Landy Peek (00:36)
Have you ever hired someone to help you and somehow you end up doing more thinking, more explaining, more fixing and it feels like more work? Not because support isn't worth it, but because the type of support you hired didn't match what you actually needed. Today's guest, Rachel Adavila.
owner of Extra Hands Virtual Assistance and the author of Hey, Do I Need a VA breaks down the two different kinds of support most people accidentally confuse, me included, and why that mismatch is the reason hiring help can feel frustrating instead of freeing. Welcome to the Landy Peak Podcast. I'm Landy Peak and this episode will change the way you hire, communicate, and hand things off.
So support actually feels like support. Let's get to it.
Speaker 2 (01:28)
Rachel, I'm so excited that you're here. Would you share a little bit about yourself so our listeners can get to know you?
Speaker 1 (01:34)
Thank you. I'm so excited to be here, Landy. Hi, everyone. I'm Rachel Davila. I am the proud owner of Extra Hands Virtual Assistance and a new published author of Hey, Do I Need a VA? A How-To Guide to Find, Hire, and Work with a Virtual Assistant. It came from my podcast of the same name, Hey, Do I Need a VA? And
It really is about my journey of letting go of control and figuring out from the client side how to delegate what to a virtual assistant. ⁓ But that came on the heels of what I'm calling my healing journey of learning what it's like to have to shift your identity after being in it for so long.
I was a wife, was a mother, I was a business owner, daughter, sister, like all of those things. But when my son turned to me and was like, I'm going to my friend's house and I no longer was taxi, social director, all of the things, it kind of threw me into a tailspin of like, I'm not in control anymore. And that was a really scary place to be when
when you're in control of so much for so long that you're just kind of like, ⁓ wait a second. Like that's not for me anymore. And let me tell you, I'm still learning that lesson even now. I say I've been on this journey for probably 10 years, probably started around when I first started. Like I can look back and go, that's when my paramenopause journey started as well. So I don't know if, you know, if you...
can kind of look back and go, yeah, that's pyramid of positive. yeah, that's pyramid. I kind of am like, it was all one and I can't like disentangle it all. It was all one and ⁓ it's been a learning curve this whole time.
Speaker 2 (03:49)
I think it always is a learning curve.
Speaker 1 (03:51)
Yes, yes. a couple years, I've been 20 years and a couple years ago, I hired my own VA. right after COVID hit, there was a huge influx of going virtual, virtual summits, things like that. And I filled my business and hit my, my
business goal of 80 billable hours. Now, I'd been at 30 billable hours and in one month went to 80, which is, it sounds amazing and it absolutely was. I'm like, yes, I hit my goal. And my God, I cannot sustain this. It is too much for me because when I say billable hours, that's not, that's like, but in the chair, 80 hours, but.
there's so much that we do behind the scenes as business owners, even as a VA, that is not billable. And so like that 80 hours was really like 120 hours and it was a lot. And I got diagnosed with diabetes, my hair was falling out, like it was a whole thing and my body was like, error, error, you can't do this. And a coach,
said to me, maybe hire your own VA. And I kind of laughed at that because I was like, a virtual assistant hiring a virtual assistant, like I don't want to be a team, like I don't want to manage people. And I can still do it on my own. Like, like I can do the work like, yeah. But the truth of the matter was, no, I couldn't. And I didn't want to. And I think that was really the harder mindset shift was
Yes, I can do it, but I don't want to. it was, it did take me some time to go through the mindset shifts of bringing someone on. I brought on a wonderful high school senior at the time. That's what they were. They could do the graphics and everything. And I found myself doing the little tweaks, right?
