1 00:00:00,837 --> 00:00:03,390 This is the rising tide startup podcast where 2 00:00:03,390 --> 00:00:05,305 we wechat with startup up founders from all 3 00:00:05,305 --> 00:00:07,195 over the globe to help you escape the 4 00:00:07,314 --> 00:00:09,382 people and begin your own startup up journey. 5 00:00:09,859 --> 00:00:10,893 Make sure you take notes. 6 00:00:13,359 --> 00:00:16,403 Every episode rising tide startups is sponsored by 7 00:00:16,403 --> 00:00:19,513 pod brand media. Let pod brand create and 8 00:00:19,513 --> 00:00:21,528 host your company branded podcast. 9 00:00:22,145 --> 00:00:24,553 Learn more at pod brand media dot com. 10 00:00:25,829 --> 00:00:27,903 This is Kevin Pruitt with another episode of 11 00:00:27,903 --> 00:00:30,136 rising tide startups. I have a very special 12 00:00:30,136 --> 00:00:32,130 guest with me today, Lizzie Brooks, Lizzie. Thanks 13 00:00:32,130 --> 00:00:33,566 for joining us on rising tide. 14 00:00:34,218 --> 00:00:36,287 Thank you for having me. I appreciate it. 15 00:00:36,765 --> 00:00:38,834 So I I don't wanna be presumptive. So 16 00:00:38,834 --> 00:00:41,461 do you go by, Lizzie or It? Okay. 17 00:00:41,874 --> 00:00:43,630 Alright. Well... Yeah. I should've have asked you 18 00:00:43,630 --> 00:00:45,307 that before I hit the big red record 19 00:00:45,307 --> 00:00:45,786 button, but, 20 00:00:46,903 --> 00:00:48,420 hey. If you and I met, like, at 21 00:00:48,420 --> 00:00:50,117 a at a business networking 22 00:00:50,496 --> 00:00:52,982 event. How would you introduce yourself to me? 23 00:00:53,779 --> 00:00:56,408 I would say, hi. I'm Lizzie. I own 24 00:00:56,408 --> 00:00:57,625 a virtual assistant 25 00:00:58,002 --> 00:00:58,241 agency. 26 00:00:58,814 --> 00:01:00,805 Had my agency since 20 18, 27 00:01:01,601 --> 00:01:04,491 and we have a team of over 50 28 00:01:04,549 --> 00:01:06,540 virtual assistants. I'll waste out of the United 29 00:01:06,779 --> 00:01:07,018 States. 30 00:01:07,989 --> 00:01:08,868 All Us base. 31 00:01:09,747 --> 00:01:09,987 Yes. 32 00:01:10,626 --> 00:01:13,184 Yeah. We only work with you based clients 33 00:01:13,184 --> 00:01:15,981 and assistance. That is, in the Va space, 34 00:01:16,141 --> 00:01:18,307 and I... I'm a newbie. Into the Va 35 00:01:18,307 --> 00:01:20,372 space. So it's really interesting because they, you 36 00:01:20,372 --> 00:01:21,961 know, there's almost like 2 schools of thought. 37 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:24,423 There's like, 2 philosophies. There's, like, we are 38 00:01:24,423 --> 00:01:26,330 only Us based or that, you know, 39 00:01:27,218 --> 00:01:29,834 all of our Ba are are, yeah, international. 40 00:01:30,072 --> 00:01:32,211 So... Yeah. What was the... I mean, when 41 00:01:32,211 --> 00:01:34,564 you first started this, was there something that 42 00:01:34,763 --> 00:01:37,406 that kind of led you to have a 43 00:01:37,462 --> 00:01:39,605 conviction or an ethos 1 way or the 44 00:01:39,605 --> 00:01:43,280 other? Yes. So there's probably 2 things. I 45 00:01:43,588 --> 00:01:44,802 was working corporate 46 00:01:45,334 --> 00:01:46,468 jobs for 47 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:49,379 industries that. I wasn't necessarily, like, in love 48 00:01:49,379 --> 00:01:51,780 with, but I was Good at, like, logistics. 49 00:01:52,179 --> 00:01:54,412 I can... I logistics has always been, like, 50 00:01:54,731 --> 00:01:55,209 my J. 51 00:01:55,847 --> 00:01:57,841 But I started in the Va world, like, 52 00:01:58,000 --> 00:01:59,436 around 20 17, 20 18. 53 00:02:00,090 --> 00:02:00,590 And 54 00:02:01,209 --> 00:02:01,709 I 55 00:02:02,170 --> 00:02:05,049 had friends that had successful, like, Etsy businesses. 56 00:02:05,290 --> 00:02:07,049 It was a very, like, thought thing to 57 00:02:07,049 --> 00:02:09,134 have of and I just was so jealous 58 00:02:09,134 --> 00:02:10,965 because I was, like, what could I... I'm 59 00:02:10,965 --> 00:02:13,273 not crafty like, at all. So I was 60 00:02:13,273 --> 00:02:14,728 like, what could I do 61 00:02:15,119 --> 00:02:17,915 from home and, like, be in charge of 62 00:02:17,915 --> 00:02:20,312 my own time and schedule because I was 63 00:02:20,312 --> 00:02:22,205 recently married, I had stepped, 64 00:02:22,962 --> 00:02:24,956 we wanted to have, like, a family. Mh. 65 00:02:25,115 --> 00:02:26,790 But I was commuting an hour and a 66 00:02:26,790 --> 00:02:29,900 half Mh. Each each way. I was working 67 00:02:29,900 --> 00:02:31,356 for jobs that 68 00:02:31,828 --> 00:02:33,902 needed me to network guys in business development. 69 00:02:34,141 --> 00:02:35,976 So, you know, it wasn't just the 9 70 00:02:35,976 --> 00:02:37,810 to 5. It was, like, the late hours 71 00:02:37,810 --> 00:02:39,725 it was the long commute. There was a 72 00:02:39,725 --> 00:02:41,341 lot that went into it. So 73 00:02:41,732 --> 00:02:42,209 I 74 00:02:42,606 --> 00:02:44,195 I met somebody who was just kind of 75 00:02:44,195 --> 00:02:46,736 breaking out into the Va world herself. Trying 76 00:02:46,736 --> 00:02:48,269 to gave me that foundational 77 00:02:48,642 --> 00:02:50,175 start to understand 78 00:02:51,278 --> 00:02:52,711 All the things I do for all these 79 00:02:52,711 --> 00:02:55,657 other corporations, I could just be doing for 80 00:02:55,657 --> 00:02:58,283 myself and implement that and with, like, my 81 00:02:58,283 --> 00:03:00,612 skills and talents from, you know, 18 years 82 00:03:00,612 --> 00:03:01,112 of. 83 00:03:02,290 --> 00:03:02,790 So 84 00:03:03,249 --> 00:03:05,006 that's kinda what broke me into it, and 85 00:03:05,006 --> 00:03:05,166 then, 86 00:03:06,538 --> 00:03:08,689 I saw with the background that I have, 87 00:03:08,768 --> 00:03:10,521 a business development in networking. 88 00:03:11,317 --> 00:03:14,518 I felt comfortable and confident that I could 89 00:03:14,518 --> 00:03:16,031 hone into my network, and I kind of 90 00:03:16,031 --> 00:03:16,531 just 91 00:03:16,987 --> 00:03:18,739 veer off and started my own... 92 00:03:19,695 --> 00:03:21,900 Started my own thing, and never looked back 93 00:03:22,019 --> 00:03:23,924 also never gave my child myself, like, a 94 00:03:23,924 --> 00:03:24,741 chance to 95 00:03:25,512 --> 00:03:28,131 fail. Right. So it was... I had my 96 00:03:28,131 --> 00:03:29,425 corporate job at 97 00:03:30,371 --> 00:03:33,075 an asset management firm, and, I gave my 98 00:03:33,075 --> 00:03:34,984 2 weeks, and that was it. Like, there 99 00:03:34,984 --> 00:03:37,783 was no plan in place. I literally went 100 00:03:37,783 --> 00:03:39,852 for it. No gold parachute. No. 101 00:03:40,647 --> 00:03:43,352 No. We burned the boats. We. Yeah. It 102 00:03:43,352 --> 00:03:45,682 was just we're all do it and do 103 00:03:45,682 --> 00:03:47,759 it great because you got bills to pay. 104 00:03:48,718 --> 00:03:50,795 Well, I I think sometimes that, you know, 105 00:03:51,208 --> 00:03:53,538 hunger is a great motivator for 106 00:03:53,913 --> 00:03:54,629 success. You know? 107 00:03:55,424 --> 00:03:57,811 I have a philosophy about entrepreneurship that you 108 00:03:57,811 --> 00:03:59,739 have to have 2 things. You have to 109 00:03:59,739 --> 00:04:01,414 have the fear of failure and you have 110 00:04:01,414 --> 00:04:03,727 to have the success of... Or the reward 111 00:04:03,727 --> 00:04:04,365 of success, 112 00:04:05,003 --> 00:04:07,636 You built into that. And and 113 00:04:08,129 --> 00:04:10,994 to really thrive. But how did you how 114 00:04:10,994 --> 00:04:12,984 did you decide that we're only gonna use 115 00:04:13,223 --> 00:04:15,611 Us based Va versus, you know, hey, we 116 00:04:15,611 --> 00:04:17,043 could maybe do this cheaper if we did 117 00:04:17,043 --> 00:04:19,548 went to the fill Pee or India or 118 00:04:20,003 --> 00:04:21,675 Thailand. Yeah. You know, fill in the blank. 119 00:04:22,311 --> 00:04:24,460 So I don't know if it was necessarily, 120 00:04:24,619 --> 00:04:24,858 like, 121 00:04:25,750 --> 00:04:28,629 a goal straight from the beginning, but in 122 00:04:28,629 --> 00:04:30,470 20 20 is when I went from being, 123 00:04:30,550 --> 00:04:31,449 like, a solo 124 00:04:31,909 --> 00:04:32,409 entrepreneur 125 00:04:32,709 --> 00:04:35,200 to to having my first son and needing 126 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:37,914 to bring somebody on to help cover while 127 00:04:37,994 --> 00:04:39,511 I was gonna take an maternity to leave, 128 00:04:39,750 --> 00:04:41,926 but then 20 money happened and 129 00:04:42,478 --> 00:04:44,069 the rest Mh. Or the rest of it 130 00:04:44,069 --> 00:04:46,297 its history just because that that really boomed 131 00:04:46,297 --> 00:04:50,047 our industry. Yeah. So I didn't a maternity 132 00:04:50,047 --> 00:04:52,425 leave. I brought on a close friend who 133 00:04:52,425 --> 00:04:54,961 is still with us today. She's she's now 134 00:04:54,961 --> 00:04:56,309 our business development manager. 