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Laura Nicole: 0:02

Welcome to Your Virtual Assistant Coach, the podcast for moms who want to 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's salary in just five months back in 2020 after my daughter was born, and I have never looked back. 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.

Laura Nicole: 0:33

If you are anything like me, then you probably spend a fair amount of time or just random snippets here and there as you're looking at your kids or spending time with your family that you think to yourself, I want to quit my job so bad and have more time here, but I literally can't because I have to have a paycheck. Like I have to be making money. Not making money isn't an option. And so I'm stuck here. And since you are here hanging out with me, listening to this podcast, I know that becoming a virtual assistant has piqued your interest. And I want to offer you a little bit of advice and encouragement in the fact that you can absolutely become a virtual assistant with the goal of replacing your nine to five without just quitting your job and then starting as a VA, right? That idea obviously sounds ungodly scary and just filled with uncertainty.

Laura Nicole: 1:34

And my anxiety is rising, just thinking about that idea. And that's not the route that you have to go. You can become a virtual assistant, start building up your client roster, creating your income, scaling and growing your income while still working, you're nine to five. You absolutely do not have to take a massive leap in life without having a parachute. But that thought of I have to quit X before I can start Y because they simply can't coexist, or I don't have the time or I don't have the energy for them to coexist, that belief is what keeps women stuck. That thought process is our ego and our brain talking ourselves out of what we really want in order to keep us in a space that is believed to be safer, right? And more stable. But because of one of the biggest perks of being a virtual assistant, right?

Laura Nicole: 2:30

The fact that you not only can control how many hours you work in a week, but you also control when you work those hours. That flexibility allows you to build up your client roster and your income as a VA around your nine to five schedule and everything else that you have going on in life because there's no set hours for it. You can work it into your day where it works for you. That is exactly what I did when my daughter was five months old, and I came to the realization that I really did not want to be a W-2 employee anymore. I did not want my schedule and therefore her schedule being determined by anybody other than me anymore. I knew that I so badly wanted out of that job, but there was actually no possible way that I could just not be making money. And then I found the world of virtual assistants and stepped into it tentatively to start, but I realized so quickly, y'all, that you literally get to build your virtual assistant work into the nooks of your day, into those little pockets of time.

Laura Nicole: 3:41

I am not a morning person, so I don't do work before my kid is up for the day. But if you are, then that's a great time to fit it in. I used to get so much work done during nap time. Even during a contact nap, I would just have her sleeping on me and then have my computer on my lap. In those little pockets, you can check email on your phone while you're sitting in pickup line or take your computer to practice your, you know, their gymnastics or soccer or whatever it is every other week and get some work done while you're sitting there watching them do the same thing they did last week. But because this industry, this space gives you control over your schedule, but because as a virtual assistant, you have full control over your schedule when you work, that freedom made it possible for me to be able to build up my client roster and increase my income as a VA before ever leaving the classroom.

Laura Nicole: 4:37

To be honest, I probably stayed teaching at least a full semester longer than I needed to, solely because I was still so new to the VA industry and I was terrified that like it was too good to be true. And I had convinced myself that I would leave my full-time job and then somehow everything would fall apart and then I would be stuck without a job. And then what would we do? Hopefully I'm not alone in those um thought spirals. Hopefully that didn't just make me sound crazy. Hopefully it made y'all say, Hey, that's my thought process too. But it created this stability, right? By the time I did leave my nine to five, my W-2, there was no fear. There was no panic. I had created stability in my income as a virtual assistant and knew that I was in a good place. I knew it was not just going to fall apart. And so I was able to make that move confidently.

Laura Nicole: 5:36

I was also able to choose when to make that move and make that shift based on what was right for me and my family and our financial situation. I actually do think I probably would have left the classroom uh probably a semester earlier than I did had we not been building a house. But building a house and all the things that come with it, having to buy new furniture, having to, you know, finish the backyard, put a fence up, all that stuff is super expensive. And so I continued to work both as a VA and as a professor to help us get through that, you know, large financial commitment. We needed more cash flow for that scenario. And so I was able to get us through that section of life. And then once we were in the house, we had done the things, we were good to go, then it felt so much safer to drop the nine to five income. But again, the beauty, right? The underlying silver lining of all of this all the time is the fact that it was my decision. It was my choice. I got to do it when it was the best fit for me.

Laura Nicole: 6:49

Because as a VA, you are your own boss. You are the one in control. But I hope it brings you some comfort to know, you know, if you're sitting here and thinking, like, Laura, I'm ready to be out of my nine to five like yesterday. I'm over it. Number one, I see you and use that feeling as fire, right? Use that feeling as motivation to really dive in and get the ball rolling in the VA space. But know that you don't have to go all in overnight. You do not have to put all your eggs in one basket and hope it works out. You can scale gradually. You can start with five to 10 hours a week with one client and then a couple months down the line, build that up until you get to the point where you feel like it's a good move to step away from your nine to five. And this is all assuming, y'all, that that is your goal, right?

Laura Nicole: 7:39

I coach tons of women who have no desire to leave their nine to five and they just want to create supplemental income forever and ever amen. And that's amazing, right? But for those of you who listen who do want to replace your nine to five, I just want you to hear this. Not only can you scale gradually and at a pace that feels comfortable to you in terms of building up your client roster and building up your VA income, but there's no quote unquote right timeline for deciding when it is actually time for you to leave your nine to five. It is 100% a personal opinion. Some people will grind super hard for a year doing both things so that they can generate a full-time income as a VA prior to quitting their nine to five income. And I have coached a lot of other women who leave once they've replaced, you know, 50 or 75% of their current salary because while they might feel tight for a little bit, right, they have what they need, they'll have their basics covered and they know that they will continue to build their client roster to close that gap and get them to the point that they're 100%, you know, in terms of replacing their income. But again, you get to choose. There's no, there's no right or answer. I can't tell you, hey, once you're at X amount, then that's the time to take the leap, right? Like it's so personal, but there's so much power in that.

Laura Nicole: 9:05

If you have been dreaming about more freedom and having control of your days and of what your schedule looks like and getting to have more time to prioritize and be present in the moments that actually fill your cup while still creating an income and contributing financially to your family, I would be absolutely friggin' thrilled to support you through that entire process inside of the Superstar Assistant Academy. You will get so much guidance on all of the decisions that you need to make and big picture perspectives to help you understand how to actually make all the different decisions in the process, including one like this, where it's, hey, at what point will I be able to actually leave my nine to five? I can go back and forth with you and we can chat through that in our members-only Facebook group to actually look at your specific situation and scenario to help you make the most educated decision. In addition to having lifetime access to every resource you could possibly need to create your virtual assistant business and do this successfully. If you want to read more about the details of the program, there is a link in the show notes for you.

Laura Nicole: 10:20

Thanks for hanging out with me today on your virtual assistant coach. If you love 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.