I could explain what I wanted. They were great at it. But then I was going behind them and just like, let me just move this a little. Like it would take me longer to type out the changes that I wanted versus just doing them myself. But then I realized if I didn't tell them, because I was seeing the same, like I was making the same tweaks every time they sent me stuff. If I didn't tell them what to.
what I wanted differently, they weren't going back. They were just copying and going. so I had to, I had to face my perfectionism. I had to face my control issues. had to face, I'm asking for help and I'm not receiving it. I'm not accepting it. And that's
mine to do, like that's my work to do. That, that was nothing to do with my VA. They were great. They also weren't the type of VA that I am. And so they just kind of was like, well, you're going to tell me what to do and I'm going to do it. And I learned there is a difference between virtual assistants. call them doers and collaborators.
Speaker 2 (07:39)
So do.
Speaker 1 (07:39)
are the ones that's like, tell me what to do and I'll do it. And collaborators are more solution oriented. They look at things in a big picture. What's your goals? What's everything leading up to so that when you veer off or shiny, get shiny, they can find you back in. And I was thinking I was getting a me for me. And that's not what I ended up with. I learned
Right. That's why all the clients came to me like, it's just a higher VA. And so as I started my VA and work through my mindset things work through my control issues work through my perfectionism. I was like,
business owners need to do that when they're on that journey to find hire and work with a virtual assistant. And so I started to pivot my business, not solely away because I still do virtual assistant support, but into that education realm of letting business owners know what they don't know so that they can do the prep work. They can kind of work through like, am I even ready?
Can I do this? Can I accept it? Can I receive it? And the task list is a good starting point, but it's not the only factor. What's your leadership style? What's your managing style? Do you already have your systems and processes in place for a doer to just step in to do? And can you clearly explain what you're looking for?
Because doers, while they're wonderful, they need the client to be the leader, the visionary, the director. And collaborators don't need that much direction. They're going to ask the questions. And so if you're not naturally a leader, an organized person, a delegator,
a collaborator fits better, especially if you are a visionary. I call them visionaries, right? Like, they're like, I know what I want, I know where I'm going, but they don't know how to like break it down into those,
hand off. And doers won't do that. Collaborators will. And as I started to
of learn all of this,
It was starting to make sense when clients would come to me like I hired a VA and it didn't work out. Yes, but you probably got the wrong kind of VA or you don't have this in place or that in place. what I also started to notice was these hidden gaps that we don't always know about ourselves until we're kind of faced with it. Like I learned I'm a verbal processor.
Speaker 2 (10:26)
Take care.
Speaker 1 (10:49)
So I need somebody to just sit there and listen to me and capture all the ideas because once they're out of the mouth, it's out of my brain. Like I have to record everything Because I don't, it's like a gift from the universe. It like the creative download, it just comes and they're like, can you elaborate? No, I forgot what I just said. Like I don't even know.
So having, being able to say that to my assistant and go, I really just need you to sit here and listen and capture so that you can remind me, be that service for me, right? When we get to that next level, I need you to pull this back up that we talked about it and be that kind of organizer for me, or at least say, here's all the ideas that you spewed out, let me know.
where they fit into the grand scheme of things. And the more I kind of did that and handed stuff off, it freed me up for more of those ideas. It freed me up to think about things in a whole different way. And it gave me the space to go, all right, my assistants got my social media, my graphics, like, right.
I'm good there. I'm ready now to do this big thing that I didn't have time and space for. And then they were like, I want to help. so because they had gained the experience, the confidence and things working with me, they had their own voice to share. the podcast is a group of four of us so that we each bring a different perspective from the VA industry.
We have a Canadian team owner. We've got a techie VA and my assistant is the new BVA. And so, and I'm more creative with everything. And I bring this kind of component, but the podcast was built on what virtual assistants want business owners to know before they find, hire and work with a VA. And I'm amazed.
sometimes at what my newbie brings to the table, the perspective, the questions, the, know, and I'm like, that's it, yes, it's working, right? Cause they learned,
they learned from working with me, I learned from working with them. And it became that relationship that I was like, okay, they're not a me for me, but.
it held that mirror up to me for me, there's a lot of me's, but for me to continue that healing journey to look within and go, ⁓ I can do this. I can ask for help. I can receive it. I see the value in handing off these tasks that aren't mine to do anymore because the universe loves to fill a void.
