When we first purchased our home, there was only a cement slab. No pool. No cage. No fence. Just an open area overlooking a Florida preserve—and the mosquitoes.

I used to pull an old lawn chair that had seen better days into the covered area of that cement slab, open my computer, and work on the virtual assistant business I had started in 2006.

Over the years, the cement slab evolved right along with my business.

We installed a pool and a cage, although the deck area was still small. I managed to squeeze in a little table and eventually invested in a sturdier lawn chair. My business was called Your Virtual Wizard then, and I had a blog that I wrote from those humble beginnings. People seemed to enjoy reading it, and I enjoyed writing it.

There was something about writing outside that inspired me. Once we had the cage, I could stay outside longer without being eaten alive by mosquitoes, although the geckos still stopped by to visit on those sunny Florida days.

Last year, we made an even bigger investment in our lanai and expanded it across the back of the house. Today there is room for couches, a fire table, and two light-up umbrellas. I come out here in the evenings and my world is transformed.

The sounds of the birds and sandhill cranes are a far cry from sitting in my home office, where inspiration does not always come quite so easily.

And I have a lot to say.

After twenty years in the online virtual assistant industry, I have learned a lot about business, people, relationships, and what really makes a virtual partnership work. Some of those lessons came from experience. Some came from research. And many came from the hundreds of conversations I have had with business owners and virtual professionals over the years.

I want From My Lanai to be a place where I can share those stories, lessons, observations, and probably a few opinions. I will write about virtual teams and partnerships, finding the right VA, business and leadership, appreciation and gratitude—and sometimes simply what is on my mind.

Not as if I were writing another business article, but as if you and I were sitting down at a café having a conversation.

I finally realized I already had that place.

So pull up a chair. Welcome to my lanai.