WEBVTT
1
00:00:00.520 --> 00:00:03.600
She is sure, she is true, she is straw is straw,
2
00:00:03.680 --> 00:00:08.599
She is true, is true, she is praise, pray, she
3
00:00:08.759 --> 00:00:10.679
is she is you.
4
00:00:11.720 --> 00:00:15.880
Hello, everyone, welcome to today's Word of Mom Radio. Here
5
00:00:15.919 --> 00:00:18.839
on the Word of Mom Media Network. I'm your host,
6
00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:21.359
Dory Di Carlo, and you know we are here week
7
00:00:21.399 --> 00:00:25.839
after week, show after show, breaking those myths that morepreneurs
8
00:00:25.879 --> 00:00:28.760
and business women, especially those of us building our own
9
00:00:28.839 --> 00:00:31.679
businesses from home, that we're just dabbling in between bake
10
00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:33.359
sales and getting our nails done.
11
00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:33.920
We're not.
12
00:00:34.719 --> 00:00:37.479
We are smart, we are savvy, and we are sharing
13
00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:40.840
the wisdom of women in business and in life. And
14
00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:45.679
I'm looking forward to bringing today's guest into our business spotlight.
15
00:00:46.399 --> 00:00:51.240
Rachel Dabla is a virtual assistant, mentor, author and founder
16
00:00:51.359 --> 00:00:55.479
of Extra Hands Virtual Assistance, a season to VA since
17
00:00:55.520 --> 00:00:58.840
two thousand and five, Rachel has seen both sides of
18
00:00:58.880 --> 00:01:02.799
the deck. Hiring her first VA in twenty twenty one
19
00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:07.519
gave her a deep understanding of the challenges business owner's
20
00:01:07.560 --> 00:01:12.439
face when it comes to delegation. Through her mentorship agency
21
00:01:12.480 --> 00:01:16.920
and popular podcast, Hey Do I Need a VA, Rachel
22
00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:23.480
has helped countless entrepreneurs find, hire and work effectively with
23
00:01:23.640 --> 00:01:28.879
the right fit virtual assistance those who truly match their
24
00:01:28.920 --> 00:01:34.120
business needs, not just the cheapest. Her mission is simple
25
00:01:34.680 --> 00:01:40.400
to turn overwhelmed entrepreneurs into confident delegators by bridging the
26
00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:46.760
gap between VA and client for smoother, more productive partnerships.
27
00:01:47.560 --> 00:01:50.719
As somebody who has a VA who I love, I'm
28
00:01:50.760 --> 00:01:54.640
so glad you're doing this. So with all that said, Rachel,
29
00:01:54.760 --> 00:01:56.439
welcome to Word of Mom Radio.
30
00:01:57.159 --> 00:01:58.519
Thank you for having me, Dori.
31
00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:01.560
It's my pleasure and I would love for you to
32
00:02:01.640 --> 00:02:05.079
take us on your journey that has now led to
33
00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:10.039
the creation of virtual hands, of extra hands, virtual assistance.
34
00:02:11.319 --> 00:02:15.439
So it goes all the way back to two thousand
35
00:02:15.479 --> 00:02:20.159
and four. I was working for a corporation and I
36
00:02:20.199 --> 00:02:23.800
had two young kids at home. And you know, any
37
00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:26.639
mom who works for somebody else knows that as soon
38
00:02:26.680 --> 00:02:29.439
as you get vacation time, it's gone because your kids
39
00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:33.199
get sick, or you know, you use it up in
40
00:02:33.879 --> 00:02:36.400
all kinds of ways, not for what it's meant for.
41
00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:42.560
And right before Thanksgiving, they let us all know that
42
00:02:43.240 --> 00:02:49.159
we were getting downsized in the new year, and I
43
00:02:49.280 --> 00:02:53.479
started to research what could I do that I enjoyed,
44
00:02:54.039 --> 00:02:57.039
but that still gave me the flexibility to be home
45
00:02:57.080 --> 00:03:01.400
for my young family, and I found virtual assistance on accident.