Right? I'm making space for more stuff to come. The book came as a dream. I was like, okay, guess I'm writing a book. And when my first assistant transitioned to being our podcast manager and producer, I was like, well, I still need somebody to do my social media because I don't want to take that back on. It felt really good to let it go and not
be thinking about it all the time. So I hired another team member. So now I have two VAs that do totally different things, manage two totally different sides of what I offer. But he brought in a whole different, I didn't know what a ⁓ reel was. I didn't know what a carousel was. He's like, well, can we do that? And I was, well, yes, of course we can. If you want to
Create that for me? Wonderful. And having gone through that kind of mindset shift of creating space to do different things, when the book idea came, I sat down with him and I was like, how do I create enough space? I don't wanna think about social media. I just want you to take it and run with it. So.
We listed out everything I had shared over three years. So he had a master list of things and all we had to do, all I had to do was approve graphics. The content was already there. That freed me up for six months to write and edit and get the book published and out. And I didn't have to think about it because he was, he was managing that for me behind the scenes and it freed me up. I mean,
Speaker 2 (15:48)
Uh-huh.
Speaker 1 (16:07)
When we say, could you do with 10 extra hours a week? You read a whole dang book.
Speaker 2 (16:14)
incredible
But there's so much I want to unpack inside what you said, because I think you have really labeled like the a-ha's going on in my brain. We have labeled one of the biggest dissatisfaction with women, especially hiring help is that we're not number one. I think we're trying to hire ourselves and expecting the exact same job to get done at the level that we're going to do.
We don't have the space time and energy so that we, when it's not done the way that we would do it, we come back and try to tweak it because it just takes so much less mental energy to just go do it than have to process how to explain it. And I think the biggest thing is that we're looking at different levels of support with that collaborator.
versus like the person that's gonna come in and just do what you tell them to do. And both are valuable. But I think a lot of women are looking for that collaborator, somebody that fills those voids, frees up the space in a way like you're saying, as you're talking, I am a verbal processor. I record everything, anything if I do a solo podcast episode, it is verbally recorded. And then I go through and tweak it in a written form. Everything goes in transcripts.
So I can go back because once it comes out, it's gone and it's not something I can work with. And having somebody that I could just verbal vomit to and they're like picking out the ideas would be incredible. I'd never thought about that. I'm using it in tech, but I'm not using a person to support me in that way. And I think that's so huge as the listener is really tuning in and saying, ⁓ wait, okay, I do need support.
I'm not quite sure how to have the capacity to share exactly what I need in the way that I need. And if you don't know to look for a different type of person, you're going to go and I mean, my first few VAs were the doers. And I was like, here's, you what I want. It would come back and be like, no, but I don't want it like that. But they're not asking the questions of me. And so then I'm having to
multiprocess exactly what I need and go back and I'm like, this is taking so much time. This isn't working out. And then I shift to somebody different without realizing and I lucked into a VA that is more of a collaborator that started asking me all those questions. And it's like, yeah, that. yeah, I want that. I hadn't thought about it. like the reals. I didn't know. Yes, I would like, you know, I remember him coming to me and he's like, do you want me to do an audiogram for this? I'm like, yes. And what is that?
because I'm sure I do, but I have no idea what you're talking about, but it sounds really cool. But there is that level of support that helps lift us up and frees up the mental energy versus taxes more mental energy. And I'm so thrilled you brought that up because I think it's that missing link that so many women are trying to get support. We know we need it, but then it doesn't feel good when we have it. So then it was like, I'll just do it on my own.
Speaker 1 (19:35)
Well, I think some of it too is a mindset shift because no one is gonna do it the way we do it. Even the best VA, we're not mind readers. And we all have different unique brains, different ways of looking at things, right? We could say the exact same words. And I know we've all done this with our husbands.
