In late 1997, our founder, Anastacia Brice, was working as a very successful virtual assistant, and a magazine approached her about featuring her in a piece about virtual work.

When that magazine hit the streets, hundreds of women rushed to contact her to find out how they could learn to do what she was doing, and use their well-honed admin skills to create a business, freedom, and a better life for themselves.

In talking with those women, Anastacia realized how badly administrative professionals were often treated by their employers. She knew that technology was ready to support them in owning their own businesses, offering the same work they’d done as underpaid and undervalued employees to busy people (most of whom would be solopreneurs) who would be thrilled with the support.

It was clear to Anastacia that there was a need to help people learn exactly how to be terrific VAs, and it didn’t take her long to know that she very much wanted to answer the call.

In early 1998, she founded AssistU. At the same time, she formalized the virtual assistance profession, which didn’t exist until then. She created a comprehensive training program and rolled it out that spring.

Within a year, AssistU created The Registry–our referral engine, to answer the needs of the busy people who very much wanted to work with our graduates. Since then, we’ve trained oodles of women to build businesses they love, be successful on their own terms, and be amazing virtual assistants, and we’ve connected them with many happy clients, whose lives and work have changed through having a fabulous AssistU-trained VA as a business sidekick.

20+ years later, we’re thrilled to continue changing work, and changing lives.

We are proud to be a completely virtual organization (decades before COVID, even!),  values-centered, heart-guided, and 100% woman owned and operated.

Want to know more about us? Meet our team.

“When you feel something’s
missing in your work,
it’s rarely a thing at all,
it’s usually a person.”
– Anastacia Brice