46
00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:06.199
I was looking at something completely different and I came
47
00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:10.759
across a website and the woman on the other end
48
00:03:10.879 --> 00:03:14.159
talked to me for an entire hour about being a
49
00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:17.639
virtual assistant and what it looked like and what it was,
50
00:03:19.159 --> 00:03:23.000
and I felt the magic of that, knowing that that
51
00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:25.520
was what I wanted to be when I grew up,
52
00:03:25.759 --> 00:03:30.919
at least at that point. And I started a twenty
53
00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:36.039
week training program and every assignment we had I put
54
00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:41.000
into practice so that when my job was done, then
55
00:03:41.039 --> 00:03:45.080
I could just step into my business. And the program
56
00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:49.680
itself wasn't to teach the tools of the trade, but
57
00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:55.120
the idea, the identity of becoming a business owner as
58
00:03:55.159 --> 00:03:59.000
a virtual assistant, and I just felt that that was
59
00:03:59.159 --> 00:04:02.080
such a unique I didn't know you could make a
60
00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:05.879
job out of a career out of being an administrative
61
00:04:05.919 --> 00:04:10.800
assistant for small businesses, and I loved every piece of that,
62
00:04:11.879 --> 00:04:17.160
and I stepped into a niche that was something I
63
00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:21.600
had grown up with. My dad was a promotional products
64
00:04:21.759 --> 00:04:25.160
factory rep multi line, so he traveled all the time
65
00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:28.519
and needed an on site or not really on site,
66
00:04:28.560 --> 00:04:32.639
but you know a centerpoint of contact, and I had
67
00:04:32.680 --> 00:04:36.120
been a stage manager and I loved being the center
68
00:04:36.199 --> 00:04:40.040
point of contact for the production, and so it felt
69
00:04:40.079 --> 00:04:44.279
like the right fit. And you know, over the years,
70
00:04:44.319 --> 00:04:47.519
my client base has shifted and pivoted, and I've had
71
00:04:47.560 --> 00:04:52.240
to readjust what I learned, what I do, what I offer,
72
00:04:53.399 --> 00:04:58.079
But being the behind the scenes person for a business
73
00:04:58.120 --> 00:05:00.959
owner so that they can shine in front of their
74
00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:11.360
clients has always been just soul filling. So that's kind
75
00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:14.519
of the journey. I started it because I was a mom,
76
00:05:14.759 --> 00:05:17.319
because I wanted to be home for my kids. I
77
00:05:17.399 --> 00:05:20.399
was able to build my business while they were in
78
00:05:20.439 --> 00:05:25.920
school and get this story, never sick, never needed the
79
00:05:26.079 --> 00:05:29.759
day off again because I was home and they didn't
80
00:05:29.959 --> 00:05:33.560
you know that I didn't need to stress about where
81
00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:37.199
that time was going to come from. And so but
82
00:05:37.639 --> 00:05:42.279
it's been just an amazing I was valued. I wasn't
83
00:05:42.279 --> 00:05:44.879
a line item on a spreadsheet. I was a valued
84
00:05:44.920 --> 00:05:47.839
member of a team, and I got to contribute to
85
00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:51.279
people's businesses in a way that they didn't even know
86
00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:55.959
was possible, and that I was just bringing my expertise
87
00:05:56.079 --> 00:06:01.120
and my zone of genius to what they wanted to accomplish.
88
00:06:01.240 --> 00:06:03.839
And it just I still get to do that, and
89
00:06:03.879 --> 00:06:07.600
I love that on a daily basis. So Mondays, I
90
00:06:07.639 --> 00:06:10.480
don't stress about Mondays anymore. I love Mondays because they
91
00:06:10.519 --> 00:06:12.600
get to go back to work and do stuff.
92
00:06:12.959 --> 00:06:15.480
It's funny you say Mondays. When my kids were young,
93
00:06:15.519 --> 00:06:19.279
I used to call it menial mom Monday because I
94
00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:21.639
didn't have time on the weekends to do laundry and
95
00:06:21.680 --> 00:06:24.720
food shopping. My kids were all in sports. I had
96
00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:28.040
sometimes ten games in a day on a Saturday and
97
00:06:28.079 --> 00:06:30.480
a Sunday. Oh yeah, it was crazy. So I was
98
00:06:30.519 --> 00:06:33.879
all over. So Mondays was my laundry shopping blah blah blah.
