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This is Kevin Pruitt with another episode of
rising tide startups. I have a very special
guest with me today, Lizzie Brooks, Lizzie. Thanks
for joining us on rising tide.
Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
So I I don't wanna be presumptive. So
do you go by, Lizzie or It? Okay.
Alright. Well... Yeah. I should've have asked you
that before I hit the big red record
button, but,
hey. If you and I met, like, at
a at a business networking
event. How would you introduce yourself to me?
I would say, hi. I'm Lizzie. I own
a virtual assistant
agency.
Had my agency since 20 18,
and we have a team of over 50
virtual assistants. I'll waste out of the United
States.
All Us base.
Yes.
Yeah. We only work with you based clients
and assistance. That is, in the Va space,
and I... I'm a newbie. Into the Va
space. So it's really interesting because they, you
know, there's almost like 2 schools of thought.
There's like, 2 philosophies. There's, like, we are
only Us based or that, you know,
all of our Ba are are, yeah, international.
So... Yeah. What was the... I mean, when
you first started this, was there something that
that kind of led you to have a
conviction or an ethos 1 way or the
other? Yes. So there's probably 2 things. I
was working corporate
jobs for
industries that. I wasn't necessarily, like, in love
with, but I was Good at, like, logistics.
I can... I logistics has always been, like,
my J.
But I started in the Va world, like,
around 20 17, 20 18.
And
I
had friends that had successful, like, Etsy businesses.
It was a very, like, thought thing to
have of and I just was so jealous
because I was, like, what could I... I'm
not crafty like, at all. So I was
like, what could I do
from home and, like, be in charge of
my own time and schedule because I was
recently married, I had stepped,
we wanted to have, like, a family. Mh.
But I was commuting an hour and a
half Mh. Each each way. I was working
for jobs that
needed me to network guys in business development.
So, you know, it wasn't just the 9
to 5. It was, like, the late hours
it was the long commute. There was a
lot that went into it. So
I
I met somebody who was just kind of
breaking out into the Va world herself. Trying
to gave me that foundational
start to understand
All the things I do for all these
other corporations, I could just be doing for
myself and implement that and with, like, my
skills and talents from, you know, 18 years
of.
So
that's kinda what broke me into it, and
then,
I saw with the background that I have,
a business development in networking.
I felt comfortable and confident that I could
hone into my network, and I kind of
just
veer off and started my own...
Started my own thing, and never looked back
also never gave my child myself, like, a
chance to
fail. Right. So it was... I had my
corporate job at
an asset management firm, and, I gave my
2 weeks, and that was it. Like, there
was no plan in place. I literally went
for it. No gold parachute. No.
No. We burned the boats. We. Yeah. It
was just we're all do it and do
it great because you got bills to pay.
Well, I I think sometimes that, you know,
hunger is a great motivator for
success. You know?
I have a philosophy about entrepreneurship that you
have to have 2 things. You have to
have the fear of failure and you have
to have the success of... Or the reward
of success,
You built into that. And and
to really thrive. But how did you how
did you decide that we're only gonna use
Us based Va versus, you know, hey, we
could maybe do this cheaper if we did
went to the fill Pee or India or
Thailand. Yeah. You know, fill in the blank.
So I don't know if it was necessarily,
like,
a goal straight from the beginning, but in
20 20 is when I went from being,
like, a solo
entrepreneur
to to having my first son and needing
to bring somebody on to help cover while
I was gonna take an maternity to leave,
but then 20 money happened and
the rest Mh. Or the rest of it
its history just because that that really boomed
our industry. Yeah. So I didn't a maternity
leave. I brought on a close friend who
is still with us today. She's she's now
our business development manager.
And we just kind of, like, hand in
hand worked off of what we felt was
in our comfort zone. But really, I guess
1 of the biggest factors is we have
honed into a specific set of industries and
skills.
That we felt
the best form of communication is within
an hour or 2 of your client. And
we've
I haven't personally worked with assistance
overseas, but
I'm very proud to be an American to
have an American
based company. And to me, I wanna be
able to support
women in
positions that I was in that we're looking
to
contribute to their family, but have that freedom
and flexibility.