Speaker 2 (19:47)
Right.
Right.
Speaker 1 (20:04)
kids, right? I know for a fact, I told my husband, he came home from the doctors and said word for word, something that I've said, but because a doctor said it, you know, so I think we get into that mindset that even if I'm super clear, they're gonna get it and it's gonna be exactly the way I want it. And it never will be unless we do it. Like,
For me, part of that letting the perfectionism go was that it's good enough. And it's also like, the why? What's the intention? For my social media and stuff, my intention, my why for doing it, for spending the money on somebody to do it and the time for the captions and a
approvals and all the things, right? It was so, there was something there for people to see and come to. Didn't need to be perfect. It didn't need, like, right? People aren't gonna nitpick my graphic the way I would, right? So it got to the point where I was like, okay.
Is this where I need to spend my energy or is it good enough? It became enough for what it was because my brain was able to shift to things that mattered more. Yes. And you know, it's like when I asked my kids to load the dishwasher, do they do it the same way I do? No. Is the dishes going to get clean? Yes.
Speaker 2 (21:39)
⁓ huh.
Speaker 1 (21:58)
Do I have to do it? No, thank God, right? My son yelled at me yesterday because he's making dinner. I'm like, thank you. I don't even care what we eat. It's super spicy. It's not my flavor profile, but I don't care. I didn't have to make it, right?
It's, but getting to that point, right? Asking my family to step in. Cause I wanted to focus more on my business.
So I've got adult children, they're 26 and 22. They don't want me in their life right now, right? They know everything. What do you know, mom, right? Yes. Having to shift my mindset of being available, thinking of dinner, going grocery shopping, doing like the mental load of being mom, I was like,
Why am I doing that? My husband doesn't care, I don't care. They're Ubering food and stuff like that, so I'm like, it doesn't matter if we make dinner because they're not eating it. we were able, that was part of my shift of, well, good enough is there's food in the house. Ask my husband, hey, go to the grocery store because I need
Speaker 2 (23:22)
Yes. ⁓ huh.
Speaker 1 (23:28)
bread or salad or whatever, I don't care the outcome because I don't have to go, I don't have to make the list. I don't have to go to the store. I don't have to put it away. I don't have to make a meal plan. I don't have to make sure I have the ingredients. like when you talk about like all of the steps and it's not like I can use life as an example, but business owners can use business, right?
The same thing applies, right? There's so many things that make up even one small line item on our to-do list. I can just share that mental load and not think about all of it. And when you start to think in those terms, the perfectionism starts to release.
Speaker 2 (24:16)
huge.
Speaker 1 (24:27)
If you ask yourself, is this mine to control? A coach friend asked me that. She's like, why is it even yours to control? And I could not, at that time, I could not verbalize why I was holding on so tight to something that wasn't even mine. The outcome of my kids are going to be fine. They may not be doing anything the way that I would.
Speaker 2 (24:45)
That's big.
Speaker 1 (24:57)
but they're doing it their way. And it's just my job as mom to be there to support them when and how they ask me for help. And in recognizing that I was able to release so much and delegate even at home because I said, know what, because you guys don't need me to the extent that my brain wants to step in.
Speaker 2 (25:08)
Yes.
Speaker 1 (25:24)
I'm going to take that energy and shift it and put it into my business where I am in control, where it is mine to manage, where it is mine, right? Like my business is me. And so they didn't have to like it. In fact, they still grumble and stuff, but I'm like, it keeps me out of your business and focused on mine. And that was...