99
00:06:34.120 --> 00:06:36.759
Now it's word of Monday. It's my recording day and
100
00:06:36.800 --> 00:06:39.879
I back to back record I kind of translated it
101
00:06:39.920 --> 00:06:42.839
over and now I'm a MEMI. So there have been
102
00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:45.839
times my grandchildren have been with me when I've recorded
103
00:06:45.879 --> 00:06:49.040
my granddaughter's five memimember when I would do the show
104
00:06:49.079 --> 00:06:51.879
with you and she would be waving as we were
105
00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:55.800
doing our zoom recordings and things. My grandson has asked
106
00:06:55.920 --> 00:06:58.360
questions every once in a while when he found his
107
00:06:58.439 --> 00:07:03.240
subject fascinating. So I know exactly what you need insofar
108
00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:07.000
as when you are your own boss. Especially as a VA,
109
00:07:07.160 --> 00:07:10.399
you have the time because of all the scheduling devices
110
00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:12.680
that there are out there to be able to take
111
00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:15.839
the chunk of time that you need when it doesn't matter.
112
00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:17.519
If you're doing it at three o'clock.
113
00:07:17.160 --> 00:07:20.439
In the morning, because it is on your own time
114
00:07:20.839 --> 00:07:23.879
that you are now moving it across in that whole
115
00:07:24.040 --> 00:07:27.720
realm of VAS. What are some of the myths that
116
00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:31.120
you are constantly fighting against because people, you know, oh,
117
00:07:31.160 --> 00:07:33.800
I tried it once, it was awful, I didn't have
118
00:07:33.800 --> 00:07:36.399
a good time. What do I do people who are
119
00:07:36.480 --> 00:07:42.839
gun shy about giving somebody that kind of control of
120
00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:44.120
their online presence.
121
00:07:44.759 --> 00:07:47.920
So in two thousand and five when I started, no
122
00:07:47.920 --> 00:07:50.639
one knew what a VA was. I mean, every time
123
00:07:50.680 --> 00:07:53.040
I said, hey, I'm a VA, they thought I worked
124
00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:57.879
for the Veterans Administration. And so I've always had to
125
00:07:58.199 --> 00:08:02.240
educate people on what it is that a virtual assistant
126
00:08:02.839 --> 00:08:08.079
does and why it's valuable. And now twenty years later,
127
00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:13.040
everyone knows what a virtual assistant is, but the term
128
00:08:13.279 --> 00:08:19.199
has become so synonymous with everything from an AI chatbot
129
00:08:19.240 --> 00:08:22.399
on a website all the way up to executive level
130
00:08:22.480 --> 00:08:29.319
administrative support. And so I feel like people come into well,
131
00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:31.920
I need a VA. I need a VA. Everyone keeps
132
00:08:31.920 --> 00:08:33.679
saying I need a VA, And so they come in
133
00:08:33.720 --> 00:08:39.200
with this mindset of just hire someone. You know, everywhere
134
00:08:39.240 --> 00:08:44.000
you look it's outsource it Philippines, India. You know you
135
00:08:44.039 --> 00:08:46.960
can find a five dollars VA to do what you
136
00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:51.559
want to do. But what many coaches and books and
137
00:08:51.639 --> 00:08:56.960
people don't say is know yourself as a business owner.
138
00:08:57.399 --> 00:09:03.440
Because as wonderful is all the different virtual assistance out
139
00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:08.799
there are, they're not right for every client. And I
140
00:09:08.840 --> 00:09:11.480
am a firm believer that there is a right fit
141
00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:15.559
for everybody. But you have to take into account your
142
00:09:15.639 --> 00:09:20.440
leadership style, your managing style, how well do you know
143
00:09:20.600 --> 00:09:23.600
your business and the tasks that you're handing off so
144
00:09:23.639 --> 00:09:28.960
that you can clearly communicate does it look right? Does
145
00:09:29.000 --> 00:09:31.600
it sound right? Is that me? Do I want that
146
00:09:31.720 --> 00:09:36.519
to represent me? And many clients are in that state
147
00:09:36.559 --> 00:09:40.399
of overwhelm where they just need help anybody will do
148
00:09:40.519 --> 00:09:43.240
because I just can't do it all. And they're in
149
00:09:43.279 --> 00:09:46.519
that place of I just got to hand this off.
