Leveraging VA & Technical Writing to Build Sustainable Digital Careers

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@TechCrushHQSep 29, 2026

The Spaces brought together Abisola (host), Sikong Mingfa Fuora (technical writer/software engineer), Churchill Dora (technical writer/documentation engineer), and Abiodun Indy (executive virtual assistant) to share practical pathways into two popular no‑code tech careers: technical writing and virtual assistance. Sikong and Churchill traced their journeys from learning to code to publishing on Hashnode/Medium, contributing to MDN/CSS‑Tricks, and moving into documentation engineering, emphasizing that technical writing is the art of translating complex topics for specific audiences. They stressed consistency in learning and publishing, niche selection, docs‑as‑code tooling, and leveraging networking and referrals—while embracing the agentic AI era to stay relevant. Abiodun defined virtual assistance as broad, role‑based remote support (EA/HR/CS/marketing), advocated starting as a generalist then specializing, and showcased how AI/no‑code automations and strong soft skills (communication, proactivity, attention to detail) sustain long‑term success. The Q&A covered beginner processes, impostor syndrome, portfolio building, and program updates.

Technical Writing and Virtual Assistance: Career-building insights, playbooks, and Q&A

Session overview

  • Theme: Two popular no-code career paths in tech — Technical Writing and Virtual Assistance — with practical guidance on breaking in, leveling up, and sustaining long-term growth.
  • Host: Abigail (also addressed as Abisola), who emphasized note-taking, asking questions, and using the bootcamp/community to network and collaborate.
  • Format: Two main deep-dives (technical writing; virtual assistance), followed by a focused discussion on specialization and a Q&A.

Speakers and roles

  • Abigail (Abisola): Host and moderator.
  • Sikong Mingfa Fuora (often addressed as “Sukumi”): Technical writer, software engineer, founder of CSS Questions; published with CSS-Tricks, MDN, and more.
  • Churchill (surname unclear from audio; addressed as “Churchill,” sometimes “JoJo” due to audio): Technical writer and documentation engineer; portfolio spans developer publications and product documentation.
  • Abiodun Indy: Executive Virtual Assistant with ~5 years’ experience across research assistance, HR assistance, and executive support.

Technical Writing: Pathways, practice, specialization, and impact

How they started and grew

  • Sikong:

    • Began coding around 2019–2020 while still in school, freelancing early for income (first paid software project ~₦5,000).
    • Pivoted to technical writing in 2020 after seeing peers succeed on Hashnode; started publishing consistently (previously used Medium, but Hashnode felt more vibrant then).
    • First paid engagement was from a China-based company (~$20–$50 per post); realized the pay was far below the effort for 3–5k-word, product-level content and recalibrated his approach.
    • Contributed to MDN and applied to guest-author programs (e.g., CSS-Tricks), becoming a regular author and later writing documentation and deep technical guides.
    • Milestones: wrote a widely referenced CSS guide (e.g., on color functions) that directly led to recognition and an offer; also contributed to notable community efforts (e.g., State of CSS; year not specified clearly in audio) and spoke on major stages about CSS.

  • Churchill:

    • Background in Chemical Engineering (University of Lagos); during 2020 COVID lockdown, self-studied HTML/CSS/JS/React (some Python) with a friend’s roadmap and a bootcamp.
    • Broke into writing via Section’s Engineering Education program (~$150/article), documenting a JavaScript calculator project as his first article; it performed strongly and paid, catalyzing momentum (wrote ~7+ articles).
    • Expanded to other outlets (explicitly mentions LogRocket; others unclear due to audio), and transitioned into documentation engineering (first role at “Sabby”): documented APIs, SDKs, onboarding guides across multiple apps (including an agri platform), demonstrating product-level doc skills.

What technical writing is (and isn’t)

  • Clear, audience-aware translation of complex technical topics into accessible, accurate, and scannable content.
  • Formats include: API docs, developer documentation, tutorials, white papers, research pieces, SOPs, and domain-specific docs (e.g., crypto/web3) — far beyond “writing projects for companies.”
  • Churchill’s 2026-oriented point: content should be human-readable and AI-readable (structured, unambiguous) so agentic AI tools can accurately extract and relay information.