That was a huge, mean, I couldn't have gotten there if I hadn't already been in the process of delegating stuff off my plate. Like I'm trying to feel like the healing journey creates space for you to level up. And that leveling up shows up in so many different ways that you're like, wait, what just happened? But it was really good because
It allowed me space to go, what is it that I want for my business? And why am I doing all of this? right, asking questions that I've never asked myself in 20 years of business. Setting up my first CRM, I never had a customer journey. I never had an SOP. There were things that I did, but I kept them all in my head. So my memory isn't the place it used to be. I mean,
If you remember, if you ever saw that movie, Inside Out, you know, when the little guys are in her brain. Yeah. And they go to that the memory vault and they're, you know, the two little people are just throwing balls into the abyss. Like, we've decluttered the brain so much. But. I'm like, OK, but I don't think I would have been able to ask myself even two years ago.
any of the questions I'm asking myself today. And that's because I was able to release the expectation. I was able to receive and accept help and...
I'm able to look at, for me, how I show up, what I need, and I can say, all right, I just need you to get me started. You don't have to be perfect at it. You don't have to, you know, right? Just get it. And be that platform for me to kind of go, oh, that's a great idea. Oh, that's a great idea. Oh my God, that's a great idea. Because that's
Speaker 2 (27:55)
Start.
Speaker 1 (28:05)
how I've learned about myself.
Speaker 2 (28:09)
Yeah
Speaker 1 (28:12)
I needed accountability, right? It was easy for me to go, well, I gotta get a newsletter out at some point this month. If I want somebody else to edit it, if I want somebody else, like if I wanna go through the steps, then I need to have it by this day so they have this time. Like it gave me that process. Each person along the way was responsible and I needed to.
Speaker 2 (28:35)
Huh?
Speaker 1 (28:40)
But I needed to meet my deadlines so they could meet theirs so that the finished product could get out the way I wanted it to. And when I do it by myself, I'll step over my own boundaries because it's just me. But if someone's waiting for me, I can't. That's an inability piece that I was like, that's what I needed. And I didn't even know that until we started, it's like, ⁓
Speaker 2 (28:50)
Right.
Speaker 1 (29:09)
I gotta get this to my assistant. They have time to do what they do so that I can, right? And so I think when it comes to asking for help, however you delegate it, whether it's a housekeeper, a personal assistant, a virtual assistant, even just asking your family to like do chores, I think it's...
Speaker 2 (29:12)
you
Speaker 1 (29:40)
You know, there is that mindset shift of, can ask you and it can release all ownership of how it turns out, but what else is this doing for me? What is it free up for me? What does it give me? What do I need? Like our gaps, right? When you start to notice what they are, right?
verbal processor I need somebody to organize my thoughts for me. Thank you chat GPT because now I can voice memo it and chat and do that but you know before that like we'd be in a I would schedule the calls even if I didn't think I had any work because I was like something's gonna come out of it and
Speaker 2 (30:29)
I see ours.
Speaker 1 (30:31)
And,
you know, I don't like to deep clean my house. I can keep it, I'm like, I'll declutter it, the surfaces will look nice, but I'm not mopping floors and doing stuff. None of my family wanted to do it, so I was like, all right, we'll hire a housekeeper once a quarter to do that kind of deep clean that we can maintain, because I knew what I didn't wanna do.
Speaker 2 (30:59)
Huh?
Speaker 1 (31:00)
the limits were of the people in my household. And I think in terms of business, if you can go, right, like when we started the podcast, I didn't want to learn how to do it. Would I have, if I needed to, yes. But I'm like, I'm happy to throw money at it because
My assistant was like, I'll learn. I want to figure that out. I've done this. I've done it here. So I know enough. But I was like, please research what platforms we do it on if there's a better way of recording and all of that. They were so excited to take that project on and run with it. And I was like, well worth your invoice because I didn't have to do it.
Speaker 2 (32:00)
I think that's one of the big things that I'm tapping into as you're seeing is a lot of times we're looking for someone else to help carry the and to have that load be somebody else's responsibility, we have to give up that expectation of perfection that we still have control. Yes, we might have oversight and things are coming back for you to check off, but you're giving them to someone else to carry.
