Please Welcome.....Andrea Alley to The TomKat Studio!

{art print via the love shop}

First, I want to say THANK YOU to all who showed tremendous interest in working with me on The TomKat Studio. Your emails, resumes, power point presentations and recommendations were amazing. I am so flattered by all of your sweet words and how inspired you are by my blog and work. I received over 70 submissions! I want you to know that I went through EVERY email, clicked every link and spent quality time with each of you to make this very important decision. The wealth of talented, creative, ready-to-work women is so inspiring...and I wish I could hire you all!

I apologize that I have not responded personally to each of you yet, and if you are reading this here first. It was a tough decision, and spent hours pouring over your blogs and creative work! This process was so different than a regular interview/application because I was able to peek into many of your lives via your blogs and I thank you for sharing with me!

{photos courtesy of session nine photography}

I am OVERJOYED to announce that Andrea Alley has joined The TomKat Studio! Everything about Andrea's submission was perfection. Her email was just the right mix of professional, yet so friendly and honest. Andrea recently gave birth to her first child, a beautiful daughter. In the Fall before the baby was born, she started a Virtual Assistant company to be able to work from home and strive for that ever challenging balance of having a career, along with motherhood. She has documented her journey through pregnancy on her blog, Baby Steps to Mom. Her blog is real, it's honest and it's just sweet (her maternity photos are adorable of her & her husband...and her hospital photos gave me the goosebumps!). I feel like I know her already. She has all of the required skills, plus what I predict to be exemplary organizational skills (since she is running a VA business!) that will greatly benefit my business.

BONUS! She's local! I really didn't think that I had a preference of having someone close or in another state, but the more I thought about it, I realized how convenient it may be in the future. As the company grows, her roll may grow and it will be great to be able to meet to make plans, discuss ideas and get to know each other in person! This way, we can fly together to NYC when we appear on the Martha Stewart show! (kidding....just a little dream of mine! :)

In all seriousness, I am THRILLED to introduce you to her and I can't wait for her to get started!

So, my dear readers, please WELCOME ANDREA by leaving her a little comment here to show her a little piece of the amazing LOVE you so willingly give me everyday!!