135 00:04:57,038 --> 00:05:00,220 And we just kind of, like, hand in 136 00:05:00,220 --> 00:05:03,266 hand worked off of what we felt was 137 00:05:03,721 --> 00:05:06,198 in our comfort zone. But really, I guess 138 00:05:06,198 --> 00:05:08,738 1 of the biggest factors is we have 139 00:05:08,738 --> 00:05:12,549 honed into a specific set of industries and 140 00:05:12,549 --> 00:05:12,867 skills. 141 00:05:13,359 --> 00:05:14,417 That we felt 142 00:05:15,033 --> 00:05:17,766 the best form of communication is within 143 00:05:18,462 --> 00:05:21,652 an hour or 2 of your client. And 144 00:05:21,652 --> 00:05:22,152 we've 145 00:05:22,703 --> 00:05:24,871 I haven't personally worked with assistance 146 00:05:25,642 --> 00:05:26,778 overseas, but 147 00:05:27,311 --> 00:05:29,853 I'm very proud to be an American to 148 00:05:29,853 --> 00:05:30,751 have an American 149 00:05:31,458 --> 00:05:34,246 based company. And to me, I wanna be 150 00:05:34,246 --> 00:05:35,383 able to support 151 00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:36,896 women in 152 00:05:37,272 --> 00:05:39,365 positions that I was in that we're looking 153 00:05:39,423 --> 00:05:39,923 to 154 00:05:40,552 --> 00:05:42,460 contribute to their family, but have that freedom 155 00:05:42,460 --> 00:05:43,199 and flexibility. 156 00:05:43,971 --> 00:05:45,562 And so I guess there's was, like, a 157 00:05:45,562 --> 00:05:46,062 few 158 00:05:46,436 --> 00:05:48,742 kind of aspects of why we've always stayed 159 00:05:48,901 --> 00:05:49,856 United States base, 160 00:05:50,588 --> 00:05:52,344 But really, I think 1 of the biggest 161 00:05:52,344 --> 00:05:55,317 key factors is while, we are very 162 00:05:55,775 --> 00:05:57,450 communicated with our clients. 163 00:05:58,024 --> 00:06:00,018 We have found that being within, like, a 164 00:06:00,018 --> 00:06:03,071 reasonable time zone just makes that easier and 165 00:06:03,369 --> 00:06:04,587 a more streamlined 166 00:06:05,298 --> 00:06:05,616 approach. 167 00:06:06,253 --> 00:06:08,004 And, you're on talking travel time. You're talking 168 00:06:08,004 --> 00:06:10,711 about time zones Like... Time zones. Okay. Is 169 00:06:10,711 --> 00:06:12,915 there is there any advantage to be even 170 00:06:13,114 --> 00:06:15,825 to being close enough that they could meet 171 00:06:15,825 --> 00:06:17,818 face to face if needed... As have you 172 00:06:17,818 --> 00:06:19,891 experienced that at all? A little bit. We 173 00:06:19,891 --> 00:06:21,587 are a virtual based 174 00:06:21,898 --> 00:06:24,364 companies. So we do really try to draw 175 00:06:24,364 --> 00:06:26,273 that line very clearly. Sure. 176 00:06:26,989 --> 00:06:27,489 However, 177 00:06:28,182 --> 00:06:30,582 on the flip side, we tend to have 178 00:06:30,582 --> 00:06:31,638 really long lasting 179 00:06:32,012 --> 00:06:33,863 relationships with our clients and 180 00:06:34,635 --> 00:06:36,963 our assistants that are paired with our clients 181 00:06:37,178 --> 00:06:40,310 love that rapport that is built. So I 182 00:06:40,310 --> 00:06:43,289 have clients who fly their assistance out 183 00:06:44,229 --> 00:06:46,410 at, like, the year end or 184 00:06:47,043 --> 00:06:49,135 throughout the year to do, like, celebratory 185 00:06:49,909 --> 00:06:52,855 get together. Mh. So we don't stop that 186 00:06:52,855 --> 00:06:54,980 because, obviously, we want them to continue that 187 00:06:55,339 --> 00:06:56,078 bond in 188 00:06:56,456 --> 00:06:58,770 relationships. So I have people who will find 189 00:06:58,770 --> 00:07:01,165 them out for, like, a full spa retreat 190 00:07:01,165 --> 00:07:03,892 weekend because they hit their goals and they 191 00:07:03,892 --> 00:07:06,119 met their metrics and things like that. I 192 00:07:06,119 --> 00:07:06,994 also have clients 193 00:07:07,392 --> 00:07:09,539 who come to Arizona a lot, just either 194 00:07:09,539 --> 00:07:11,150 on business or or pleasure. 195 00:07:11,870 --> 00:07:14,270 So if we do have, like, an Arizona 196 00:07:14,270 --> 00:07:16,670 based assistant for them, you know, then they'll 197 00:07:16,670 --> 00:07:18,030 they'll meet up. They'll take them to lunch 198 00:07:18,030 --> 00:07:21,390 and like that. So We... At our agency, 199 00:07:21,628 --> 00:07:23,002 don't do in person 200 00:07:23,534 --> 00:07:24,987 related tasks. Mh. 201 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:27,822 But we can handle all the the remote 202 00:07:27,822 --> 00:07:28,140 tasks. 203 00:07:28,949 --> 00:07:31,025 III love that. The idea that, you know, 204 00:07:31,104 --> 00:07:32,243 there is some kind of 205 00:07:33,180 --> 00:07:35,095 celebration or benefit, you know, that they can 206 00:07:35,095 --> 00:07:36,931 add. If... Hey, You hit those metrics or 207 00:07:36,931 --> 00:07:39,175 e even just just faithful service. You know? 208 00:07:39,334 --> 00:07:41,243 Yeah You you you show up every day. 209 00:07:41,799 --> 00:07:43,628 You you deliver things on time. I mean, 210 00:07:43,946 --> 00:07:46,490 point market we ask, but... Yeah. Say, we 211 00:07:46,490 --> 00:07:49,293 kinda have a tagline line, I guess, that's 212 00:07:49,293 --> 00:07:51,844 just basically, if you treat your assistance, like, 213 00:07:52,003 --> 00:07:54,395 they're an extension of your team, in turn, 214 00:07:54,634 --> 00:07:56,324 we're able to treat your business like our 215 00:07:56,324 --> 00:07:57,302 own. So 216 00:07:58,159 --> 00:08:00,154 we kinda pride ourselves on that that if 217 00:08:00,154 --> 00:08:02,389 you build that trust with us, like, we're 218 00:08:02,389 --> 00:08:04,360 here to support you 100 percent. So it 219 00:08:04,558 --> 00:08:06,940 actually brings me so much joy when clients 220 00:08:06,940 --> 00:08:09,162 say. Is it okay if I, you know, 221 00:08:09,877 --> 00:08:11,227 fly them out for a weekend or, you 222 00:08:11,227 --> 00:08:13,152 know, get them a gift whatever they always 223 00:08:13,152 --> 00:08:14,668 ask me, like, what do they like or, 224 00:08:14,828 --> 00:08:16,504 you know, what what would make their day? 225 00:08:16,743 --> 00:08:18,978 And so I love when I get that 226 00:08:18,978 --> 00:08:20,310 because then I know that 227 00:08:20,907 --> 00:08:22,900 everybody has bought in to the way that 228 00:08:22,900 --> 00:08:24,734 we want them to be. Yeah. Yeah. And 229 00:08:24,734 --> 00:08:27,046 it... And it's really interesting. I mean, like 230 00:08:27,046 --> 00:08:28,560 I said, I'm I'm a newbie to this 231 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:30,828 space. But it it does seem like that 232 00:08:30,885 --> 00:08:32,797 what I've seen so far is that they 233 00:08:32,797 --> 00:08:35,983 quickly become a team member. 0II mean, it's 234 00:08:35,983 --> 00:08:38,068 just like yeah. It's not like a it's 235 00:08:38,068 --> 00:08:40,219 a a contractor that we're hiring to just 236 00:08:40,219 --> 00:08:41,892 to provide a service. I mean, there really 237 00:08:41,892 --> 00:08:43,725 is a relational side of this, you know, 238 00:08:43,884 --> 00:08:46,217 that that is very important too. So 239 00:08:47,151 --> 00:08:49,661 you say you started in 2018 240 00:08:49,959 --> 00:08:51,156 kind of launched in 2018. 241 00:08:51,635 --> 00:08:54,588 But was the initial goal, hey. I I 242 00:08:54,588 --> 00:08:55,466 just want to, like, 243 00:08:56,678 --> 00:08:59,386 broker my my own services out as a 244 00:08:59,386 --> 00:09:01,456 virtual assistant. That's my goal. I wanna... I 245 00:09:01,456 --> 00:09:03,527 wanna kind of try to replace as much 246 00:09:03,527 --> 00:09:06,570 as of my previous salary as I can, 247 00:09:06,809 --> 00:09:08,803 kinda have a little time freedom, Have a 248 00:09:08,803 --> 00:09:11,035 life, you know, work life balanced thing going 249 00:09:11,035 --> 00:09:11,195 on. 250 00:09:12,789 --> 00:09:13,587 Was that the goal? 251 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:16,720 That was the initial goal. The initial goal 252 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:19,360 was just does not commute to be here 253 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:22,160 for my daughters at the time they're they're 254 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:22,720 now outgrown. 255 00:09:24,011 --> 00:09:26,401 But it it was really just to kind 256 00:09:26,401 --> 00:09:28,791 of be more family focused. 