And that's huge in both home life as you're talking about your son now cooking and not caring what ends up on the table. It's food. It's great. You didn't have to do it to VA's where you're passing off social media and allowing them to have that control and that creative license while still tuning into your brand. But you're not carrying the load. And I think a lot of times when we're trying to
Speaker 1 (32:49)
you
Speaker 2 (32:57)
get support and we hire people to support us, we're still carrying the load and trying to have them do it for us. And it doesn't work. It's that release. And that release I'm hearing is really, and I've experienced really opening up the space so that we have more space for the creative, for up leveling, for the things that we love and want to pursue versus the details that like, I love doing the podcast.
Some of the details are not super fun. They're not in my wheelhouse. I don't want to do those. so allowing someone else to take that load, somebody who probably has that skill set and that creative voice and can step in that way allows us to grow and them to grow.
Speaker 1 (33:47)
We did a whole episode on Ask, Always Ask. If I hadn't asked my assistant, hey, are you interested in being on the cast of the podcast and taking this on for me? They never would have said, I'm interested in that.
Speaker 2 (34:11)
⁓ that's a huge point.
Speaker 1 (34:14)
And, you know, I say in the book, we could learn something new every day and still not know everything, but a website, we do, virtual assistants are constantly learning new programs, new software, new skills, right? Something, every new client brings us a new learning curve, but we don't always maintain our websites or
think to share that we do all that because it's too long of a list. you know, even if you're already working with somebody, you can say, I had this idea. Is it something you want to do? You want to learn? Or do I find somebody who does that? And it might be that the VA says, I'm not interested in learning that.
But because you and I have that relationship, I'm happy to manage another team member who does that or work with them so that you still can release some of that load. A doer is probably not the best bridge, but if you're already working with someone who's more in a collaborative mindset or has had, I call them doers leaning into collaborators. ⁓
Speaker 2 (35:24)
Yes.
Speaker 1 (35:41)
able to kind of do both, right? They love doing the work, but they've had enough years and they have enough confidence to kind of go, well, I did this for another client. Are you interested in that? Or, right, I met this great VA who does that, let me connect you or I'm happy to collaborate with them for this project. So there is that kind of middle person who, you know, has those skills to then
kind of step into that, they're not quite a collaborator, but I know enough. ⁓
Speaker 2 (36:17)
So I, as we're kind of talking about finding that right person, what do we need to be looking for? If we're thinking, ⁓ my gosh, I need a collaborator. How do I find somebody that's a collaborator? Because if I'm going and just like sitting down in an interview and saying, are you a collaborator? They're not gonna tune into that. What are the questions? What are the things that I'm looking for find that person?
Speaker 1 (36:44)
I have a whole chapter on qualities beyond the task list.
Start with your task list.
if you have an idea you want to hand off
Speaker 2 (36:55)
then.
Speaker 1 (36:56)
you can kind of prioritize the order in which you might hand the tasks off and it will give you an idea of what kind of VA would be best. Let's say your task list is a lot of easy to hand off, repeatable tasks that you already have a process and procedure for, a doer might be great for that. If
Speaker 2 (37:07)
Okay.
Right.
Speaker 1 (37:23)
If it's a lot of like, I'm still figuring it out. I don't quite have it down. I need somebody to kind of help me fill in the gaps of what the process might look like. And you kind of want a doer leaning into collaborator or a collaborator to kind of get that. If you know, right, you don't have to stick with any one type, right? Say you are like, I want to get my social media to the point that I could hire a doer.
Speaker 2 (37:45)
Night.
Mm-hmm
Speaker 1 (37:53)
collaborator to help you get that all set up, get your templates, get the things in order. And then when you both are like, okay, we can bring on somebody to just do the work, there you go. To get to the heart of your question, some of it is your goals and your big picture vision, or so than just the immediate task list.
Speaker 2 (38:22)
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 (38:25)
The qualities be on the task list are those things that.