The career playbook (beginner to advanced)

  • Learn, then write (every day/week):
    • Sikong: Set a cadence (e.g., 1 article/week). Ship despite imperfect drafts and impostor syndrome; audacity and consistency attract opportunities.
    • Churchill: Publishing is networking. Treat every piece (Medium, personal blog, external publications) as portfolio; write about every project you build.
  • Be visible and collaborative:
    • Network purposefully; most high-quality leads and roles arrive via referrals. Collaborate, contribute to community docs, and make your work discoverable.
  • Build skill depth:
    • Writing craft: clarity, structure, scannability, accuracy, and attention to detail.
    • SEO, editing, and publishing workflows.
    • Docs-as-code tooling (e.g., Docusaurus), and the ability to migrate/mature doc stacks (e.g., Postman collections to Docusaurus).
  • Use AI well:
    • AI won’t replace strong writers but may reduce team sizes; embrace AI to accelerate research, structuring, and repetitive tasks while maintaining human judgment and quality control.

Specialization: when and how to niche down

  • Sikong’s guidance:
    • Early phase: explore broadly (e.g., web, JS, security) to find what energizes you.
    • Mature phase: specialize in one niche where you can deliver exceptional depth and value (his specialization is CSS, including language-level documentation and explanation).
    • Evaluate a niche with four questions:
      1. What interests me enough to practice repeatedly?
      2. What am I naturally good at (or can become excellent at)?
      3. Is there real market demand that pays for this skill?
      4. Will this still matter in ~5 years (given the agentic AI era and shifting tooling)?
    • Maintain broad awareness, but become the go-to person in one area to stand out.
  • Churchill’s perspective:
    • Picking a niche anchored in passion reduces burnout and accelerates expertise. However, technical writers must remain adaptable, constantly learning new tools, processes, and even languages as roles evolve.

Common pitfalls to avoid

  • Waiting to “feel ready”: Start publishing before you feel ready; refine as you go.
  • Spreading too thin across unrelated topics: Narrow toward a coherent niche.
  • Neglecting portfolio and distribution: If you don’t publish, you don’t exist to the market.
  • Weak fundamentals: Poor clarity, structure, or verification erodes credibility; attention to detail is non-negotiable.

What the career returns

  • Sikong: Financial independence plus deep purpose — global recognition, meaningful feedback from developers in multiple countries, and opportunities unlocked by visible, high-quality work.
  • Churchill: Life-changing impact — bills paid, peer recognition, demonstrable value across stakeholders, and the satisfaction of empowering engineers, partners, and customers via excellent docs.

Virtual Assistance: Scope, evolution, tools, and professional standards

Role and progression

  • Abiodun Indy:
    • Origin story: Forced to independently execute her final-year research, learned SPSS and end-to-end research delivery, then monetized by assisting peers — leading to a formal research assistant role discovered via WhatsApp, later HR assistance, and now Executive Virtual Assistant.
    • Definition: “Virtual assistant” is an umbrella — the distinctiveness comes from what you deliver virtually (executive assistance, customer support, HR assistance, creative support, etc.).
    • Executive VA reality: You don’t just support the CEO; you coordinate and interface across Sales, HR, Marketing, Social, etc., requiring operational literacy beyond a single function.

Getting started and standing out

  • Start as a generalist:
    • Early career: learn the landscape, tools, and workflows across core functions before selecting a niche.
    • Transitioning from current roles (e.g., customer support): Build on what you already do by learning the in-demand tools and best practices in that track.
  • Evolve with tools and AI:
    • Adopt AI and no-code automation to scale output (e.g., connect tools to send email campaigns without code using automations like Zapier [transcribed as “up here”] or Gum Loop; adapt toolset continuously).
    • Recognize stakeholder preferences: Some founders expect AI leverage; others don’t permit it. Be adaptable and transparent.
  • Visibility and referrals:
    • Publicly share what you’re doing (even on WhatsApp Status). Referrals from founders and colleagues are a primary source of high-quality opportunities; cold outreach still works (X/Twitter), but reputation compounding is powerful.

Core skills (beyond tools)

  • Communication: Proactive status updates are essential in remote contexts; stakeholders should never have to chase you for progress.
  • Proactivity and ownership: Anticipate needs; don’t wait to be spoon-fed tasks.
  • Attention to detail and working memory: Use tools to augment memory and reduce errors, but cultivate the discipline.
  • Professionalism: Clear writing (emails, briefs), structured information handling, reliable follow-through.
  • Community and mentorship: Join relevant communities; trade playbooks and get help on sticky problems.