257 00:09:29,827 --> 00:09:30,440 And then 258 00:09:31,197 --> 00:09:33,431 with 20 20 happening and having my first 259 00:09:33,431 --> 00:09:34,489 son and 260 00:09:34,866 --> 00:09:36,004 the rapid 261 00:09:36,860 --> 00:09:39,253 referrals and growth that we received, there was 262 00:09:39,253 --> 00:09:39,753 no 263 00:09:40,544 --> 00:09:42,453 it it wasn't... It would've have been, like, 264 00:09:42,612 --> 00:09:44,680 a mistake to just be, like, sorry. I'm 265 00:09:44,680 --> 00:09:47,719 built right. Like, it was, like, in it 266 00:09:47,719 --> 00:09:50,196 just was it was so fast paced, especially 267 00:09:50,196 --> 00:09:52,673 in the summer of 20 20 that it 268 00:09:52,673 --> 00:09:54,591 was just Go go go. And what can 269 00:09:54,591 --> 00:09:57,342 we do to keep up? So it's nothing 270 00:09:57,480 --> 00:09:59,395 what I set out for in the beginning, 271 00:09:59,714 --> 00:10:02,186 but I truly feel like the universe had, 272 00:10:02,266 --> 00:10:04,659 like, a better, bigger plan for me and 273 00:10:04,659 --> 00:10:06,036 my family and that 274 00:10:06,750 --> 00:10:08,990 meeting the person who brought me into virtual 275 00:10:08,990 --> 00:10:10,370 the students was that catalyst 276 00:10:11,070 --> 00:10:12,930 to then just it just, like, open 277 00:10:13,484 --> 00:10:15,402 the key to the city for a future 278 00:10:15,402 --> 00:10:18,198 that. I'm very very blessed to have. Yeah. 279 00:10:18,677 --> 00:10:20,695 Well, and III mean, it's 280 00:10:21,009 --> 00:10:23,409 nobody on on listening to this is gonna 281 00:10:23,409 --> 00:10:25,330 make any assumptions says it just happened. You 282 00:10:25,330 --> 00:10:26,769 know? I mean, there... There's a lot of 283 00:10:26,769 --> 00:10:29,260 hard work to that went in to organizing 284 00:10:29,260 --> 00:10:31,644 and, you know, calling on all the previous 285 00:10:31,644 --> 00:10:33,075 jobs that you had, you know, all the 286 00:10:33,075 --> 00:10:34,767 skills that you brought to the table. But 287 00:10:35,061 --> 00:10:35,379 what 288 00:10:36,429 --> 00:10:38,927 what do you think was the the biggest 289 00:10:40,345 --> 00:10:40,845 surprise 290 00:10:41,384 --> 00:10:43,781 when you transition from being, you know, it's 291 00:10:43,781 --> 00:10:45,790 kind of a 1 person job? I'm I'm, 292 00:10:45,949 --> 00:10:47,778 I'm a Va to, like, now I'm running 293 00:10:47,778 --> 00:10:50,561 an agency. What is the biggest, like, wow. 294 00:10:50,879 --> 00:10:52,470 Moment you had that you're thinking and I 295 00:10:52,470 --> 00:10:54,299 had no idea this is gonna happen? 296 00:10:56,381 --> 00:10:58,369 Well, being that I did not have, like, 297 00:10:58,528 --> 00:11:00,300 a business degree or any 298 00:11:00,754 --> 00:11:02,367 clue, I think just 299 00:11:03,394 --> 00:11:05,014 being fortunate that 300 00:11:05,394 --> 00:11:08,274 I've always followed my intuition to who kind 301 00:11:08,274 --> 00:11:10,514 of, like, guide all the decisions in my 302 00:11:10,514 --> 00:11:13,799 life. But really guiding these business decisions, 303 00:11:14,995 --> 00:11:16,988 I think some of the things that have 304 00:11:16,988 --> 00:11:18,024 stuck out to me is 305 00:11:19,475 --> 00:11:20,915 And I think this is where a lot 306 00:11:20,915 --> 00:11:22,455 of business owners can 307 00:11:22,915 --> 00:11:25,315 understand the flip side of this. So in 308 00:11:25,315 --> 00:11:26,754 order to take on clients, 309 00:11:27,328 --> 00:11:29,866 you need assistance. Right? Like, to grow. Mh. 310 00:11:30,025 --> 00:11:32,325 But in order to get assistance, 311 00:11:32,801 --> 00:11:34,863 you need clients. So it's, like, what comes 312 00:11:34,863 --> 00:11:37,335 first? Like, a chicken or that egg. 22 313 00:11:37,335 --> 00:11:39,712 that's right. Yeah. So if, like, I think 314 00:11:39,712 --> 00:11:42,272 that business owners, especially maybe smaller businesses 315 00:11:42,897 --> 00:11:44,803 they feel that same thing. Like, I know 316 00:11:44,962 --> 00:11:46,472 I need help. I know I need an 317 00:11:46,472 --> 00:11:46,869 assistant, 318 00:11:47,902 --> 00:11:50,205 but I need the work to back the 319 00:11:50,205 --> 00:11:52,451 pay for the sit. Mh. So that was, 320 00:11:52,531 --> 00:11:55,962 like, that's always been. I wish I had 321 00:11:55,962 --> 00:11:56,701 a magic 322 00:11:57,239 --> 00:11:59,488 8 ball that said you're gonna get 10 323 00:11:59,488 --> 00:12:01,961 new referrals next month. You better have, like, 324 00:12:02,200 --> 00:12:04,991 that capacity to keep up. Yep. Because we 325 00:12:04,991 --> 00:12:07,225 just don't know some summers, for example, are 326 00:12:07,225 --> 00:12:08,841 really slow and some summers 327 00:12:09,153 --> 00:12:11,697 like this summer has been, you know, pretty 328 00:12:11,697 --> 00:12:13,548 fast paced to again. And so 329 00:12:13,923 --> 00:12:16,251 I have just brought on recently 330 00:12:17,118 --> 00:12:18,548 10 new team members, 331 00:12:19,183 --> 00:12:20,080 and now 332 00:12:21,248 --> 00:12:22,996 6 weeks later I'm like, oh my gosh, 333 00:12:23,393 --> 00:12:24,847 I think that we need 334 00:12:25,554 --> 00:12:26,595 some more team members. 335 00:12:27,235 --> 00:12:29,074 Because a lot of our team members, they 336 00:12:29,074 --> 00:12:31,235 start off part time, and then they build 337 00:12:31,235 --> 00:12:33,014 up a client roster, but 338 00:12:33,807 --> 00:12:35,022 we've recently been 339 00:12:36,191 --> 00:12:38,756 blessed to have some larger clients that are 340 00:12:39,210 --> 00:12:41,355 a hundred and 60 hours a month, and 341 00:12:41,355 --> 00:12:43,774 that takes like a larger team to accomplish 342 00:12:43,829 --> 00:12:46,999 when on average our normal retainer, like, 20 343 00:12:46,999 --> 00:12:48,822 hours a month. So. You know, when you 344 00:12:48,822 --> 00:12:49,560 don't know 345 00:12:49,950 --> 00:12:52,350 what awesome referral you're gonna get next. It's 346 00:12:52,350 --> 00:12:53,649 kind of, like, again 347 00:12:54,350 --> 00:12:57,044 do you hurry up and train the next 348 00:12:57,244 --> 00:12:59,155 kind of group of people to take on 349 00:12:59,155 --> 00:12:59,952 the next referrals? 350 00:13:00,988 --> 00:13:02,979 Or is it gonna slow down. So I 351 00:13:02,979 --> 00:13:05,608 think that's always my... You know, I'm always 352 00:13:05,608 --> 00:13:07,532 gonna work hard make sure that we're gonna 353 00:13:07,532 --> 00:13:09,597 meet the needs and the capacity. 354 00:13:10,471 --> 00:13:12,775 So sometimes it just feels like this teeter 355 00:13:12,775 --> 00:13:14,205 powder for at least. 356 00:13:15,334 --> 00:13:17,089 I... You touched on something really interesting. And 357 00:13:17,169 --> 00:13:18,467 I I'm I am 358 00:13:19,005 --> 00:13:19,505 absolutely 359 00:13:20,122 --> 00:13:22,777 blind in this area, But so 360 00:13:23,330 --> 00:13:25,570 you you talked about, you know, some... We 361 00:13:25,570 --> 00:13:27,570 have a retainer of 20 hours a month 362 00:13:27,570 --> 00:13:29,169 versus hundred and 60 hours a month or 363 00:13:29,169 --> 00:13:29,490 whatever. 364 00:13:30,464 --> 00:13:32,459 I would guess. This is them this is 365 00:13:32,459 --> 00:13:34,613 a guess. I would guess the average business 366 00:13:34,613 --> 00:13:37,086 owner out there. If you ask them, 367 00:13:38,057 --> 00:13:41,786 how much time does this take this task 368 00:13:41,786 --> 00:13:43,929 that you think, you know, you need to 369 00:13:43,929 --> 00:13:46,365 outsource type thing that they wouldn't have a 370 00:13:46,563 --> 00:13:49,422 clue off the bat. They would... It's somewhere 371 00:13:49,422 --> 00:13:50,533 between 5 and 30 hours. 372 00:13:51,327 --> 00:13:53,948 Yeah or whatever. So How do you how 373 00:13:53,948 --> 00:13:55,718 do you coach clients 374 00:13:56,585 --> 00:13:57,857 you know, through that, 375 00:13:59,130 --> 00:14:00,244 I'll let you answer that 1 and then 376 00:14:00,323 --> 00:14:02,073 I got a follow question on top of 377 00:14:02,073 --> 00:14:04,554 that. So to us through how you would 378 00:14:04,554 --> 00:14:07,178 help a client find that that equilibrium. 379 00:14:07,814 --> 00:14:08,791 So in 380 00:14:09,325 --> 00:14:12,188 in my opinion, it's always less than they 381 00:14:12,188 --> 00:14:12,426 think. 382 00:14:13,236 --> 00:14:13,736 So 383 00:14:14,348 --> 00:14:17,048 oftentimes... So my agency, we primary, like, we 384 00:14:17,048 --> 00:14:19,113 hope all business and owners of all sizes. 385 00:14:19,589 --> 00:14:22,075 However, we specialize in attorneys 386 00:14:22,624 --> 00:14:23,523 Cpa book 387 00:14:23,980 --> 00:14:25,336 bookkeeper and wealth management. 