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[00:00:00] Welcome to Your Virtual Assistant Coach, the podcast for moms who wanna make money from home on their own terms. I'm your host, Laura Nicole, a successful six-figure earning VA and coach who replaced my college professor salary in just five months back in 2020 after my daughter was born, and I have never looked back.

[00:00:21] I'm here to help you build a profitable, flexible VA business that fits into your family's lives so you no longer feel like you're living just to work. Let's dive in. A really big reason that women dismiss the idea completely of becoming a virtual assistant before they ever actually explore it or give it a try is because as moms, you are already so busy.

[00:00:48] And I get it. Maybe you're a stay-at-home mom who's constantly being climbed on, breaking up arguments, making snacks that they then decide they don't want even though they literally just asked for it, running errands, and just wondering at the end of every day where the hell the day even went. Or maybe you're a mom who works full-time at home or at the office, and your day already feels packed from the moment that your alarm goes off until your head finally hits the pillow at the end of the night.

[00:01:18] So when someone starts talking about building a virtual assistant business, your immediate thought is, "With what time?" The idea of having to commit 15, 20, 30 hours a week literally feels impossible. Hell, a lot of days, the idea of finding one or two hours a day might feel like more than you can realistically give right now.

[00:01:41] Because you're already doing a million things, so the idea of adding one more thing feels exhausting, even when it's that one thing that you're actually really excited about doing. So when I swoop in and tell moms that you really can build a VA business in the nooks of your day, a question I get a lot of time from women is like, "Look, Laura, I have maybe an hour a day.

[00:02:09] Is that even enough time? Will that even matter? Does that even actually help me?" And my answer is always the same: Let's do the math. Because even just one hour a day broken up throughout the day, that adds up faster than you think, okay? So let's assume that you're brand new to the VA space, you're charging $25 to $30 an hour, and you know that the most you can commit to to start is just an hour a day.

[00:02:40] Now, I am not a math girly. A lot of y'all know that about me, but I wrote my numbers down to make sure these were accurate. So if you have an hour a day to give to this, that's seven hours a week, that's 28 hours a month. If you are charging your first client $25 an hour, that is $700 a month. If you're charging 30 an hour, that's $840 a month.

[00:03:08] And that amount of money is not from having to quit your job. It's not from working 40 hours a week stacked on top of your crazy busy life the way it already is. That's literally from one hour a day. And again, that one hour can be broken up into 10 minutes here and 20 minutes there and 15 minutes here.

[00:03:28] So I want you to picture… Realistically, what does having an additional 7 to $800 a month coming in look like for you and your family and your budget? What does that amount of money cover? Does that pay one of your car payments? Does that make groceries feel like they don't have a choke hold on you anymore?

[00:03:53] Is that the summer camp that your kid's been asking to register for and you've had to say no because it's $400 for the week? Is it dance lessons? Is it an extracurricular registration? Is it adding into that family vacation fund? Or maybe even just finally actually being able to pay something more toward your debt than just that minimum monthly payment that you feel like isn't actually doing anything at all.

[00:04:19] I mean, really just sit in that for a minute and think, like, how good would it feel to be able to stack on a couple extra hundred to that minimum payment each month and actually see the numbers start to move on your debt. Or to be able to not have to reply, "Maybe next year" to your kid when they ask about that summer camp that all their friends from school are going to.

[00:04:44] We tend, in our culture and society, to be very all or nothing, right? And so we tend to dismiss income if it doesn't seem big enough, if it's not this, like, big flashy number, if it's not something that's gonna replace our salary overnight and bring us home. If it's not, "Oh, you can, you're gonna be making $5,000 a month in two months" then we just dismiss it.

[00:05:10] We say it's not worth it. But 7 to $800 a month, y'all, and that's, like, bare minimum. An hour a day. I know we all are so busy, but be so real with yourself and go look at your screen time on your phone in your settings, because I can pretty much guarantee that every single person listening to this podcast has an hour of screen time on their phone every day that they could be swapping in for VA work to be bringing in this 7 to $840 a month.

[00:05:42] So we have to retrain our perspective. It's not, "Ugh, if I can't replace my income, like, why bother? If I can't make thousands right away, like, what's the point? I could use that energy elsewhere." But that mentality and that perspective, that's not how successful VAs get started. What they focus on when they start is one client, signing one client, starting with those handful of hours on a weekly basis, right?

[00:06:11] Building that up slowly so that you have your first $1,000 month, and then building the income from there. And truly, it's not just about the money, right? Obviously, having that extra 7, $800 coming in the door, that is going to make a difference financially. But that 7 to $800 a month really matters more because of what it proves to you.

[00:06:36] It proves to you that someone will pay you to do this VA work for them. It proves to you that your skills truly are valuable and that this really can work. And your confidence grows from banking this kind of evidence. Every dollar earned is building up your confidence and your belief that this is truly something that you can do to create an income and the life for your family that you've been craving.

[00:07:08] And every dollar earned makes that next step easier. So do not underestimate what one hour a day putting into your VA business and working with clients, do not underestimate what that can become. Because sometimes the goal isn't replacing your income. It's not making thousands and thousands of dollars a month.

[00:07:30] Sometimes the goal is creating options for yourself. Sometimes it's paying for summer camp. Sometimes it's paying extra to your debt. Sometimes it's proving to yourself that you can do this. And one hour a day is more than enough to start, but you have to do just that. You have to start. I have a brand new 20 minute VA starter class that I literally just recorded actually the same day as I'm recording this podcast episode right now, and it's perfect, like literally perfect for the moms listening to this who are having this thought process of like, "God, I'm just so busy.

[00:08:11] I don't know how to fit this in." This 20 minute class is the perfect starting point for you. You can grab it on the link in the show notes right underneath this episode, and then just listen to it while you're doing the dishes, or folding the laundry, or rocking your baby to sleep with an AirPod in your ear, or walking your dog, or cozied on the couch.

[00:08:32] I don't care where, but this is the starting point. This is the starting line. I hope you love it. I think it will be very helpful. I would love to hear your feedback after you listen to it slash watch it. But stop underestimating what your little pockets of time can actually become, and start today by watching the 20 minute VA starter class.

[00:08:57] Thanks for hanging out with me today on Your Virtual Assistant Coach. If you loved this episode, be sure to share it with your best friend, your sister, or even your favorite coworker who you know wants to start making a flexible income. I'll see you all next time.