About Krista and The Runcible Raven

Hi there! I’m Krista, founder of The Runcible Raven. I created this virtual assistant and consulting business in 2018 to help artists, coaches, and other specialty small business owners spend less time selling and more time focusing on their creative work.

For a few years prior, I’d been looking for a way to take advantage of my varied interests and accumulated skills to make a meaningful contribution to our family’s income. I frequently joked, “If I could just figure out how to get paid, even a little, for all the weird things I’m interested in, I’d be set.”

But at the time, I was homeschooling my two kids full time; I’d been out of the W-2 workforce for thirteen years and I didn’t really know it was possible to make money without “getting a job”.

Happily, a friend asked if I’d be their part-time Personal Assistant/Online Business Manager. Working for them helped me realize homeschooling, home management, and my curiosity-driven personality had maintained plenty of current, marketable skills that I really enjoyed using.

So, I researched similar job opportunities and found the field of Virtual Assistance – one where it was possible to keep working from home and take on additional clients – virtually anywhere in the world! I completed a Virtual Assistant course a few weeks later, filed my LLC paperwork, and The Runcible Raven took flight!

Image of Krista Willmorth, owner of The Runcible Raven, LLC in Boise, Idaho.
Krista Willmorth, Owner of The Runcible Raven, LLC,
in Boise, Idaho

A Few specific Services I Can Help You with:

Over time, I’ve expanded my VA services to include consultation on business systems and digital marketing for creatives, but I still enjoy helping with the “smaller” kinds of details that keep your customers happy and your business running smoothly. Contact me if you’re interested in working together.

virtual Assistance

Administrative support, project and calendar management, inbox organization, and customer service. Media design and image sourcing to increase your visibility.

Consulting and marketing

Let me put my experience in corporate marketing research to work for your small business. Strategic advice around branding and digital marketing will help you reach your target audience.

COPYWRITING

I can help you design, write, and schedule email, newsletters, and social posts targeted at your ideal audience. I can also help you repurpose existing content.

Drawing of the rural runcible raven by poet edward lear with the text "the rural runcible raven who wore a white wig and flew away with the carpet broom".

Okay, but what in the world is a Runcible Raven?

I get this question a lot. First up, the word runcible features in several nonsense poems by Edward Lear.

It’s a whimsical word, and paired with one of my favorite birds, the idea stuck with me. (Why wear a wig? What’s the broom for?) I thought others’ curiosity might also be piqued, so all SEO advice about easy word recognition to the contrary, it seemed apt. Et voilà!

I feel a kinship with ravens. They’re smart and loyal, and they like to have fun. Plus, they’re wildly attracted to Shiny New Things – just like me.

I’m very curious and it’s easy for me to get swept away exploring new interests. But once the “high” of researching the Latest Thing wears off, sometimes I’m left wondering what to DO with that knowledge.

But launching The Runcible Raven became the perfect chance to create a life (and business) that reflected my personality and passions.

The mirrored double-r logo of the runcible raven with a runcible spoon feather image.
Drawing of the owl and the pussy-cat by poet edward lear with the text "they dined on mince and slices of quince which they ate with a runcible spoon".

I had an epiphany: I could harness that research energy and put it to work for my clients. I don’t have to DO all the things…turns out it’s just as satisfying to help other Very Interesting People do THEIR thing.

So, I suppose the real answer is, a Runcible Raven becomes whatever I want or need it to be.

Like Lear’s poems (or ravens), my business is all about being playful, creative, and just a bit quirky. I bring my curiosity, diverse skills, and experience to your creative business, to help you get clear on your offer, reduce overwhelm, and stand out from the crowd.

Let my Experience Help inform Yours

I’ve always been a deep-diver into whatever topic I “need” to know about at the time. Whether the need is to satisfy my own curiosity, figure out how to FINALLY buy a pony of my own, or solve a problem for a friend, family member, or client, I dive all the way in.

That kind of hyperfocus can occasionally be problematic, but it also has some huge upsides for me and my clients: I’m creative, able to consume and distill large amounts of information in a short time, and persistent enough to find a solution that works for your particular situation.

I’ve been in this field for several years now and I’ve worked with some amazing artists and creative small business owners. I have experience with email and social media management, content creation, project management, and the latest AI tools that I’d love to put to work for you.

If you’re a fellow creative, service-minded soul, wondering how to fit your not-quite-average-shaped business into your life, I can help. Let’s work together to build a business that’s fulfilling and beneficial, yet also uniquely YOU. I know you have so much to offer, and I’m excited to help you share it with the world. Contact me to start the conversation!

Image of krista willmorth as the fungal forager holding a cluster of oyster mushrooms in boise, idaho.
Krista as the FunGal Forager with a cluster of oyster mushrooms foraged along the Boise Greenbelt in Idaho.

educational background

  • Graduated from the Honors Program at the University of Idaho with a B.A. degree in International Relations, and minors in French and Journalism.
  • Successfully completed courses “30 Days or Less to Virtual Assistant Success” with Gina Horkey, and “Become a Pinterest VA Today” with Kristin Larsen.
  • Current member of the AI Success Lab

Selected Pre-self-Employment History

  • 2008-2019 Full-time home educator
  • Treasurer at Aaron Academy homeschool co-op and Trinity Baptist Church
  • 2001-2003 Job Developer at World Relief, a refugee resettlement agency
  • 1997-2000 Research Assistant through Associate Study Director at Clearwater Research, Inc.
  • 1997 Secretary at Idaho Department of Health and Welfare QC Division
  • 1996 Office Manager at Espresso Italia, Inc.

Other relevant Experience

I’m also known as the FunGal Forager, creator of FungalForager.com, a site where I share educational resources about the wild foods and edible fungi of Idaho, the Mountain West, and the Pacific Northwest. Take a look there for examples of the kind of writing and social media management I can do for you, too.