Addressing misconceptions and long-term viability

  • “VA/SMM means lack of ambition” — Abiodun disagrees: these roles build foundational skills (communication, operations, tooling) that compound into seniority and leadership. With the right skills and evolving toolset, earning potential is strong.
  • Sustainability over 3–10 years: Continuous learning, AI leverage, workflow innovation, stakeholder alignment, and professional soft skills are the differentiators that prevent stagnation.

Benefits realized

  • Access: Executive VAs gain proximity to decision-makers and influence in management operations across regions (Nigeria, India, others), growing their network and opportunity surface.
  • Earnings: With the right skills and tool fluency, compensation scales meaningfully.

Specialization debate (cross-cutting)

  • Technical writing: Explore early, then narrow to a niche for authority and market clarity; keep learning to stay relevant.
  • Virtual assistance: Begin as a generalist to internalize the function stack; later specialize where your strengths and interests intersect with demand (e.g., EA, Customer Ops, RevOps support).

Q&A highlights

  • Student aspiring VA (internship seeker): Validated that Executive VA is a good entry pathway; focus on building skills, visibility, and leveraging referrals and internships to evolve.
  • “How do I become a good technical writer? What are the steps and processes?”
    • Sikong’s action plan:
      • Commit to learning and shipping: pick a topic/niche now.
      • This week: create a blog (Hashnode/Medium) and publish your first piece.
      • Be consistent (e.g., weekly cadence); iterate in public.
      • Seek mentorship for stepwise guidance and feedback.
      • Use available resources (e.g., bootcamp materials) to structure your learning.
  • “Is technical writing just writing projects for companies?”
    • Clarification: No. It spans API docs, developer guides, tutorials, white papers, SOPs, research, and more — always anchored in audience needs, clarity, and accuracy.

Practical playbooks and checklists

Technical writer: 30–60–90 day starter plan

  • Days 0–30
    • Pick a lane (e.g., a frontend concept, a framework, or a tool you’re learning).
    • Set up a blog; publish two short, scoped tutorials or concept explainers.
    • Learn a docs-as-code baseline (Markdown + Git + a static doc site tool).
    • Start sharing on X/LinkedIn; connect with 10–20 writers and editors.
  • Days 31–60
    • Publish weekly; add one deeper, researched piece (with code samples/tests).
    • Contribute a minor fix to an open-source doc (typos, examples, clarity).
    • Draft a sample API guide (or improve an existing one) to practice structure.
    • Begin light SEO hygiene (titles, headings, internal linking, snippet-ready intros).
  • Days 61–90
    • Pitch one publication (tailored outline + samples).
    • Build a mini documentation site with Docusaurus for a small project.
    • Collect feedback (readability, scannability, accuracy) and revise.
    • Formalize a portfolio page linking your best 4–6 pieces.

Executive/Virtual Assistant: capability-building roadmap

  • Foundations
    • Communication stack: professional email, concise async updates, stakeholder management cadence.
    • Ops stack: calendars, task systems, shared docs, basic CRM/helpdesk if relevant.
    • Automation: introduce no-code tools (Zapier/Make; as transcribed: “up here,” “Gum Loop”) for scheduling, notifications, reporting.
  • Elevation
    • Domain literacy: learn basics across Sales (pipelines), HR (onboarding), Marketing (campaign ops), and Finance (invoicing/expenses).
    • AI leverage: templating, drafting, summarization, inbox triage, data extraction — aligned to each stakeholder’s policy.
    • Metrics: define and report on cycle time, SLA adherence, error rate, and throughput.
  • Professional presence
    • Proactive weekly updates, risk flags, and next-step proposals.
    • Build a public footprint (lightweight case studies or anonymized playbooks) to aid referrals.

Notable themes and reminders

  • Publishing is networking: consistent output is the fastest route to discovery and referrals.
  • Overcome impostor syndrome by shipping: perfection comes from iterations in public.
  • Niche strategically: interest × strength × demand × future relevance.
  • AI is an amplifier, not a replacement: quality, judgment, and ownership still win.
  • Community matters: mentors, peers, and collaboration expand opportunities.

Closing and logistics

  • Host reminders: Bootcamp applications closed the night of the session; change-of-course process to be announced next week; two more webinars scheduled (next day and Monday). Emails begin rolling out next week.

Key takeaways

  • Technical writing and virtual assistance are viable, scalable no-code careers if you publish/work visibly, niche strategically, and keep learning.
  • Start now: pick a lane, ship consistently, and let referrals compound.
  • Use AI and automation judiciously to increase output while maintaining quality.
  • Soft skills (communication, proactivity, detail) are decisive differentiators in both paths.