CEO Catherine vanVonno appeared on the January 28th episode of The Round Table Talk Show, a podcast hosted by author and business consultant Sharifah Hardie.
Catherine joined four other guests for a lively discussion on a broad range of topics, including female entrepreneurship, outsourcing, diversity hiring, and the moments that unexpectedly change the trajectory of our lives. The hour-long episode was filled with inspiring stories and insightful opinions — and even included a tarot card reading!
20four7VA’s impact hiring initiative
During the show, Catherine talked about 20four7VA’s mission of empowering skilled individuals around the world and connecting them with entrepreneurs who need help moving their businesses forward. She also spoke about the company’s latest project, a collaboration with South African non-profit Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator and training center Loomee Group. Together, these three organizations are working to uplift the lives of young virtual assistants in Buffalo City, where the unemployment rate is one of the highest in South Africa. Learn more about this project.
About The Round Table Talk Show
The Round Table Talk Show invites up to nine guests per episode and gives them the opportunity to discuss current events and the topics they’re most passionate about with their fellow experts, executives, business owners, influencers, and thought leaders.
About Sharifah Hardie
Sharifah Hardie is the host of The Round Table Talk Show, a daily business talk show, and the podcast/videocast Ask Sharifah. She has written two books, Signs You Might Be an Entrepreneur and Everything You Need to Know About Social Media Marketing. Sharifah is a seasoned business consultant and diversity, equity, and inclusion expert. She is running for a California State Senate seat in the 2024 Primary Elections.
For more information about Sharifah Hardie and The Round Table Talk Show, visit the Ask Sharifah website.
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7 Essential Podcasts for Every Virtual Worker
Podcasts are some of the best sources of information available. As a virtual assistant who spends most of their time online, it’s definitely helpful to listen to a podcast or two to help you become better at your job. There are plenty of podcasts out there that discuss VA-related topics ranging from how to become a virtual assistant, tips for better writing for a content writer VA, or how to manage social pages better for a social media VA.
Want to know which podcasts to tune into? Without further ado, here are 7 essential podcasts for every virtual worker.
Systems Saved Me
If you want to reach your full potential as a virtual assistant, you have to know how to utilize systems to your advantage. Great usage of systems can help you become more efficient and productive, so you’ll get to earn more! If you’re getting overwhelmed by your workload, they also have plenty of tips on how to use systems to combat that.
Virtual Assistant Podcast
Although the Virtual Assistant Podcast is just an archive of old podcasts about the virtual assistant industry, it’s still worth listening to. It can be a treasure trove of information about how the VA industry started to rise and became acknowledged as a viable source of skills and people. It definitely offers excellent insight about how the VA world as we know it today came to be.
The Cliff Ravenscraft Show
Cliff Ravenscraft is a business mentor and life coach who aims to take your business and life to the next level. Although his podcast mainly caters to entrepreneurs, it’s also great at providing lessons for VAs. After all, his tips about business, productivity, efficiency, and success really applies to most of us in the VA industry!
Being Boss
Being Boss is another podcast that’s geared chiefly towards creative entrepreneurs, but the tips and topics they discuss are also pretty useful for virtual assistants. Come to think of it, many VAs are freelancers, and working as a freelancer means being your own boss! Kathleen Shannon and Emily Thompson, “business besties,” talk about a wide range of topics that revolve around how to keep your business up and how to be a boss at life.
FreedomMakers
The goal of FreedomMakers is to help small business owners and military families deal with the struggles of having and managing a small business, but their podcasts provide plenty of useful information for VAs as well. From tips about enhancing productivity to the importance of living by your own rules, they give lots of useful advice that can help you become a better VA and a better worker in general.
The Rise To The Top with David Siteman Garland
David Siteman Garland’s podcast is all about helping people sell digital products and programs online. As someone who sells their services online, any virtual assistant will definitely benefit from listening to this podcast.
Lose the Cape
If you’re a busy working mom, this podcast is for you! Lose the Cape is all about helping all moms by making things easier, helping them work more efficiently, and providing them with tools that will allow them to succeed in whatever endeavor they’re working on.
These podcasts are just a few of the hundreds or even thousands of podcasts out there that can be useful for VAs. Check them out for yourself, and try to explore other great ones as you go.
Have you been listening to a podcast lately? Share your favorite VA-related podcasts below!
Next: 6 Things To Upskill For Every Virtual Worker
20Four7VA recognizes the challenge of effectively managing an online business – and we are very eager to help. Our company specializes in eCommerce VIRTUAL STAFFING SOLUTIONS, providing customizable and scalable solutions to small, medium, and large enterprise business owners so they can focus on growing their business.
Ready to have access to incredible people with incredible skills in the most cost-effective way? Give us a call at our toll free number 1 (443) 856-4882 today!
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