150
00:09:47.360 --> 00:09:52.320
Not many have their systems and processes in place or
151
00:09:52.440 --> 00:09:55.840
documented where somebody could just step in and take it over.
152
00:09:56.759 --> 00:10:00.679
And one of the myths is all virtuals systems are
153
00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:05.480
the same. Well they're not. And I tell clients about
154
00:10:05.679 --> 00:10:10.440
I call them doers and collaborators. So a doer is
155
00:10:10.480 --> 00:10:13.200
somebody who says, tell me what to do and I'll
156
00:10:13.240 --> 00:10:16.799
do it. They'll do it great. They work well with
157
00:10:17.000 --> 00:10:22.799
clients who have clear processes and procedures, can clearly communicate
158
00:10:22.879 --> 00:10:27.679
what they're looking for and right then the ve can
159
00:10:27.799 --> 00:10:32.360
just step in and do the tasks as outlined. On
160
00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:36.840
the other side, collaborators are more solution oriented. They look
161
00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:39.759
at the big picture, what are the tasks that you
162
00:10:39.919 --> 00:10:43.799
are asking about, and where do they fit in your goals,
163
00:10:43.879 --> 00:10:48.559
your dreams, the direction for your business, and they often
164
00:10:48.559 --> 00:10:51.039
say here's how I can help. What we can do
165
00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:56.919
is X, Y, and z, And those types of vas
166
00:10:57.000 --> 00:11:01.480
are good for visionaries people who are at that high
167
00:11:01.559 --> 00:11:06.519
level thinking but can't break the tasks down to individual steps.
168
00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:10.279
They don't necessarily have their systems and processes in place.
169
00:11:10.360 --> 00:11:12.879
They might go, well, I know I need to add
170
00:11:12.919 --> 00:11:16.879
social media. I don't know what that looks like, I
171
00:11:17.080 --> 00:11:23.279
don't necessarily understand how it fits in, but I need
172
00:11:23.320 --> 00:11:26.759
to add it. And so then AVA can step in
173
00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:30.480
and maybe say, well, what are you using it for?
174
00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:32.679
What do you want it to look like, what do
175
00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:36.360
you want it to include? What's the messaging? They ask
176
00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:40.960
more questions. Where a doer is all the ownership is
177
00:11:40.960 --> 00:11:45.480
on the client, As a collaborator, they take on more
178
00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:49.720
of the ownership and leave the lead the relationship a
179
00:11:49.720 --> 00:11:54.480
little bit more. And so what I find when things
180
00:11:54.519 --> 00:11:58.759
don't work out, it's usually because the client needs a
181
00:11:58.840 --> 00:12:04.679
collaborator type and they've hired a doer type and they
182
00:12:04.759 --> 00:12:09.240
didn't have all the things in place for that. And
183
00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:14.279
so even just the understanding that there are different types
184
00:12:14.559 --> 00:12:19.320
of ways that VAS work and what they do can
185
00:12:19.440 --> 00:12:23.799
really help a client to determine, oh, I really need
186
00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:29.960
that solution one right versus the doer one because I
187
00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:33.879
don't have those things in place. And I also tell
188
00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:38.120
clients you can hire collaborator first to help you get
189
00:12:38.120 --> 00:12:44.240
all those things in place and then hand those tasks
190
00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:49.159
off to a more doer type because VAS will work together.