Right? Am I a visionary and I need somebody to break this down for me? The gap, you know, am I highly disorganized and I need someone to keep me accountable and on track and organized and what does that look like? Right? How much organization do I need? Right? Can I look at this as an investment? Right? Do I want
Speaker 2 (38:38)
Right.
Speaker 1 (39:00)
a relational relationship or is transactional okay, right? I talk a lot about like, ⁓ what's your communication style? Are you verbal? Do you write it down? Do you need bullet point emails or a text message, right? Knowing these things about yourself and how you communicate them, right?
Generationally, right? I do recaps. One of my clients laughs at me because he thinks in writing, verbal processor. So he's like, you can send me a voice memo, but I'm going to respond with an email. So I've learned to voice memo, transcribe it, tweak it, and send it to him in an email because that's how he communicates.
But I can use my, but right, even being able to ask those questions in an interview is knowing that about yourself, but knowing like what you need back. And like, are time zones important, right? Does your VA need to be in your time zone or have hours that overlap so you can have meetings, right? ⁓ Security needs.
Right? Do you need a non-disclosure agreement for them to work on your stuff?
Right, so there's a whole lot of things that we don't think about because we're only looking at the tasks. If you kind of look at your task and you go, okay, if they're just doing social media, I'm not worried about them being client facing. They're not writing the content I am so, right?
to kind of land it, asking yourself those kinds of things, those quality things, allow you then to craft interview questions to ask, right? And during the interview, it's like dating, right? Or chemistry, do you like talking to each other, right? I am highly energetic.
That's not the right fit for every person. Um, and I, I'm a talker, like I will go, right. If someone's like, no, I need to like stick to my timeline and then I might not be the right fit, but also, um, doers will say, great, tell me what to do and I'll do it. Yes, I can do that. Yes, I can do that. Yes, I can do that. Collaborators are going to be like,
Here's what we can do. Here's how I can help. We can do this. Like they're already thinking of how to help you. And for those kinds of words and phrases can help you kind of distinguish because doer and collaborator are my terms. you know, so it's, it's kind of paying attention to what they're saying, how they're, how they're carrying the conversation. If you're
they're probably a doer. the VA is leading it, it's probably a collaborator.
Speaker 2 (42:21)
it.
That is great insight. As we come to a close, are there any last thoughts that you would like to share with the listener?
Speaker 1 (42:33)
Yes. It doesn't matter if you're a busy person, business owner, just need help. You can get whatever kind of help you need. And I say on any budget, it just may not look like you think. If you're like, have so much to do, but I only have a finite budget, even a higher priced VA can still get a lot of that done.
and they will work with you to kind of prioritize your tasks and what can be done with the hours that you can afford. So you don't have to go cheap because cheaper is not always inexpensive. And ⁓ regardless of who you work with, whichever kind, give yourself grace, give the relationship time, start small and build trust.
Speaker 2 (43:14)
Thanks
Speaker 1 (43:29)
So when you're thinking about what to hand off first, make it a project that it's not gonna make or break your business if it goes wrong. Because employees get a 90 day probationary period to learn the culture, learn the brand, learn everything. need that amount of time with someone, but trust your gut. If you're like, yeah, this wasn't right,
Speaker 2 (43:39)
Hmm.
Speaker 1 (43:58)
You don't have to stick around. And I encourage business owners to look at VAs who think of themselves as a business. It is business to business. I don't work for you. I work with you. So there is that different, like, if your business is succeeding, so is mine. Right? If I get you to a place where you're like, my God, you're indispensable, like,
Speaker 2 (44:19)
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 (44:27)
Yes, you're going to, right? You're starting to make money. Clients are coming in. Like you handing the stuff off creates that space for you. Okay, next thing. Now I'm creating a whole program or group or whatever. The momentum builds and the more successful you become, the more successful I am, the more hours you need, the more we collaborate. And I mean, that's my thing. Like I love that ripple effect and not all VAs do that.