And so I guess there's was, like, a
few
kind of aspects of why we've always stayed
United States base,
But really, I think 1 of the biggest
key factors is while, we are very
communicated with our clients.
We have found that being within, like, a
reasonable time zone just makes that easier and
a more streamlined
approach.
And, you're on talking travel time. You're talking
about time zones Like... Time zones. Okay. Is
there is there any advantage to be even
to being close enough that they could meet
face to face if needed... As have you
experienced that at all? A little bit. We
are a virtual based
companies. So we do really try to draw
that line very clearly. Sure.
However,
on the flip side, we tend to have
really long lasting
relationships with our clients and
our assistants that are paired with our clients
love that rapport that is built. So I
have clients who fly their assistance out
at, like, the year end or
throughout the year to do, like, celebratory
get together. Mh. So we don't stop that
because, obviously, we want them to continue that
bond in
relationships. So I have people who will find
them out for, like, a full spa retreat
weekend because they hit their goals and they
met their metrics and things like that. I
also have clients
who come to Arizona a lot, just either
on business or or pleasure.
So if we do have, like, an Arizona
based assistant for them, you know, then they'll
they'll meet up. They'll take them to lunch
and like that. So We... At our agency,
don't do in person
related tasks. Mh.
But we can handle all the the remote
tasks.
III love that. The idea that, you know,
there is some kind of
celebration or benefit, you know, that they can
add. If... Hey, You hit those metrics or
e even just just faithful service. You know?
Yeah You you you show up every day.
You you deliver things on time. I mean,
point market we ask, but... Yeah. Say, we
kinda have a tagline line, I guess, that's
just basically, if you treat your assistance, like,
they're an extension of your team, in turn,
we're able to treat your business like our
own. So
we kinda pride ourselves on that that if
you build that trust with us, like, we're
here to support you 100 percent. So it
actually brings me so much joy when clients
say. Is it okay if I, you know,
fly them out for a weekend or, you
know, get them a gift whatever they always
ask me, like, what do they like or,
you know, what what would make their day?
And so I love when I get that
because then I know that
everybody has bought in to the way that
we want them to be. Yeah. Yeah. And
it... And it's really interesting. I mean, like
I said, I'm I'm a newbie to this
space. But it it does seem like that
what I've seen so far is that they
quickly become a team member. 0II mean, it's
just like yeah. It's not like a it's
a a contractor that we're hiring to just
to provide a service. I mean, there really
is a relational side of this, you know,
that that is very important too. So
you say you started in 2018
kind of launched in 2018.
But was the initial goal, hey. I I
just want to, like,
broker my my own services out as a
virtual assistant. That's my goal. I wanna... I
wanna kind of try to replace as much
as of my previous salary as I can,
kinda have a little time freedom, Have a
life, you know, work life balanced thing going
on.
Was that the goal?
That was the initial goal. The initial goal
was just does not commute to be here
for my daughters at the time they're they're
now outgrown.
But it it was really just to kind
of be more family focused.
And then
with 20 20 happening and having my first
son and
the rapid
referrals and growth that we received, there was
no
it it wasn't... It would've have been, like,
a mistake to just be, like, sorry. I'm
built right. Like, it was, like, in it
just was it was so fast paced, especially
in the summer of 20 20 that it
was just Go go go. And what can
we do to keep up? So it's nothing
what I set out for in the beginning,
but I truly feel like the universe had,
like, a better, bigger plan for me and
my family and that
meeting the person who brought me into virtual
the students was that catalyst
to then just it just, like, open
the key to the city for a future
that. I'm very very blessed to have. Yeah.
Well, and III mean, it's
nobody on on listening to this is gonna
make any assumptions says it just happened. You
know? I mean, there... There's a lot of
hard work to that went in to organizing
and, you know, calling on all the previous
jobs that you had, you know, all the
skills that you brought to the table. But
what
what do you think was the the biggest
surprise
when you transition from being, you know, it's
kind of a 1 person job? I'm I'm,
I'm a Va to, like, now I'm running
an agency. What is the biggest, like, wow.
