Episode 124: Student Success Story – How Amber Quit Teaching to Work Full-Time as a Virtual Assistant

Full Episode Transcription:

Arianna Vernier: (00:00):
You guys, I have such a special treat for y’all today here on the Ditch the Classroom podcast. I’m gonna be in interviewing one of my amazing Teacher Turned Freelancer Academy, students, Amber Pasillas. She is going to be sharing with you what it’s like being a virtual assistant, as someone who is transitioning out of teaching has two littles at home. She’s giving you the breakdown of what it’s actually like becoming a virtual assistant. So I’m so excited to share her with you today. She is a teacher for 12 years, and now she’s going down to part-time and able to spend so much more time with her kiddos. So can’t wait to share her with you. But before I do that, I just wanna invite you to our free workshop tonight. You can find that at ariannavernier.com/free-workshop, that’s A-R-I-A-N-N-A V-E-R-N-I-E-R.com/free-workshop or you can find the link in the show notes. But in this workshop, I’m gonna be giving you all, everything you need to know about becoming a virtual assistant. We’re gonna break it down exactly what a VA does, where you can find paying clients, the three mistakes virtual assistants make. Can’t wait to share that with you guys. Like I said, it’s totally free. No strings attached. Go find that ariannavernier.com/free-workshop. All right, y’all, let’s jump on this episode.

Arianna Vernier (01:40):Hey, Amber! Welcome, welcome to the Ditch the Classroom podcast. I’m so excited to have you here.

Amber Pasillas (02:51):
Thanks. I’m so excited to be here.

Arianna Vernier (02:54):
Awesome. Can you just kind of start us out before we jump into all my questions I have for you? I would love if you could just kind of talk to us and tell us a little bit about who you are and what your teaching journey was like.

Amber Pasillas (03:09):
Yeah, absolutely. So I have been teaching for 12 years. I started at like 21 and I have taught multiple grades in elementary school. I have two little girls and after having them / the COVID years, it really just showed me, wow, this is not where I wanna spend all of my time. I want to be home with my girls and still being able to, you know, use my brain and do lots of things that way, but also be able to have flexibility with my life.

Arianna Vernier (03:47):
I like how you mentioned that, like, yes, you wanted out of the classroom, but you still wanted to, like you said, use your brain. I think a lot of people feel like, you know, if they get out of teaching, they’re just gonna be kind of sitting around doing nothing and you can totally use those skills just in a different way and still use pieces of your degree.

Amber Pasillas (04:10):
Absolutely. And one thing that I really like that I’m doing now is I have more time to create all the fun stuff, the cute stuff that I wanted to use and wanted to create in the classroom, but I just didn’t have time to do.

Arianna Vernier (04:25):
Yeah, definitely. So what services do you offer as a virtual assistant now?

Amber Pasillas (04:32):
I offer a wide variety of services. Anything from content publishing to blog writing, social media graphics and posts. I’ve done a lot of uploading to Etsy from TPT and also to Classfull. So just a whole bunch of different things. I do email marketing, but social media management and like the email marketing and Pinterest are kind of what I’ve been focusing on.

Arianna Vernier (05:03):
Okay. Very cool. So I just kind of wanna talk about now what your experience has been like in the Teacher Turned Freelancer Academy, because you’ve been rocking it for, when did you join? I don’t remember when you joined.

Amber Pasillas (05:19):
I joined in September of 2021.

Arianna Vernier (05:21):
Okay. So yeah, you’ve been rocking it for once this podcast comes out, it’ll be a year, so that’s awesome. I just kind of wanna ask you what were some struggles that you faced before you joined TTFA, like, what were the fears that held you back and also what were some of your biggest reasons that you wanted to leave teaching?

Amber Pasillas (05:44):
Yeah, so honestly I knew I didn’t wanna be in the classroom anymore, but I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. And I have a friend who actually went into the ed tech business and as a customer success agent and I thought, oh, well, that would be great. You work from home, but you’re still working on someone else’s time. And so I just kind of like, let that go and said, “okay, I’m just gonna make this a great school year.” But literally two weeks in, I was coming home crying every night because I just wanted to be with my girls. And so I actually ran into you on Instagram and I was like, “Oh, let’s see if I can figure out what this is all about.” And I got started with your mini package. I don’t remember what it’s called.