388 00:14:25,735 --> 00:14:28,288 So we have that industry pretty... Those industries 389 00:14:28,288 --> 00:14:31,169 pretty, like, honed in. And when an attorney 390 00:14:31,169 --> 00:14:32,599 comes to me and says, I had a 391 00:14:32,599 --> 00:14:35,139 40 hour, we employee, I know I need 392 00:14:35,139 --> 00:14:36,013 40 hours a week, 393 00:14:36,807 --> 00:14:38,157 I need... You know, I need this, like, 394 00:14:38,316 --> 00:14:38,713 yesterday. 395 00:14:39,605 --> 00:14:39,764 Okay. 396 00:14:40,485 --> 00:14:42,345 I'm gonna sell you the lowest package 397 00:14:42,964 --> 00:14:45,524 because we can add on from there, but 398 00:14:45,605 --> 00:14:47,125 I'm not gonna take your money for hours 399 00:14:47,125 --> 00:14:49,620 that aren't used and hours in our business 400 00:14:49,620 --> 00:14:52,500 and our agency don't roll over. So I'm 401 00:14:52,500 --> 00:14:55,059 always gonna sell them the lowest which is 402 00:14:55,059 --> 00:14:57,784 20 hours a month, Not 40 hours a 403 00:14:57,784 --> 00:14:57,943 week. 404 00:14:58,739 --> 00:14:59,239 Because 405 00:15:00,091 --> 00:15:03,353 as that dating process happens and we get 406 00:15:03,353 --> 00:15:05,674 to, like, the 90 days where everything is 407 00:15:05,674 --> 00:15:07,818 just like, up and running and every... All 408 00:15:07,818 --> 00:15:09,510 the momentum, Everything's clicking 409 00:15:10,995 --> 00:15:13,004 9 times out of 10. They've 410 00:15:13,394 --> 00:15:16,426 they've accomplished with our team, a fraction of 411 00:15:16,426 --> 00:15:18,022 what the hours that they said. 412 00:15:18,661 --> 00:15:19,778 Their employee was working. 413 00:15:21,629 --> 00:15:24,825 So I always challenge that off the bat 414 00:15:24,825 --> 00:15:27,542 because when you're paying somebody's 40 hour a 415 00:15:27,542 --> 00:15:29,700 month salary or 40 hour week salary, 416 00:15:30,433 --> 00:15:32,529 not everybody, but I can almost guarantee 417 00:15:32,986 --> 00:15:35,958 not everybody is actually documenting 40 418 00:15:36,415 --> 00:15:37,612 actual working hours. 419 00:15:38,250 --> 00:15:39,925 But when you're working with us, and we 420 00:15:39,925 --> 00:15:41,296 have contracted hours, 421 00:15:41,855 --> 00:15:44,430 we... To the minute we'll write down 422 00:15:44,888 --> 00:15:45,207 everything. 423 00:15:45,765 --> 00:15:48,215 So everything is documented down to the minute 424 00:15:48,413 --> 00:15:50,242 it's a minute email if it's hour long 425 00:15:50,242 --> 00:15:52,707 task, and we have it on a time 426 00:15:52,707 --> 00:15:55,411 card. So the girls that work for me 427 00:15:55,411 --> 00:15:57,081 only get paid off of the minutes and 428 00:15:57,081 --> 00:15:57,956 the hours that they work. 429 00:15:58,607 --> 00:15:59,107 And 430 00:15:59,482 --> 00:16:02,346 they're gonna be honest about that because they 431 00:16:02,346 --> 00:16:03,403 don't wanna lose 432 00:16:03,857 --> 00:16:05,766 that income. Right? They don't wanna lose. They 433 00:16:05,766 --> 00:16:08,014 don't wanna jeopardize that. And our goal is 434 00:16:08,014 --> 00:16:11,475 always to be efficient, but be timely and 435 00:16:12,174 --> 00:16:15,054 aware of everyone's budget. So for us, 436 00:16:15,869 --> 00:16:17,726 I can always almost guarantee 437 00:16:18,423 --> 00:16:21,297 your 40 hour employee, hour week employee is 438 00:16:21,297 --> 00:16:23,213 not working 40 hours, and I can save 439 00:16:23,213 --> 00:16:24,171 you some time and money. 440 00:16:24,824 --> 00:16:25,858 By getting you a Va? 441 00:16:26,733 --> 00:16:28,483 I mean, is that using, like, a time 442 00:16:28,483 --> 00:16:31,449 tracker software type thing where you're 443 00:16:31,998 --> 00:16:34,328 Yeah. Yeah. So there are time tracking 444 00:16:35,102 --> 00:16:36,136 tools out there. 445 00:16:36,853 --> 00:16:39,103 We have created our own, and 446 00:16:39,718 --> 00:16:41,093 we have created our own 447 00:16:41,484 --> 00:16:43,556 time cards and our own tracking system. 448 00:16:44,512 --> 00:16:47,541 That's just, like, prior today proprietary to Virtually 449 00:16:47,701 --> 00:16:48,338 Brooks. Mh. 450 00:16:49,549 --> 00:16:51,942 And it has, like, a running total and 451 00:16:51,942 --> 00:16:54,095 it the client has access to that as 452 00:16:54,095 --> 00:16:54,414 well. 453 00:16:55,611 --> 00:16:57,605 So... Alright. Let's say that you bill me 454 00:16:57,605 --> 00:16:58,801 20 hours a a month. 455 00:17:00,174 --> 00:17:02,890 Let's say the Va does it in 18 456 00:17:02,890 --> 00:17:03,530 and a half. 457 00:17:04,329 --> 00:17:06,806 Am I credited back an hour and a 458 00:17:06,806 --> 00:17:08,580 half or is that just kind of the 459 00:17:08,580 --> 00:17:10,019 contract you signed and we just happen to 460 00:17:10,019 --> 00:17:10,660 be more efficient. 461 00:17:11,620 --> 00:17:14,900 So our hours do not roll over. 462 00:17:15,472 --> 00:17:17,298 But I wouldn't let a client get to 463 00:17:17,298 --> 00:17:19,283 the end of the month without giving me 464 00:17:19,283 --> 00:17:20,950 enough work to make sure that we're matching 465 00:17:20,950 --> 00:17:21,823 that 20 hours. 466 00:17:22,379 --> 00:17:22,879 So 467 00:17:23,426 --> 00:17:26,285 we we we will find we will find 468 00:17:26,285 --> 00:17:28,429 you a project to make sure that we're 469 00:17:28,429 --> 00:17:28,667 hitting. 470 00:17:29,302 --> 00:17:30,914 We will find the assistant in a project 471 00:17:31,144 --> 00:17:33,137 to make sure that we're hitting those numbers. 472 00:17:33,456 --> 00:17:36,565 It's almost impossible not to use 20 hours 473 00:17:36,565 --> 00:17:38,638 a month with the work that we do 474 00:17:38,638 --> 00:17:39,536 just because 475 00:17:39,847 --> 00:17:42,490 we already have, like, a list of recommendations 476 00:17:42,545 --> 00:17:44,394 on what your industry 477 00:17:44,767 --> 00:17:46,592 could utilize an assistant for. 478 00:17:47,798 --> 00:17:50,103 So right off the bat, we do our 479 00:17:50,103 --> 00:17:52,248 kickoff call. We establish what your needs are. 480 00:17:52,407 --> 00:17:54,020 So we go through 481 00:17:54,488 --> 00:17:55,783 a whole brainstorming 482 00:17:56,315 --> 00:17:58,937 delegation process. I talk a lot in my 483 00:17:58,937 --> 00:18:01,320 agency about, like, the art delegation. So I 484 00:18:01,320 --> 00:18:02,614 will coach the client 485 00:18:03,004 --> 00:18:05,236 On making sure that we're reaching those goals. 486 00:18:06,113 --> 00:18:07,628 Once they really get a hang of that 487 00:18:07,628 --> 00:18:08,505 art of delegation, 488 00:18:09,382 --> 00:18:11,867 that 90 days comes, and they're, like, Oh 489 00:18:11,867 --> 00:18:13,932 my gosh. I cannot believe I did not 490 00:18:13,932 --> 00:18:16,789 do this sooner, and then we help them 491 00:18:16,789 --> 00:18:19,013 again, reach those goals and match what they're 492 00:18:19,013 --> 00:18:21,894 looking for. Mh. So in our agency, they 493 00:18:21,894 --> 00:18:24,375 can go up in hours without any penalties 494 00:18:24,375 --> 00:18:26,214 or fees or anything like that. It's just 495 00:18:26,214 --> 00:18:29,105 the same hourly rate. But we don't go 496 00:18:29,105 --> 00:18:30,455 below the 20 hours. 497 00:18:31,250 --> 00:18:33,157 But I promise you we won't make sure 498 00:18:33,157 --> 00:18:34,429 those 20 hours get used. 499 00:18:35,541 --> 00:18:36,733 So who's tracking that. 500 00:18:37,624 --> 00:18:39,460 Is that Lizzie Brooks Ceo? 501 00:18:39,859 --> 00:18:40,098 Yeah. 502 00:18:40,737 --> 00:18:44,009 So I have myself. I have Casey, who 503 00:18:44,009 --> 00:18:46,894 is our operations and business and, it's kind 504 00:18:46,894 --> 00:18:49,377 of a Mh. A mixed role. So 505 00:18:49,749 --> 00:18:52,049 between the 2 of us, we oversee all 506 00:18:52,049 --> 00:18:53,557 of our clients and all of our assistance. 507 00:18:53,874 --> 00:18:56,509 But We do have a middle row. We 508 00:18:56,509 --> 00:18:56,827 have 509 00:18:58,018 --> 00:19:01,116 supervisors that help oversee each of our teams. 510 00:19:01,672 --> 00:19:02,172 So 511 00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:05,200 at Virtually Brooks. We actually do everything in 512 00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:07,759 teams of 2, which is kinda what is 513 00:19:07,759 --> 00:19:08,580 our unique 514 00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:09,460 differentiator 515 00:19:10,493 --> 00:19:12,249 So when you're working with us, you have 516 00:19:12,249 --> 00:19:13,845 2 assistants. They work as 1, 517 00:19:14,883 --> 00:19:17,517 and they divide and conquer tasks in an 518 00:19:17,517 --> 00:19:18,075 efficient manner. 