Moment you had that you're thinking and I
had no idea this is gonna happen?
Well, being that I did not have, like,
a business degree or any
clue, I think just
being fortunate that
I've always followed my intuition to who kind
of, like, guide all the decisions in my
life. But really guiding these business decisions,
I think some of the things that have
stuck out to me is
And I think this is where a lot
of business owners can
understand the flip side of this. So in
order to take on clients,
you need assistance. Right? Like, to grow. Mh.
But in order to get assistance,
you need clients. So it's, like, what comes
first? Like, a chicken or that egg. 22
that's right. Yeah. So if, like, I think
that business owners, especially maybe smaller businesses
they feel that same thing. Like, I know
I need help. I know I need an
assistant,
but I need the work to back the
pay for the sit. Mh. So that was,
like, that's always been. I wish I had
a magic
8 ball that said you're gonna get 10
new referrals next month. You better have, like,
that capacity to keep up. Yep. Because we
just don't know some summers, for example, are
really slow and some summers
like this summer has been, you know, pretty
fast paced to again. And so
I have just brought on recently
10 new team members,
and now
6 weeks later I'm like, oh my gosh,
I think that we need
some more team members.
Because a lot of our team members, they
start off part time, and then they build
up a client roster, but
we've recently been
blessed to have some larger clients that are
a hundred and 60 hours a month, and
that takes like a larger team to accomplish
when on average our normal retainer, like, 20
hours a month. So. You know, when you
don't know
what awesome referral you're gonna get next. It's
kind of, like, again
do you hurry up and train the next
kind of group of people to take on
the next referrals?
Or is it gonna slow down. So I
think that's always my... You know, I'm always
gonna work hard make sure that we're gonna
meet the needs and the capacity.
So sometimes it just feels like this teeter
powder for at least.
I... You touched on something really interesting. And
I I'm I am
absolutely
blind in this area, But so
you you talked about, you know, some... We
have a retainer of 20 hours a month
versus hundred and 60 hours a month or
whatever.
I would guess. This is them this is
a guess. I would guess the average business
owner out there. If you ask them,
how much time does this take this task
that you think, you know, you need to
outsource type thing that they wouldn't have a
clue off the bat. They would... It's somewhere
between 5 and 30 hours.
Yeah or whatever. So How do you how
do you coach clients
you know, through that,
I'll let you answer that 1 and then
I got a follow question on top of
that. So to us through how you would
help a client find that that equilibrium.
So in
in my opinion, it's always less than they
think.
So
oftentimes... So my agency, we primary, like, we
hope all business and owners of all sizes.
However, we specialize in attorneys
Cpa book
bookkeeper and wealth management.
So we have that industry pretty... Those industries
pretty, like, honed in. And when an attorney
comes to me and says, I had a
40 hour, we employee, I know I need
40 hours a week,
I need... You know, I need this, like,
yesterday.
Okay.
I'm gonna sell you the lowest package
because we can add on from there, but
I'm not gonna take your money for hours
that aren't used and hours in our business
and our agency don't roll over. So I'm
always gonna sell them the lowest which is
20 hours a month, Not 40 hours a
week.
Because
as that dating process happens and we get
to, like, the 90 days where everything is
just like, up and running and every... All
the momentum, Everything's clicking
9 times out of 10. They've
they've accomplished with our team, a fraction of
what the hours that they said.
Their employee was working.
So I always challenge that off the bat
because when you're paying somebody's 40 hour a
month salary or 40 hour week salary,
not everybody, but I can almost guarantee
not everybody is actually documenting 40
actual working hours.
But when you're working with us, and we
have contracted hours,
we... To the minute we'll write down
everything.
So everything is documented down to the minute
it's a minute email if it's hour long
task, and we have it on a time
card. So the girls that work for me
only get paid off of the minutes and
the hours that they work.
And
they're gonna be honest about that because they
don't wanna lose
that income. Right? They don't wanna lose. They
don't wanna jeopardize that. And our goal is
always to be efficient, but be timely and
aware of everyone's budget. So for us,
I can always almost guarantee
your 40 hour employee, hour week employee is
not working 40 hours, and I can save
you some time and money.
