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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 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

I remember so distinctly what it felt like to feel like I was working my tail off for a company, for a boss that really honestly didn't need me. I was completely replaceable. Even though I was really good at my job and I was a hard worker and I showed up and I was consistent, there were literally thousands of other people that they could have replaced me with in a heartbeat. And I never enjoyed that feeling, right? Even if they did like an okay job of showing me that they appreciated me, there still was just that gut feeling of like, what am I working so hard for? And one of the really surprising perks, benefits, whatever you want to call it, that I've experienced since becoming a virtual assistant is just how much my clients genuinely appreciate me and what I do to help them in their business. When you are in the VA space and you are working with a small business owner, if it's just you and the business owner, or if they have a small team operating their business, you are never just a number, right? You are a partner, you are a team member, and business owners are going to treat you that way, right? They're gonna treat you accordingly. They are going to show you that you are appreciated. And it's one of the aspects and one of the benefits of this line of work that I think doesn't get talked about enough.

Laura Nicole: 1:58

So today I'm gonna break down for you why this VA and client working relationship feels completely different from a traditional W-2 job and why your effort will finally get the recognition that it really deserves. So when we're in the nine to five, right? Whether that's teaching or a corporate job or even something like I did in restaurant management, we tend to give 110%, right? If you're someone who's interested in becoming a VA, your personality likely is someone who's a really, really, really freaking hard worker. And you're gonna give it everything you have all the time, even though you don't very often feel seen or valued by the business or by the company that you're doing that work for. We also are stuck with our raises being tied to review cycles, right? Not the actual work that you're doing or the impact that you're making. We are forced into waiting for that annual review where they give us one through five and rank everything in just like a very static, sterile way, and then turn around. And even though we got above expectations, right? They're like, oh, and here's your 2% raise. And it's like, great, that did nothing for me. And we most often are replaceable in the org chart, right? Even if we love our job, even if we feel like our direct manager appreciates us or our direct coworkers appreciate us.

Laura Nicole: 3:27

The truth is, is that if you were to leave or they decided to let you go or lay you off, they will replace you with someone immediately to come in and take over that exact role. But you are not replaceable as a person, right? And when we work with VA clients, they're hiring you not just for the tasks you can do, but for the person that you are. I remember thinking to myself all the time, like, what am I working so hard for? What am I killing myself over? Why am I missing out on time with my baby to do this work for this company that doesn't even see the effort I'm putting in? But the VA client relationship is so different than that because when a business owner hires a VA, it is a personal decision. They are trusting you with the back end of their business. That often means giving you access to very important documents, reporting, data, et cetera. And they want to be working with someone who they genuinely enjoy working with. I'm sure you have heard me say before that business owners are never hiring just a task rabbit, right? They are hiring somebody who is the missing puzzle piece to their business and how it operates overall.

Laura Nicole: 4:40

So when you work with a small business owner as their VA, you become a part of the heartbeat of their business. And clients want long-term help. They don't want to constantly rehire and retrain new people. So they are going to invest in keeping you, which also means keeping you happy and making you feel appreciated because you are making their life easier. And it's a positive cycle, right? That loops around instead of being stuck in a vicious cycle that you feel like you can't escape from in the traditional nine to five. And clients show their gratitude in very like real, human, personal ways because your work directly impacts their success, but it's not only impacting their business, it's impacting their personal life, right? Because the way that you're able to reduce their workload affects their personal life. Some of the really common ways that I have had clients express their appreciation to me over the years is a lot of like very simple verbal appreciation, right? I don't know what I would do without you. You're a lifesaver. Thank you so much for taking care of that. I can always count on you. And I don't know about you, but I'm a big verbal affirmation girly. So those always make me so happy. I had one client who literally had me saved in her phone as Laura for president because every time I would fix something, she was like, Holy shit, you're an actual lifesaver. Like, you should be president.

Laura Nicole: 6:03

They show their gratitude as well in terms of flexibility when life happens, right? They will give you grace. They will work with you, they will be flexible, they will understand when things come up that you need to take care of. And they'll also show their appreciation in more tangible ways, right? Rate increases, bonuses, gifts. Most of the clients I have worked with have always given rate increases without me having to ask simply because they recognize that my workload and my responsibility level has increased. And it's usually a conversation. It's not just like a, hey, this is the amount I decided. This is what it's gonna be. It's like, hey, I've, you know, I recognize that you've taken on more. This is what I'm thinking. Like, let's touch bases, right? So unlike the annual eval where it's just like, hey, this is your new number. It's like, no, let's actually have a conversation, right?

Laura Nicole: 6:53

And to me, that in and of itself is my client showing appreciation for me and my opinion on a matter that greatly affects me, like my rate. I often help clients, especially in the past couple of years, I often help clients with their launches. And obviously, launches are where there's a big influx of cash, right, into their business. And it's not uncommon that business owners will give their VA a bonus based off of how the launch performed, because they could not have made all that money and had such a successful launch if it weren't for the support of you and possibly the rest of their team, if they have others. The working relationship between you as a VA and your small business owner client is a relationship that's built on trust and mutual respect with each other, not micromanagement and you know, power struggles and who's in control. It's not like that. And so we get to experience this emotional shift, right? Where we go from feeling replaceable to feeling really valued. You really get to see the impact of your work every day. You're helping another real person grow something meaningful. Your wins are their wins, and vice versa. And truly, that like, why am I even doing this? What the hell am I working so hard for? Those feelings disappear. When you are working with clients that are truly aligned with you, then your work will feel so freaking fulfilling, and your clients will make sure that you feel appreciated.

Laura Nicole: 8:26

I am just so thankful that y'all are here. We just hit the 10,000 download mark for this podcast, and we did it in just five months, which according to my chat bot Lola is like kind of impressive. So, number one, I just wanted to say thank you for being here. Thank you for hanging out, thank you for listening. And if you don't yet follow the show, go ahead and click that follow button, it'll make sure that you get all of the downloads each week when a new episode comes out. And I would also absolutely love for you to pop over to Instagram and send me a message and just let me know that you're listening to the show, what kinds of episodes have been most helpful. If you have a topic you'd like me to cover, I would love to hear any and all feedback and just connect with you. I'm gonna link my Instagram down in the show notes for y'all. My handle is hey, like H-E-Y, like you're waving hey, hey.lauranicole. I can't wait to chat with you.

Laura Nicole: 9:27

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.