519 00:19:18,649 --> 00:19:21,603 And so we have kicked me, Casey, 520 00:19:22,082 --> 00:19:23,380 a team of supervisors 521 00:19:23,838 --> 00:19:26,872 and a whole structured team of virtual assistance, 522 00:19:27,031 --> 00:19:27,771 and then 523 00:19:28,085 --> 00:19:28,825 we have 524 00:19:29,205 --> 00:19:30,265 specialties of 525 00:19:30,644 --> 00:19:33,765 this group works in, like, a marketing aspect, 526 00:19:34,325 --> 00:19:37,210 this group works in an administrative aspect. 527 00:19:37,608 --> 00:19:39,996 And then from there, it's broken down these 528 00:19:39,996 --> 00:19:42,145 people work with attorneys. These people work with 529 00:19:42,224 --> 00:19:42,724 Cpa. 530 00:19:43,354 --> 00:19:44,968 These people are a little bit more general 531 00:19:45,104 --> 00:19:47,275 because, honestly, administrative work is 532 00:19:47,810 --> 00:19:49,401 administrative work. It's just kind of the flavor 533 00:19:49,401 --> 00:19:51,642 of your business and what changes that. 534 00:19:52,514 --> 00:19:54,602 And then we have, like, podcasts, marketing 535 00:19:55,451 --> 00:19:58,069 and pitching is kinda done by a different 536 00:19:58,069 --> 00:20:00,152 team of people. So we haven't it really 537 00:20:00,152 --> 00:20:01,348 broken out and structured, 538 00:20:02,305 --> 00:20:04,858 which is something that we've really refined over 539 00:20:04,858 --> 00:20:06,932 these last 4 years since it's become, like, 540 00:20:07,091 --> 00:20:09,005 an agency more than just myself. 541 00:20:09,818 --> 00:20:12,209 So you you do podcast booking or what... 542 00:20:12,448 --> 00:20:13,484 What's this... That service? 543 00:20:14,122 --> 00:20:15,897 So we do have a podcast 544 00:20:16,433 --> 00:20:17,150 pitching and 545 00:20:17,722 --> 00:20:20,028 we we have 1 person who does podcast 546 00:20:20,028 --> 00:20:20,425 editing. 547 00:20:21,299 --> 00:20:23,843 It's a very, very small portion of what 548 00:20:23,843 --> 00:20:26,323 we do. But we do out 2 people 549 00:20:26,323 --> 00:20:28,073 who do that, and then we have some 550 00:20:28,073 --> 00:20:29,982 people on our team that do podcast pitching 551 00:20:29,982 --> 00:20:31,414 as well as keynote pitching. 552 00:20:32,464 --> 00:20:34,140 The more I ask you, the more these 553 00:20:34,140 --> 00:20:36,855 the the tentacles of the octopus were growing 554 00:20:36,855 --> 00:20:39,409 here. Yeah. We have a we... We really 555 00:20:39,409 --> 00:20:41,005 refine and what we do, but we do 556 00:20:41,005 --> 00:20:45,253 have, like, some pillars, some differentiated pillars that 557 00:20:45,785 --> 00:20:47,317 maybe some agencies is 558 00:20:47,690 --> 00:20:49,436 the, you know, they may just be general 559 00:20:49,436 --> 00:20:51,362 admin or or they may hone in on 560 00:20:51,362 --> 00:20:53,039 a specific skill set. Right. 561 00:20:53,997 --> 00:20:55,833 Well, I am just now starting to peel 562 00:20:55,833 --> 00:20:58,308 back the layers of of virtually brooks here, 563 00:20:58,547 --> 00:21:00,876 but we're gonna take a quick break right 564 00:21:00,876 --> 00:21:02,629 here and listen to our sponsor here from 565 00:21:02,629 --> 00:21:03,187 our sponsor. 566 00:21:03,824 --> 00:21:05,338 The great sponsor this podcast, 567 00:21:05,896 --> 00:21:07,172 Lizzie will be right back. 568 00:21:07,903 --> 00:21:09,732 At not because we know you spend far 569 00:21:09,732 --> 00:21:11,561 too much time on administrative tasks. 570 00:21:12,276 --> 00:21:13,707 Let us take those off your plates so 571 00:21:13,707 --> 00:21:16,570 you can focus on the highest value activities 572 00:21:16,570 --> 00:21:19,364 in your business. We have highly trained highly 573 00:21:19,364 --> 00:21:22,617 vetted specialists ready to take on those administrative 574 00:21:22,617 --> 00:21:23,117 responsibilities 575 00:21:23,729 --> 00:21:25,633 at an affordable and effective rate. 576 00:21:26,283 --> 00:21:27,950 Check us out at nab dot com, 577 00:21:28,982 --> 00:21:31,443 proud sponsor of rising tide startups podcast. 578 00:21:32,475 --> 00:21:33,348 We are back. 579 00:21:34,078 --> 00:21:36,304 Lizzie, thank you again for joining us on 580 00:21:36,304 --> 00:21:38,450 rising tide. It's been a pleasure to chat 581 00:21:38,450 --> 00:21:40,119 with you the first part of our podcast, 582 00:21:40,278 --> 00:21:42,041 but now we're gonna take a little deeper 583 00:21:42,041 --> 00:21:43,790 dive. We're gonna we're gonna talk about some 584 00:21:43,790 --> 00:21:46,096 lessons learned, you know, since 2018, 585 00:21:46,255 --> 00:21:49,197 2019 20 20 20. Whenever you you kind 586 00:21:49,197 --> 00:21:49,650 of 587 00:21:50,327 --> 00:21:51,944 transitioned and, you know, meta 588 00:21:52,561 --> 00:21:55,193 from the the... Out of the the butterfly 589 00:21:55,193 --> 00:21:57,346 up here to running your own agency here. 590 00:21:57,586 --> 00:22:00,153 So what are some some just as you 591 00:22:00,153 --> 00:22:01,830 look back, what are some things that you 592 00:22:01,830 --> 00:22:03,586 wish you would have known, what are 1 593 00:22:03,586 --> 00:22:05,581 or 2 just really key things meant. I 594 00:22:05,581 --> 00:22:06,858 wish I I'd had known that in 20 595 00:22:06,858 --> 00:22:07,896 20. I know today, 596 00:22:08,710 --> 00:22:10,549 that would be the game changing. 597 00:22:11,509 --> 00:22:12,009 So 598 00:22:12,470 --> 00:22:14,470 a couple things come to mind, 1, 599 00:22:16,150 --> 00:22:17,289 when I first started 600 00:22:17,922 --> 00:22:20,146 having people join as an agency. 601 00:22:21,417 --> 00:22:21,655 I, 602 00:22:22,609 --> 00:22:24,198 the times are different. I mean, it's only 603 00:22:24,198 --> 00:22:25,469 been 4 years, but, like, 604 00:22:26,199 --> 00:22:27,955 4 or 5 years ago, we were only 605 00:22:27,955 --> 00:22:30,830 paying contractors, like, 13 to 15 dollars an 606 00:22:30,830 --> 00:22:33,624 hour. Right? Like, or minimum wage was, like, 607 00:22:33,783 --> 00:22:36,434 in that realm. And then it's grown so 608 00:22:36,434 --> 00:22:39,575 much. So knowing, I guess, how to properly 609 00:22:39,955 --> 00:22:41,335 scale with the economy's, 610 00:22:42,595 --> 00:22:42,994 scaling, 611 00:22:43,795 --> 00:22:45,325 you know, everything that we've gone through as 612 00:22:45,325 --> 00:22:46,759 a as as a country. 613 00:22:48,034 --> 00:22:50,265 Obviously, didn't see any of that coming. So 614 00:22:50,345 --> 00:22:52,337 I didn't know how to, like, navigate it. 615 00:22:52,496 --> 00:22:53,771 We've navigated it fine. 616 00:22:54,820 --> 00:22:57,204 But just looking back, it it's always surprising 617 00:22:57,204 --> 00:22:59,270 like, wow. We've come a really far away 618 00:22:59,270 --> 00:23:01,549 in what feels like, a really short amount 619 00:23:01,589 --> 00:23:02,226 of years. 620 00:23:03,578 --> 00:23:04,317 But then 621 00:23:05,089 --> 00:23:08,032 we're... Like, just... We have really honed in 622 00:23:08,032 --> 00:23:08,532 and 623 00:23:08,922 --> 00:23:12,103 and really to defined our training and our 624 00:23:12,103 --> 00:23:13,478 interview and training processes. 625 00:23:15,523 --> 00:23:17,605 I used to think, like, Oh, it's okay. 626 00:23:17,684 --> 00:23:19,511 You don't have, like, a ton of experience. 627 00:23:19,670 --> 00:23:21,736 Like, I'll just teach you. And in the 628 00:23:21,736 --> 00:23:23,245 beginning, maybe that was okay because like, we 629 00:23:23,245 --> 00:23:24,754 really had a couple of us. Mh. 630 00:23:25,644 --> 00:23:28,841 I don't necessarily... I I always want to 631 00:23:28,841 --> 00:23:30,439 always help. Like, I am that person that's, 632 00:23:30,519 --> 00:23:32,197 like, you get a job and you get 633 00:23:32,197 --> 00:23:33,396 a job and you get do... Like, I 634 00:23:33,396 --> 00:23:35,406 want everybody to, like, be doing what we're 635 00:23:35,406 --> 00:23:37,320 doing, and I want you to have that 636 00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:37,639 fulfillment. 637 00:23:38,596 --> 00:23:39,096 However, 638 00:23:39,792 --> 00:23:43,321 since we have really scaled up to some 639 00:23:43,634 --> 00:23:46,028 what I think are, like, high class industries, 640 00:23:46,586 --> 00:23:47,964 we really have to bring 641 00:23:48,422 --> 00:23:50,416 high class experience. Yep. 642 00:23:51,308 --> 00:23:53,845 And so we've really changed the way that 643 00:23:53,845 --> 00:23:56,383 we do our interviews, and then that really 644 00:23:56,383 --> 00:23:58,627 weeds out the people who 645 00:23:59,813 --> 00:24:01,808 maybe just don't match the skill set that 646 00:24:01,808 --> 00:24:04,144 we're looking for these days. And then 647 00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:07,416 if they get through what's, like, a 7 648 00:24:07,809 --> 00:24:08,309 process 649 00:24:08,767 --> 00:24:09,006 interview, 650 00:24:10,921 --> 00:24:12,676 then they go through our training. And then 651 00:24:12,676 --> 00:24:14,213 we've really built out 652 00:24:14,910 --> 00:24:17,948 much better training and more efficient with, you 653 00:24:17,948 --> 00:24:20,357 know, video recordings, and things like that. We're 654 00:24:20,414 --> 00:24:22,997 we're being much better with our time management 655 00:24:23,132 --> 00:24:24,798 from a leadership perspective. 