By getting you a Va?
I mean, is that using, like, a time
tracker software type thing where you're
Yeah. Yeah. So there are time tracking
tools out there.
We have created our own, and
we have created our own
time cards and our own tracking system.
That's just, like, prior today proprietary to Virtually
Brooks. Mh.
And it has, like, a running total and
it the client has access to that as
well.
So... Alright. Let's say that you bill me
20 hours a a month.
Let's say the Va does it in 18
and a half.
Am I credited back an hour and a
half or is that just kind of the
contract you signed and we just happen to
be more efficient.
So our hours do not roll over.
But I wouldn't let a client get to
the end of the month without giving me
enough work to make sure that we're matching
that 20 hours.
So
we we we will find we will find
you a project to make sure that we're
hitting.
We will find the assistant in a project
to make sure that we're hitting those numbers.
It's almost impossible not to use 20 hours
a month with the work that we do
just because
we already have, like, a list of recommendations
on what your industry
could utilize an assistant for.
So right off the bat, we do our
kickoff call. We establish what your needs are.
So we go through
a whole brainstorming
delegation process. I talk a lot in my
agency about, like, the art delegation. So I
will coach the client
On making sure that we're reaching those goals.
Once they really get a hang of that
art of delegation,
that 90 days comes, and they're, like, Oh
my gosh. I cannot believe I did not
do this sooner, and then we help them
again, reach those goals and match what they're
looking for. Mh. So in our agency, they
can go up in hours without any penalties
or fees or anything like that. It's just
the same hourly rate. But we don't go
below the 20 hours.
But I promise you we won't make sure
those 20 hours get used.
So who's tracking that.
Is that Lizzie Brooks Ceo?
Yeah.
So I have myself. I have Casey, who
is our operations and business and, it's kind
of a Mh. A mixed role. So
between the 2 of us, we oversee all
of our clients and all of our assistance.
But We do have a middle row. We
have
supervisors that help oversee each of our teams.
So
at Virtually Brooks. We actually do everything in
teams of 2, which is kinda what is
our unique
differentiator
So when you're working with us, you have
2 assistants. They work as 1,
and they divide and conquer tasks in an
efficient manner.
And so we have kicked me, Casey,
a team of supervisors
and a whole structured team of virtual assistance,
and then
we have
specialties of
this group works in, like, a marketing aspect,
this group works in an administrative aspect.
And then from there, it's broken down these
people work with attorneys. These people work with
Cpa.
These people are a little bit more general
because, honestly, administrative work is
administrative work. It's just kind of the flavor
of your business and what changes that.
And then we have, like, podcasts, marketing
and pitching is kinda done by a different
team of people. So we haven't it really
broken out and structured,
which is something that we've really refined over
these last 4 years since it's become, like,
an agency more than just myself.
So you you do podcast booking or what...
What's this... That service?
So we do have a podcast
pitching and
we we have 1 person who does podcast
editing.
It's a very, very small portion of what
we do. But we do out 2 people
who do that, and then we have some
people on our team that do podcast pitching
as well as keynote pitching.
The more I ask you, the more these
the the tentacles of the octopus were growing
here. Yeah. We have a we... We really
refine and what we do, but we do
have, like, some pillars, some differentiated pillars that
maybe some agencies is
the, you know, they may just be general
admin or or they may hone in on
a specific skill set. Right.
Well, I am just now starting to peel
back the layers of of virtually brooks here,
but we're gonna take a quick break right
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We are back.
Lizzie, thank you again for joining us on
rising tide. It's been a pleasure to chat
with you the first part of our podcast,
but now we're gonna take a little deeper
dive. We're gonna we're gonna talk about some
lessons learned, you know, since 2018,
2019 20 20 20. Whenever you you kind
of
transitioned and, you know, meta
from the the... Out of the the butterfly
up here to running your own agency here.
So what are some some just as you
look back, what are some things that you
wish you would have known, what are 1
or 2 just really key things meant. I
wish I I'd had known that in 20
20. I know today,
that would be the game changing.