Arianna Vernier (06:31):
The Ditch the Classroom toolkit?

Amber Pasillas (06:33):
Yes. The Ditch the Classroom toolkit. And I was like, okay, I need more cuz I started. And then I was like, I don’t know how to make my business legal. I don’t know how to make my portfolio. I don’t know how to do any of these things. And so what I really love about TTFA is that it has everything right there for you. And I just, I wanted to leave teaching because I wanted to be able to be with my girls.

Arianna Vernier (06:59):
Yeah. I think a lot of teachers, you know, just are realizing now, especially now with COVID and everything and all of the, even more expectations placed on teacher’s shoulders. You don’t have the time to be the type of parent that you wanna be. It’s hard to have the energy and the patience and everything. You need to be an awesome parent while still teaching. And I know so many teachers out there are doing it, but it’s at the cost of their health and just their mindset. And yeah. So I totally understand that.

Amber Pasillas (07:36):
Yeah. That was the biggest reason.

Arianna Vernier (07:40):
So what would you say are some of your favorite parts about being in the Teacher Turned Freelancer Academy?

Amber Pasillas (07:47):
I love the videos. I’m a very visual learner and so it was really nice to be able to watch the video, see exactly how things should be done and then to be able to pause and go back as many times as I wanted to. I’m kind of a slower reader, so it was nice that I could watch and listen and work instead of having to read through everything. I also really like that everything is in one space. You know, I still refer back to the course all the time. I’m like, “Oh wait, how do I do this again?” And I just go back to the course and I find the module that it’s in and then I love how you update and add things as we go. And as you learn and as we learn and we can kind of work through that as well.

Arianna Vernier (08:31):
Yeah. I think that’s something that has been really fun for me. Just to keep you guys updated with what’s changing and what’s working well in the virtual assistant world and even adding trainings because I want you guys, like you said to have everything all in one place, I want you to have trainings to learn the different services you wanna offer. I want the videos to be like bite-size. So it doesn’t take you a ton of time to implement them. You can watch a video implement it and then go watch the next one. It’s not going to take you like hours to watch one video. There’s they’re seriously like 10 minutes or less. So I make it really bite-size for y’all so yeah. I’m glad you mentioned that.

Amber Pasillas (09:10):
Yeah. I think I worked through the whole course in like two weeks, two or three weeks.

Arianna Vernier (09:14):
Yeah. If you’re dedicated, it does not take that long. So that’s awesome. So can you share with us a little bit about how TTFA has changed your life for the better?

Amber Pasillas (09:27):
So I’m actually able to step back a little bit from teaching this year, which I’m super excited about. Yes! My district is really awesome and they allow a job share. So I’ll be working only two days a week and then I’ll have a job share partner who will take over the other three days. And I could not have done that if it wasn’t for you and TTFA. So I’m so, so thankful.

Arianna Vernier (09:54):
Oh my gosh. I’m so excited for you. So you’re gonna get to spend all that extra time with your babies.

Amber Pasillas (09:59):
Yes. I’m so excited.

Arianna Vernier (10:01):
So awesome. Can you share with us just kind of like what your days look like now? I know they might not be, you know, set in stone with two littles, but can you just kind of walk us through like, a fun day for you?

Amber Pasillas (10:16):
Yeah. So, every day is a little bit different, but you know, the best laid out plans don’t always happen. And so right now, since it’s summer and I’m not working Mondays and Tuesdays, I take the girls to daycare and those are my like hardcore working days or get appointments in or whatever I need to do. And then Wednesday through Sunday is just, you know, working when I can. So when they’re napping, before they get up, after they go to bed and with a three year old, naps aren’t always happening anymore. So it’s just whenever they’re kind of playing in content, I will grab my computer and work for 20 minutes or whatever. And then I do a lot more after bed and before they wake up. So it’s super flexible and I get to have a good part of the day with them being able to have fun and go out and explore and do things.