656 00:24:25,433 --> 00:24:27,576 And then from there, you know, we coach 657 00:24:27,576 --> 00:24:29,322 and train always along the way. 658 00:24:30,530 --> 00:24:33,816 But that's been a huge game changer is 659 00:24:34,828 --> 00:24:38,028 having the discernment to say, okay. We can't 660 00:24:38,028 --> 00:24:40,102 take everybody as much as, like, I want 661 00:24:40,102 --> 00:24:43,212 to provide this freedom and flexibility for everybody. 662 00:24:43,531 --> 00:24:46,105 It does come with a different 663 00:24:48,493 --> 00:24:51,290 Just expectation, I guess. Yep. And so I 664 00:24:51,290 --> 00:24:54,508 have very high expectations of what I want 665 00:24:54,727 --> 00:24:56,086 my agency to reflect, 666 00:24:57,299 --> 00:24:59,690 as much as I don't ever hope I 667 00:24:59,690 --> 00:25:00,965 have to go back to a corporate job. 668 00:25:01,683 --> 00:25:04,255 I want to keep the corporate standards 669 00:25:04,712 --> 00:25:08,144 Mh. Or professionalism and showing up and speaking 670 00:25:08,144 --> 00:25:10,685 and doing in a really corporate professional manner, 671 00:25:11,876 --> 00:25:13,544 because I do feel like our industry has, 672 00:25:13,702 --> 00:25:14,361 like this 673 00:25:16,583 --> 00:25:18,815 this maybe vibe where it's, like, oh, you're 674 00:25:18,815 --> 00:25:20,170 a virtual assistant. You just work on a 675 00:25:20,170 --> 00:25:21,844 beach and, you know, dream smart, you know, 676 00:25:22,003 --> 00:25:23,772 Yeah Big fruity cock channel about day. Stay 677 00:25:23,772 --> 00:25:26,163 stand in my last. Thank. Work and... Yeah. 678 00:25:26,402 --> 00:25:27,699 So I do feel like 679 00:25:28,075 --> 00:25:29,510 some people when they think of a virtual 680 00:25:29,510 --> 00:25:30,546 assistant they either think. 681 00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:33,440 Freedom and flexibility means, oh, they're just, like, 682 00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:34,400 off doing, 683 00:25:35,039 --> 00:25:36,880 traveling the world, which maybe that is for 684 00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:37,359 some people, 685 00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:39,932 maybe not on my team, but you know, 686 00:25:40,090 --> 00:25:42,395 we have a corporate C. Mh. Making sure 687 00:25:42,395 --> 00:25:44,858 that there's no distractions. We ensure you're unsecured 688 00:25:45,096 --> 00:25:45,914 Internet and 689 00:25:46,367 --> 00:25:49,487 and secure places. So you're not j, like, 690 00:25:49,726 --> 00:25:51,982 client's information and things like that. So 691 00:25:52,599 --> 00:25:55,095 that's something that I feel like we've really 692 00:25:55,393 --> 00:25:56,691 really fixed and 693 00:25:57,800 --> 00:25:58,300 just 694 00:25:58,756 --> 00:26:00,986 made it easier. So we are confident when 695 00:26:00,986 --> 00:26:03,056 working with our clients that we have the 696 00:26:03,056 --> 00:26:04,649 people that they're looking for. Mh. 697 00:26:05,859 --> 00:26:06,178 It's 698 00:26:06,977 --> 00:26:08,254 and you you talked a little bit about, 699 00:26:08,334 --> 00:26:10,409 you know, you you can serve a lot 700 00:26:10,409 --> 00:26:12,405 of people, but you kind of focus on, 701 00:26:12,485 --> 00:26:14,720 you know, these specific areas where it's financial 702 00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:16,011 whether it's legal. 703 00:26:17,684 --> 00:26:18,662 How did you 704 00:26:19,914 --> 00:26:21,052 arrive at 705 00:26:22,559 --> 00:26:25,840 I mean, did you ask other Va agencies 706 00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:28,000 like, what's the split? Like, if we're charging 707 00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:29,894 25 dollars an hour, how much of that 708 00:26:30,014 --> 00:26:31,770 goes to the virtual assistant. How much of 709 00:26:31,770 --> 00:26:33,766 that do we need to have for the 710 00:26:33,766 --> 00:26:35,544 kind of the back office, taxes, 711 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:36,980 and 712 00:26:37,758 --> 00:26:39,848 operations, whatever. Is there a kind of a 713 00:26:39,848 --> 00:26:43,040 magic percentage that, you know, across the industry. 714 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:45,275 He's 70 30, something like that. What is 715 00:26:45,275 --> 00:26:46,732 the... What is kinda 716 00:26:47,762 --> 00:26:50,540 I was just navigating getting that very blindly, 717 00:26:50,699 --> 00:26:52,207 like, the first couple of years. 718 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:54,270 I think 1 of the best things I 719 00:26:54,270 --> 00:26:55,167 ever did for 720 00:26:55,540 --> 00:26:57,725 myself was hire an incredible, 721 00:26:58,818 --> 00:27:01,786 Cpa, but bookkeeping firm that handles 722 00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:05,782 that aspect and and could could help me 723 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:06,500 understand 724 00:27:07,354 --> 00:27:09,267 where to allocate money what to do with 725 00:27:09,267 --> 00:27:09,825 my money, 726 00:27:10,462 --> 00:27:12,317 you know, how to make 727 00:27:12,945 --> 00:27:15,488 the money work for our business. Mh. So 728 00:27:15,488 --> 00:27:18,347 I've learn a lot about just the the 729 00:27:18,347 --> 00:27:21,549 back end of, like, running a business. From 730 00:27:21,549 --> 00:27:24,581 from that perspective. But then in 20 23, 731 00:27:24,821 --> 00:27:26,757 I did bring on a virtual Cfo. 732 00:27:27,469 --> 00:27:27,969 And 733 00:27:28,346 --> 00:27:30,340 that is the person that, her name is 734 00:27:30,420 --> 00:27:31,935 Danielle. She's incredible. 735 00:27:32,414 --> 00:27:35,067 And she... We worked all year on 736 00:27:35,604 --> 00:27:36,822 learning what 737 00:27:38,726 --> 00:27:40,896 learning what services need to be priced 738 00:27:41,351 --> 00:27:43,203 in in what way. So 739 00:27:43,578 --> 00:27:45,267 if it's a package service, 740 00:27:45,905 --> 00:27:47,741 how to work out how many hours that 741 00:27:47,741 --> 00:27:48,220 would be, 742 00:27:48,938 --> 00:27:50,933 so you're not losing money or if it's 743 00:27:50,933 --> 00:27:52,050 an hourly service, 744 00:27:52,544 --> 00:27:54,639 what that needs to be to in order 745 00:27:54,777 --> 00:27:55,277 to 746 00:27:56,053 --> 00:27:58,606 pay a healthy wage as well as make 747 00:27:58,606 --> 00:28:01,876 a profit. Mh. So hiring a virtual Cfo, 748 00:28:02,690 --> 00:28:04,950 in addition to already having 749 00:28:06,049 --> 00:28:09,169 the Cpm bookkeeper. Right. I would say those 750 00:28:09,169 --> 00:28:10,149 3 people 751 00:28:11,664 --> 00:28:13,760 are really filling in the gap of where 752 00:28:14,058 --> 00:28:15,654 it's not that I... It's not that I 753 00:28:15,654 --> 00:28:18,048 don't understand it. I understand it fine now. 754 00:28:18,925 --> 00:28:20,930 But I'm a big believer in, like, putting 755 00:28:20,930 --> 00:28:22,520 the right person in the right seat for 756 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:24,746 the right job, no matter if that's assistant 757 00:28:24,746 --> 00:28:26,018 or if that's a seat... You know, a 758 00:28:26,018 --> 00:28:27,234 cfo. So 759 00:28:27,624 --> 00:28:29,701 I am not skilled as a Cfo, and 760 00:28:29,701 --> 00:28:31,320 so I think putting that person 761 00:28:31,699 --> 00:28:34,655 in that seat. She's a virtual fractional Cfo. 762 00:28:35,148 --> 00:28:38,327 Mh. It's, like, how you can... How I 763 00:28:38,327 --> 00:28:39,303 have built 764 00:28:39,995 --> 00:28:42,164 what I feel like it's a successful business 765 00:28:42,954 --> 00:28:45,434 without having to maybe learn some hard lessons 766 00:28:45,434 --> 00:28:47,755 on my own. It was list... The lesson 767 00:28:47,755 --> 00:28:50,095 was, get the person for the job and 768 00:28:50,554 --> 00:28:51,855 make it work. So 769 00:28:52,888 --> 00:28:54,507 that's that's with my experience. 