So
a couple things come to mind, 1,
when I first started
having people join as an agency.
I,
the times are different. I mean, it's only
been 4 years, but, like,
4 or 5 years ago, we were only
paying contractors, like, 13 to 15 dollars an
hour. Right? Like, or minimum wage was, like,
in that realm. And then it's grown so
much. So knowing, I guess, how to properly
scale with the economy's,
scaling,
you know, everything that we've gone through as
a as as a country.
Obviously, didn't see any of that coming. So
I didn't know how to, like, navigate it.
We've navigated it fine.
But just looking back, it it's always surprising
like, wow. We've come a really far away
in what feels like, a really short amount
of years.
But then
we're... Like, just... We have really honed in
and
and really to defined our training and our
interview and training processes.
I used to think, like, Oh, it's okay.
You don't have, like, a ton of experience.
Like, I'll just teach you. And in the
beginning, maybe that was okay because like, we
really had a couple of us. Mh.
I don't necessarily... I I always want to
always help. Like, I am that person that's,
like, you get a job and you get
a job and you get do... Like, I
want everybody to, like, be doing what we're
doing, and I want you to have that
fulfillment.
However,
since we have really scaled up to some
what I think are, like, high class industries,
we really have to bring
high class experience. Yep.
And so we've really changed the way that
we do our interviews, and then that really
weeds out the people who
maybe just don't match the skill set that
we're looking for these days. And then
if they get through what's, like, a 7
process
interview,
then they go through our training. And then
we've really built out
much better training and more efficient with, you
know, video recordings, and things like that. We're
we're being much better with our time management
from a leadership perspective.
And then from there, you know, we coach
and train always along the way.
But that's been a huge game changer is
having the discernment to say, okay. We can't
take everybody as much as, like, I want
to provide this freedom and flexibility for everybody.
It does come with a different
Just expectation, I guess. Yep. And so I
have very high expectations of what I want
my agency to reflect,
as much as I don't ever hope I
have to go back to a corporate job.
I want to keep the corporate standards
Mh. Or professionalism and showing up and speaking
and doing in a really corporate professional manner,
because I do feel like our industry has,
like this
this maybe vibe where it's, like, oh, you're
a virtual assistant. You just work on a
beach and, you know, dream smart, you know,
Yeah Big fruity cock channel about day. Stay
stand in my last. Thank. Work and... Yeah.
So I do feel like
some people when they think of a virtual
assistant they either think.
Freedom and flexibility means, oh, they're just, like,
off doing,
traveling the world, which maybe that is for
some people,
maybe not on my team, but you know,
we have a corporate C. Mh. Making sure
that there's no distractions. We ensure you're unsecured
Internet and
and secure places. So you're not j, like,
client's information and things like that. So
that's something that I feel like we've really
really fixed and
just
made it easier. So we are confident when
working with our clients that we have the
people that they're looking for. Mh.
It's
and you you talked a little bit about,
you know, you you can serve a lot
of people, but you kind of focus on,
you know, these specific areas where it's financial
whether it's legal.
How did you
arrive at
I mean, did you ask other Va agencies
like, what's the split? Like, if we're charging
25 dollars an hour, how much of that
goes to the virtual assistant. How much of
that do we need to have for the
kind of the back office, taxes,
and
operations, whatever. Is there a kind of a
magic percentage that, you know, across the industry.
He's 70 30, something like that. What is
the... What is kinda
I was just navigating getting that very blindly,
like, the first couple of years.
I think 1 of the best things I
ever did for
myself was hire an incredible,
Cpa, but bookkeeping firm that handles
that aspect and and could could help me
understand
where to allocate money what to do with
my money,
you know, how to make
the money work for our business. Mh. So
I've learn a lot about just the the
back end of, like, running a business. From
from that perspective. But then in 20 23,
I did bring on a virtual Cfo.
And
that is the person that, her name is
Danielle. She's incredible.