Arianna Vernier (11:11):
I like that you mentioned like, even when they’re just like playing independently, you can still get some work done. I actually have a podcast episode talking about that. Cause I think a lot of people are curious, like how can I actually get stuff done with my littles? And I have some tips for you on how to do that. So I’m not sure off the top of my head, what episode number is. But if y’all listening, if you just go to ditchtheclassroom.com/vault V-A-U-L-T, you can just type in “kids” or “children” and it’ll show you all the episodes that have tips for working with your kids. And that whole vault is super cool, cuz it has the episodes organized by subject and everything. It makes it super easy to find exactly what you’re looking for. So again, that’s ditchtheclassroom.com/vault, but yeah. So thank you for mentioning that. So I wanna ask you a question that I ask on every podcast interview and it’s, if someone wanted to start their ditch the classroom journey, but they just felt too overwhelmed, what would you tell them?

Amber Pasillas (12:20):
You just have to do it. You have to have that confidence to just start. I was definitely in that place. And I was like, “I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to make this work. You know, I’ve tried MLMs in the past and they just haven’t worked.” And I’m like, “why is this any different?” But I just – I wanted it so badly that I was willing to risk it and try. And it has been the best thing I’ve ever done

Arianna Vernier (12:44):
That makes my heart so happy to hear. And I think a lot of people they wanna have – they hesitate to take the step because they wanna have all the answers about how it’s all gonna work at first. But I think God doesn’t give you the whole roadmap because if he did and you saw where you were gonna end up, you’d be like, “I can’t do that. Are you crazy?” And you would stay where you are. So just taking that first step of faith and like, like you said, you felt like this might be a good option, but you weren’t a hundred percent sure, but you took that step of faith. So that’s so important. And you’re gonna build, like you said, you’re gonna build the confidence as you go. You’re not gonna have it 100% upfront, but that’s what TTFA is for. It’s to help you build that confidence and have someone in your corner to help you, even on days that you’re not feeling that confident. ‘Cause that does happen.

Amber Pasillas (13:34):
Yeah. And I know I’ve reached out to you many times. Like, “I just don’t know what I’m doing. I feel just, I feel like I’m crazy”, and you’re just so supportive. So I really, really appreciate all of that support and mentoring. It’s really awesome.

Arianna Vernier (13:49):
I’m so grateful to have you and just to be blessed with you as my student, it’s so fun. I just love pouring to ya’ll. So thank you so much for just trusting in me, I guess

Amber Pasillas (13:59):
Of course.

Arianna Vernier (14:01):
So where can people come and connect with you and just become your best friend?

Amber Pasillas (14:07):
Yeah. I’m on Instagram and TikTok. Both of them. It’s at Amber Pasillas, P-A-S-I-L-L-A-S.va

Arianna Vernier (14:17):
Perfect. So I will have that linked in the show notes for y’all so you can go connect with Amber and just show her some love and thank her for coming on the show. But yeah, it’s just been such an honor having you here. I’ve been so blessed to just watch you grow in your virtual assistant journey and I’m so happy to see you getting to take that first step out of the classroom because of this virtual assistant business. So that is amazing.

Amber Pasillas (14:42):
Yes, it’s very exciting. Thank you.

Arianna Vernier (14:44):
Awesome. All right. Y’all I hope you enjoyed this interview with Amber and I just wanna let you know, make sure you come and join our free workshop we have tonight where you’re gonna get a glimpse into whether the virtual assistant world is a good fit for you. So like I said, it’s a free workshop, no strings attached. We’re gonna talk about what a virtual assistant is, where you can find paying clients that will help you replace your income quickly. I’m gonna cover all the different service options you can offer and help you figure out which ones would light you up and make you excited to work your business every day. And then we’re also gonna cover the top three mistakes at new virtual assistants offer. So come check that out. It’s ariannavernier.com/free-workshop, or find the link in the show notes as always. All right, y’all. I love you so incredibly much. I can’t wait to see you on the workshop tonight and we’ll see you next time.