770 00:28:55,445 --> 00:28:58,082 But this is there a is there a 771 00:28:58,082 --> 00:28:58,582 generic 772 00:28:59,854 --> 00:29:01,528 you know, I I know it's up and 773 00:29:01,528 --> 00:29:03,521 down. There some people will be higher, some 774 00:29:03,521 --> 00:29:05,833 it'd be lower. Is there AAA... 775 00:29:06,152 --> 00:29:07,210 Like, almost an 776 00:29:07,587 --> 00:29:08,087 industry 777 00:29:09,194 --> 00:29:10,147 expected split, 778 00:29:10,941 --> 00:29:11,974 you know, whether it's... 779 00:29:13,086 --> 00:29:15,571 Is it 70 30? Is it 60 47 780 00:29:15,627 --> 00:29:16,604 20 is it 781 00:29:16,913 --> 00:29:18,763 I don't know exactly because 782 00:29:20,963 --> 00:29:23,186 something I've kind of pride myself on is 783 00:29:23,345 --> 00:29:24,321 I don't really 784 00:29:25,028 --> 00:29:27,200 Don't really network with a lot of other 785 00:29:27,656 --> 00:29:28,633 agencies or 786 00:29:29,726 --> 00:29:30,465 virtual assistance. 787 00:29:31,557 --> 00:29:32,990 So if I'm being fully transparent, 788 00:29:33,404 --> 00:29:35,159 I don't know what other people are pricing 789 00:29:35,159 --> 00:29:36,856 at. I don't actually know 790 00:29:37,234 --> 00:29:38,372 where they 791 00:29:39,388 --> 00:29:41,718 do a split. I know the person who 792 00:29:41,718 --> 00:29:44,776 led me into this industry with her 793 00:29:45,155 --> 00:29:46,354 agency that she was starting, 794 00:29:47,392 --> 00:29:49,710 she did, like, for every... So you had 795 00:29:49,710 --> 00:29:52,299 to you had to bring the client to 796 00:29:52,836 --> 00:29:55,410 the agency. And then 797 00:29:55,787 --> 00:29:57,542 you would work it, and it was, like, 798 00:29:57,701 --> 00:29:59,956 you were able to use that business name 799 00:30:00,823 --> 00:30:03,756 So you paid, like, a percentage back. Almost 800 00:30:03,756 --> 00:30:06,768 like, a franchise type thing. Yeah. Yeah. So 801 00:30:08,134 --> 00:30:10,134 So in my agency, we kinda do the 802 00:30:10,134 --> 00:30:12,134 opposite. Like, we bring in the clients and 803 00:30:12,134 --> 00:30:14,535 then we find the right person on our 804 00:30:14,535 --> 00:30:16,407 team, and we were it differently. 805 00:30:17,019 --> 00:30:19,320 So that's the only other experience I know. 806 00:30:20,114 --> 00:30:22,440 And then I do know a few solo 807 00:30:22,733 --> 00:30:24,186 virtual assistants who 808 00:30:24,814 --> 00:30:27,688 when I've coached them, I've just given them 809 00:30:27,688 --> 00:30:30,163 the advice to niche down in your industry 810 00:30:30,163 --> 00:30:32,079 and then figure out what what what that 811 00:30:32,079 --> 00:30:34,567 price point is for your industries. So for 812 00:30:34,567 --> 00:30:37,831 us, like, working with attorneys, their hourly rate 813 00:30:37,831 --> 00:30:39,765 is gonna be a lot different than 814 00:30:41,334 --> 00:30:41,653 you know, 815 00:30:42,544 --> 00:30:44,936 a candle business who just means signs to 816 00:30:44,936 --> 00:30:47,170 do, like, the back end. True. So their 817 00:30:47,170 --> 00:30:49,482 price points are different. So I don't think 818 00:30:49,482 --> 00:30:51,397 in my opinion, I don't know if there's 819 00:30:51,397 --> 00:30:52,687 is, like, a standard. 820 00:30:53,324 --> 00:30:56,907 I... Our agency, if you're brand new and 821 00:30:56,907 --> 00:31:00,432 with less experience, we pay anywhere between 18 822 00:31:00,664 --> 00:31:02,975 to 25 dollars an hour, and they're all 823 00:31:02,975 --> 00:31:03,714 29 824 00:31:04,010 --> 00:31:04,409 in 825 00:31:05,683 --> 00:31:05,923 Right. 826 00:31:07,038 --> 00:31:07,277 And, 827 00:31:08,088 --> 00:31:09,840 if you're if you're coaching a just a 828 00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:11,671 a Va, like somebody is out on their 829 00:31:11,671 --> 00:31:14,458 own. Mh. Do you say, hey, you need 830 00:31:14,458 --> 00:31:15,435 to plan on 831 00:31:16,304 --> 00:31:17,984 30 percent of this is gonna go to 832 00:31:17,984 --> 00:31:21,025 taxes and business expenses and operations and... 833 00:31:21,904 --> 00:31:23,825 Yeah. I usually tell them, 834 00:31:24,959 --> 00:31:27,117 obviously, consult Cpa, but, 835 00:31:28,396 --> 00:31:30,873 I say, you know, for me anywhere, you 836 00:31:30,873 --> 00:31:32,631 know, when I was just a Solo Va, 837 00:31:32,871 --> 00:31:34,721 I used to try to see 20 to 838 00:31:34,721 --> 00:31:35,221 30 839 00:31:35,674 --> 00:31:37,525 percent for the tax purposes 840 00:31:38,138 --> 00:31:40,045 being that you're a 10 99 contractor. 841 00:31:40,919 --> 00:31:43,557 And then I just always advise, like, don't 842 00:31:43,557 --> 00:31:46,445 bite off more than you can chew. I 843 00:31:46,502 --> 00:31:49,049 never went into any business debt. I know 844 00:31:49,049 --> 00:31:50,855 a lot of people who have and they've 845 00:31:51,053 --> 00:31:52,722 they've worked that out, and it's fine, but 846 00:31:52,881 --> 00:31:54,948 I always say, like, there's always gonna be 847 00:31:54,948 --> 00:31:56,696 those shiny things. There's always gonna be a 848 00:31:56,696 --> 00:31:59,018 conference Or there's always gonna be a a 849 00:31:59,018 --> 00:32:01,487 tool or a program or something. But if 850 00:32:01,487 --> 00:32:02,922 you can't afford it today, 851 00:32:03,798 --> 00:32:07,065 just work towards it, like, work towards getting 852 00:32:07,065 --> 00:32:08,282 and building and 853 00:32:08,753 --> 00:32:10,588 a lot of people have come to me 854 00:32:10,588 --> 00:32:11,465 as a new va, 855 00:32:12,023 --> 00:32:13,140 How do you do it? How do you 856 00:32:13,140 --> 00:32:14,736 start? And I'll I'll give them in my 857 00:32:14,736 --> 00:32:16,889 advice it's always, like, niche down, figure out 858 00:32:16,889 --> 00:32:18,165 what industries you wanna be in. 859 00:32:19,059 --> 00:32:20,819 But then from there, then they do that, 860 00:32:20,980 --> 00:32:22,019 then they come back to me and say, 861 00:32:22,259 --> 00:32:24,099 okay. Now how do I scale? Like, how 862 00:32:24,099 --> 00:32:25,700 do I... And then it goes back to 863 00:32:25,700 --> 00:32:27,632 what we said before is. That chicken or 864 00:32:27,632 --> 00:32:29,464 the egg. Like, Right. How do I afford 865 00:32:29,464 --> 00:32:31,455 to bring on the next member of my 866 00:32:31,455 --> 00:32:31,774 team, 867 00:32:32,411 --> 00:32:34,881 knowing that I don't know what my income 868 00:32:34,881 --> 00:32:36,177 is gonna be. So 869 00:32:36,569 --> 00:32:38,910 that's always like, that next level of 870 00:32:39,529 --> 00:32:43,049 advice and risk of cost associated with it. 871 00:32:43,289 --> 00:32:43,769 So Yeah. 872 00:32:44,423 --> 00:32:46,882 That III love that that idea that says, 873 00:32:47,040 --> 00:32:47,517 you know, hey, 874 00:32:48,230 --> 00:32:49,896 I know I need help, but I need 875 00:32:49,896 --> 00:32:52,058 clients to afford help. To afford to pay 876 00:32:52,058 --> 00:32:53,654 the health. So it's it is like, a... 877 00:32:53,814 --> 00:32:56,768 It's a vicious cycle. But... Yeah. I I 878 00:32:56,768 --> 00:32:58,364 just wanna ask 1 more thing, and then 879 00:32:58,524 --> 00:33:00,200 I'll I'll ask you for any any closing 880 00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:01,248 thoughts you have. But 881 00:33:02,121 --> 00:33:04,105 do you ever outsource the outsource? 882 00:33:04,898 --> 00:33:07,200 Like, do you ever, like, are there tasks 883 00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:09,079 that are... And III 884 00:33:09,278 --> 00:33:09,778 please 885 00:33:10,230 --> 00:33:12,532 forgive me fumbling through this question, but and 886 00:33:12,611 --> 00:33:14,516 I certainly don't wanna be meaning to anybody. 887 00:33:14,675 --> 00:33:16,634 But, you know, there are certain tasks that 888 00:33:16,833 --> 00:33:19,139 that virtually anyone can do. They're just... They're 889 00:33:19,139 --> 00:33:21,843 just time consuming and repetitive and and they're 890 00:33:21,843 --> 00:33:24,308 not worth 35 dollars an hour. You know? 891 00:33:24,626 --> 00:33:26,376 They... But they'd need to get done somehow. 