And she... We worked all year on
learning what
learning what services need to be priced
in in what way. So
if it's a package service,
how to work out how many hours that
would be,
so you're not losing money or if it's
an hourly service,
what that needs to be to in order
to
pay a healthy wage as well as make
a profit. Mh. So hiring a virtual Cfo,
in addition to already having
the Cpm bookkeeper. Right. I would say those
3 people
are really filling in the gap of where
it's not that I... It's not that I
don't understand it. I understand it fine now.
But I'm a big believer in, like, putting
the right person in the right seat for
the right job, no matter if that's assistant
or if that's a seat... You know, a
cfo. So
I am not skilled as a Cfo, and
so I think putting that person
in that seat. She's a virtual fractional Cfo.
Mh. It's, like, how you can... How I
have built
what I feel like it's a successful business
without having to maybe learn some hard lessons
on my own. It was list... The lesson
was, get the person for the job and
make it work. So
that's that's with my experience.
But this is there a is there a
generic
you know, I I know it's up and
down. There some people will be higher, some
it'd be lower. Is there AAA...
Like, almost an
industry
expected split,
you know, whether it's...
Is it 70 30? Is it 60 47
20 is it
I don't know exactly because
something I've kind of pride myself on is
I don't really
Don't really network with a lot of other
agencies or
virtual assistance.
So if I'm being fully transparent,
I don't know what other people are pricing
at. I don't actually know
where they
do a split. I know the person who
led me into this industry with her
agency that she was starting,
she did, like, for every... So you had
to you had to bring the client to
the agency. And then
you would work it, and it was, like,
you were able to use that business name
So you paid, like, a percentage back. Almost
like, a franchise type thing. Yeah. Yeah. So
So in my agency, we kinda do the
opposite. Like, we bring in the clients and
then we find the right person on our
team, and we were it differently.
So that's the only other experience I know.
And then I do know a few solo
virtual assistants who
when I've coached them, I've just given them
the advice to niche down in your industry
and then figure out what what what that
price point is for your industries. So for
us, like, working with attorneys, their hourly rate
is gonna be a lot different than
you know,
a candle business who just means signs to
do, like, the back end. True. So their
price points are different. So I don't think
in my opinion, I don't know if there's
is, like, a standard.
I... Our agency, if you're brand new and
with less experience, we pay anywhere between 18
to 25 dollars an hour, and they're all
29
in
Right.
And,
if you're if you're coaching a just a
a Va, like somebody is out on their
own. Mh. Do you say, hey, you need
to plan on
30 percent of this is gonna go to
taxes and business expenses and operations and...
Yeah. I usually tell them,
obviously, consult Cpa, but,
I say, you know, for me anywhere, you
know, when I was just a Solo Va,
I used to try to see 20 to
30
percent for the tax purposes
being that you're a 10 99 contractor.
And then I just always advise, like, don't
bite off more than you can chew. I
never went into any business debt. I know
a lot of people who have and they've
they've worked that out, and it's fine, but
I always say, like, there's always gonna be
those shiny things. There's always gonna be a
conference Or there's always gonna be a a
tool or a program or something. But if
you can't afford it today,
just work towards it, like, work towards getting
and building and
a lot of people have come to me
as a new va,
How do you do it? How do you
start? And I'll I'll give them in my
advice it's always, like, niche down, figure out
what industries you wanna be in.
But then from there, then they do that,
then they come back to me and say,
okay. Now how do I scale? Like, how
do I... And then it goes back to
what we said before is. That chicken or
the egg. Like, Right. How do I afford
to bring on the next member of my
team,
knowing that I don't know what my income
is gonna be. So
that's always like, that next level of
advice and risk of cost associated with it.
So Yeah.
That III love that that idea that says,
you know, hey,
I know I need help, but I need
clients to afford help. To afford to pay
the health. So it's it is like, a...
It's a vicious cycle. But... Yeah. I I
just wanna ask 1 more thing, and then
I'll I'll ask you for any any closing
thoughts you have. But
do you ever outsource the outsource?
Like, do you ever, like, are there tasks
that are... And III
please
forgive me fumbling through this question, but and
I certainly don't wanna be meaning to anybody.
But, you know, there are certain tasks that
that virtually anyone can do. They're just... They're
just time consuming and repetitive and and they're
not worth 35 dollars an hour. You know?