191
00:12:49.799 --> 00:12:54.799
We're very collaborative in that, you know, I have I
192
00:12:54.919 --> 00:12:58.559
have friends and colleagues that fill in the gaps that
193
00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:02.799
I don't do because I'm like, I can't do everything,
194
00:13:03.120 --> 00:13:05.360
and there's a lot of things that I don't want
195
00:13:05.399 --> 00:13:10.919
to learn how to do. And my close friend Leanne,
196
00:13:11.240 --> 00:13:14.200
she's the techie side. I'm more of the creative side,
197
00:13:14.240 --> 00:13:17.200
and so we fill in each other's gaps. But she's
198
00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:19.559
always telling me I can't break the Internet, and I'm like,
199
00:13:20.559 --> 00:13:23.720
I might beg to differ because it freaks me out
200
00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:29.480
some of the technology aspects. And so having a circle
201
00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:34.480
of colleagues, we can get work done even if we're
202
00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:39.399
not the ones doing it. And so I think a
203
00:13:39.480 --> 00:13:41.879
lot of clients come in thinking I have to have
204
00:13:41.960 --> 00:13:48.840
one VA who does everything. And to your point, I
205
00:13:48.879 --> 00:13:52.919
think sometimes clients come in with but I don't want
206
00:13:52.960 --> 00:13:55.840
to hand off everything. I don't want to give up
207
00:13:56.360 --> 00:14:00.279
this piece of what I do. The truth is you
208
00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:04.919
don't have to. The truth is within every task. I
209
00:14:04.960 --> 00:14:08.720
mean you've probably seen it, right. You write one item
210
00:14:08.799 --> 00:14:11.000
on your to do list and it ends up being
211
00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:17.000
like fourteen different steps. Within those steps are things that
212
00:14:17.279 --> 00:14:20.480
you want to do and things that you would love
213
00:14:20.519 --> 00:14:24.399
somebody else to do. And so a VA does not
214
00:14:24.519 --> 00:14:27.879
have to take over a whole thing. They can take
215
00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:30.960
on the elements that the client doesn't want to do.
216
00:14:31.879 --> 00:14:36.440
And so it still goes back to how well do
217
00:14:36.559 --> 00:14:40.799
you know what you're doing, and how well do you
218
00:14:40.840 --> 00:14:44.080
know yourself? Right? What are the gaps that you have?
219
00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:49.759
We all have gaps. When I hired my first VA,
220
00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:52.960
I did none of the pre work I tell people
221
00:14:53.000 --> 00:14:55.879
to do in my book. That's where the book came from,
222
00:14:55.960 --> 00:14:59.679
was me learning all of that pre work stuff. But
223
00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:05.480
I thought, erroneously, I didn't know the two kinds of
224
00:15:05.600 --> 00:15:07.919
vas at that point in time. I thought all vas
225
00:15:07.919 --> 00:15:11.360
were the same. And I'm awesome, So everyone's awesome. My
226
00:15:11.480 --> 00:15:16.039
VA is awesome. They're they're still with me. But they
227
00:15:16.039 --> 00:15:21.159
were a high school senior. They did graphics beautifully, but
228
00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:25.080
they were very much this is a side job, something
229
00:15:25.080 --> 00:15:29.879
I'm doing for extra money, not a business. And we've
230
00:15:29.960 --> 00:15:35.200
spent three years mentoring that it is a business, and
231
00:15:35.240 --> 00:15:38.360
you got to think of it as a business. And
232
00:15:38.440 --> 00:15:42.000
that's also a myth I think that people have. My
233
00:15:42.120 --> 00:15:47.480
neighbor's daughter can do bookkeeping or data entry, so she's
234
00:15:47.519 --> 00:15:51.240
a virtual assistant. Well not necessarily, they just like doing
235
00:15:51.279 --> 00:15:55.879
the tasks. So my definition is a virtual assistant is
236
00:15:55.919 --> 00:15:59.519
a business owner working with business owners to do the
237
00:15:59.559 --> 00:16:04.960
administ straightive in operations virtually. And I think a lot
238
00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:07.360
of people get caught up with, well, if I can
239
00:16:07.399 --> 00:16:09.519
just find somebody to do this thing, then they're my
240
00:16:09.600 --> 00:16:12.720
virtual assistant. And that's not that kind of waters it
241
00:16:12.759 --> 00:16:13.759
down a little bit too.
242
00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:17.200
On that note, think of what Rachel just said. We're
243
00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:18.960
going to take a quick break, we're going to say