But if that's what you're looking for, then you want to find someone who is just as passionate, just as excited about your business as you are. I mean, no one's going to be as excited. When I told my VA who does my social media that I was writing the book, he was so excited. If he had a pom pom, he'd be raising it. And he did the book cover. And it was like, he was like,
What else do you need? Do you need this? Do you need that? Like he came with so many ideas that I was like, yes, you're getting it. Like, so he's like, I can do this. I can do this. I can do this so that you can do that. And he brought that excitement to the project and afterwards, right? Like, how do we promote this? What do I need to create graphically wise? Right? We can do this kind of thing and this kind of thing. And it was amazing because he's not
you know, like he knew my business well enough by that point to go, yes, that is exactly the right direction for you and I'm with you. I'm on board.
Speaker 2 (46:09)
Huh?
Speaker 1 (46:11)
That's what I say, like you wanna build that relationship so that as the easy to let go things get let go, you're building that trust to where you know you're cultivating a partner that's on the journey with you who is just as excited for the direction you're going as you get to be.
Speaker 2 (46:32)
Yeah, that's incredible. ⁓ my goodness. You're amazing. I know there are people that are listening that really want to continue a conversation with you. Can you share a little bit about your book and how people can connect with you?
Speaker 1 (46:48)
So I will give you my link tree. Perfect. Because all my links are there. the links for the book, the podcast, and then how to email me and reach out to me. If you learn by listening, go to the podcast. Season one will take you through mindset to onboarding. If you're a do-it-yourselfer and you want the how-to guide, get the book.
It'll take you chapter one's mindset all the way to onboarding. If you're more hands-on and you need to talk about it, to ask the questions verbally, I have a talk it through sessions, pick my brain sessions and coaching. So wherever you are on your journey, I can help. I can help answer questions.
you do all of this and you're like, okay, I know what I'm looking for. I'm cultivating a directory of virtual assistants and specialists so that I can bridge the gap and give referrals so that you can go through the process and interview different VAs to find the right fit. So I have, I bridged the gap. I'm like, yes, see a need, fill a need. I know VAs, I can meet clients.
And I love it when, if I'm not the right fit for you, that I can offer the referrals to someone who might be.
Speaker 2 (48:23)
my gosh, that's amazing. I love the bridging the gap. Thank you so much, Rachel, for this conversation. It's been incredible and I'm so excited for people to listen.
Speaker 1 (48:35)
Thank you for having me.
Landy Peek (48:37)
Rachel, thank you. This conversation brought a lot of clarity to something I think a lot of people quietly struggle with. If you're listening and you felt that frustration trying to get support in place, here's what I want you to know. It's not a personal failure. Most people were never taught to hire for the kind of help they actually need or how to set the relationship up so it works. So keep it simple. Before you hire, get clear on what you need in this season.
Do you need someone who can take clear tasks and execute them consistently? Or do you need someone who can think with you, ask the right questions, and help translate the ideas into a plan? That one distinction will save you time, money, and a lot of unnecessary friction. If you want to connect with Rachel, you'll find all of her links down in the podcast show notes.
And if you know someone who keeps saying, need help, but hiring never seems to work out for me, send them this episode. It will change how they approach support from here on out. I want to thank you for being here and doing something incredible for you that will definitely change your life.
And I am so grateful that you are here and that you are in my life. Thank you so much for listening. This is Landy Peak, and I will talk to you on the next episode.
Speaker 2 (49:55)
Hey, before you go, just a little bit of legal. This podcast is designed for educational purposes only. It is not to replace any expert advice from your doctors, therapists, coaches, or any other professional that you would work with. It's just a chat with a friend, me, where we get curious about ideas, thoughts, and things that are going on in our lives.
As we're talking about friends, if you know someone who would benefit from a conversation today, please share because I think the more that we open up these conversations, the more benefit we all get. So until next time, give yourself a big hug from me and stay curious because that's the fun in this world.
