My Story
MaKum-VA is me, Martina Kumar (maiden name BECK), virtual assistant.
I have been working for the public service for the past nearly 30 years.
USA-based small service-oriented businesses hire me to act as their part-time "business manager and virtual assistant".
I live in Angermünde, Germany, sharing my own "little farm in the fields" with 4 stray cats and 70 rescued pet chickens.
So, here's my story:
I spent the first years of my work career as a foreign language correspondent, working for an engineer specialized in heating and sanitary technology. I learned how to work with computers, accompanied my boss to construction sites to take photos for detailed documentation, and did all the usual secretarial tasks that make a business run smoothly.
Since I wanted to also work with languages, I started working for the US Army, which was then stationed in Germany. During these years, which undoubtedly were the best work years I ever had, I was responsible for creating invoices, training new employees, attending hearings as a translator and managing the Lieutenant Colonels office. He was such a great man.
Much to my misfortune, the US Army was drawn out of my area, so I lost my most loved job.
I started working for the German Public Service, reading and writing German as well as English text and onboarding new employees.
A few years later, I was finally able to fulfill one of my oldest dreams and bought a small farm and was able to keep pet chickens. From rescuing one Brahma rooster and buying 8 Brahma hens for him, it got to rescue 10 laying hens from the industries, and another 5 silky hens from a breeder and another 10 laying hens from the industries and so on. Meanwhile, I have 70 – completely mixed-race and -size – pet chickens and each of them has a name and is loved until its natural death. None of them will be given away or worse.
I wasn't too shocked at that time, having to commute 2 hours to get to work and 2 hours to get back home. For me, it was worth it.
But that all changed when, short after I had bought the farm, my then-husband filed for a divorce (he was remarried one month after the official divorce). Moreover, I got diagnosed with an illness that makes it hard to commute that long every single day.
No need to tell, I was constantly thinking about ways to lessen the burden of having to commute 4 hours daily to my office and back.
However, while still working with the Public Service I got promoted a few times, switched departments and so gained significant experience in various clerical and support roles. One of my leading colleagues discovered my love for media design and advised me to work in that area.
So again I switched departments and was now responsible for setting up user accounts and managing them in the Active Directory.
I also assisted users with their questions regarding any deployed software, resolved issues and incidents using our knowledge base, and created technical documentation and user guides. In addition, I translated or wrote technical documentation and manuals, did clerical jobs and engaged in project work, collaborating with cross-functional teams.
But as much as I enjoyed doing these tasks, there was still something missing. Being quite tech- and media-savvy, I also wanted to be creative. So next to my full-time job, I completed several training programs in media design, graphic design and editing over the years. These trainings led me to creating websites and business cards or papers and creating PDF Forms from scratch, tasks I really love doing, and they made me start my business.
Additionally, the pandemic was an eye-opener and helped me finalize my way to freelance.
Now you may wonder why, as a German, I have an English written Website, and why am I looking for English-speaking customers.
Well, since both my parents migrated to the USA some 20 years ago, we filed for a petition for me to migrate to the USA as well, so I can help them conquer their daily routines. At the age of nearly 80, things get a bit tough for them, so I'd like to be able to visit them daily and look after them.
My goal is, to support USA-based small service-oriented businesses to gain success, to expand their success or for them to just be able to do what they do best and for what they have built their business for. And for me to have fun doing this, of course. :-)
Please note!!
Being a customer from the USA, note the advantage for you.
Due to my current full-time job in public service and me being located in Germany, the work that I do for you shall be finished when you enter the office in the morning hours :-)