They... But they'd need to get done somehow.
So are there are there times where you
would say, you know, what? We have a
virtual assistant that is billing... You know, we're
billing it 35 dollars an hour or whatever
for their services, but there are tasks in
there that are about a 5 dollar an
hour task or a 10 dollar an hours
task that we could, like, outsource
you know, from at being outsourced. Does that
make sense? Like, have somebody that's even, like,
the second degree doing part of the work
for that Va.
Yeah.
So in our agency, we
really work on
making ourselves
worth
the smallest task to the largest task, being
that,
we're reliable, we're transparent
or efficient. So for us, we
we teach and coach, that's part of, like,
the the art of delegation, even if it
is AA5 dollar task or a 5 minute
task,
the more you can learn to let go
as the business owner. Mh. The more you're
going to see value in getting time back
to focus on those income producing tasks... It's
a good way handle. Time with your family,
if that's time to grow the next arm
of your business, if it
you know, time back just to have that
balance so you're not working
nights and weekends and whatever.
So we don't really look at task as,
a dollar
value as much as, like, the service is
adding a value because the more you can
offload,
and the more you can learn to let
go as the business owner, the more you're
going to get
that
back by
investing into your business to yourself. So
for us, you know, if you are a
Cpa,
we will lower that retainer. So
in the busier seasons, it's 20 plus hours
a month. But in, like, July,
there's not as much to do. Right? There's
always something to do. We'll find things to
do. We'll we'll do cleanup. We'll do organizing,
file management, things like that, email management,
But
we will give a break to certain industries
just so they don't feel like they have
to stop and start and stop and start.
So that way, we have long last in
relationships. So we'll lower our retainer for something
like that.
But we personally... Like, if somebody's looking for
a recommendation on
let's say,
a podcast
editor, and our... We only take on very
few of that just because we only have
a few people who do it. So I
will give them some recommendations of other places,
but,
we don't necessarily... And from our perspective,
look at things like,
lesser task is a lesser dollar amount. It's
just more investing in your business and and
investing and getting that
getting your business to make you money.
And, I mean I can also see... You
know, if if you if you work with
me for a while, you probably are even
gonna
I have a value add speaking into how
I can do things more efficiently even in
my own business. So
yeah... That's been my experience in hiring a
Va. So yeah.
Oftentimes it's, like, we're not here to reinvent
the wheel. But if you like enhancements,
we're always here to give shifts. Exactly right.
And and knowledge will experience basic suggestions. Not
just guesses. So... Yeah. Yeah. Alright. Well, I
tell you what folks. If if you listen
to this and watch this on Youtube, you
can see that she has this dialed in.
We in an amazing way. So,
in a, in a, very a short period
of time. So kudos to you, lizzie for
all the work you put into this, and
I know that you've... You know, no person
doing this alone. So it there's... It's certainly
is a team effort. But,
how would you like to just wrap us
up today? And then, if you just wanna
tell people who are the best place to
find you? Yeah. Well, thank you so much
for this opportunity. I really appreciate it.
We are
at virtually Brooks on all the social. So
Instagram, we have a freebie and our link
our bio. You can get a freebie for
our social media templates.
You can do a consultation through that link
as well.
But, yeah, we're just virtually brooks dot com.
And we're just very grateful to share what
we do and why we do it, and
I appreciate you reaching out to us.
Lizzie, it's been a been a great chat
today. This is been 1 of the best
ones we've had a long time is that
that we Cram so much into such a
short period time. So I I highly encourage
you to do podcast
interviews in the future do more of them
because because you're gifted in that space for
sure. But yeah. Just to check out virtually
brooks dot com, and like you said and
and all the socials, and I... You know,
our listeners love you to to go by
and then check out their services. But, Lizzie,
thank you again for just taking time today.
Brought right here is we're head into a
weekend and just helping all boats rise and
a rising tide. Have a great weekend.
Thank you so much.
I hope you heard some great takeaways from
our guests today. Make sure you reach out
to them and thank you again for playing
your part to helping All boat tries at
a rising tide.