Episode 259: 10 Lessons from a Former Teacher Turned Virtual Assistant

Full Episode Transcription:

[00:00:00] Arianna Vernier: Hey, y’all, welcome back to the Virtual Assistant Mama Podcast. Today’s episode, I’m going to be sharing 10 lessons that I learned as a former teacher turned virtual assistant. So we’re not going to waste any time. I know you’re busy with the holidays, so let’s just go ahead and jump on it. Number one, probably the biggest one is to ask God for help. You do not need to have control of everything, you do not need to do it all on your own. God is there to help you, make sure you’re asking him for help. Number two is to determine what your goals are. It’s going to be hard to replace your income or whatever that goal is if you don’t have it identified. So you need to take the time to actually figure out each month. What your big goals are, and then number three tied into number two is to break down those goals into bite sized steps. If you need help with this, I recommend checking out episode 181 here on the Virtual Assistant Mama podcast. It’s called S is for Setting Goals, and it’s part of the ABCs of Becoming a Virtual Assistant series that I did. So that’s going to help you a lot with figuring out what your goals are and then getting a game plan of 90 days to hit those goals and what steps you need to take in those 90 days.

[00:01:19] Arianna Vernier: Alright, lesson number four is not to listen to imposter syndrome. It’s really easy to give in to that little voice that’s saying, Who am I to do this? Who’s actually going to hire me? And just give up. But what would happen if you just kept trusting taking that step forward, working with some mindset strategies to help you move past that imposter syndrome. I just want you to think about what your life could look like if this dream you’re chasing could actually come true. And that’s going to encourage you to really Work through the imposter syndrome. We all deal with it. We all face it, but it’s the people who Face it and don’t give up that are going to be successful to people who do get give up Well, they’re going to end up feeling stuck and I don’t want that for you All right.

[00:02:04] Arianna Vernier: Number five is to check for alignment with your goals consistently So as you’re taking steps towards making that goals that goal happen I want you to check about once a month and just make sure you’re on the right track towards hitting those goals and you haven’t veered off course. If you have veered off course, figure out why. Maybe you have new goals you’re trying to hit and maybe you need to adjust those. Or maybe you still have the same goal but you just kind of forgot and so you need to realign your tasks with helping you towards meeting that goal. All right, lesson number six is don’t work with someone just because they’re willing to pay you. I talk to you guys about this a lot. I want you to be working with clients who absolutely adore you and you adore them. You believe in their mission of their business so fully. You’re excited to help them reach more people with that business. The end. They value you, they respect you, they pay you well. If you have a discovery call with a potential client and you get some red flags, you need to listen to that gut feeling you’re having.

[00:03:10] Arianna Vernier: If you move forward even when you see those red flags, you’re probably going to end up wasting so much time on that client when it’s not a good fit. And just by letting them go or not even taking them in the first place, You might be making room for like two or three clients in the time that you would have been wasting on that one client that was not a good fit. So, listen to that gut instinct, it’s probably God telling you this is not the person I have for you, and find the person who God does have for you. Alright, lesson number seven is to hold firm to your boundaries. This is any boundary in your business, but typically I like to talk about work boundaries and family boundaries. So when are you working on your business? How are your clients able to communicate with you? If they have your phone number and they can text you or call you whenever the heck they want, well, then you probably need to realign those boundaries. I never recommend giving out your phone number. I always recommend either using email or you can use an app like Voxer V O X E R, but then you could set up the notifications to not show up.

[00:04:19] Arianna Vernier: After you’re working hours or on weekends or any of that and then same with your family boundaries If you say you’re going to do something with your family, but you end up working then instead. Well, that’s not fair to your family and they’re going to start to resent what you’re trying to do Even if it’s helping them in the long run, they’re going to resent it if it’s taking time away and and causing you to break promises So hold firm to those boundaries that one you set for your work and two Those promises and those boundaries that you set with your family. Tip number eight is to really play the long game. When you’re applying to positions looking for clients, you have to be playing the long game. This means networking consistently to build those relationships with people, giving free value, asking questions whenever you can. I recommend looking for clients in Facebook groups so you can spend time in there just going in there, connecting with people, asking questions, answering their questions, and just build those relationships without actually pitching to them. And then when you do pitch to somebody, like if they have a job post that you applied to, make sure you’re following up and follow up a couple times. No answer is not a no. No answer might just be there a crazy busy mom that forgot to respond to you. I do that all the time. I’ve had many clients do that to me and because I followed up with them, I landed that client.

[00:05:39] Arianna Vernier: So I highly, highly recommend making sure you’re following up consistently as well as networking consistently. Alright, lesson number nine. It’s kind of actually a question. How can you start living your dream life now? If you have this big dream that you’re working towards, a lot of you, it’s probably just working from home with your babies. What’s something you can do to help that dream come true right now? Like just in a little way. It doesn’t have to be anything big. Your job allows it. Maybe you could make it so you only work a half day once a week, and then the rest of the days are full work days. But on that half day, maybe the part where you’re not working, you are just totally focused on your kids doing something fun with them. That would help you just Be so excited about that extra time you get with them that you’re more likely to work towards the goal of being home with them all the time, and just putting more effort into getting this business going. So it doesn’t even have to be that big, but just think of something that will help you start living your dream life that you’re working towards now in some small way.

[00:06:46] Arianna Vernier: Alright, the last lesson I have for you, lesson number 10, is to do one thing that scares you every day. If you’re just sitting in that comfort zone, you’re probably not really chasing your goals. You’ve got to do things that scare you, work towards making those goals come true, those dreams come true. And when you look back in a year from now, that’s 365 days minus the weekends, I’ll give you that as a freebie, but whatever that number is, 365 minus the weekends, that’s how many scary things you’ve done, you’re probably a lot closer to the dreams that have been placed on your heart. Okay, so I hope this episode was helpful for y’all. It is absolutely possible to leave your 9 to 5, leave your teaching job, whatever it is, and work from home as a virtual assistant. Be home with your babies, be the present mom you’ve always wanted to be, you just have to follow your heart, overcome that imposter syndrome, set those goals, hold your boundaries, play the long game, and do those things that scare you.

[00:07:45] Arianna Vernier: Now, if you have been considering becoming a virtual assistant and you’re still a little bit nervous, which I totally understand. I invite you to come and join our free workshop, The Number One Way to Start Working From Home, which is happening on January 11th. In that workshop, I’ll be teaching you the five P’s of becoming a successful virtual assistant. I’ll break down where to find paying clients, how to teach yourself new skills. If you think you don’t have any skills to be a virtual assistant. And literally all the things. So register for that at ariannavernier.com/free-workshop. Or you can find the link in the show notes. All right, y’all. I love you so much and we will see you in the next episode.