892 00:33:27,109 --> 00:33:29,665 So are there are there times where you 893 00:33:29,665 --> 00:33:31,583 would say, you know, what? We have a 894 00:33:31,583 --> 00:33:33,900 virtual assistant that is billing... You know, we're 895 00:33:33,900 --> 00:33:35,984 billing it 35 dollars an hour or whatever 896 00:33:35,984 --> 00:33:37,893 for their services, but there are tasks in 897 00:33:37,893 --> 00:33:39,483 there that are about a 5 dollar an 898 00:33:39,483 --> 00:33:40,914 hour task or a 10 dollar an hours 899 00:33:40,914 --> 00:33:43,402 task that we could, like, outsource 900 00:33:44,269 --> 00:33:46,259 you know, from at being outsourced. Does that 901 00:33:46,259 --> 00:33:48,250 make sense? Like, have somebody that's even, like, 902 00:33:48,409 --> 00:33:51,037 the second degree doing part of the work 903 00:33:51,037 --> 00:33:51,992 for that Va. 904 00:33:52,802 --> 00:33:53,040 Yeah. 905 00:33:53,755 --> 00:33:56,239 So in our agency, we 906 00:33:56,611 --> 00:33:58,064 really work on 907 00:33:58,675 --> 00:33:59,968 making ourselves 908 00:34:00,421 --> 00:34:00,921 worth 909 00:34:01,388 --> 00:34:04,410 the smallest task to the largest task, being 910 00:34:04,410 --> 00:34:04,569 that, 911 00:34:05,284 --> 00:34:07,136 we're reliable, we're transparent 912 00:34:07,590 --> 00:34:10,793 or efficient. So for us, we 913 00:34:11,183 --> 00:34:13,409 we teach and coach, that's part of, like, 914 00:34:13,488 --> 00:34:15,714 the the art of delegation, even if it 915 00:34:15,714 --> 00:34:18,178 is AA5 dollar task or a 5 minute 916 00:34:18,178 --> 00:34:18,417 task, 917 00:34:18,989 --> 00:34:21,309 the more you can learn to let go 918 00:34:21,309 --> 00:34:23,789 as the business owner. Mh. The more you're 919 00:34:23,789 --> 00:34:25,925 going to see value in getting time back 920 00:34:26,044 --> 00:34:28,519 to focus on those income producing tasks... It's 921 00:34:28,519 --> 00:34:31,074 a good way handle. Time with your family, 922 00:34:31,233 --> 00:34:33,628 if that's time to grow the next arm 923 00:34:33,628 --> 00:34:35,280 of your business, if it 924 00:34:36,911 --> 00:34:38,900 you know, time back just to have that 925 00:34:38,900 --> 00:34:40,434 balance so you're not working 926 00:34:40,810 --> 00:34:42,401 nights and weekends and whatever. 927 00:34:42,958 --> 00:34:45,385 So we don't really look at task as, 928 00:34:46,644 --> 00:34:47,465 a dollar 929 00:34:47,844 --> 00:34:50,005 value as much as, like, the service is 930 00:34:50,005 --> 00:34:52,344 adding a value because the more you can 931 00:34:52,900 --> 00:34:53,400 offload, 932 00:34:53,699 --> 00:34:55,539 and the more you can learn to let 933 00:34:55,539 --> 00:34:58,179 go as the business owner, the more you're 934 00:34:58,179 --> 00:34:59,239 going to get 935 00:34:59,539 --> 00:35:00,039 that 936 00:35:00,592 --> 00:35:01,569 back by 937 00:35:02,103 --> 00:35:05,149 investing into your business to yourself. So 938 00:35:05,763 --> 00:35:08,070 for us, you know, if you are a 939 00:35:08,150 --> 00:35:08,650 Cpa, 940 00:35:09,438 --> 00:35:12,252 we will lower that retainer. So 941 00:35:13,347 --> 00:35:16,639 in the busier seasons, it's 20 plus hours 942 00:35:16,697 --> 00:35:18,771 a month. But in, like, July, 943 00:35:19,822 --> 00:35:21,737 there's not as much to do. Right? There's 944 00:35:21,737 --> 00:35:23,492 always something to do. We'll find things to 945 00:35:23,492 --> 00:35:25,804 do. We'll we'll do cleanup. We'll do organizing, 946 00:35:26,522 --> 00:35:28,857 file management, things like that, email management, 947 00:35:29,489 --> 00:35:29,989 But 948 00:35:30,925 --> 00:35:33,820 we will give a break to certain industries 949 00:35:33,879 --> 00:35:35,236 just so they don't feel like they have 950 00:35:35,236 --> 00:35:36,833 to stop and start and stop and start. 951 00:35:37,312 --> 00:35:39,105 So that way, we have long last in 952 00:35:39,244 --> 00:35:41,641 relationships. So we'll lower our retainer for something 953 00:35:41,641 --> 00:35:42,041 like that. 954 00:35:42,839 --> 00:35:45,237 But we personally... Like, if somebody's looking for 955 00:35:45,237 --> 00:35:46,855 a recommendation on 956 00:35:47,168 --> 00:35:47,646 let's say, 957 00:35:48,441 --> 00:35:49,180 a podcast 958 00:35:50,430 --> 00:35:53,214 editor, and our... We only take on very 959 00:35:53,214 --> 00:35:54,646 few of that just because we only have 960 00:35:54,646 --> 00:35:56,569 a few people who do it. So I 961 00:35:56,569 --> 00:35:59,510 will give them some recommendations of other places, 962 00:35:59,668 --> 00:35:59,907 but, 963 00:36:00,702 --> 00:36:02,926 we don't necessarily... And from our perspective, 964 00:36:03,738 --> 00:36:04,696 look at things like, 965 00:36:05,415 --> 00:36:08,289 lesser task is a lesser dollar amount. It's 966 00:36:08,289 --> 00:36:11,083 just more investing in your business and and 967 00:36:11,083 --> 00:36:12,461 investing and getting that 968 00:36:12,773 --> 00:36:14,121 getting your business to make you money. 969 00:36:15,072 --> 00:36:16,817 And, I mean I can also see... You 970 00:36:16,817 --> 00:36:18,324 know, if if you if you work with 971 00:36:18,324 --> 00:36:19,830 me for a while, you probably are even 972 00:36:19,830 --> 00:36:20,330 gonna 973 00:36:20,719 --> 00:36:22,786 I have a value add speaking into how 974 00:36:22,866 --> 00:36:24,775 I can do things more efficiently even in 975 00:36:24,775 --> 00:36:25,991 my own business. So 976 00:36:26,525 --> 00:36:28,454 yeah... That's been my experience in hiring a 977 00:36:28,534 --> 00:36:29,574 Va. So yeah. 978 00:36:30,295 --> 00:36:32,474 Oftentimes it's, like, we're not here to reinvent 979 00:36:32,534 --> 00:36:34,954 the wheel. But if you like enhancements, 980 00:36:35,255 --> 00:36:37,907 we're always here to give shifts. Exactly right. 981 00:36:38,307 --> 00:36:40,943 And and knowledge will experience basic suggestions. Not 982 00:36:40,943 --> 00:36:43,875 just guesses. So... Yeah. Yeah. Alright. Well, I 983 00:36:43,994 --> 00:36:45,434 tell you what folks. If if you listen 984 00:36:45,434 --> 00:36:47,195 to this and watch this on Youtube, you 985 00:36:47,195 --> 00:36:49,114 can see that she has this dialed in. 986 00:36:49,275 --> 00:36:50,795 We in an amazing way. So, 987 00:36:51,514 --> 00:36:52,968 in a, in a, very a short period 988 00:36:52,968 --> 00:36:55,440 of time. So kudos to you, lizzie for 989 00:36:55,440 --> 00:36:56,876 all the work you put into this, and 990 00:36:56,956 --> 00:36:58,711 I know that you've... You know, no person 991 00:36:58,711 --> 00:37:00,545 doing this alone. So it there's... It's certainly 992 00:37:00,545 --> 00:37:01,582 is a team effort. But, 993 00:37:02,634 --> 00:37:03,827 how would you like to just wrap us 994 00:37:03,827 --> 00:37:05,737 up today? And then, if you just wanna 995 00:37:05,737 --> 00:37:07,090 tell people who are the best place to 996 00:37:07,090 --> 00:37:09,318 find you? Yeah. Well, thank you so much 997 00:37:09,318 --> 00:37:11,387 for this opportunity. I really appreciate it. 998 00:37:12,592 --> 00:37:13,410 We are 999 00:37:14,099 --> 00:37:16,400 at virtually Brooks on all the social. So 1000 00:37:16,876 --> 00:37:19,945 Instagram, we have a freebie and our link 1001 00:37:20,063 --> 00:37:22,442 our bio. You can get a freebie for 1002 00:37:22,442 --> 00:37:24,186 our social media templates. 1003 00:37:24,741 --> 00:37:26,723 You can do a consultation through that link 1004 00:37:26,723 --> 00:37:27,199 as well. 1005 00:37:28,247 --> 00:37:30,318 But, yeah, we're just virtually brooks dot com. 1006 00:37:31,194 --> 00:37:33,504 And we're just very grateful to share what 1007 00:37:33,504 --> 00:37:34,858 we do and why we do it, and 1008 00:37:34,938 --> 00:37:36,292 I appreciate you reaching out to us. 1009 00:37:37,499 --> 00:37:39,721 Lizzie, it's been a been a great chat 1010 00:37:39,721 --> 00:37:41,466 today. This is been 1 of the best 1011 00:37:41,466 --> 00:37:43,212 ones we've had a long time is that 1012 00:37:43,212 --> 00:37:45,616 that we Cram so much into such a 1013 00:37:45,616 --> 00:37:48,329 short period time. So I I highly encourage 1014 00:37:48,329 --> 00:37:49,387 you to do podcast 1015 00:37:50,085 --> 00:37:51,840 interviews in the future do more of them 1016 00:37:51,840 --> 00:37:54,492 because because you're gifted in that space for 1017 00:37:54,492 --> 00:37:57,688 sure. But yeah. Just to check out virtually 1018 00:37:57,688 --> 00:38:00,338 brooks dot com, and like you said and 1019 00:38:00,338 --> 00:38:02,014 and all the socials, and I... You know, 1020 00:38:02,094 --> 00:38:04,726 our listeners love you to to go by 1021 00:38:04,726 --> 00:38:07,597 and then check out their services. But, Lizzie, 1022 00:38:07,677 --> 00:38:09,511 thank you again for just taking time today. 1023 00:38:09,751 --> 00:38:11,278 Brought right here is we're head into a 1024 00:38:11,278 --> 00:38:13,427 weekend and just helping all boats rise and 1025 00:38:13,427 --> 00:38:15,497 a rising tide. Have a great weekend. 1026 00:38:16,213 --> 00:38:16,930 Thank you so much. 1027 00:38:19,955 --> 00:38:21,614 I hope you heard some great takeaways from 1028 00:38:21,614 --> 00:38:23,760 our guests today. Make sure you reach out 1029 00:38:23,760 --> 00:38:25,907 to them and thank you again for playing 1030 00:38:25,907 --> 00:38:27,656 your part to helping All boat tries at 1031 00:38:27,656 --> 00:38:28,452 a rising tide.